“Oh, Bodie. My sweet, innocent little boy.” She cupped his bearded cheeks in her hands. Took a deep breath. “It’s consensual.”
Boden’s eyes shot wider. “Consensual?”
“As in, I gave him permission.”
“I know what consensual means, Fi.”
“I asked for it, more specifically.”
Fi wasn’t ashamed. Not for an instant. But this was her own damn business, and she didn’t want to have this conversation, mostly because the reaction she expected was…
“You’re kidding,” came Boden’s flat reply. “Youlethim bite you? And then… Fi… please don’t tell me you…”
Right. There it was.
“Why do you care?” Fi pleaded.
“I’m your brother, Fionamara.”
Shit. Pulling out the full name? Fi scoffed. “You’ve never cared about the people I fucked.”
He winced at her blunt words. “Those were people. Not a daeyari!”
“Heis a person.”
“He is acarnivore.”
“That doesn’t mean he can’t—”
“Is everything all right?” came a wary voice behind them.
Fi and Boden froze, grappling over a crossbow like a pair of magpies with a shiny toy, turning in unison to see Antal staring at them.
Void, no.
Fi’s molten gaze snapped back to Boden. No words. Just a clenched jaw and a mental scream.Drop it, Bodie. I’m fine.
Boden’s glare came back defiant.Not a chance.
Boden. Fi’s look promised death if he said so much as a word.
“Hey, Antal?” Boden said.
Fi tried to disappear. Where was her transport stone when she needed it? Thrown into the Void by Cardigan’s damn assistant. Neither did she have a Curtain to leap into. Antal’s eyes darted between them, visibly confused.
Boden yanked the crossbow from Fi’s numb fingers. Propped it on his shoulder. The attempt at looking intimidating would have had her in stitches, if she weren’t weighing the pros and cons of tackling him to the ground.
“Do you have any siblings?” Boden asked the daeyari.
Antal’s eyes narrowed to baffled slits. “No… daeyari are wary of overpopulation. Single children are most common.”
“But do you understand a brother’s responsibility to make sure his sister is safe?”
“I… suppose.”
“Taken care of?”
Antal’s head tilted. When his bewildered gaze slid to Fi, she gave him a withering look and tugged down her collar, displaying the bite marks.
