“I existed.” Urien accepted the antiseptic wipe Mabon offered, dabbed at the worst of the scratches. “I was breathing, sitting in Sam’s kitchen. You know, the usual threatening behaviors.”
“You were in Sam’s kitchen?” Mabon abandoned all pretense of tendingUrien’s wounds. “We want details. We have to know everything.”
Rux crossed the library and dropped onto the arm of Urien’s chair. “Start from the beginning and don’t skip a single second.”
Urien sighed and pressed another antiseptic wipe to his palm. “I brought vegetables from the garden. The Brandywines and some chard.”
“At dawn,” Mabon added helpfully.
“Yes, thank you, at dawn.” Urien shifted in the chair, tried to ignore how both his mates had gone unnaturally still. “I was leaving the basket on his doorstep when Sam opened the door and invited me in for tea.”
Rux’s hand landed on Urien’s shoulder, gripped tight. “He invited you inside?”
“To make me breakfast.” Urien kept his voice casual. “Well, he offered to. We were about to discuss how to prepare the chard when the cat arrived.”
“And attacked you on sight.” Mabon leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Just like that?”
“Launched himself at my ankle. Sam had to wrestle him off.” Urien tossed the bloody wipe into the bin beside the desk. “He bit my hand when I tried to…I don’t know what I was trying to do. Establish rapport?”
“With a cat.” Rux’s thumb traced circles against Urien’s shoulder blade.
“Animals usually like me.” Urien heard the petulance in his own voice and couldn’t quite suppress it. “The deer in the garden eat from my hand. Birds try to nest in my hair when I’m weeding.”
“This cat bit you,” Mabon pointed out.
“This cat,” Urien said slowly, “knew exactly what I am.”
The library went quiet. Even Rux stopped his gentle stroking.
“Cats can sense…” Mabon started.
“He smelled dragon.” Urien met Mabon’s gaze, then Rux’s. “He saw through whatever glamour wemaintain without thinking and recognized a threat to his human.”
“He’s a fricking smart cat,” Rux muttered.
“He’s a terrible cat.” Urien prodded the puncture wounds, watched them close a bit faster now that he’d cleaned them. “Sam was mortified and kept apologizing. He said Basil loves everyone.”
“Except dragons courting his owner.” Mabon sat back and tapped his fingers against the chair arm. “That complicates things.”
“That’s an understatement.” Urien closed his eyes, remembered Sam’s flushed face, his rumpled pajamas, the way he’d looked standing in his cozy kitchen, offering breakfast like it was the most natural thing in the world. “But he invited me back… For the chard recipe, admittedly, but still...”
Rux squeezed his shoulder. “When Basil’s not around to murder you?”
“Something like that.”
Rux was still grinning. “I still can’t believe you got scared off by a cat. You faced down the Glasgow brood without flinching, but one tabby…”
“You should visit Sam.” Urien met Rux’s gaze, his expression innocent. “I’m sure Basil will love you. Perhaps you could bring him some of that salmon you’ve been experimenting with.”
Rux snapped his mouth shut.
Chapter Twelve
Rux
“I’m telling you, you need to be careful about that cat.”
Rux dismissed Urien’s warning with a wave. “Please. Animals love me.”
