Rory forced herself to not react. No one in the room other than theRoyalsremembered Sam, and it would be impossible to explain what happened. “She’s alive but shaken up.”
Keith’s tail whacked harder, and Patrick looked skyward. “Thank theSeraphim.”
If only they knew.
“She freed Cora’s soul,” Dume said quietly. Patrick’s breath hitched, and he turned away to swipe at his eyes while Keith whined.
“We’ll make sure she’s taken care of for the rest of her life,” Caius promised them.
Patrick nodded. “I look forward to getting to know you, son.”
57
Caius watchedRory pull a suitcase from under her bed and throw clothes inside like a madwoman. They were packing her things to leave first thing in the morning.
“This place is quaint,” he said, folding her clothes into neat piles.
She threw a shirt at his head. “That’s something rich people say about poor people’s houses.”
“You are a rich person,” he reminded her. “I like it here. If your dad moves back to the city, this can be our Erdikoa home.” A heap of clothes landed on top of his folded piles, and he frowned. “Why do you have so many clothes?”
“Or we can stay at my place in the judgment chambers now that I’m the Scales of Justice.” She looked around and waved her hand over the piles of clothes. “I don’t have that many.” She must have forgotten she had an entire closet and dresser full at home. “Why do you have ten million sets of the same thing?” she shot back, looking pointedly at his shirt.
He moved his eyes from his outfit to her and winked. “I look good in black.” Caius grabbed the bottom of his shirt and untucked it. “I look even better out of it.”
A pair of balled-up socks hit him in the stomach. “We don’t have time for that, but yes, you do.”
“Stop throwing clothes at me,” he warned and placed the neatly folded piles of clothes into her suitcase, arranging them methodically by clothing type. Rory stood still, watching him, and he stopped. “What?”
“What are you doing?” she asked, pointing at the clothes.
He waved a hand over the piles. “I’m helping you pack.”
“You pack like a serial killer,” she replied, folding a pair of pants and throwing them onto a pile.
He stared at the mess she called folded clothes. “Clearly, I do not.” Her stunned silence made him grin widely. “What’s the matter, Miss Raven?”
“Is that still my name?” she asked. Stopping, he looked at her in question. “Raven,” she clarified. “Is that still my last name? Do you even have a last name?”
“You will always be Miss Raven to me.” The suitcase cover fell closed with a thud. “And no,Royalsdon’t have last names until they relinquish their positions.”
“And then what is it?” she pressed.
His eyes lifted to hers as the corner of his mouth pulled into a smile. “Ours will be Raven.”
Patrick knocked on the bedroom door. “You can come in, Dad,” she called out.
He pushed his way in, looked at Rory’s sloppy pile of clothes, and shook his head. “I have a meeting with Dr. Waddingham in an hour.”
“Dr. Waddingham from your old clinic?” she asked as she plopped on the edge of her bed.
“Yes.” Leaning on the door frame, he sighed. “I quit the library yesterday. I’ll miss the slow pace, but I’m more useful at the clinic.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” she agreed. “You saved Keith’s life in the middle of a shit show. That’s not a talent you want to waste.”
Caius noticed Patrick tapping an envelope against his palm. Rorylooked expectantly at her father, and Caius thought he seemed nervous.
Patrick held out the envelope. “Can you give this to your mother?” Rory nodded wordlessly and took the paper gently. “There’s nothing about Erdikoa in it,” he promised Caius. “I want to tell her a few things while she’s clear of mind.”
