“Nope. Urian’s pedigree is obnoxiously valid.” Ani rolled her eyes. “And he’s obnoxious. No offense.”

Katherine stared at her. “I feel completely at a loss here. Callisto—who until yesterday I thought was just a car—said the Hunt took him and they had my scent, so I had to hide.”

“Sex is hard to resist with agancanagh.” Ani nodded. “I mean, I had no issue resisting Urian because he’s a brat, but his dad . . .” She lowered her voice. “It’s not a thing I mention in front of Dev, but . . . Iri wastemptingwhen I came of age.”

“Isn’t he . . . old?”

Ani laughed. “You mean experienced? Yes. I might notlikeUrian, but I understand him. Agancanagh’stouch addicts mortals. Mine drains them. The cost for them is ultimately the same. It takes a strong faery to keep me content. Luckily, Dev is even . . . you know,olderthan Iri.”

“Dev is . . . ?” Katherine gestured to the door.

“Yep. Him. He’s my husband? Mate? Whatever the term you use is,” Ani said. “My heart beats in his body, you know?”

Katherine nodded. “Right. And Iri is . . .?”

“Irial. Urian’s dad.”

“Urian hates him,” Katherine said quietly.

“Oh, sure. He blames him for everything. Totally not accurate, but . . .” She shrugged. “What can you do? Not my circus, not my monkeys, right? Although I guess if you’re his mate, it’s your circus now, huh? Good luck with that.”

Katherine walked over to a table. “May I?”

“Oh shoot! Yes. I should’ve said that. Have a seat. Food? Liquor? Tea?” Ani came forward. “I’m shit at this part. Dev’s all manners and stuff. I’m more . . .” She shrugged, but she was smiling when she said, “I useful in a fight. Loyal. You know, basic Hound stuff.”

Katherine took a teacup, and Ani poured fresh tea in it.

“I’m not sure what I’m to do,” Katherine admitted. “I don’t know who has him or where. I don’t exactly feel capable of fighting kings either, but . . . I can’t abandon him or hide from the Hunt forever.”

Ani gave her a pat on the hand.

“Callisto knows more than I do, though, and she brought me to you.” Katherine peered at the other girl. “Hound. As in you are part of the Hunt?”

Ani nodded. She made a face.

“So you left the Hunt?” Katherine guessed.

“Not quite . . .” Ani looked at the door. “My, err, father was Gabriel.TheGabriel. Leader of the Hunt.”

“Of course, he was,” Katherine muttered. “So you, what? Can put in a good word?”

“Not exactly . . . his mate took over after Gabriel died, and you know . . . he wasn’t exactlyfaithfulto her. My mom was human.” Ani held her gaze. “Not that there was anything wrong with that!”

“My mom’s human,” Katherine said quickly. “Dad was agancanagh.”

“So you’re . . .” Ani stared, but she didn’t continue speaking, just stared in a weird kind of awe.

“Agancanagh. Yeah.”

“But you’re female!” Ani stood and leaned forward, sniffing deeply. “Holy fuck. You’re agancanagh. So you and Uri are like fate and stuff. His dad will be so thrilled!”

“Okaaay . . . ?”

“I bet Sorcha already knows, so she’ll help. Gah. There will be a fight. This is awesome. I can’t imagine Niall sending the Hunt, but I’d love to have an excuse to—”

“Aislinn sent them,” Devlin said, returned from wherever he had been so quietly that Katherine only knew he was there when he spoke. “The Summer Queen sent the Hunt.”

“Ash?”