Chapter 18
Ezra was sitting on the floor, petting Harold. Farkas had left when they came back, but hopefully, his nap had been a good one.
Had Rourke known how much a cat cost, he'd never have taken Ezra. He believed they'd more or less give them away since they were in a shelter, but nope. The shelter had no qualms about clearing out his bank account.
Ezra was happy, though. Rourke didn't think he'd ever seen him as happy, so maybe it was worth it. Cats lived for a long time, right?
"If you feed him, will your magic work on him too?"
"If I make the food. I gave the cats back home the scraps. Shixyll doesn't believe in buying cat food. She thinks cats should hunt for their meals."
Of course she did. Cat food. Damn, he had to go to the grocery store. They needed...stuff. He'd lied to the woman at the shelter and told her they had everything they needed back home.
"I need to hit the grocery store. Is there anything you need?"
"Vanilla extract."
Rourke nodded. "Anything else?"
Ezra looked away from Harold. "I don't know what's in the kitchen. You complained about the bread. Are there ingredients to bake?"
"I'll check." Rourke didn't have a clue how to make bread. Or he might have a clue, but no one here ever baked. "You'll be okay here by yourself?"
Ezra nodded, but Rourke was reluctant to leave him. "Okay, I'll be back in a bit."
Another nod, but his focus was on Harold. Rourke exited the room and went directly into Ulric's.
"Yes?" Ulric was on the bed, reading.
"I got Ezra a cat."
He lowered the book and widened his eyes. "A cat."
"Mmm, and while at the shelter, we ran into Shixyll. She didn't have a clue Jiprix had been here."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. She looked furious."
"Huh." Ulric chuckled.
"She was there getting the black kitty back, so not great."
Ulric closed the book fully. "So she didn't drop the connection?"
"Most likely not." Rourke stretched. "I'm heading to get food for Harold, and I guess we have to have a litter box." He grimaced.
"Can't you get a cat flap?"
"The woman at the shelter said he needed to be inside for at least a week before we allowed him outside."
Ulric hummed. "A fucking cat."
"I know." Rourke grimaced. "But Ezra is happy. Oh, and his magic works on the familiars too."
Pursing his lips, Ulric's gaze turned distant. "Do you think she realizes how much she's weakened herself by giving us Ezra?"
"No. I don't think she has a clue. She didn't pay him any attention at all today, dismissed him as if he was nothing. The only time she acknowledged he was there at all was when she told me there was no use in getting Ezra a cat since he can't use it."
"He told the truth about it then."
Rourke nodded. "Unless they made a plan beforehand to say he can't, but I'm beginning to think he's told the truth about everything."
"Me too."
"So we let him cook and bake to his heart's content?"
Ulric shrugged. "I'm happy to eat."
Rourke was too. It might be stupid, but he didn't think Ezra meant them any harm. The question was what the hell Shixyll was up to. "Do you think their familiars will die more easily now when Ezra isn't there to care for them?"
Ulric wrinkled his nose. "I know it's a good thing if they do, but somehow, I can't rejoice in it. Those poor fucking animals."
"Mmm." They never should've handed the kitten back to the shelter. "I doubt they'll drop another familiar on our land. I'm sure it was a test to see what we'd do with it, but if they do, we need a better plan."
"Can Ezra sense when the connection is broken?"
Rourke looked out the window. "He should, right? He could tell as soon as he came near it was a familiar. He should be able to tell when it no longer is."
"So if there is a next time, we put it somewhere where it can't see anything of importance, and we keep it there until the connection is dropped."
Rourke nodded. "Remind me to ask Ezra if they can reinstate the connection without being nearby."
"Oh, good question." Ulric rolled out of bed. "I'll ask him while you go shopping."
* * * *
Harold was making strange noises at a bird outside the window. He was stalking on the windowsill and...chirping almost.
There was a knock at the door, which had both Ezra and Harold turning to see who was coming.
Ulric walked in. "Hiya."
"Harold is chatting at a bird." Ezra gestured at Harold, but he remained quiet.
"Cats are idiots."
Ezra glared at Ulric. "They're not. Monsters like you are." He snapped his mouth shut. Damn. He was almost sure Ulric wouldn't hurt him, but maybe he didn't like being called a monster.
Ulric only grinned at him.
"Rourke told me you ran into Shixyll at the shelter."
A shiver traveled Ezra's spine. "Yeah, she was there to get her kitten back."
Nodding, Ulric pulled out a chair by the table and sat. Harold glared at him, jumped off the windowsill, and hid under the bed. Poor thing.
"If she broke the connection to it, could she have formed it again without being near the kitten?"
Ezra frowned at him. "How do you mean?"
"How does it work when the connection is formed? Does she have to touch the cat?"
Ezra shook his head. "But she has to see it."
"Okay, so she can't, given the connection was broken, open it again from afar. She has to be close enough to see the cat."
"Yes, she has to cast a spell."
"If there ever is another familiar walking onto pack land, we can take it, put it somewhere where it doesn't matter if she sees through it, and wait for her to cut the connection."
Ezra studied him. He'd gotten the feeling they didn't want it anywhere near the pack house. Rourke had come to get him instead of taking the cat to him. "If you have a safe space."
Ulric nodded. "Okay, next time, if there is one, we'll do like that. You can tell once the connection is broken, right?"
Ezra shrugged. "I think you can too. You said the kitten smelled of magic, right?" Then he grew cold. Had Shixyll known they'd be at the shelter? They had no one in the hamlet with divination, no precognition. "Harold is a normal cat, right?" Could she have made him reach for Ezra?
"Yeah, there is no smell of magic here, not even yours. Why doesn't it smell of your magic, Ezra?"
"I haven't--"
"I know." He dragged it out. "It's what I'm saying. Here I am, starving, and you don't serve me anything." He leaned back in the chair with a grin.
"Don't you have something more important to do?"
"More important than letting my alpha's mate take care of me? I think not."
Ezra huffed but now when they were talking about it, his magic buzzed underneath his skin. "If you can get me an egg, I might have enough ingredients for one batch of lacy oatmeal cookies." The tingles within flared, and he rolled his shoulders.
Ulric watched him with a grin. "It's almost as if you glow."
"I don't glow."
"No, you don't, and yet there is a glow. So strange. And your eyes get all...Do they grow bigger or only darker?"
Ezra shrugged. He had no idea anything happened with his eyes. He'd inherited Shixyll's almost black eyes, so they were always dark.
"Egg."
"Of course."
As Ulric left for the big kitchen, he started melting butter on the stove. Harold came to help, but the moment Ulric was back, he dove for the bed again.
* * * *
Rourke grunted as he carried all kinds of shit through the corridor. A litter box and a bag of litter and cat food. He'd bought some kind of cat toy too. He must've lost his mind. There was no other explanation.
The scent of cookies greeted him, and as his room came into view, he heard voices. Inside were Due, Connor, and Ulric. Since when had his room turned into a place for people to hang out?
"Honey, I'm home." He glared at the vultures around the table decimating Ezra's cookies.
Ezra stared at him with wide eyes, so Rourke dropped the stuff he was carrying and walked over. Once within arm's reach, he pulled Ezra close and kissed him on the mouth. Ezra didn't struggle, but his gaze jumped to the others.
Rourke kissed him again. "Hi." He spoke low against his lips. The others would hear him if they listened, but he didn't care.
"Hi."
"I got cat food and stuff." He looked around. "Where is Harold?"
"Hiding under the bed. He doesn't like Ulric."
Rourke shrugged. "No one does."
"Hey!" A cookie came flying through the air. It crumbled in Rourke's hand as he caught it, and he did his best to catch all the pieces. Ulric laughed, the bastard.
Rourke shoved it into his mouth and grinned. Fuck, it had been a long time since they'd laughed and had cookies. Years. He nuzzled Ezra and went to unpack.
Sometime later, Ulric and Connor stood. "Time to head into town." Ulric stretched, then snatched another cookie.
"You're working tonight?" Rourke hadn't checked in with work today.
"Yeah, The Bloody Bow, so we'll be back pretty early."
Rourke nodded. The Bloody Bow was a low-key bar, not a nightclub, and people were often pleased when they were assigned there. The music wasn't too loud, the customers rarely under thirty, and it closed at midnight. What was not to like?
Due followed Connor and Ulric out of the room, and Rourke locked the door behind them. "There. Alone at last." He dove for Ezra, who squeaked.
He caught him and moved them toward the bed.
"What are you doing?"
"Oh, I don't know." Rourke nuzzled his throat. "I thought I'd lick you all over, then fuck you senseless."
"What?"
"I thought I'd lick you all over--"
"I heard."
Rourke grinned against his skin, then licked a spot. "Then why, darling, did you ask?"
"You can't..."
Rourke skimmed his hands underneath Ezra's shirt, his fingertips danced along his ribcage, and Ezra shivered.
"I think I can."