CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Shadow
Dawn barely lightens the windows the next morning when a double pulse of magic awakens me.
It’s so early that my beautiful witch has not yet begun her morning ritual of silencing her alarm multiple times.
I lift my head and spy her through the open connecting door, loving how peaceful she always looks in sleep.
Wisp blinks up at me from only a few inches away and yawns, all curling pink tongue and tiny fangs, then goes back to sleep.
All three of the kits curl on my chest, too little to sleep alone.
At the den, they stay with their parents half the time and spend the other nights rotating through the pack.
It not only reinforces pack bonds, it also gives their parents some much needed alone time.
Since I’ve been away, the kits demanded to spend last night with me, falling asleep on my chest. Their little purrs filled my heart, joined by those of my mother and cousin as we formed our own small harmonizing.
Cradling them to me, I sit up slowly, then turn and lay them on the pillow.
Slate lets out a tiny mew of protest at being disturbed, no more a morning person than my wife. Then Dawn wiggles closer to him without even opening her eyes, and they all settle.
In sleep pants, I pad downstairs to find Jace and Luke standing in the foyer speaking with Victoria.
“I let them in,” she writes.
“We found something,” Luke growls, bypassing all normal greetings. I don’t take it personally since it’s simply his way, and the grumpy dragon has proved his friendship time and again with his actions.
“Let’s go into the kitchen so our voices don’t carry up the stairs.”
“As if I wouldn’t feel the approach of dragons,” my mother says, her tone wry. Although wearing casual human clothes, she descends the stairs with the dignity of a monarch.
I make introductions, then link my arm with hers and lead her down the hallway. “Ah, but the kitchen has this magical thing called coffee.”
Victoria opens the appropriate cupboard as we approach, and I pull out the coffee as Luke begins to explain.
“The information on cat sith mating rituals was buried deep in the stacks in an area Skye and I haven’t organized yet.
My fiancée used her magic to highlight any books about your people, which sped things up, but as you can imagine, there were still quite a few volumes to skim through to find anything pertinent. ”
“Luke has the largest magical library in all of Faerie,” I explain for my mother’s benefit as I start the coffeemaker.
“Yes, well, Jacendeverner’s the one who found the information.” Luke’s wing reaches out to tap against the blue dragon’s.
“I found an ancient text documenting the mating of an elf queen with her cat sith consort. It claimed they performed two ceremonies, one for each of their peoples,” Jace says. “There weren’t any details about the cat sith one. The author simply referred to it as ‘the chase.’”
“Not a problem. We know what that is.” The memory of Kayla running from me, begging me to chase, fills my mind, and I have to force my thoughts away, since these thin gray sleep pants will do nothing to hide an erection.
“As we suspected, the other ceremony was a traditional elven handfasting.” Jace reaches into his invisible pocket and pulls out a piece of paper and a long ribbon beautifully embroidered with silver filigree.
“Here are the typical vows of the time and an official handfasting ribbon. However, I should warn you that the official ribbon has been spelled to make the ceremony binding.” He pulls out a plain silver ribbon.
“This one contains no such enchantment and can be safely used for a fake ceremony.”
A cupboard door bangs, making us all look at Victoria’s translation parchment as she spells out: “Read me the vows! I want to know them.”
Jace carries the paper over to read the vows to her, his voice a deep rumble of background sound as the coffeemaker finishes brewing.
I pour several cups, adding sweetened chocolate syrup and milk, which I learned from watching Kayla.
It cuts most of the drink’s inherent bitterness and makes it more palatable for most fae.
The first alarm sounds from her room upstairs, and I cock my head and grin when it falls silent. I’ll wait a couple more rounds before I take her a coffee.
When Jace finishes, my mother addresses both dragons. “Thank you for helping us to regain a piece of our lost traditions. Unable to shift, the cat sith have been reduced to relying upon oral history.”
Luke grunts his pleased grunt, and Jace offers her a courtly bow. “It is an honor, Alpha.”
Once they’ve left, promising to return for the ceremony this evening, my mother wraps me in her arms. “Thank you, son of mine. You do your people a great service.”
“I’m doing it for me, too, you know.” Grinning, I wave a hand to take in Victoria and all of Earth. “I want all of this. I want to know how to live like a man. I want to walk all the realms.”
“Of course your actions are also selfish.” She chuckles, batting me on the shoulder. “I expect nothing less from a cat sith. It means you’ll do an excellent job.”
“What I want most of all is Kayla.” My smile fades, my tone growing serious. “This goes beyond the regular courtship game. I think she’s my fated mate.”
A hint of sadness flashes through Mother’s eyes. “You’re never moving home again, are you?”
“This is my home now.” Just as soon as I convince my witchy beauty to be mine forever.
“Then I’m happy for you, my son.” She offers me a soft smile. “It will be good for more of our people to find their fated mates. I’m glad you’re the first.”
I fold her into my arms. “So am I.”
I finally convince Victoria to release me and Kayla from house arrest by promising I won’t take her to Faerie again until the marriage contract concludes. We also promise not to leave the property until after tomorrow’s wedding.
We picnic in the backyard for lunch, making sandwiches for the adults, a fruit bowl for Dewdrop, and chopped fresh meat for the kits. They gulp down their food and play a game of tag with the dragonet, racing in large circles around Victoria.
I sprawl backwards on my elbows, striking a pose recommended in one of the thirst-trap videos. When no one else is looking, I grin suggestively at Kayla and tease a fang with my tongue.
She mouths “stop it” and smacks my jean-clad ankle, but her eyes flick along my body, and her cheeks turn pink. She takes a long drink of lemonade, the ice tinkling in the glass, and lets out a sigh. “This is nice.”
“It is,” I murmur.
The sun beats down with a languid heat perfectly offset by a refreshing breeze. Bees buzz around the wisteria, pollen-covered legs a fluffy yellow. If not for the happy sounds of the kits, growing steadily louder as they finish another lap, I could almost fall asleep.
Mist pops another grape into her mouth with a satisfied crunch, and Mother dozes, eyes narrowed to green slits. I love seeing her here in my new home, able to relax. She doesn’t get to do enough of it back at the den.
In fact… I roll to my feet and lope forward to intercept the little ones as they round the corner of the house, chasing them back into the front yard. I pretend they’re too fast for me, making leaps that land short and zigging when I should have zagged.
Dewdrop gets into the fun of it, flying overhead for a bird’s-eye view. He calls out a constant stream of advice to the kits to help them win, and I pretend I don’t hear any of it. “Left, Wisp!” Dewdrop calls out. “Go left!”
“Rawr!” The tiny kit tackles my legs, and I pretend it makes me stagger and drop to the ground, letting all three pounce on me.
“I got you!” “No, I did!” “Me too!”
“You are all fierce hunters,” I say.
They leap away with excited giggles and start zooming around me again, but only a few minutes later, they come to a sudden halt. As with all kits, they go from running flat out to sleepy piles of fluff in under ten seconds.
I gather them into my arms and turn toward the house to find Kayla watching me from the front stoop. Dewdrop gives a happy chirp and lands on her shoulder, and Victoria opens the front door so we can come inside.
We settle on the couch in the living room, and Kayla leans close to whisper, “You’re good with them.”
“Adults take turns playing with the kits. When they’re this young, we keep things fun, allowing them to build stamina and learn fine motor control. As they get older, the play turns into hunter and warrior training.”
“But you always remember how to play.”
“What can I say?” I grin at her. “We’re cats. We never lose the desire to play.”
Dewdrop hops onto Kayla’s lap and sprawls on his back so she can rub his belly. He’s so light that lying on his wings doesn’t bother him, and he purrs as happily as any cat when she rubs circles across his lavender stomach.
A half hour later, the kits wake as quickly as they went to sleep, bouncing up and demanding more play.
“Okay, but how about a different kind of play?” I say. “Kayla’s a very special person. She makes games.”
They let out a chorus of ohs as they turn wide eyes on her. “Show us!” “I want to see special games!” “Please?”
She picks up her controller and turns on the TV. As the first cheerful tune fills the room, she leans over to whisper, “They’re not going to be able to play video games without hands.”
“Exactly.” I smirk at her.
Realization breaks across her face, and she smiles back, smart enough to realize I’m trying to make shifting more tempting for the kits. And what better way to entice a cat than to offer them a new game?
We spend the next hour playing video games with an avid audience. The kits are thrilled every time we win a power-up or find a stack of gold coins, eyes glued to the screen.
“You know,” I finally say, leaving all sense of subtlety behind. “If you could shift, you could play as well.”
“Yeah, I have a kid’s controller in my office,” Kayla says. “It’s the perfect size for little hands.”
All three of them scrunch up their eyes and make tiny grunting noises that have Kayla slapping a hand over her mouth as her shoulders shake with silent laughter. Her beautiful brown eyes sparkle, her cheeks rosy and flushed.
She looks achingly beautiful in her happiness.
My wife.
Mine.