Page 7 of Cathmoir’s Sons (Bad Boys of Bevington #5)

Chapter 7

Interview with the Capricorn

RHODES

C ait House is quiet on the last night of Yule. Luca and Law are in Scotland. Cath and Allie and most of the cousins are off observing what they call the Blue Cat Moon, the moon at perigee, which is just another excuse for a party. Cait House is deserted except for a few soft-footed servants and me.

That means I get pampered: a bath, a massage, surf and turf for dinner in bed. It also means I have time to catch up with the people I’ve ignored while I’ve recovered. I video call with my parents and sisters. I update Coach on my recovery. I call Yan and leave what must be my hundredth voicemail.

As I’m ending the call and picking up the textbook I’d planned to read tonight, Aine opens the bedroom door and pokes her head in. “Rhodes, there’s someone here for you. He says he’s the Capricorn. Should I tell him to go away?”

I startle. I didn’t realize Aine was here. I thought she’d gone into the woods with her parents and extended family. And the Capricorn? My mind does a wide circle as I try to place the name. Then I remember the green-cloaked man in the standing stones at Jedburgh Abbey.

“Did he say his name is Evan Lords?” I ask, remembering how the man introduced himself.

Aine flushes. “I think so. I kind of missed his name. I shouldn’t have answered the door. I thought it might be a friend.”

I raise my eyebrows at her. “Did you invite a boy over while everyone’s out?”

“Would I?” Her eyes widen in a simulacrum of innocence.

Yes, she would. “Aine, don’t do it. If I hear anything, I’ll have to tell Luca.”

She pouts. “We’ll be quiet.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I kept your secret!”

“Look where that got us. No more secrets. No more sneaking around. I mean it, Aine. I’ll tell.”

“Party pooper.” She pouts. “If I just meet him out in the garden?”

“Big no. Bring him in here and I’ll chaperone but you’re not having a boy alone in the house. Your brothers would kill you.”

She raises her hands. “Ergo, inviting him over when they’re not here.”

“Ergo? Ergo? You’re twelve. You can’t possibly know what that word means.”

“I’m thirteen and I not only know what it means, I’m using it correctly,” she says, lifting her upper lip to show her little fangs. “I’ll show the Capricorn in.”

I straighten the bed and belt the robe I’m wearing and hope Evan Lords isn’t offended by how much of my chest is showing. Although the burns are much better, the places where Cousin Kim tore four glyphs out of my chest are still healing. I’m supposed to leave them to air except when I’m sleeping.

How I’m going to get back in the water next week when swim practice starts up again, I’m not exactly sure.

The man who follows Aine back into the room bears a resemblance to the man who stood in the ruins and summoned the Mother’s power, but if Aine hadn’t introduced him, I’d have had a hard time placing him. His head isn’t covered by a golden helmet to start with. He’s wearing the same green cloak, pushed back over his shoulders. Under the cloak, he’s wearing a plain black, three-piece suit. His beard and hair are neatly trimmed, although a little long. His eyes are the same, though, and I would recognize those. Blue like new denim and weary in a way that says he’s seen too much and the weight of what he’s seen is crushing.

“Mr. Lords.” I hold my hand out to him.

He shakes, firmly, not trying to crush my fingers. “Mr. Hale. May I call you Rhodes?” At my nod, he continues, “Please call me Evan.”

It feels a little strange to call someone probably old enough to be my dad by their first name, but I know I need to get used to it. I’ll leave Bevington in six months and take my place as an adult in the Unseen World. Adults call each other by their first names.

“I’m sorry I can’t greet you more formally,” I say.

Evan waves off my apology and sits on the edge of the donut-bed. “I should be the one apologizing for invading your sick room. I have a few questions that are quite pressing. Are you well enough to speak for a few minutes?”

“Please go ahead.”

“I’ve spoken to many who fought at Jedburgh Abbey. I’ve had some conflicting accounts but several people agree that you were attacked by a woman in a green cloak just before the demons joined the battle. She tore tattoos out of your skin. Do you know who the woman was?”

I nod. “My cousin, Kimberly Cavalo-Darling.”

Evan sucks air through his teeth. “I was afraid of that. Has she been in contact with you since the battle?”

I shake my head. “As far as I know, she hasn’t tried to come to Cait House, either. They would have told me.”

“May I ask what your relationship was with your cousin prior to the battle?”

“Distant,” I say. “Her dad took her to England after her mom’s death. I think she was fourteen. There were a few years between us, and she hung out with the older cousins, so I didn’t know her that well even before she left.” I pause and consider before I tell Evan, “She contacted me recently through my Uncle Ezra. She wanted me to join the battle on Bromios’ side. I told her no.”

“She attacked you at Jedburgh Abbey,” Evan says.

It’s not a question but I nod.

“The tattoos she tore out of your skin,” Evan begins, nodding at my chest with its bright pink scars. “What were they?”

“Names. Bromios. Melephesius. Alugiel. Sariel.”

“I’m familiar with Bromios, obviously,” Evan says. “And I’m assuming Sariel is the fallen angel from the book of Enoch. Who are the others?”

“Greater powers like Bromios. Melephesius brings torrential rain, floods. Alugiel controls the pits of the earth, earthquakes, landslides.”

“And Sariel lightning, killing light.” Evan rubs the back of his neck. “Would you say that’s a chain of command or more of a coalition?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know. My great-uncle Niles told me the names when he, uh, burned the glyphs into me. I’ve tried to forget what happened for a long time. My boyfriend translated them when we started dating and told me a little about them but I’ll admit, I haven’t wanted to know. I wanted to put it in the past.”

“I don’t think you’ll be able to do that for much longer, Rhodes, I’m sorry. Even with your injury I can see you bear many more names of power. The other archangels. I can make out several archfiends as well. They’ll make you a target if nothing else.”

I nod sadly. I’ve had plenty of time to think about the ramifications of what Cousin Kim did on that battlefield.

“I can offer you the protection of the Capricorn Guild,” Evan says.

I shake my head. “I’m not going to hide. I take the White Cloak in June. This isn’t going to derail my future.”

Evan swallows hard. “I see.”

Does he have something against the Aedis Astrum and the White Cloaks? I wish I knew more about him. Luca’s been researching the combatants at Jedburgh Abbey, in the way he does. My kit needs to know everything about everything. But I’ve been using my enforced bed rest to catch up on the reading I didn’t do last semester while I was head-fucked over Kellan. I’ve just started feeling on top of it, too. Now I’m wondering if I’ve used my time badly.

“Anything else?” I ask, stifling a yawn.

I shouldn’t be tired. My “busy” day has consisted of sleeping, cuddling with Luca that led to mutual handsies under the covers, eating, getting a furtive blowjob from Luca while Law was asleep, an hour’s walk with Luca, a light session with weights, reading, a massage, more food, more sleep. It’s a full schedule for a geriatric.

But the Cait healers have been very clear with me that I was dead; the burns from Kimberly igniting the glyphs in my skin so severe that my heart and lungs were cooked like well-done steak. Luca pulled me back, got my heart and lungs functioning. But there was a huge amount of damage and healing can only do so much before the body has to finish the job on its own.

“No, I don’t wish to keep you up any longer.” He reaches into his waistcoat pocket and takes out a small card: cream with black lettering on one side, green on the other with the outline of the plumed helmet he wore at the battle. “Please text me your contact details. I’d like to keep in touch.”

“Okay, I will.”

Lords shakes my hand. “One last question. The woman you were with at Jedburgh Abbey, the woman in the cloak of black feathers?—”

“Kellan Wyndham.”

He tips his head to the side. “Was it?”

I nod. I don’t think I’m giving anything away. A lot of people have seen her as Caileán now, haven’t they? I wish I’d talked this through with Luca, or even with Law, before Lords caught me out.

“I see.” He clasps my hand in his. “Thank you again, Rhodes. Best wishes for your recovery.”

“Thank you.”

After he leaves, I settle back into the bed with my textbook and read until my eyelids get heavy.

Luca wakes me with a kiss. Which is appropriate, since he’s my literal Prince.

“Hey, kit.”

He leans over the bed. He’s naked, his pale muscles gleaming in the morning light coming through the windows. His hair’s rumpled and his eyes gleam like gold. Sweet Mother, he’s gorgeous.

I’ve never seen the smile that’s spread across his face before. He’s beaming. He looks so fucking happy.

“Hey,” he says. “I love you, Rho.”

I hook an arm around his neck and use the leverage to sit up. “I love you too. How was last night?”

He sits on the edge of the bed and slides his arm around my chest. “I really love you.”

I cup his face in my hands and kiss him. I suck on his lower lip before I let him go. “I really love you.”

“Last night was—” He grins. “Caileán woke. She’s here. I’ve come to get you. Ready to see her?”

His happiness tells me everything I need to know about their night. “Born ready,” I confirm.

He stretches out his hands, wrapping me in fingers of Air, and gently levitates me from the bed. He flicks his fingers and two robes fly out of a closet. He shrugs one on and folds the other over his arm before he walks down the hallway with his hand resting on my shoulder, levitating me in a sitting position like I’m in an invisible wheelchair.

“Lu, I didn’t know your control was this good,” I say as we reach the end of the hallway without a wobble.

“It wasn’t,” he says. “Everything came together last night. Something unlocked. I leveled up just like the two of you have.”

“Leveled up?” I ask.

“You didn’t notice? After you renewed your connection with your Element at the Hallows. Your magic’s been so much stronger. I could smell it as soon as you got back.”

I cup my hand over the healing burns on my chest. “Lu, you don’t think?—”

He stops walking and shifts his hand to cup the back of my neck. “Yeah, I do. It’s all connected. Caileán woke the power you’d been suppressing. Bromios felt it and sent Kimberly after you. I’m sorry, Rho. You’ve been through hell, and you don’t deserve any of this. I wish I could take the pain away. I hope you don’t think I did the wrong thing, making Caileán bring you back?”

I reach up and mirror his gesture, cupping the back of his neck, drawing him down to touch foreheads. “If you have to drag me back from death a million times just so I can have another minute with you, you’ve done the right thing. I don’t regret anything.”

He squats so he can kiss me, hard and fevered. He’s been worried about me, my kit. It’s been hard for him to watch me recover. But he’s endured it as much as I have. I think it’s made us stronger, more confident in each other. Whatever uncertainties he had about us after I spent the semester courting his fated mate; whatever insecurities I had about not being enough for him and Caileán—they’re gone. We’re solid in a way we weren’t before.

I suck on his tongue before I let him go with a squeeze of his nape. His pupils are blown when he pulls back. I wink at him. “Missed you last night.”

“I slept with Caileán,” he admits.

“I know. I’m glad. You’ve waited long enough.”

“Kellan will be furious if she finds out before all her memories awaken.”

“I’m not keeping anything more from her, Lu. If she asks, I’ll be honest.”

He nods. “Me, too. Caileán showed us a spell to wall off the memory of last night until she’s fully awakened, but we didn’t do it. I think we have to be completely honest with Kellan from now on. That’s the only way she’ll trust us. I just hope she doesn’t ask.”

Me, too, although she’s not speaking to me at the moment, so it’s moot. But I’m going to figure out a way to change that. I understand why she hasn’t come to see me while I’ve convalesced. She’s entitled to her anger. But it’s also killed me. Every time the door opens, my heart leaps. Every time it isn’t her, it cuts a little deeper.

Luca opens the door into his parents’ audience hall with a flick of his fingers. The hall’s mostly empty, with a knot of five people standing near where Cath and Allie have their chairs.

Caileán’s standing with her back to me, wearing her cloak of raven feathers, gleaming purple and black and blue in the winter sunshine. She has her arms around Aine’s shoulders. Aine’s wrapped around her. Aine’s face is hidden within the cowl of Caileán’s cloak. They’re murmuring to each other.

Law’s standing an arm’s length away from his mate and his sister. He’s naked and no one seems bothered by it. How is it that everything about his identical twin turns me on and everything about Law just makes me feel vaguely annoyed?

Probably something to do with the way he’s treated me for three years.

Cath and Allie stand near their chairs, holding hands, watching their daughter hug Caileán. Cath looks inscrutable as usual, but Allie’s smiling mistily.

Law’s eyes flick over me when the door opens. He grunts. “Human.”

“Law.”

He glances at the airspace under my invisible wheelchair. “I’ll get chairs,” he says.

He pulls over the conference table and four chairs, which I think means Aine isn’t staying. Luca offers Law the robe he’s brought, which Law shrugs on but leaves open until Aine steps away from Caileán, wipes tears from her eyes, then throws her hands in front of her face dramatically. “Goddess, I’m blind! I’m blind!”

Law bares his fangs. “Scram, pest.”

“Going, BroNode. Your terrifying, tiny node has driven me away.”

Law rolls his eyes. He pulls out a chair for Caileán, but she holds up a hand. She strides over to me and kneels beside me. She folds my hand between hers. “Rhodes, please forgive my absence. I slept too long.”

I pull our entwined hands to my chest. “I missed you. Luca’s explained ... I missed you so much, babe.”

Calling the Crow Queen, with her burning blue eyes and three-inch-long talons and feathered cloak, “babe” should be strange, but it’s not. She’s as much the woman who made me close my eyes and turn my back so she could change into lingerie and light a cake for our two-month anniversary as she is the goddess who told me she’d returned from true death to fight at my side. Loving her has taught me to stop looking for absolutes. She can be more than one thing. We all can.

She presses her fingertips to my chest. “This doesn’t feel completely healed?”

“It’s better. I just have to take it easy, the healers say. Let the Mother do her work.”

I can’t see any expression with her cloak shadowing Caileán’s face, but the burning blue of her eyes narrows. “Hmm. We’ll see what we can do about that.”

She leans over and brushes a kiss over my mouth. I chase her taste: pennies and sweet wine.

Caileán stands and with a swirl of her claws guides the Air-sling I’m sitting in over to a chair. I’ve never seen a magi take over another mage’s magickal construction like that, but what Caileán can do has stopped surprising me.

She sits next to me. Law and Luca jostle for the chair beside her. Law wins by picking up Caileán and setting her down in his lap. With a roll of his eyes, Luca sits down beside them. I don’t feel bad about where he’s sitting. I’d have enjoyed days of being all over Kellan after our first night together if I hadn’t completely fucked it up. He should be all over her.

Caileán taking my hand and twining our fingers together soothes any sting even further.

Once we’re seated, Larissa appears and sets out trays of breakfast pizza, mini-quiche, egg and cheese muffins, and pastries. I dive for an egg and cheese muffin before Luca gobbles them all.

It’s not usual to eat in the audience hall and I don’t know if they’re doing it for my benefit or Caileán’s. I say thank you to Cath and Allie just to hedge my bets.

“We’re delighted to see you up and around, Rhodes,” Allie says. “How are you feeling?”

“Better every day. Thank you for letting me stay here while I recover.”

“We’re happy to have you. Luca couldn’t relax otherwise, could you, kitling?”

“No, Mom.”

Luca sounds like he’s speaking through gritted teeth. I know he hates diminutives from his parents.

“As nice as it is to have you all gathered at my table,” Cath says. “This visit is something of a surprise.”

Caileán puts aside a half-eaten wedge of quiche and flicks crumbs off her claws.

“I apologize for my unawakened self,” she says. “When I’m not everything I can be, my mind’s overwhelmed with anger and resentment. I know I spoke harshly to you all after the battle at Jedburgh Abbey. I ask your forgiveness and your guidance in dealing with the Holly King and his suit.”

Cath’s gray brows rise. “I wasn’t expecting an apology. Your words were harsh but true. The boys did lie to you, and I encouraged them to, so they could be close to you while you’re vulnerable. Perhaps I’m the one who should be apologizing. I caused your—what did you call it?—your ‘unawakened self’ a great deal of pain.”

Caileán’s cowl bobs. “Let’s forgive and move on. The Holly King’s suit represents both opportunity and risk. He was the Oak King’s knight and, as Luca’s wisely pointed out, may divulge the Oak King’s weaknesses if he thinks it will win him my favor.”

I glance at my kit. He’s watching Caileán with mad heart eyes. I know Luca’s drawn to Caileán; she’s his fated mate. But I think he might have fallen in love with her last night.

“And the risk?” Cath asks.

“The risk is that he learns my weaknesses and betrays me, either to the Oak King or to his own ends,” Caileán answers.

“Maybe he’s tired of playing second fiddle at Ivywhile,” Law says. “Maybe he wants a kingdom of his own.”

“Is that how he seemed to you?” Luca asks his twin.

Law shrugs. “There’s something off about him. I can’t figure out why he’d want Caileán’s hand?—”

“Beyond my obvious appeal,” Caileán quips.

Law chuckles and slides his arms around her waist, her feathers cascading over his forearms. “Beside your overwhelming appeal. I don’t see any attraction when he looks at you. I think it might be a purely political maneuver. Which makes me distrust him.”

“Face it, bro, you’d distrust him even if he was panting at Caileán’s feet?—”

Law bares his fangs. “I’d distrust him more .”

Caileán reaches back and strokes Law’s cheek, her claws rasping on his stubble. “Your touching jealousy aside, I agree. It’s not attraction that’s drawn him to me. He has an agenda. We need to figure out what it is. If it’s to get close to me and find my weaknesses, then he’s an enemy and must be neutralized or eliminated. If it’s to find an ally, then we must be confident his ends align with ours.”

There are nods all around the table.

“As much as you may be tempted to simply reject the annoyance of his suit, I think this is one case where the axiom, ‘keep your friends close but your enemies closer’ holds true,” Cath says. “You’ll need to let him court you.”

“From a minimum safe distance,” Luca quips while Law growls.

Caileán cups her hand around Law’s jaw and squeezes until his lips pucker. “We’ve talked about this. My heart is full.”

“And your bed,” Law grumbles.

“And my bed. I’m not sure that’s a concern with the Holly King, but you know I have reason to be wary of all high fae. Speaking of which, my sister Hraena is posing as one of them. She was behind that plague mask at the ball. What do you know of the Storm Lady of Ashegold?”

“Braelin Greenlaw?” Allie asks. “I haven’t met her, but the Greenlaw family is an old, old family. Certainly, before the birth of the human’s new god. As their House name suggests, they have long been Darkswerds, dispensing the Mother’s justice and protecting the courts.”

“Is Hraena the first Storm Lady from the Greenlaw line?” Caileán asks.

“As far as I know,” Allie says. “Cath?”

Her husband shrugs. “I was focused on winning and keeping my throne here, not what was going on across the ocean in a nest of high fae.”

Allie shakes her head at her husband, but she smiles indulgently. “Of course, dear.”

Cath slants his eyes at the twins. “Don’t let your mate patronize you the way your mother patronizes me.”

Law and Luca snigger.