Chapter 4
FOUR
“Consider it a courtesy,” Faris said dryly. “Yes, you are of course free to visit your daughter with her permission, but last I checked, Kira doesn’t live at The Portal.”
No one missed his emphasis on “permission.”
Tairen snorted. “She might as well. But yes, courtesy is why I’m here. Before I showed up at her door, I thought it would be wise to inform you of my intention to remain in the city for a time.”
Faris remained impassive. “You had an open invitation to remain in the city indefinitely after your abdication. I have no plans to rescind that, so long as you don’t make any messes you can’t clean up.
And”—his voice hardened a little—“provided you inform your family in advance the next time you decide to disappear.”
Huh. There was definitely some animosity here, and I suspected it was mostly about Kira.
Kira was Tairen’s only daughter, and dragons had always been matriarchal.
Which meant that even with three older brothers, it was Kira who’d been intended to take the throne after her mother—to rule both the dragons and the shapeshifters.
But Kira had been raised as a human, and her perspective on life had clashed with her mother’s from the moment they met.
Tairen’s entire purpose was to protect dragons first and shapeshifters second, using the superior strength and iron will that had enabled her to rebuild a life in this unfamiliar world after Idria’s collapse.
Kira valued the human parts of her upbringing and believed in protecting peace and equality between all Idrians. She hadn’t taken kindly to her mother’s attempts to strong-arm her, and the resulting conflict had nearly severed their relationship forever.
They’d reconciled, but not until after Kira had essentially chosen Faris and the Shadow Court over her mother and the dragons, and it appeared Tairen might still be feeling salty about it.
“I’m three hundred and fifty-six years old,” Tairen retorted, leaving me more than a little startled. How had I not known dragons could live that long? “I believe I’m past the age where I must inform anyone of my intentions or my whereabouts.”
The younger blonde woman at her shoulder was looking wryly amused. “Auntie, I think he’s trying to tell you that you scared the children, not that you require a babysitter.”
Tairen shot her a dirty look that had absolutely zero effect, which convinced me this must be Skye—Kira and Callum’s cousin, and the current queen of the dragons.
When Tairen stepped down, she’d handed her position to her niece as the closest female relative. But then Tairen had gone and eaten the fae queen, and the Shapeshifter Court had decided it was time for a change in the way they allocated leadership.
Instead of allowing the dragon queen to automatically rule the shapeshifters—which concentrated far too much power in one person—they separated the positions and offered the shapeshifter kingship to Callum.
Which was how he’d ended up in New Mexico, trying to wrangle the Shapeshifter Court, while his mother was here. In Oklahoma City. Looking around her as if everything was slightly below standard and she was hoping for someone to take to task for it.
“Scared the children.” Tairen huffed. “If only they worried more about whether they were scaring me.”
Without any conscious request on my part, my siren magic flared to life.
Sometimes it offered suggestions to help smooth the way—hunches that always paid off if I was willing to pay attention.
And this time, it was telling me that Tairen was a much different person than the last Idrian queen who’d stormed in here and nearly started a fight because she was worried about her daughter.
If I had a nickel for every time…
Still just two nickels, but that was two nickels more than any sane person would want to have.
But unlike the elemental queen, the former ruler of the dragons was a woman adrift—cut loose from the purpose that had driven her for so many years.
Tairen was still a strong and capable leader with no one to lead.
She’d tried normal life, and it wasn’t enough, so now she was hunting for a new purpose. And if I didn’t stay out of her way…
“Miss Kendrick.”
Nope. I know I did not just hear my name in Tairen-li-Corva’s voice.
“Might I have a moment of your time?”
I reluctantly lifted my gaze from contemplating the disaster I’d made of The Portal’s floor.
Tairen’s amber eyes seemed to be staring straight through me, so of course, that’s when my mouth decided to get involved.
“I’m sorry, but I’m working tonight, and it looks like I’m going to be very busy”—I looked back down at the man now inching his way across the floor, still oozing blood from his rapidly swelling face—“taking out the trash.”
I heard a snort of nervous laughter from somewhere.
And then Faris chimed in, with the very last response I would have expected.
“I’ve got the cleanup,” he said briefly, emerald gaze holding mine with an expression I couldn’t quite read. “Card room is free, and you’re due for your break.”
Feeling decidedly betrayed, I tried pleading with my eyes, but he didn’t seem to be getting the message. Was he really going to throw me to the wolves with no warning and no support?
Apparently the answer was yes, so I turned back to Tairen and unclenched my teeth.
“In that case, I’d be happy to speak with you for a moment.”
Lies. All lies. I wasn’t happy. And I definitely didn’t want to speak with her. Now or ever.
Maybe this was Faris’s punishment for trashing his bar… again.
But there was no getting out of it now. In front of the goggle-eyed curiosity of the entire crowd, I stepped over the groaning man at my feet, carefully avoided the broken glass, and made my way towards the card room at the left end of the bar.
As I passed, I saw Seamus watching me with a worried expression, but I knew he wouldn’t interfere. Not when Faris had already given his permission.
I opened the door, held it for Tairen and her niece, and then closed it behind them. The thud echoed in my ears, sounding more like a cell door than anything else. Would I make it out of this room alive? Probably depended strongly on my ability to either keep my mouth shut or lie through my teeth.
Neither of which I was very good at.
In the center of the room was a round card table with a handful of chairs, but the two dragons did not sit. Instead, they turned to look at me, amber eyes slightly aglow, wearing matching expressions of cool assessment.
You’re not locked in here with them, they’re locked in here with you.
Yeah, that definitely wasn’t going to work. Positive self-talk had never really done much for me.
I had no idea what they were waiting for, but when they just kept staring, I finally gave up. And because I’d had no sleep and I run my mouth when I’m scared, the result was not exactly how I’d envisioned my first meeting with Callum’s mother.
“Okay, so what’s it going to be?” I demanded, looking from one to the other. “Is this good cop, bad cop? And am I supposed to guess which is which?”
They exchanged glances.
“Look, I doubt either of you have ever had the pleasure of waiting tables, but this is my one break for the night. I’m running on two hours’ sleep since my houseguest nearly set my apartment on fire last night, and I was really hoping for a nap.
So if you have something to say, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t waste my time. ”
They were silent for another handful of seconds, and then Skye broke. Literally broke down into a fit of laughter—including a snort or two—that ended with her wiping tears from her eyes.
“I told you it wasn’t going to work,” she said, shaking her head at her aunt. “Anyone who can stick around long enough to see past Callum’s uptight, prickly, bossy-pants act isn’t going to crack that easily.”
Yep, they were here because they’d heard about me and Callum.
Tairen rolled her eyes and threw up her hands. “Fine. You told me. Ryker told me. Are you happy now?”
“Very.” Skye’s lips were still twitching. “That was deeply satisfying.”
This family was going to be the death of me. But my knees were still shaking, so of course I didn’t shut up.
“Did you actually want to talk to me? Or were you just hoping I’d cower under the table so you could claim I’m not good enough for your family?”
“I’m sorry,” Skye said, still looking more amused than apologetic. “We actually did want to meet you. Callum has never even talked about liking a woman before, so we were curious. And we were already coming to support Kira, so it seemed like an excellent opportunity to take your measure.”
Take my measure…
They were here to test. To evaluate. To decide whether they approved.
As much as that rankled, I couldn’t afford to be on their bad side. This was Callum’s family, and if we were able to resolve things with the Shapeshifter Court and complete our mate bond, I would be seeing a lot more of these people. Also, both of them could probably eat me if they felt like it.
So I should be trying to make them like me. Smoothing things over and being as polite as possible.
Someone should have mentioned that to my mouth.
“Measure all you want,” I said, “but I’m not going to apologize.”
Tairen regarded me thoughtfully from her towering height. “For what?”
“For any of it,” I told her flatly. “For my past, for being human, or for bonding with Callum. I won’t apologize for my magic, for my poverty, or for my family. So if that’s why you’re here, you can feel free to consider your trip wasted.”
She continued to watch me in silence, her expression unreadable.
“I also won’t be bullied into giving up Callum. Angelica already tried that and got sent off with her knickers in a twist, so if you’re thinking about trying again, let’s do it here and now because I’m back on shift in less than half an hour.”