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She could see raccoons and what she thought was a possum, and two deer.

“I assume you brought the deer in for the twins?”

“Correct. Clive has been bringing goats in for himself, rather than deer. I don’t know why. The twins have been told not to eat the smaller wildlife, that they can have the two deer and nothing else.”

“So today is kind of a test for them?”

“Yes, but I don’t expect them to disobey. They know someone else lives here and they are guests. They were raised by really old vampires and know how important hunting laws are, as well as guesting laws.”

“You took their bracelets off before they got into the cages.”

“The cages are spelled so they can’tchangein them, though since there isn’t room, most won’t try. It isn’t comfortable, but they weren’t in them long. I’ve ridden in similar for hours, in a wagon pulled by horses, and not crafted anywhere near as well. It hurt. These particular cages, while uncomfortable, don’t cause pain.”

“I would’ve traded places with Ezra, if I could’ve. I don’t believe he would run.”

“I think the chances are low, but if they get out and risk the secret, Brooke’s life can be forfeit.”

“She takes a risk, bringing in slaves and trying to free them.”

“We can minimize the risk, but yes, she does. She’s never asked any slave to pay her back what she paid for them, either. She only asks that they bring in enough income for their room, board, and general upkeep — whether that be by feeding vampires, doing jobs for the coterie, or finding an outside job.”

“They couldn’t get an outside job, could they?”

“Elijah could possibly find a way to sell his art once we allow him to communicate online and provide a route for him to own things. Ezra can learn all kinds of things that would allow him to work as a consultant without leaving the property. There are also plenty of translation jobs available, and they speak three languages fluently. They could handle document translation as well as translation over video calls.”

The map showing heat signatures indicated both cats were near the wall. Dev clicked the mouse a few times, and another screen turned on with a camera view of them sniffing the wall.

“They have to test it,” Genie said. “They’re cats. They can’t help it.”

“Of course they do.”

The camera views changed as they paced the entire wall, walking in a square. They stopped and sniffed around the gate. At first, Genie didn’t think they’d risk the cattle guard, but one of them took a step, nearly fell, and bounced backwards away from it.

Genie couldn’t tell by feel which cat was which twin, watching them electronically, but she could guess. “If the gate was open, Elijah would do a running jump over the cattle guard.”

“Yes,” Dev agreed. “And once he did, Ezra would feel obligated to follow.”

“Not because they want to leave us,” Genie said, “but because they’d have to see if they could.”

“Yes, and because they are cats.” He sighed. “Though, in truth, most shifters would need to try for freedom, given the opportunity. The trick is to not provide the opportunity until it’s safe to give permission.”

One of the guards they’d brought was between the gates, and the other was on top of the house. Both had earbuds, so they could communicate with Dev, and so Dev could issue orders to them if needed.

Genie didn’t think it was going to be necessary, though.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Ezra awoke to the moon over his head, his belly full of deer meat, and his brother’s scent beside him and leading away.

He stood and followed the still-fresh scent, which was easier in cat form than in human form. Elijah hadn’t been gone more than five minutes, he didn’t think.

This walled off space wasn’t huge, so it didn’t take him long to find his brother, low to the ground, watching a raccoon washing food in the edge of the swimming pool.

Ezra knew his brother. Knew what he was going to do, and he ran at him and hit him from the side before he could attack the raccoon. They weren’t supposed to bother the smaller wildlife. They were guests, and only had hunting rights for the two deer. It’s true they’d only taken one down and shared it, but that didn’t mean they could play with the raccoon.

Elijah immediatelychangedfrom cat to human and started cussing at him, but Ezra wasn’t interested in having that argument. He went in search of Genie and Dev. He wanted to see them in cat form again before he went back to two legs.

The two were inside the garage when he approached, but within moments, Genie came outside. He assumed Dev was still inside, watching his brother on camera. Or perhaps watching all of them on camera.