Page 66 of Research with Rivals
The Vesten Point spoke as he leaned against the tree. “But what I want to know, Ms. Knowles, is what brought you to this particular spot in the garden.”
Ambrose had said he couldn’t feel the magic I described in the library, but I knew that was what had guided me to this place. It was a risk, but if I wanted answers, I needed to ask questions. If I didn’t ask questions, I only had myself to blame for remaining ignorant.
“There is a magic here—it’s old.” I shook my head. “No, that’s not quite right. It’s ancient. And I think it guided me here.”
“Is that right?” Carter looked every inch the veil cat he was. Moreover, with my response, he looked remarkably like a cat who had caught a particularly troublesome canary.
I nodded slowly, unsure what else to say. I didn’t have other words to describe the magic. It wasn’t flashy; it felt more like a well-worn cloak, always right where you needed it at the necessary time. It was by no means threadbare, though. Its stitches were just as tight as the day they were sewn.
Carter watched me. Then he asked the last question I expected. “Do you know how the next Vesten Point is chosen?”
“No,” I nearly spat. The reaction was visceral. The idea that a half-fae would know this precious court secret was laughable.
The tilt of Carter’s head was enough to give me pause. He studied me, not in the same way Ambrose did but in a way that told me he saw something I hadn’t yet put together. And I hated being caught off guard.
“Let me enlighten you, then.” He folded his hands behind his back and strolled around the tree. I briefly wondered if hehad ever taught other researchers when he was Vesten historian. The tone of his voice took on that of a practiced lecturer, one fascinated with his own subject matter. “The Vesten Court puts a lot of weight on our animals—our shifter magic. Of course, fire is part of the shift, but it’s the animal itself that the court reveres.”
“Why is that?” I couldn’t help but ask. He made this seem so informal, like we were discussing the weather and not secrets I’d never been privy to as a court outsider.
A brief smile curled his lip, and he shook his head, his light brown waves swaying with the motion. “I’ll deny it if you say this in front of Arctos, but I’m pretty sure it’s because of him. It’s clear he prefers his animals above his fae form. Past court leaders wanted to … emulate what our god found important.”
“Ugh, he’d be even more insufferable if he heard that,” I mumbled.
The gleam in Carter’s eye told me I hadn’t been as quiet as I’d hoped. “Indeed. Regardless, the court’s value of the animal led to how Vesten Points are chosen.”
My brow furrowed. “How so? Aren’t the animals hereditary?”
Carter’s green eyes lit up. “They mostly are, but that is also the animal’s choice. Once an animal line establishes itself in a family, it tends to continue unless things go wrong.”
I briefly thought of my father and the information I needed from him. No matter his reasoning for not being with us, he could at least answer the questions about my shift. We didn’t have to establish a relationship for him to do that for me.
Carter spoke again. The words caught my attention. “Some animals don’t follow the pattern, of course, like mine.”
I thought that, at this moment, my veil cat would be uncomfortable. Carter’s eyes flashed the yellow-green that was clearly his veil cat’s. His animal observed this conversation with him.The animal always knows.Ambrose’s words flashed through my mind. First, I wondered what he would make of thissituation. Second, I wondered how literally to take his comment about our Vesten animals.
Carter’s veil cat couldn’t know what I was, could he?
“What do you mean?” I asked shakily. My hand balled into a fist at my side. He couldn’t know. That wasn’t possible, but my own veil cat was mysteriously silent. She curled up, unbothered by this entire conversation.
“I mean that my father, Gabriel, he’s not a veil cat shifter.” He studied me carefully, watching for something in my face.
It was clear he wanted me to ask the obvious question. If nothing else, the researcher in me needed to know what he was getting at, even if we were treading on dangerous ground with my own secret. “Why is that?”
“The continent required a veil cat,” he said simply. “The continent still requires a veil cat.”
I shook my head, repeating his words. “The continent still requires a veil cat.” It felt like he was withholding information, somehow. Before I could ask, he continued.
“When a new Vesten Point is required, the current one receives a message about what animal the court needs. You could imagine our past leader’s surprise when he was told his successor needed to be a creature most thought mythical.”
I coughed forcefully. He didnotjust say that.
“Everything alright, Evelyn?” He paced back around the tree while he tracked my reaction.
“Did you think that?” I asked. “That your shift was mythical?”
His lip curled into a mischievous smile. “An animal said to shepherd souls to the afterlife? Of course I thought it was mythical. That didn’t stop me from turning into one, though.”
It was … reassuring to know someone else had the same experience I had. But no matter our similarities, I wouldn’t tell him my secrets. Especially given this conversation, I needed to know more about the veil cat lineage from my father.
