The two stare at me.
“Why do you keep saying that?” Rowan finally asks.
“Because…you are.” I take a step back, feeling lied to. “Aren’t you?”
“I’m the same age as this fool,” Rowan says, gesturing a wing toward Ash.
“No.” I laugh, feeling a little hysterical. “No.Because I’ve been living with a fussygrandpa.Not a man who’s practically my age. I cannot be the keeper of a thirty-year-old male mage!”
“What difference does it make?” Rowan asks, flummoxed.
“Because…because…what if you’re attracted to me? Then this situation would be so wrong.”
“I’m not attracted to you,” Rowan says flatly.
“You said I was pretty!”
“You are pretty, but that doesn’t mean…why are we having this conversation? Perhaps it’s escaped your notice, but I’m abird.Are you actually worried I’m going to make a move on you?”
Ash snorts, and then he clears his throat.
I sit down, right on the floor. “I thought you were close to death.”
“Yes, you kept saying that.”
“I thought…I thought that even if I failed, you’d be gone in five years, tops. But now…I could be stuck with you for the rest of mylife.”
“I told you I’d take care of him,” Ash says blandly.
“You.” I point at him. “You were going to call Animal Control on your own cousin!”
“That’s right,” Rowan snarls. “You knew who I was when you said that.”
“Don’t overreact,” Ash says to Rowan. “They wouldn’t euthanize you. You’d get relocated to a nice forest with lots of mice.”
“I know where you sleep.”
“You’re smaller than a house cat—I’m not too worried. And if you’ll remember, I know where you sleep, too.”
“Yeah,” Rowan says. “In your girlfriend’s house.”
“Stop!” I yell, realizing this is about to get ugly. “First off, I’m not Ash’s girlfriend.”
Ash raises his eyes at Rowan. “Yet.”
“We’ve only known each other a few days,” I remind him.
The councilman wears a smug look that’s so high fae, I can’t decide if I want to slap him or kiss him.
“Oh,” I say suddenly, dropping my head into my hands. “The feather. Rowan bought itonline.”
That’s thething—the thing that’s been bothering me. That tiny detail slipped past me when he first said it, but it’s been in my subconscious, trying to get my attention.
Online shopping wasn’t around sixty years ago.
“I’m such an idiot,” I whisper.
“You’re not an idiot, Kit,” Rowan says. “You’re just a little dense.”
