“Here,” Caius said, handing over what looked like a stuffed sugar glider plushie with a long strap. Only when he turned it over did Max see it was a pouch. When he opened it, Aradia hopped right in, twisting around and around before finally curling into a ball with a contented chirp.
With a soft laugh, Max hooked the strap over his neck and adjusted it until it settled against his chest where Rían’s own pouch had hung. “Thank you.”
Quinn dropped into the seat next to him and popped a piece of sushi into his mouth, closing his eyes with a groan. “I’ve missed sushi.”
Max rolled his eyes and reached for his own container. “You ate it last week.”
“I’d eat it every day.”
“You’re ridiculous,” he said, though as soon as he took his own bite, he had to fight against groaning like Quinn. Itwasgood. But he still wouldn’t want to eat it every day.
Lukas came downstairs and sat across from Quinn. “Cage is set,” he said, digging into his own food. Not sushi. It looked like some kind of beef stir-fry.
Max watched him from the corner of his eye, but Lukas kept his focus on his food. Before the silence could turn awkward, he cleared his throat. “I have finals on Thursday, if I could borrow a car.”
“I’ll take you,” Quinn said.
“I can drive myself. I’ll be there for a few hours.”
Quinn gave him a look and shoved another piece of sushi into his mouth, tucking it to the side to say, “You’re not going anywhere alone while the Order is after you.”
“Quinn’s right,” said Caius. “Until you’ve learned to use your magic properly, it’s too dangerous. Especially when we don’t know who all might be targeting you.”
Max tensed, his fingers nearly snapping his chopsticks in half. He knew Caius meant well, but those were nearly the same words his father had used, always paranoid someone would attack them. Or target Max, even though his father had made it clear that Max would never inherit, even if he’d wanted to. His twelve-year-old sister, who he’d rarely been allowed to speak to, would inherit when she came of age.
Eventually, not being allowed to leave without a bodyguard turned into not allowed to leave without an escort to leave without his father’s explicit permission to not allowed to leave at all.
He wouldn’t be trapped like that again.
“I won’t be held prisoner,” he said, thankful when his voice didn’t shake. Three pairs of eyes focused on him, but he kept his attention on Caius.
“You’re not a prisoner,” Caius said, meeting his gaze. “You can go wherever you need to go, so long as you have protection. If you’d prefer I hire a bodyguard until the Order is dealt with, I can.”
“Once the Order is gone, I can travel alone?”
“Once we have established our territory and you’re no longer a target, yes.”
“How long do you expect that to be?”
“A few months, maybe.” Caius held up a hand before Max could protest. “I promise you will not be a prisoner here. I’ll hire a bodyguard so you don’t have to rely on one of us if you need to go somewhere. For now, can Quinn go to the campus with you?”
Max stared at his plate, his instincts still raging at him to fight for his freedom before he fell into the familiar, bottomless hole of helpless despair. Where did he draw the line? Where could he? He’d already let them bind and claim him. He was pretty sure shifters and mages lived by different laws, and even if they didn’t, Caius could order him to stay inside and the bond would ensure he obeyed.
“Fine,” he said, hating how he felt like he’d lost. His appetite was gone, but he forced down a few more pieces of sushi before sliding the rest over to Quinn. He grabbed the bags of supplies and took them upstairs. Only when he got to Caius’ room, he decided he really didn’t want Aradia’s cage in there.
He piled the bags in his own room and carefully set the pouch on his bed before heading back up and starting the arduous task of dragging the cage out and down a flight of stairs without drawing attention to himself.
Thankfully, the others were smart enough to leave him be if they heard anything. It took over ten minutes, and he nearly lost a finger in the process, but he managed to get the cage into his own room. He closed the door, wiggled the cage into place in the corner where sunlight wouldn’t hit it too much, then set to work filling the bottom with litter and hanging the beds and toys.
Aradia came to inspect when he was finishing up and gave it her seal of approval, promptly climbing into the tent and going back to sleep.
“Well, at least someone’s happy,” he muttered. He set up the food trays and filled the bottle from the bathroom tap. He gathered up the trash to set by the door, then flopped onto his bed.
Had he overreacted? He didn’t think so. He’d said from the beginning he wanted his freedom. Caius might mean well, but the Order hadn’t come knocking on their door. They’d probably given up. Surely they knew he wasn’t worth training this late in life.
Still, his father would come after him sooner or later, regardless of training or potential. It would be nice to have a shifter at his side when that happened.
He groaned, rolling from side to side before pulling his pillow to his chest and shoving his face into it. “Fuuuuuuck.”
