Page 65 of On A Rift's Edge
“Thank you.” Kaveh pulled away but held on to Kat’s shoulders. “I needed—a connection to get back.”
“You’re hurt.” Lyall came up to him, and Kat noticed blood streaking down Kaveh’s leg. “My clan mate attacked you, and I bear full responsibility.”
“He’s also naked again.” That was Remi’s voice, a little slurred, and Kat glanced up to see the same spherical water portal hovering overhead. A drenched but human Remi dropped to the floor in a wet heap, followed by Teo, who landed gracefully in a crouch.
The hopper stared at Kaveh, eyes wide with terror, before pulling Remi to his feet and shoving him into Kaveh’s arms.
Kat could only guess at what had happened, but Teo must have worked with Lyric to move in and out of the room through a water portal.
Maybe Teo had only helped Lyall return to his hellhound form and rescued Remi to avoid being killed by a pair of hellhounds or an Azdaha drakone. It didn’t matter. The flood of relief at seeing his friend alive bumped up Kat’s opinion of the hopper considerably. Judging by Lyall’s surprised but pleased expression, he felt the same. Teo gave them both a nod and jumped up to cling to an intact portion of the ceiling.
“Not that I’m complaining about the nudity.” Remi’s legs buckled, and Kaveh tightened his grip to hold him upright. “I might have hit my head harder than I thought.” He dabbed at Kaveh’s cheek with an arm covered in living leathers, succeeding only in turning the dust there into mud. “What did I miss?”
“Kat saved your worthless father’s life, I fought a duel with my alpha, and now I’m the head of my fucking clan.” Lyall added that last part with extra emphasis as his mothers came up to him, both in humanoid form. Cesmak looked wary and sullen, while Gremory had recovered her quirky curiosity about everything around her.
To Kat’s surprise, Arimanius limped up to them as well, his living club-like weapon now elongated into a makeshift crutch. Giana stayed close to his side, her stylish dress smudged with dust, but her model-like poise untouched.
“Mom, Dad.” Remi waved a hand at his parents first, then at Lyall’s mothers. “And unwelcome guests. Meet my boyfriend, Kaveh.”
“He needs to lie down. I think he has a concussion.” Kaveh pressed Remi against his chest. “The building should be stable. Bug gave me its structural information before I…changed.”
“I thought we agreed not to tell Kaveh about our plans after I found you sneaking out of the monstertown.” Remi blinked a few times, his usual sharp wit nowhere in evidence. “Did you tell him, Kat?”
“I didn’t.” Kat met Kaveh’s gaze. “Helping Lyall was something I had to do, and I didn’t want you to be forced to fight him.”
He loved Lyall and allowing him to spend his life trapped because of Kat hadn’t been an option.
He expected fury from his friend, or maybe exasperation at his foolishness in thinking he could take on a ratkind mafia boss, but Kaveh only gave a tired shake of his head.
“Fortunately, I sent Kaveh a message through Evangeline.” Lyall grinned. “And the fight between the two of us would have been epic, even though I would have lost. Kat and I have the situation under control. You and Giana should take Remi to lie down in the back.”
Giana arched a brow at Kaveh’s dusty, naked form as she came closer. “I can also find clothing in my husband’s closet for you. Not that I mind the view.”
She reached into her expensive purse and handed Kat the seymour. Giana and Kaveh helped a woozy Remi walk around the gaping hole in the floor to a relatively intact portion of the penthouse. Giana opened a door to let them all into what must be a bedroom, and Mabel and Fable slunk out a few seconds later.
Arimanius gave a hoarse laugh. “I should have kept you in an indenture contract, Kat, and forgotten all about Lyall. You now have three hellhounds and an Azdaha drakone to back you up against me. What do the two of you want?”
Kat gave a sideways glance at Lyall, who stood at attention, doing a great “I’m-just-the-bodyguard” impression.
“Don’t ask me,” Lyall said. “This entire plan was all Kat’s.”
Right. Kat had pulled this off, and now he had to own the success as much as he would have owned the failure.
“First things first.” Kat held out the alien plant to Cesmak and Gremory. “A seymour-enforced truce between you and everyone here, including all of the ratkind.”
Cesmak scowled but touched a clawed finger to the thorny branch that emerged from the plant, feeding it her blood.
Gremory beamed as she did the same. “Such a clever human. Alpha Lyall is quite fortunate to be paired with you.”
Lyall groaned.
“About that.” Kat normally didn’t like to speak for other people, especially when dealing with family issues, but a lot of things needed to be cleared up. He wasn’t going to get a better opportunity to get the riftpeople around him to listen. “I agree with Lyall. A brutal fight that might end in death isn’t a good way to select a political leader.”
“It’s tradition.” Cesmak gave an offended snort. “You shouldn’t criticize it, as you will be the spouse of the alpha.”
“My family’s tradition is that we learn to know and love our partners before committing to a life-long relationship.” Kat felt on firmer ground with that one. He was in love with Lyall, and he was beginning to accept that Lyall was in love with him, but marriage wasn’t on the table right now. “Lyall’s been away from his family—from both of you—for a long time. He wants to come home as your son, not as someone who wants to grab power.”
“Besides,” Lyall added. “I fucking suck at clan politics. That fight wasn’t so I could take over as alpha. It was about stopping the two of you from killing my friend and his family.”
