He closed his eyes and let out a soft curse. “I’m about to lose it,” he whispered.
Dad’s magic reached us before he did. I stifled my sigh. Everyone was bound and determined to keep us apart today.
“He’s bound to be hungry,” I said, extricating myself from Rowan’s tight grip. I brushed a quick kiss over his lips and turned to face my father.
“Hey, Dad.”
Cernunnos was in his full-on god form today, complete with ceiling scraping antlers. He appeared like this when he was on official business, had come from official business, or just wanted to be scary that particular day.
Unfortunately for me, I never knew which one it was until he told me.
He had to duck to pass through the hallway to get into the kitchen. When he rose to his full height, I noticed his eyes swirling with power.
I willed myself to be calm. “You hungry?”
Dad stared at me for a long moment, and I waited, silently, Rowan still and quiet beside me.
After a moment, he blinked and his eyes bled to his normal greenish gold, only a little swirly. The antlers retreated into his head, and his outfit morphed from buckskin to a pair of dark trousers and a pullover sweater, more formal than his usual joggers and t-shirt, but still normal enough not to freak me out.
“There you are,” I said lightly. “Want a grilled cheese?”
Dad nodded and sank into one of the chairs with a groan. I turned away to fix him some lunch, giving Rowan a sharp shake of my head to warn him to give my Dad time to decompress.
Rowan went to the fridge and got the sandwich fixings out while I readied the pan.
Dad didn’t say a word the entire time. When I set two sandwiches in front of him with a glass of tea, I sat across from him, Rowan to my right, and waited.
He scarfed the entire thing down and drained his tea. I got up and refilled his glass, keeping the pitcher next to me in case he needed another refill.
Dad drank the second glass too. When he finished, he closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. “Thank you.”
“Of course.” I said nothing else.
Dad remained quiet for a few moments. He looked at Rowan and narrowed his eyes. “Ah. I see.”
I resisted the urge to squirm uncomfortably.
“This is why I’m here, actually.” Dad let out a sad laugh.
I straightened. “Because of Rowan?”
“Our people are not…enthused about the potential for a shifter king.”
Rowan froze beside me.
“Granted, they think Rowan is a much better choice than the other Lord, but they wish to be led by someone who is of pure fae blood.”
Rowan started to rise from the table, his face an expressionless mask. “I’ll give you two some time to discuss.”
I took Rowan by the hand and tugged him back down.
“Evie, it’s fine?—”
“It is not fine,” I said quietly. Rage roared through my veins.
“The bond can still fade.”
I turned to face Rowan. A crimson light washed over his face. Rowan swallowed and went still.
