expect you to just turn up, literally at my door. I
actually had a few soldiers in Hannibal looking for you.”
I
sat up straight and looked at them lounging on the sectional together. Kathan’s
glittering black wings hung over the arm. Tempie had one hand on his six-pack,
her face resting against his jaw.
“Why
were you looking for me?” I asked.
“Are
you angry with me for making your sister my familiar?” Kathan asked.
“No.”
Right then I wasn’t feeling much besides failure and the throbbing under my
eye. “But I did come to take her home. Will you release her?”
Tempie
lunged for me, fists balled, but Kathan caught her arm. With her hair and
peignoir caught up in the forward inertia, she looked like one of those dogs
that had run to the end of its chain and gotten yanked backward.
“Temperance,
if you want to go with your sister, you may,” Kathan said.
Her
face crumpled up and tears glossed over her eyes. She fell on her knees in
front of him and grabbed a fistful of his pajama pants.
“You
promised, Kathan!” She sounded betrayed. Part of me—maybe the part slowly
coming out of shock—thought she deserved a taste of how it felt. “You swore!”
“Sit
down and stop that,” he ordered.
Tempie
did. Without even saying that she was doing it because she wanted to sit down,
not because he’d told her to.
Kathan’s
black eyes met mine. “I’m sorry, Modesty. She doesn’t want to go home with you.
From what she’s told me, there isn’t much left for either of you there.”
There
would be if Tempie came back.
“I
know you’re disappointed,” Kathan said. “You’ve gone to a lot of trouble to
find your sister and you feel as if she’s stabbed you in the back, choosing to
stay with me. She hasn’t. In fact, Temperance is looking out for both of your
best interests.”
“That’d
be a first,” I said.
He
didn’t get upset at the insult. I wondered whether Tempie could see that her
fanatical devotion was all one-sided.
“Modesty,
I hope you’ll listen before you judge what your sister has chosen to do with
her life,” Kathan said. His wings unfolded to allow him to lean forward on the
sectional and rest his elbows on his knees. Even half-naked, he looked like he
was making a business proposition and all of Hell was standing behind him. “I’d
like you to become my familiar. I told Temperance that if you agreed to it—”
“If
I agreed to it, you’d let her go?”
He
shook his head.
“I
should’ve explained better,” he said. “And I would have if you hadn’t
interrupted. I’d like for you to become my familiar—jointly—with Temperance.”
“Isn’t
that impossible?” I asked.
“For
all enforcers and for almost all alphas, it is.” Kathan’s wings puffed up. “But
under the right circumstances, I have the ability to impose my essence on two
people at the same time.”
“What
are the right circumstances?”
He
smiled and I felt him pulling away from the conversation. “I don’t want to bore
you with the details, but the most basic requirement is that both familiars be
genetically identical—‘bred in the bone the same, borne in the flesh the same.’
Identical twins born to an identical twin.”
“Like
us to Mom and Aunt Arie,” Tempie said.
“Thanks
for spelling it out,” I said. “I’m too stupid to get it otherwise.”
“You’re
awfully bitchy tonight, nerd. If I—”
“I
don’t want to leave you in the dark about my motivations, Modesty,” Kathan cut
in. “The end result of enthralling the two of you is that I will be elevated
for a period of time to the level of commander—a leader of legions.”
“I’ve
never read about commanders,” I said.
“Would
it be prejudiced for me to assume the only books you’ve read were written by
humans?” Kathan asked.
I
looked down at the half-eaten cookie I was holding. The chocolate chips were
oozing onto my fingers.
“I’m
not asking you to decide tonight,” Kathan said.
actually had a few soldiers in Hannibal looking for you.”
I
sat up straight and looked at them lounging on the sectional together. Kathan’s
glittering black wings hung over the arm. Tempie had one hand on his six-pack,
her face resting against his jaw.
“Why
were you looking for me?” I asked.
“Are
you angry with me for making your sister my familiar?” Kathan asked.
“No.”
Right then I wasn’t feeling much besides failure and the throbbing under my
eye. “But I did come to take her home. Will you release her?”
Tempie
lunged for me, fists balled, but Kathan caught her arm. With her hair and
peignoir caught up in the forward inertia, she looked like one of those dogs
that had run to the end of its chain and gotten yanked backward.
“Temperance,
if you want to go with your sister, you may,” Kathan said.
Her
face crumpled up and tears glossed over her eyes. She fell on her knees in
front of him and grabbed a fistful of his pajama pants.
“You
promised, Kathan!” She sounded betrayed. Part of me—maybe the part slowly
coming out of shock—thought she deserved a taste of how it felt. “You swore!”
“Sit
down and stop that,” he ordered.
Tempie
did. Without even saying that she was doing it because she wanted to sit down,
not because he’d told her to.
Kathan’s
black eyes met mine. “I’m sorry, Modesty. She doesn’t want to go home with you.
From what she’s told me, there isn’t much left for either of you there.”
There
would be if Tempie came back.
“I
know you’re disappointed,” Kathan said. “You’ve gone to a lot of trouble to
find your sister and you feel as if she’s stabbed you in the back, choosing to
stay with me. She hasn’t. In fact, Temperance is looking out for both of your
best interests.”
“That’d
be a first,” I said.
He
didn’t get upset at the insult. I wondered whether Tempie could see that her
fanatical devotion was all one-sided.
“Modesty,
I hope you’ll listen before you judge what your sister has chosen to do with
her life,” Kathan said. His wings unfolded to allow him to lean forward on the
sectional and rest his elbows on his knees. Even half-naked, he looked like he
was making a business proposition and all of Hell was standing behind him. “I’d
like you to become my familiar. I told Temperance that if you agreed to it—”
“If
I agreed to it, you’d let her go?”
He
shook his head.
“I
should’ve explained better,” he said. “And I would have if you hadn’t
interrupted. I’d like for you to become my familiar—jointly—with Temperance.”
“Isn’t
that impossible?” I asked.
“For
all enforcers and for almost all alphas, it is.” Kathan’s wings puffed up. “But
under the right circumstances, I have the ability to impose my essence on two
people at the same time.”
“What
are the right circumstances?”
He
smiled and I felt him pulling away from the conversation. “I don’t want to bore
you with the details, but the most basic requirement is that both familiars be
genetically identical—‘bred in the bone the same, borne in the flesh the same.’
Identical twins born to an identical twin.”
“Like
us to Mom and Aunt Arie,” Tempie said.
“Thanks
for spelling it out,” I said. “I’m too stupid to get it otherwise.”
“You’re
awfully bitchy tonight, nerd. If I—”
“I
don’t want to leave you in the dark about my motivations, Modesty,” Kathan cut
in. “The end result of enthralling the two of you is that I will be elevated
for a period of time to the level of commander—a leader of legions.”
“I’ve
never read about commanders,” I said.
“Would
it be prejudiced for me to assume the only books you’ve read were written by
humans?” Kathan asked.
I
looked down at the half-eaten cookie I was holding. The chocolate chips were
oozing onto my fingers.
“I’m
not asking you to decide tonight,” Kathan said.
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