“What list?”
“The list of dissidents.”
He frowns, obviously confused and I know him well enough to see it’s genuine. “Not that I’ve heard.”
I look back towards the house. I think it’s good the other members of my family are away at the palace. My youngest brothers are the ones I’ve always trusted the most. They’ve always idolized me and betraying me would never even cross their minds.
Although I’ve said to the others all that bullshit about blood being thicker than water and family bonds being tight, I trust my bond brothers, I trust Briony, far more than I trust my other brothers and even my own mother and father.
“Let’s go in,” I tell the others. “We could do with some food, some water, and a fucking hot shower.”
Dirk glances back over to the dragon, who’s pruning his tail with his long, sharp teeth. “What about him?” he asks.
Briony spins in my grasp towards me. “Is there anything out here he can hunt? Anything out here he can eat?”
“Kitten,” I say, “why do you think us shifters live out here? There’s fuckloads of prey, fuckloads to hunt, fuckloads to eat. Your little friend can stuff himself till his belly’s popping.”
“Blaze?” she calls over to the dragon, who snaps up into a smart sit like he hasn’t just been picking fleas out of his scales. I know that look. “You can go off and hunt,” she says. “There’s lots to eat. We’ll be right here. We’re not going anywhere.”
The dragon whines and paws at the earth with his long talons.
“It’s fine, Blaze. Completely okay. We’re all right now. We’re safe here. You go hunt. Go eat. I,” she says, peering back up at me, “am going to take one really long hot bath. You do have baths, right?”
“Yeah,” I say. “But you know us wolves hate baths.”
She shrugs, and together we all walk up the steps, around the veranda and into the mansion through the back door. It leads straight into the large kitchen. Usually it’s full of my parents’ staff; the housekeeper, a couple of cooks, one or two maids. Today it’s completely, utterly empty and eerily quiet.
“Where is everyone?” I ask for the second time.
“Day off,” Dob says.
“Day off?” I say. Since when has my Mama ever given the staff a day off? But I’m not complaining. It means we can raid the kitchen without being lectured about it or without waiting staff hovering anxiously around us.
I open the pantry and pull out everything I can find – dried meat, cheeses, pickled vegetables, fresh fruit, meat pies, nuts, and pastries. I lay it all out on the counter and then I search the cupboards for plates and cutlery, something I’ve never bothered using when I’ve raided the kitchen before.
“Find the lady a drink,” I tell my brothers. “Make yourselves useful. Come on, we’ve been out in that demon realm for days.”
My brothers snap into action and soon there’s juice, milk, and beers lined up with the food as well. I snatch up a bottle, yanking off the lid with my teeth, and throw back my head. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a beer, and the cold liquid feels exquisite in my throat – nearly, although not quite, as good as the Little Kitten’s arousal in my mouth.
The Little Kitten nibbles at cheese and bread, and tries some fruits she says she’s never seen before.
“You never saw golden berries before?” Dirk says in disbelief.
“She came from Slate Quarter, dickwad. The only thing they have to eat there is sawdust and bones.”
“It sort of isn’t quite that bad,” Briony insists.
“It is,” Tudor counters, taking one of the berries from her plate and popping it in his mouth.
“Can you actually taste that?” Briony asks, watching him.
“Yeah,” he says, “but it doesn’t really do anything for me.” He swallows, grimacing. “Sometimes,” he says, “I forget.”
My three brothers look at him puzzled, and I’m guessing they haven’t worked out what he is yet, although I’m sure they can tell by his scent that he’s different from the rest of us.
“When will Mama and Papa and the others be home?” I ask them.
“Not today,” Dirk says, “they only left yesterday.”
