On the opposite side of me from her brother, Kitty, snuggling into my shoulder as if my energy doesn’t remotely bother her, jerks upright with a tiny shriek.
“It’s all right,” Bolan says soothingly as he shifts Tommy back onto the couch, carefully setting his head down on a velvet throw pillow. “Took him longer than I thought.”
“Adrenaline,” Christoph says quietly. Arms crossed and face in deep shadow, the bear shifter has posted himself at the street-side windows. And not for the view. “He needed to know Kitty was safe … with us.”
Bolan stares down at Tommy thoughtfully. “You get a read on his beast?”
Christoph flicks a look at Kitty. She huffs, crossing her arms to mimic his stance, then stares right back at him. Christoph huffs playfully in return, allowing his arms to fall to his sides as he steps closer.
Through the window, the sun begins to flush across the tops of neighboring buildings as it rises.
“Cath palug,” I say. “A gigantic cat shifter. Like Anne.”
Bolan tilts his head thoughtfully, nostrils flaring. “A cath palug? Really. I caught the feline scent but couldn’t place it. It’s retreated now.”
“The shit they pumped into him has flushed from his system. That was mostly what I could scent.” Christoph steps over to stare down at Tommy alongside Bolan. “A monstrous cat shifter. Rare enough to be practically mythical. No wonder those assholes threw him in a cage. They collect all unusually powerful creatures, not just those with purple eyes.”
“He’ll be fine now,” I say, mostly to soothe myself.
Christoph shifts his attention to Kitty. “Bedtime now.”
Kitty juts her chin out at the huge bear shifter. Christoph’s been trying to get us all to bed since we arrived back at the apartments. “Then why wasn’t I in a cage?” she asks challengingly.
Christoph bares his teeth at her. “They’d get a better price for you once your powers have settled. Maximizing profit. Or maybe the Mertons were just going to keep you for themselves, little seer.”
The twist of emotion that runs through that weaponized term of endearment finally makes Christoph’s reaction to Kitty much clearer. His mother was a purple-eyed seer, and though her cage was far more gilded than Tommy’s had been —
Kitty scrambles up onto the couch, which really doesn’t do anything to even her height out against Christoph. “Mirth won’t let you hurt me,” she spits viciously.
He looks startled, actually taking a step back.
Kitty points her finger at the duke. “I saw you! I saw you!”
All of us adults hesitate for a moment. Then I speak tentatively, my stomach souring. “In your head, Kitty?”
“No.” She sobs once, then stamps her foot on the couch, defiant. “He was sitting out there with all the others staring at us. He’s the reason they put Tommy in a cage.”
Christoph takes another step back, then another. At the last moment, before tripping over it, he sinks down into one of the large leather chairs. Making himself less threatening— but also in shock, I think.
“You …” I clear my throat. “You trust Coda, don’t you, Kitty?”
“No,” she says with utter conviction. “Coda can only be trusted to do what Coda wants.”
More of that shaky silence stretches around us. I meet Bolan’s gaze, but Christoph has his eyes on the ground.
“I think …” I whisper. “I think that is actually very wise. But you trust me, yes?”
Kitty pivots to stare down at me. “I trust you, Mirth.”
“And I trust Christoph.”
The duke takes a deep, shaky breath.
Kitty narrows her eyes on him. “Why?”
“Because he’s mine,” I say steadily. “And you saw what I did to those people in the theater?”
“And the two guys below.”
