Page 157 of Primal Bonds

“The king keeps me busy.”

The older man allowed himself a faint smile. “You’ve done well as his envoy.”

Fane had to force his face to remain expressionless. Was his grandfather proud of him? “Thank you.”

“No thanks are due me. I’ve done little enough to help you.”

That was certainly true. Fane shrugged. “I prefer to make my own way.”

“As is right for a man.”

Fane shifted his weight, impatient to get back to Marjani. The gods save him from fae etiquette. At this rate, he’d be here half the night before his grandfather got to the point.

“Look, Roald, what do you want?”

His grandfather’s dark brows lowered. “Your father should have schooled you in fae ways.”

Fane shrugged. Arne had come and gone as he pleased, leaving Fane’s raising to his mom. Fane hadn’t even known he was part fae until he was an adult.

“So I’m a primitive bastard who doesn’t know his arse from his elbow. You think I haven’t heard that a hundred times?”

Roald glowered at him. Then he sighed. “You remind me of your grandmother.”

“Saga?”

They both glanced at the painting above the fireplace.

Roald’s gaze turned inward. “She was a lot like you and your father. A cheerful, easygoing woman—but she had pluck. Push her too far, and she pushed right back. But even that was done so tactfully I barely noticed I hadn’t gotten my own way.”

Fane uncrossed his arms. “I wish I could’ve met her.”

“She would have loved you—her only grandson. I’m sorry she didn’t live long enough to see you born.” Roald’s strong throat worked. “I think of her…more and more, as I age. I wonder if I’ll see her when I pass to the other side.”

“I—”

“But that’s an old man talking.” Roald’s fierce eyes fastened on Fane again. “I hear you sired a daughter on a human. Is it true?”

Fane went rigid. Evie was his secret. Only Arne knew about her, and he’d agreed that Fane should hide her from the fae world. You never knew when someone would take it into his or her head to use Evie against him.

How in Hades had his grandfather heard? But now that he had, Fane had to tell the truth. He couldn’t lie, and evading the question would be as good as admitting it.

“Yes. I do.”

Roald sighed. “What is it with this family and humans? I suppose she has no Gift.”

Fane moved a shoulder. “She’s mostly human.”

It was an evasion. Evie might be only one-eighth fae, but she’d turned out to be a Gifted amplifier who could boost another fae or fada’s Gift. It was a rare and very valuable talent, one the fae would prize as much as her mate’s clan did. Evie was now training with Baltimore’s healers to amplify their healing Gifts.

“They tell me she mated with a fada.” Roald’s voice was heavy with disapproval.

“She did. A jaguar shifter.”

“A jaguar.” Roald pursed his lips. “What can you expect from a woman? The fada have a certain animal appeal.”

Fane stiffened. “She’s happy with her mate, and he treats her like a princess.”

Roald shook his head, but changed the subject. “I have good news. Your father will be arriving in a few hours. I’d like you both to join me later for dinner.”

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