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T he light from the lantern was just enough to examine the elephant.

The poor creature lay on her side, her breathing labored, and Cassian watched as Gabby clucked and murmured in sympathy, her hands skimming over the beast’s sides and forehead, checking God-knows what.

Gus was at her side each step of the way, watching what she did, and Cassian had to admit he was impressed by how well the lad seemed to be absorbing the murmured answers to his soft questions.

It was a quiet climax to an infiltration.

Cassian was used to the stress of a mission. He knew the way his heartbeat changed, the way his skin tingled when he and his team moved in on a mark. And he knew how to hide those things so the mark wouldn’t see them.

So why was tonight so different?

Why did he feel calm and at ease, with his son and his—his Gabby with him, here in the warm darkness, doing something they weren’t supposed to be doing ?

Because, ye dobber, ye’re experiencing post-coital clarity and calm .

Och, aye.

There was that.

Did his superiors at Her Majesty’s Secret Service know about this? Did they know ejaculating prior to a mission brought their agents this peace? Should this be part of their new training manual?

Are ye going to offer to write it for them?

Nay. Besides, it wasn’t the fact he’d come all over the wall. It was the fact he’d done so with Gabby . The woman he loved. The woman he wanted a future with.

God willing.

The telegram—and letter—she’d sent to her uncle today…they should help. On their ride that morning, in between listening to Gus’s grandiose plans for this infiltration—hiding in the wheelbarrow of cabbages, really?—Gabby had murmured updates to Cassian’s willing ear.

If her uncle Bull’s contact, the one who sent her on this case, really had the ear of the Crown…well, then it was possible Cassian could find a way to tell the truth. The Prince’s threat hung over him constantly, so it would just depend who Bull contacted.

And why the hell did the name Bull Lindsay seem so familiar?

“This does not make any sense.”

The quiet murmur cut through Cassian’s musings, half surprised he hadn’t uttered the words himself. “What? ”

Gus turned to him, and the worry on the lad’s face caused Cassian to step closer in concern as the lad muttered, “Gabby says that Elizabeth isn’t acting right.”

Cassian frowned, moving to her side beside the elephant. “Well, aye, we ken that, right? That’s why ye’re here? Because she’s no’ acting right?”

“No…” She planted her hands on her hips and studied the animal’s closed eyes.

“She is not acting…well, like a pregnant elephant. I thought it was a good sign to find her lying near the birthing trench, but look—” She jerked her chin toward a shallow pit.

“She is not oriented properly, even if her time to labor was near.”

“It’s no’?” Cassian risked reaching out and placing a palm against the animal’s side. It was surprisingly rough, surprisingly comforting. “She certainly looks fat enough.”

“She’s an elephant, Da,” Gus sighed in exasperation. “She’s no’ fat, just well-rounded.”

“So ye’re saying, she’s no’ pregnant enough to be in imminent danger of giving birth?” The animal’s skin was surprisingly warm, with stiff hairs to tickle his palm as he stroked her. “Uncle Dickie said he’d had her for many months.”

“An elephant’s gestation is around twenty-two months,” Gabby murmured, chewing on her bottom lip distractedly. “I am not certain what I am saying.”

“Elizabeth isn’t about to give birth, Da,” Gus assured him wisely. “She still has months and months to go, but her activity shouldn’t be this lethargic so early.”

Cassian raised a brow. “How do ye ken? ”

“I read .” His son grinned cheekily, even as he stroked the elephant’s massive brow. “Uncle Dickie has a brilliant library.”

“Aye,” Cassian murmured, shooting Gabby a glance. “I ken so.”

When he’d been a lad, his studies had been…

an obligation. Granted, his grandfather’s ideas of studies had been dry Bible verses and the cane for an inattentive lad, but Cassian had much rather been climbing or fishing or running through the fields with the farmers’ lads.

And here was his son, who actively sought out books to read on subjects that interested him.

He shook his head fondly. “Ye’re a remarkable young man, Augustus Grey. Ye never cease to amaze me, and I’m grateful to be yer father.”

The lad blinked a few times, then glanced down at the elephant, his cheeks reddening. “Um…thank you. I…I’m grateful you’re my Da, too.”

I hate you! You’re not my father !

Cassian’s lips slowly twisted into a wry grin, beyond grateful to have had the opportunity to re-build—nay, to build his relationship with his son from those difficult, screamed accusations just days ago to this .

And it was all thanks to the woman currently pacing around an elephant, muttering to herself.

The woman, that was. Not the elephant.

This was probably the moment to say something meaningful and sentimental that Gus would remember for years. Unfortunately, before Cassian could think of anything, Gabby lifted the elephant’s tail and wrinkled her nose.

“Well, that is all wrong too.”

“I recognize my ignorance when it comes to the nether regions of large mammals,” Cassian said dryly, “but…what’s wrong?”

“Look at her dung!” Still holding the tail—good Lord, that thing was huge—Gabby gestured to the piles of shite around them. “Her gut is not…” Her head came up and she speared Gus with an intense gaze. “Wait, what did Hunter say they were feeding her?”

“Oats, barley, beer…” The lad shrugged. “Just like the rest of the animals.”

“No, I told him to remove the beer and barley,” she murmured, dropping the tail and moving slowly around the animal, who was still wheezing uncomfortably.

“And look, she is only lying near the birthing trench because she has eaten all the grass out of it. I would guess there was hay mixed in as well…”

Cassian had stepped back to allow her space to work, but now frowned as he studied her. “ Ye told Hunter to feed the elephant only oats?”

“No, I told him to stop feeding her beer and barley.” Gabby was running her hands over the distended belly, and as he watched, she pressed her cheek—her ear, perhaps?

—against the large swath of gray skin. “Although it is common for large mammals in captivity to be fed such a diet, I wish they would not—it is not healthy. They have evolved to eat grasses. Even hay is better than barley.” She pressed on the animal’s side thoughtfully.

“ The gut of an elephant in captivity is a delicate beast in itself.”

As she said this, Gabby leaned against the side of the elephant, who grunted and tried to roll over. Gabby’s eyes widened, and in the light of the lantern, Cassian saw her face pale.

“Oh, no,” she whispered.

Before he could ask, Gus had blurted out, “You could use the lace!” Both adults turned, confused, to see the lad bound over.

“Gabby, don’t you see? You could burn the lace and it would heal her—” Gus bit off his word with a sudden gasp, and swung on his father.

“Wait! Never mind, we’re supposed to burn the lace and heal Da . ”

“What?” Cassian barked. “Gus, what do ye?—”

“The magic talisman lace, Da!” Clearly torn, Gus grabbed Cassian’s hand. “Gabby’s magic lace! Remember? If she burns it and we all wish really hard, it can cure someone! I wanted to use it on you?—”

“But now ye’re thinking ye want to use it to cure the elephant?” Cassian glanced back and forth between his son and Gabby’s lower-lip-chewing worried expression. “Gus, I dinnae ken?—”

“Nay, on ye ! Da, if we burn it, and wish, we could grow yer foot back! Just like we talked about!”

Cassian was unable to stop the bark of laughter which burst from his lips, but he squeezed his son’s hand as he shook his head, trying to let the lad know there were no hard feelings. “Thank ye, laddie. It means the world to me that ye are worried about me. But I dinnae need my leg back. ”

“But you said you feel like?—”

Half a man.

“I ken what I said,” Cassian said kindly. With a slight sigh, he bent down to meet his son’s eyes. “When did ye get so tall?”

“What?”

Shaking his head, Cassian said quietly, “I remember the first time I held ye. Ye were so tiny, even though ye were already a few months old. And each time I’d return home, it was like ye’d doubled in size.

Ye went from this tiny infant to this sturdy toddler to a strong young lad, and ye are halfway to manhood now, and I’m just amazed?—”

“Da! Focus !” Gus rolled his eyes. “I love you too, and all that, but your foot! We could grow it back!”

Squeezing Gus’s hand again, Cassian told the truth.

“I dinnae need a whole leg or a new foot, son. Losing it—losing the life I kenned—was horrible. But it brought me back here. To ye. To my new life. And as long as ye think I’m whole enough…

” He glanced at Gabby. “As long as ye both think that, then I’m good enough. Just the way I am.”

As Gus chewed on his inner lip, his expression looked remarkably like Gabby’s. “Are you sure, Da?”

Cassian straightened, certainty pooling in his chest. “Aye. Use the magic lace to cure the elephant.” He sent Gabby a wink to tell her he didn’t really believe in the magic, but she was looking too worried to respond.

Besides, Gus chose that moment to throw himself at Cassian and wrap his arms around his father’s middle and squeeze . Cassian’s eyes closed as he sent a silent prayer of thanks heavenward and returned his son’s hug, thanking God for this opportunity to earn the lad’s love and trust, finally.

Gus was the one to pull back first. “So did you bring the lace, Gabby?”