Rowan looked up from cutting his muffin into perfect squares, his eyes wide.
Corbin choked on his muffin. Arthur had to pound him on the back until he could speak again. “You decided to believe us?”
“Based on the empirical evidence I’ve seen so far, ignoring the existence of the fae would be willful ignorance. I’ve come up with an explanation that I can live with, for now. And I’m going to help.”
“Help us?” Corbin lifted an eyebrow.
“Yes, If you want any hope of defeating the fae, you need to take a scientific approach. And that begins with a full study of them. No offense,” I nodded to Corbin, “but those books in your library are total trash. There’s no ethnological or anthropological studies of the fae. Well, luckily, you happen to have a scientist living with you.”
Arthur rubbed his chin. “I’m not sure you quite understand what you’re getting into. Science is all well and good, but it’s never won a war.”
“Yes, it has, actually. Scientists have been key to massive breakthroughs and victories in numerous battles. Bayer’s invention of synthetic tire rubber kept the entire German army moving after the Allies cut off their supply of natural rubber from Southeast Asia. The invention of ultrasound was vital to detecting U-boats in World War II. The trireme made the Athenians the rulers of the sea and were imperative in their victory at?—”
“Okay, okay, okay.” Arthur held up his hands. “I’m beaten.”
“Go on, Einstein,” Flynn leaned over the table, his fingers dancing on my hand. “Tell us what you need.”
Hearing Kelly’s nickname for me in Flynn’s musical Irish brogue sent a wave of pleasure through my body. “Um…I’ve been working on a scientific theory that might explain the fae. Unlike other theoretical physicists, I might actually be able to test some of my hypotheses. I’d like to get some scientific instruments and set them up around the sidhe, and take readings. And I’d also like to interview each of you about your experiences with the fae. No fantastical accounts,” I glared at Flynn. “Just straight up ethnographic information that I can compile into a study.AndI want to see your research on this fifth coven member.”
Corbin looked uncomfortable. “Why?”
“Why? Because you’re the only one who’s looked at it. You might be missing something really obvious, and a peer review will highlight that. If finding this witch is as important as you say, then you’ll take all the help you can get, even if that help comes from a college dropout from Arizona.”
Corbin glanced at Rowan, who was staring at his plate and not saying anything about as loud as a person could. Iknewthere was more to this “fifth” story than Corbin was letting on, and damned if I was going to let him keep it from me.
Corbin cleared his throat. “Fine. We’ll sort all that out for you. Was there anything else you needed, O Illustrious Landlady, or shall we finish this delicious breakfast?”
“Way ahead of you.” Arthur was already squirting a generous swirl of something called HP sauce over his eggs. He passed the bottle to me and I sniffed it.Weird. Why couldn’t Brits just use ketchup like the rest of the civilized world?
I put a little on my plate to try, and I’d just taken a bite of the warm, cheesy muffin when an elderly woman in a black dress strode briskly across the porch toward us. He silver hair waspulled back into a severe bun, and a feather duster rested against her shoulder.
“Master Corbin?” she called out, her voice flat and harsh. “There’s someone arrived to see you. She’s waiting in the reception hall.”
My eyes widened. This must be the woman Arthur mentioned the other night.We have a maid? Cool.
“Oh, thanks, Dora.” Corbin stood up. “I’ll bring her out.”
The maid – Dora – shot me a filthy look. “Who is your guest? You don’t usually let them stay for breakfast.”
Whoa, there’s a loaded comment.
I glanced at Corbin. How many girlsdidhe bring back to the castle? It hadn’t occurred to me before, but now that I thought of it…these guys were all smoking hot and actually genuinely nice, which was not a common combination. Girls must fall all over them. But they hadn’t mentioned any girlfriends.
I remembered Neale flirting with them at the pub. Had Corbin slept with her? Had any of them?
The possessive knot twisting in my stomach make no sense – I only met these guys two days ago and, apart from Arthur, none of them had made any indication that they wanted to take things to the places they’d gone in my filthy dream.
But I hated the idea of them bringing other girls back to Briarwood. Now that I was here with them, I wanted them all to myself, which was totally crazy, right?
Right?
Corbin wasn’t giving anything away. “Dora, this is Maeve. She’s going to be living with us from now on.”
“And who does she belong to?” Dora frowned at me.
Wow, Dora, that’s nice.
“I can speak for myself,” I said, a little frostily. “And I don’t belong to anyone.”
