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Only her family—and now Adric—knew about her Gift, and she intended to keep it that way.

She’d heard the stories of her Irish Seer mother.

People might have liked Ula Gallagan, but they’d been wary of her, too.

Everyone said they’d like to know the future, but when it came right down to it, no one wanted to be told their own death was barreling down at them like a great white shark, cold-eyed and relentless.

She turned a corner and stopped dead. She’d touched Adric without setting off her Sight. That was odd, especially after what had happened in December.

But not unexpected. One thing she’d learned was the Sight was erratic. It came and went at its own whim.

She continued walking until she reached the quarters she shared with Isa, her childhood nurse. Something else that had to change. She was too old to be living with her nurse, much as she loved the older woman. Everyone else her age had moved to the unmated warriors’ quarters.

Easing open the door, she slipped off her boots and padded into the small sala .

“ Boa noite ,” said a deep voice from the direction of Dion and Cleia’s apartment.

Her alpha brother loomed in the doorway connecting their apartments, big hands gripping the doorjamb above him, his black hair loose around his shoulders, his only clothing a pair of cut-off sweats that bagged around his muscular thighs.

Even fresh out of the bed, the man looked authoritative, in control.

She stifled a sigh as she set down the boots and stripped off her jacket and gloves. Yep, she definitely had to get her own place.

Dion was over one hundred turns of the sun, more like her dad than a brother.

And like her papai , he’d been born and raised in Portugal with an old-world way of looking at things.

He also had that whole alpha-protective-thing going on.

He just didn’t understand that at twenty-two, his little chick was ready to spread her wings and fly.

And if she fell, well, that would be on her, not him.

“ Olá , Dion. Sorry if I woke you up.” She spoke in Portuguese, the language the clan used at home. She dropped onto the couch to take off her socks.

Dion sat next to her. “You didn’t wake me. The little one was fussing.”

“Brisa?” Rosana stopped in the act of removing a sock. Fada didn’t often get sick, even the children. Their touch of fae blood fought off human viruses. “She okay?”

Brisa was the one thing Rosana and Dion agreed on. The tiny girl had them both wrapped around her plump little finger.

“She’s fine. Just teething. Cleia gave her a shot of healing energy, and she went right back to sleep.”

“ Bom . I hate it when she’s hurting.”

Rosana pulled the sock the rest of the way off and wriggled her toes. Deus , she detested shoes, but even a shifter couldn’t walk barefoot around Baltimore.

“Me, too.” He exhaled. “I feel so fucking powerless.”

She blinked. Her big brother had admitted there was something he couldn’t fix? The man had balls of steel. Hell, he’d kidnapped the sun fae queen—one of the most powerful fae in the world—and not only had he survived, he’d mated the woman.

“She’ll be fine.” She awkwardly patted his leg over the cut-offs, careful not to touch his bare skin. “Kids have to go through these things, you know.”

“I know.” He gave her a lopsided smile. “I remember when you were teething—we all took turns walking with you at night.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah. You were the cutest thing, and usually all smiles. But when you weren’t happy, the whole family knew it.”

She chuckled. “Sorry. At least Brisa has a mom who’s a healer.”

“ Sim . And a full belly.”

Their eyes met, and she knew they were both recalling the years when the clan was poor and hungry, the children too thin, sickly. Rosana might have been a pup, but she hadn’t forgotten how hard Dion had worked to save the clan, even while their papai was still alpha.

And then their parents had gone missing, and Dion had had to step in and raise both Rosana and their brother Tiago while also leading the search for Nisio and Ula. Then, when it became clear their parents had either died or been ensnared by the fae, he’d taken over as the new alpha.

For the first time, she realized how hard it must have been on him. He’d become both a father and alpha, all within a few months.

“Brisa’s a lucky girl,” Rosana said. “She has you and Cleia for parents.”

“You really think so?” A strange, almost diffident look crossed his face.

She gave an emphatic nod. “I know so.”

“ Obrigado .” Dion stifled a yawn.

“No need to thank me. It’s the truth.” She made to stand up. “But I should let you get to bed.”

“Sit.” A soft command.

She sank back onto the couch, spine stiff.

“You were in Baltimore.”

She lifted her chin. “So?”

“Davi was here earlier. He said you were talking to Lord Adric. That the two of you looked…involved.”

Her jaw tightened. On the way home from Baltimore, she’d toyed with the idea of telling Dion straight out about her and Adric. Now she was glad she’d kept her mouth shut.

“Davi should mind his own business.” He was an ambitious young tenente who was only interested in her because she was the alpha’s sister.

“He didn’t have to tell me. I can smell Adric on you.”

Her chin jutted. “So?”

“Rosana.” Dion’s tone made her feel like a pup again. “The man’s a sneaky S.O.B. He wants Rock Run territory for his own clan. He tricked his way inside once—how do you know he’s not trying to do it again?”

She stared down at her hands. They’d curled into fists. She straightened them out. She was not going to fight with Dion. He might have raised her from the time she was six, but she was an adult now.

“That was years ago. When was the last time you had any problems with him?”

“Doesn’t mean he isn’t planning something.” Dion’s mouth turned down. “The man doesn’t have control of his own clan. In the last year alone, he and that sister of his have taken out two of his cousins.”

She gritted her teeth. Dion was so certain he knew Adric, and sure, he’d done some bad things in the past. But Adric had changed. She knew he had.

“He’s doing the best he can. It’s not his fault he inherited a mess from that uncle of his. If he killed his cousins, then he had a good reason.”

“And then there’s his uncle. He didn’t even have the balls to challenge him—Leron Savonett just disappeared.

The man has no honor, and he wants Rock Run’s territory.

Don’t forget Tiago. Adric played him like a fucking violin—and we almost lost the base because of it.

The bastard will do anything to take me down, and you’re my sister. ”

“So he can’t want me for myself?” she asked evenly.

A muscle ticked in Dion’s jaw. “That’s not what I meant. You’re a beautiful girl. You know that.”

“I’m not a girl,” she said between tight lips. “I’m a woman.” Which was the whole problem. To Dion, she’d always be a girl, the little sister he’d raised from the time she was a pup.

“Rosana…”

She expelled a breath. “You were there for me after we lost Mama and Papai to King Sindre and the ice fae. I’ll never forget that. But you’re not my dad, Dion. Even if you were, I’m all grown up now. I love you, but you don’t get to tell me who I—”

“And if he’s just using you?”

The hurt nearly doubled her over. That the big brother she admired more than anyone in the world thought she was so stupid Adric could use her to harm the clan.

She came to her feet. “We’re both tired. I’m going to forget you said that. Boa noite .”

“Rosana. Damn it, I—”

“No. Just…no.” She walked into her bedroom and shut the door. Calm and controlled.

Then she fisted her hands, arched her back and let out a silent scream.