Page 41 of Fated or Knot (UnseelieVerse: The Omega Masquerade #1)

41

LARK

N ow that my built-in eye protection was in place, Marius showed me around the Serian side of the Doras Sea on the way to our mysterious destination. Since his thoughts weren’t quite private anymore, I knew we were heading for a cave, but he wanted to stall for an hour or so for us to arrive around low tide.

Fish scattered everywhere as we circled a tiny shelf of multicolored coral. “Serian’s waters get too cold for us to have significant amounts of coral. The biggest reef I know of hugs Thelis’s western edge,” he narrated while I admired the small version growing here despite the odds. “I’ve seen it from a distance. The merfolk don’t allow kelpies close to this day.”

I was surprised by the spike of dislike he had for merfolk. I wondered if it was because of Cymora and Laurel.

“While they didn’t help matters, I’m probably privier to the war crimes merfolk committed on kelpies long ago than you are. There’s still a lot of bad blood there,” he answered.

I didn’t want it to taint our date by asking for details. But I was curious, and he could feel it. He steered us away from the coast and considered how much to tell me. “Mermaids used to have a spell called the siren’s song. It was fully effective on males and sometimes on females too. Those caught in the spell were compelled to do anything the singing mermaid demanded. A lot of nixies were murdered by their mates in a ploy to break the bereft kelpies and clear the sea for merfolk conquest.” He shuddered in fear and rage just imagining that distant past. “Which, in turn, resulted in revenge plots that killed hundreds of mermaids who could sing the siren’s song or were suspected of it. There’s a very good reason when our people talk about Unseelie warring with Seelie, they mention the water fae first.”

“Stars, I’ve never even heard of the siren’s song, and I lived with two mermaids.” I knew neither of them could cast such a spell, because Cymora was the type to abuse the fuck out of something like that.

“The merfolk lines that had access to that spell are gone. And good riddance.”

“Good riddance,” I agreed, thinking of my stepfamily.

“Cymora is still alive,” he said to my unspoken wonderings. He wasn’t all that happy to know that Rennyn had shared the full story about what’d happened to her since I last saw her. “Diplomatic overtures between the two nations of Faerie take weeks to complete. Last I heard, Queen Alora was still looking for her daughter. Mother’s letter detailing why we will be executing Cymora may be buried in a pile by this point.”

“What happened to Glory?”

“We still don’t know. Not that it’s our business. Probably just cinnamon girl being extra bratty.”

He shared his impression of Glory as a peer from a rival nation. Alora and Nemensia visited with each other at least twice a year, which meant their kids mingled too. He’d found Glory to be loud, brash, and bossy, and her pheromones about as pleasant as being hit in the face with an autumn festival cinnamon broomstick.

“She couldn’t be that bad,” I protested. Sharing memories seemed to be as easy as thinking about them, so I lingered on my one impression of her at the Omega Masquerade, saving me from the alpha male that’d tried to carry me onto the dance floor. Marius growled dangerously, and the vibrations shook my legs.

Forget the relatively gentle warning the other male had gotten from Glory. Had he been there, no one would’ve dared pick me up. “The fucking nerve. No one touches my p’nixie.”

That effectively distracted him from talk of cinnamon girl Glory. We circled an old shipwreck. Only the broken boards that used to be the skeleton of the vessel were left. According to Marius, there were several lining the depths of the Doras. We were staying in relatively shallow water because I needed more exposure to water pressure before we dove deeper, but someday, we could wander the seabed and search for treasure.

“Sounds like another date,” I said eagerly. He had me at treasure hunting.

He hesitated, second-guessing the offer. “Not that there aren’t water fae pirates that search regularly for anything they can steal.”

“Hmm. Extra adventure!”

He snorted a few extra bubbles and glanced over his shoulder at me. I was his extra adventure, pirates or no. Though he would prefer no pirates if it were an option.

“Surfacing.” He also warned me by bobbing us twice, deliberately, before angling for the blinding star of sunlight overhead. Checking our momentum, he slowed until just the top half of my head popped above the waterline, while he laid his equine snout flat with the water. He was effectively camouflaged in the blue-green sea. My white hair caught the sun like a flag.

“We’re going the right way. Also, look there. Humans.”

Just past a pier was a settlement of log houses. It wasn’t too difficult to spot the humans, who went about their business without noticing they were being watched. I gawked a little anyway. Some Seelie races resembled the bipedal non-fae, though Seelie fae usually had plant features that were noticeably absent from these people.

Not to say there weren’t also fae around. A huge alpha mothkin lumbered behind a curvy human omega, carrying several cargo boxes for her. Grimalkin cubs chased human kids up and down a stretch of the pier. One of the females stopped and turned our way. That small, pink human was looking right at us and waved. I raised my webbed left hand to wave back, while Marius tossed his head and sent up a spray of water.

The child was giggling and pointing when we disappeared back into the sea, leaving behind ripples in our wake. “They look like they’re doing well,” he commented. “Mother’s been making overtures with Linfall for decades to convince a small population to join the Unseelie. We have three human settlements right now. One here, one further inland, and one on the outskirts of the dreamlands.”

When he said “join the Unseelie” he meant it the same way the dreamlanders had joined. As Kauz had told me of the original dreamlanders, they’d crossbred with Unseelie races to gain designations and fae blood. The same thing could happen to humans, who had the benefit of already having the same designations we did. Their fae-blooded children would enjoy longer lifespans, and they’d bring their clever innovations to Serian first.

I wondered if the human nation of Linfall knew that was why Nemensia had sold interested settlers small parcels of land. Time would tell, I supposed. I’d one day inherit this diplomacy and didn’t see anything wrong with it if it meant we’d have more things like rain rooms and toilets.

Though Marius agreed, he was still hesitant at the idea of inviting in too many humans. “As long as they don’t bring their wars.” There were other, more distant human nations past our islands, and there were contentions over one thing or another. He knew of it only because the occasional ambassador visited from a desperate faraway land in search of magic. “More like looking for a miracle army that will fight their enemies. We always say no. We have to. Serian is too small to have stakes in distant conflicts.”

I hadn’t even realized. The world was so much bigger than I’d expected from my life in Osme Fen.

“Will you tell me about it?” he asked.

“About what?”

“Osme Fen. What was it like?”

Well, there wasn’t too much to tell, but I showed him some of my memories. The lake. The restaurant my father took me to, where I’d stuffed myself with the same meal each time: roast boar with sides of herb-stuffed mushrooms and cheesy potatoes, plus apple tartlets for dessert.

My book collection, those dog-eared tomes that became my prized possessions once Cymora started removing joy from my life. I didn’t dwell on that, though I had the sense that Marius wanted to see it. He wanted to know all of it. But he understood why I tiptoed around a lot of Osme Fen. I wanted to enjoy the day with him, not live in the past.

“Someday soon, then. Fal heard it all from the fish’s mouth.” Guilt tugged at him, feeling sour in my belly. “I wasn’t strong enough to stay in the interrogation for long. But I still want to carry the burden of your past with you and help you heal.” He viewed his abrupt departure from the questioning as weakness in himself, and I had the impression it was because he’d heard something he personally couldn’t bear.

“You’ve already helped. I’m healing,” I rushed to assure him. Just taking my side and removing Cymora’s talons from their death grip on me, he and the pack had helped me get to a much better place than I’d ever dreamed of being in.

He agreed but still wanted to help. Stars, even delivering me the still-beating hearts of my enemies was better than letting any of my past hurts fester in silence.

“No violence required,” I practically yelped. “I’m fine. Promise.”

He exaggerated a disappointed huff. “Not even a single heart?” He’d eased off the intensity to joke about it, even though he was perfectly capable of giving me bloody revenge if I so desired it. He’d relish in delivering it, even.

“The only one of those I’m interested in is yours.”

“You’ve already claimed it, p’nixie. It’s been yours the moment you sank your teeth in me. Maybe even longer than that.”

Maybe, but we didn’t really remember that time. And it would be unfair to dwell on the what-ifs related to what could’ve been if we hadn’t been parted for so long.

He agreed, saying, “I love you so fucking much. I’d stop and show you, but…”

His thoughts admitted to something that had me cackling. We were, in theory, supposed to finish our bond underwater. But he took a look around the sea around us and wondered how that was supposed to work. No handholds or anything to brace against so he could actually thrust. He imagined it’d be a very disappointing fuck.

“I’m going to be a good mate and finish our date. Then I’ll take you to the nearest bed like a gentle male.”

“So generous,” I teased.

His ear flicked, and he bobbed twice, signaling that we were surfacing. This time, we emerged up to his shoulders into the late afternoon sunlight. I stretched muscles gone stiff from such a prolonged trip on his back. Marius turned us toward land, though we wouldn’t be able to get to civilization from here. Foaming white waves pounded huge cliffs of rock. The water roared and occasionally revealed jagged teeth of rock jutting out just beneath the surface.

“We’re close. Look for a sea cave opening,” he said.

We scanned the cliffs for a hole that, apparently, I would have to be blind to miss. We searched for a good half hour before we spotted it. It was definitely unmistakable, fifteen feet high and crumbling around the edges to become even larger. The tide was low enough that we could see the bottom curve of the cave opening. Marius rode a wave overtop it and treaded water in a small circular space with a low enough roof that we both had to duck.

“We should have a personal essence lamp amongst our things. We need it to go exploring.”

I searched for it, cringing as I probably got salt water in amongst all of our things before I found the round lamp toward the bottom of the bag. Once I activated it and fixed it over his shoulder, Marius dunked underwater and undulated his tail slowly to take us under through a narrow opening partially blocked off by a rockfall.

Once we were past it, he said, “Welcome to the drowned city of Telimarr.” The essence lamp illuminated our immediate surroundings, but I had the impression we’d just entered a large, still space. We headed down at an angle, skimming over a set of stairs cut into the stone. There were hints of elegant patterns chiseled into the stairs, though they’d mostly been eroded away and coated in a layer of mossy fuzz.

“Telimarr was a dark elf city back when the elves were still a subterranean race,” Marius explained. “The Doras beat up against their back door until it burst in one day and filled all three levels of the city. It’s been reclaimed by the water fae since then.”

I thought of the rockfall we’d just squeezed past. “It’s safe?”

“Aye. There’s a small group of bioluminescent fae who live in the lower levels. They’re harmless. They might be amused at the sight of us tourists.”

He knew we wouldn’t be the first—or last—kelpie and nixie couple to visit Telimarr. Once the floor of this level was within the halo of our essence lamp, I understood why. We traced a path of devastation first, as the sea had poured forcefully upon the rubble of the first buildings we passed. But further along, we saw what Marius called “a period of ancient history suspended in time.” He’d been here before, on his own, just to learn. Some of the facts he remembered, he related to me as we explored.

There was a town square, marked with a circular fountain where a cracking statue of a graceful but headless elf woman stood with her palms extended upward. Before emerging to see the stars, dark elves used to worship the black unknown found deep in their caves. There was no darkness as complete as that found when surrounded by solid rock. Elves trapped for extended periods in the unknown claimed it was a religious experience.

“Half the time, they’d be blind, too. Total darkness is terrible on the body, no matter what kind of fae you are,” Marius added.

“What made dark elves turn their eyes up toward the stars rather than down toward the deep earth?” I asked curiously.

“Other fae.” That was a joke. He didn’t really know either, but dark elf promiscuity was the gel that held the many races of the Unseelie together, especially going back to the early days of Serian.

Most of the Unseelie had some dark elf blood mixed in if they looked far enough back in their family trees. He thought I might be a rare exception, since my mother was a dreamlander, but he and his brothers were a quarter dark elf from Nemensia, and Fal, insufferably, was as pure-blooded an elf as possible for an Unseelie.

“Why insufferable?” I asked.

He snorted a spray of bubbles and thought of a recent memory. “You are unfairly attractive,” I’d told Fal while tracing his alpha mark. Marius had watched me admiring his brother’s naked body with jealousy burning in his gut.

I rolled my eyes. “Are you forgetting the next thing that happened? I saw you fully naked.”

He responded with a wave of smugness. He was well aware I found his strength incredibly attractive, which also was such a male ego thing. I patted his neck and turned my attention to our surroundings.

The surviving buildings we passed were made of stone and occupied by small sea creatures, if at all. The architecture was curious, blocky and crude compared to modern fae buildings but elegant in their own ways. Sculpted embellishments turned columns into works of art, and wall panels became optical illusions from engraved, looping shapes.

I could admire all this for hours, especially when we followed a path down to the next level. Everything was more intact here, like the sea had filled it up gently after taking its wrath out on the floor above.

“Look at these crystals.” Marius took me to a bush-sized cluster of spiky, prism-like growths on the ceiling and had me turn off our essence lamp.

Darkness closed in, but it wasn’t complete. The prisms glowed with dull lime green light. Distant pinpricks of different colors dotted the ceiling, walls, and floor. “Wow, they’re so pretty,” I said.

“They’re a special crystal. Do you like silver?” The question wasn’t as random as it seemed. Marius’s next thought was that Fal preferred the color silver.

“Um, yes?”

“We should find him a silver or gray piece. Dark elves fucking love rocks.”

He wanted to do something nice for Fal?

“I can play nice,” he grumbled. “Besides, this’ll mean something more to him. I’ll let him tell you the dark elf fact.”

I wondered what he was talking about but did my best to let it go. I’d probably understand when I presented Fal with a crystal that glowed in the dark and saw his reaction.

“We can just take these crystals?” I asked.

Marius exaggerated a look left and right. “I don’t see anyone around to stop us. Besides, you only need a piece, not a whole formation.”

Fair enough. We searched for crystals of a nice silvery hue on and off as we explored the rest of Telimarr. Eventually, we found one. Marius had to wrap some of his clinging mane around it and pull with the full strength of his kelpie form, but we did get a prism-like chunk free.

Though most things of value had long been taken, there was enough intact here to see how the subterranean fae lived. My favorite spot by far was a thick temple made with sheets of multicolored crystal rather than glass. We floated inside the empty area where ancient dark elves used to gather and imagined what they might’ve done here.

Once we left the temple, we visited the bottom floor briefly. It was deep enough underground that my head ached from the water pressure.

Besides, I had the feeling we were being watched. Curious water fae peeked out from thick patches of greenery growing in clusters on any available space. These creatures were more fish than fae, diminutive-sized people from the torso up, while boasting voluminous fins in orange, black, and white patterns like overgrown koi. Similar to the crystals, their patterns glowed outside of the radiance of our essence lamp.

“They’re vanishing spirits,” Marius told me. “Said to be what happens to the pet fish that die of neglect and get their bodies tossed back into the sea. If you catch one and try to take it topside…”

“It’ll vanish?”

“Aye. There’s debate on whether they’re alive or not. No one’s had a conversation with one. But they’ve never given water fae that do talk problems, so we leave them alone.”

I was still uneasy with how they all seemed to be staring at us. He carried me back to the second floor, more concerned about removing me from the water pressure that deep in Telimarr. I was content to go: I’d gotten my silvery crystal, I had my kelpie, and this had been a cool experience. Marius agreed and swam up toward dry land. “We’ll have a bit of a walk ahead, but I know where we’re going.”

“Great. With a bed at the end of the path?”

“Aye. No matter what state I shift back in, I’ll wait to knot you until I can lock you in a room with me.”

He rumbled when I shifted in excitement. I thought the water would wash away any sign of my slick, but he smelled it as keenly as any predator after the scent of blood. This time, I could feel his feral side stir and heat. My pussy squeezed on air in echo to the lust that blazed from him. “Going to stuff you with my seed, mate. I can’t wait to feel you shake with bliss from the breeder’s delight,” he added in a low growl.

“Finally, you’re going to knot me,” I said, aching for it already.

“We’re going to be locked together for days. It’ll be a miracle if your heat doesn’t arrive. I’ll gladly fuck you all the way through it when it does. All mine . You’ll grow round with my…” He shook his head sharply and nearly dashed us against a rocky wall as we ascended toward a circle of dim sunlight. “Theoretical babies. Fuck. Sorry. This rut has me by the throat.”

He’d certainly recovered a lot faster than I had, as my core was still hot with need. “I think that was my fault.”

Marius scoffed at the idea of fault . He also started to shift back into his fae form as soon as we passed the rockfall partially blocking off access to Telimarr. As his animal features receded, the clinging kelpie mane released me, and I floated to the water’s surface. The sun was going down elsewhere, leaving our essence lamp the best illumination of our surroundings.

Water lapped at a pebbly shore of crudely cut rock, leading up and around a bend shrouded in darkness. I emerged onto the shore waterlogged and quickly chilled by a breeze off the sea. My wings flopped around behind me, looking like short nixie fins rather than stiff pixie wings.

Marius emerging from the water, fully changed and finger-combing his wet hair back in place. The intensity of our bond was starting to fade now that he wasn’t in an animal form, but I could still feel the shape of his thoughts and the lust rolling from his nude body. He prowled toward me, his dilated gaze intent. The defined muscles I admired so much were taut, and his cock throbbed at rigid attention.

I felt a tug toward him low in my belly. It was the bond demanding completion, and my omega instincts were in full agreement. We could fuck like animals right here amongst the grit and pebbles.

Or…I had a better idea, because I did want the luxury of a locked room and a bed. Marius paused within touching distance and let me admire his body. He was looking remarkably lickable, from the little rivulets still running down the planes of his speckled chest to the cock jutting out, the piercing at its head glinting from the essence lamp.

There was still water in my lungs, and my gills flared as I tried to draw breath. Marius had only stopped for that moment to exhale, and more seawater leaked from his gills before they closed. How’d he do that? I was starting to struggle for air. He took a step forward and pinched my nose with one hand, the other putting pressure on my throat. “Breathe all the way out.”

I did and felt the water leak out of my lungs with the air, escaping out of my gills before they shut. He released me, and I took half a breath before sputtering on some lingering water and having a coughing fit. Some of his amusement lit in me despite how our bond had fuzzed over. “Still only half a water fae, I suppose,” he teased.

I waited for the coughing to ease before saying, “I have an idea.”

“I know.” His brow raised, and he glanced past me to the hole in the rocky wall, leading out to the open sea. It was thick enough that he could sit on it, and even at low tide, the waves washed over its lip.

“Think it’d work?”

“Probably. Give me our bag.” He considered for a few more moments before his hands moved to his cock. He started unscrewing the rounded stud at the top of the lady pleaser.

“That comes off?” I asked in surprise.

His ear flicked. “Silly female,” I heard in my head, distinctly in Niall’s smoky voice.

“Of course it does, silly female,” Marius echoed out loud. “I have to keep it clean.”

Well, Niall now had a direct connection to whisper feral thoughts in my head after all. I smiled as I passed Marius our bag. He dug out a towel and placed the crystal piece and his piercing inside it before setting it against the cave’s wall.

There was a gleam in his eyes as he turned back to me, though the yellow ring was swallowed up by his feral side when I bent my knees and started to lick the lingering salt water off his lower abs. His cock kicked at the first stroke of my caressing hand. I felt a jolt of pleasure that wasn’t my own through our bond. Stars, that would take some getting used to.

“Just a little relief before you knot me. And a thank you for the date,” I thought to him, pretty sure Niall was active enough to respond.

“The date isn’t over yet. You’ll see.” I had the impression he was excited for me to see what he meant.

“An interlude, then.”

“Aye. Kiss me,” he demanded.

I straightened, and he lifted me from under my thighs to meet my mouth with his. He drew me close to carry me into the sea while our tongues tangled. His length still brushed past my pussy, so close to where I ached to have him. He rubbed back and forth against me while I soaked him with my slick. I trembled from the extra sensations along our bond, fairly sure our pleasures would combine when he finally slid inside me.

Water rushed between us, and he let me go abruptly to be washed back into the open water. My gills reopened without trouble this time. I bobbed to the surface a few yards away from the hole in the cliffside, where Marius had found a seat on a relatively flat section and balanced his body braced against the waves.

“Come get me, sea spirit,” he thought, watching me swim toward him with a flash of his fangs. “‘Our vessel may be wrecked, but we will survive together. You’ve helped me understand the error of my ways, for to brave the tides alone is to perish.’”

“What?” I giggled. A wave picked me up and shoved me toward him the rest of the way. He caught my arms and held himself in place by digging his heels into the cliff underwater.

“ Tides of Treason . Your favorite part,” he said out loud confidently. He also shifted to the edge of his seat and spread his legs so I could settle between them.

I licked the underside of his cock, tasting seawater and just a hint of minty musk. “When did you have time to read Tides of Treason ?” I asked in disbelief. Last we’d discussed it had been at the end of the train ride to Serian, and he hadn’t picked it up yet. Yet the shipwreck scene was toward the end.

“Shh. You’re thinking too hard.”

Oh, the absolute irony of him saying that to me. He rolled his eyes and braced against the next wave with his heels and hands, while I rested my palms on the rock underneath him. My face crushed against his groin, but I took a moment to kiss his alpha mark and shivered when I felt an echo of how that felt for him, like a zing of awareness all over.

This may not have been my best idea, but I was going to give my kelpie some relief even if the water added an extra challenge. I resumed licking his cock, this time reaching past him to hold on to the back of the shelf of rock where he sat. I hollowed out my cheeks to suck on him, rewarded by a taste of mint, waterlily, and musk as his crown wept on my tongue and my pussy tingled in sympathy.

“Where was I?” he asked, nearly playful, even though his head was thrown back and his mouth hanging open. “Ah, yes. ‘To brave the tides alone is to perish. And I intend not to die today, nor tomorrow, for that matter.’”

“‘Especially not without knowing the feel of your lips on mine,’” I supplied for him. It was my favorite part. I’d reread it so many times that I had it memorized.

The water picked up again, and this time, the wave did exactly what I expected it to. Marius braced, and so did I, but in a different way, as the sea picked me up and shoved me into him. Which, in turn, pushed his cock all the way into my mouth, to the root. I breathed through my gills and gave thanks to the stars that I didn’t have a gag reflex with them open. The one making a choking noise was my male as he tensed all over from having his entire length squeezed in my mouth and throat.

“ Foc ,” he groaned. Oh yes, foc indeed, because my inner walls clenched hard on nothing to mirror him.

The base of his cock throbbed with his heartbeat against my lips. Now I just waited for the next wave to pick me up and push me back down on his length again and sucked on him in the meantime.

“‘The captain took her hand in his and tugged her close,’” I recited, since it seemed he was too overcome with pleasure to continue quoting the book.

The water tugged me away from him but too far, and he scrambled to catch me before my mouth left his cock completely. With his help, I sheathed him completely again as the wave passed us. “I can see…stars…” he said between gasping breaths. I trembled in sympathy, not faring much better.

“‘He could see the stars sparkling in her eyes as they leaned in at the same time,’” he said in my mind, far more composed.

“‘Finally, you appreciate that we’re better together,’” I said for the female’s part of the scene.

“‘He realized she’d been waiting years to hear him admit to such a thing. He’d been a fool not to see how much she cared for him.’”

He caught me again and stroked my hair once the wave passed. His breathing was coming shorter, emerging from between his fangs half pant, half growl as his eyes practically glowed in the dim, final rays of sunshine.

“‘Better? Nay, I dare say you make me the best I can be. As flawed a male as I am.’”

In the meantime, I rode the next wave and felt his knot start to inflate. It was maybe an extra inch around, only testing my jaw a little. Any larger, and it wouldn’t fit in my mouth anymore. I hope I didn’t hurt him when the next flow of the sea forced my lips against his knot.

“And he—fuck, hold on.”

“I don’t think that’s the next line,” I teased.

The sea tugged me away from him, and this time, he clung to me with both hands. He spilled his seed even as the wave rushed to push me back down on his cock. My eyes rolled back as the bond slammed me with his pleasure. I purred from the taste of him, even though it was greatly abbreviated. He drew his legs up and fell right off his perch, hitting the sea with a splash.

“Marius!” I exclaimed, diving after him. The essence lamp followed me underwater belatedly, illuminating the sea below us.

He’d landed in a cradle of rock a couple yards below the waterline, expression dazed but starting to crease with amusement. His beast was already laughing in the back of my head, deep and rich. Stars, name a better sound.

“I’m fine. Just can’t feel my legs,” he chuckled. He held his arms out for me, and I slipped into his embrace. Instead of letting me tug him back to the surface, he flatted my wing-fins to my back and held me. The waves rocked us gently with the lip of rock protecting us from any stronger currents.

Marius kissed me ever so slowly underwater and nuzzled his nose against mine. “‘And he kissed her with the floating detritus of his once great ship and the stars as witnesses. Plus the good-natured jeers of the rest of the crew when they were forced to witness too,’” he concluded. “I’m a little surprised that wasn’t the end of the book.”

“They had a great comeback.”

“They did. You were right. It was a much better book than The Battle of Marsh Hill .”

“How did you know that was my favorite part?” I asked.

He slanted me a playful look. “Consider it an educated guess. My p’nixie loves kisses. And prefers kissing scenes to saucy ones.”

I considered for a moment. “You do know me pretty well. I guess I did give you a peek in my head.”

“Hmm. What is it Kauz is always saying? ‘Being perceptive isn’t magic. Keep your eyes and your mind open, and you’ll rarely be surprised.’” Oddly, communicating mind-to-mind this way meant that he mimicked Kauz’s soothing tones almost exactly.

“He is unnaturally perceptive,” I said with affection.

“Only when he cares. He notices the hurt in everyone if he talks to them long enough. That level of empathy is a curse.” His mind held a thread of respect for Kauz. I had the impression he was thinking of others his brother had helped. And the fact that there were many of them didn’t surprise me at all. “Anyway, you’re mine right now, and Niall is considering attempting to breed you right here. Let’s get going.”