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He twisted his head as his brother resurfaced in the main lobby, a haul in his arms. He had some of the things he and Isla had discussed earlier that morning, and most importantly, alcohol.
“She has a strong maternal instinct.” Kai watched as Jonah placed each of the items onto the study table that Rhydian sat at a few feet away. The diadem, the dagger, Aneurin’s journal, and that woman’s picture. Despite the bane, he felt that void within him twitch, bite, then recoil.
Strange.
Only Jonah seemed to notice the way his features pinched and relaxed, but he didn’t comment.
Rhydian mused, “Clearly.”
It took Kai a bit to realize they were still speaking of Isla. He watched Rhydian cast a keener eye over the pup and noted how his shoulders eased at the melody of Davina’s laugh. It filled the belly of the room as the bak lapped at her hand with his pinkish-gray tongue.
Kai could’ve sworn a smile tugged at Rhydian’s mouth. “How long are she and Meera gone again?” he asked.
Kai frowned. “Two days.” He couldn’t keep the grumble out of his voice.
“Two days, and after only five hours, you’ve shown up here with a baby monster,” Jonah said, lining up a few glasses. “I fear what you’ll have for us tomorrow.”
“In my defense, I waswith herwhen we got him.”
Davina tied her hair back when the pup became too intrigued playing with the long brassy strands. “What’s his name again?”
Kai accepted the liquor Jonah had poured him. “We haven’t given him one yet.”
Rhydian reached out to his twin for his own glass. “A name sounds permanent.”
“That’s what I said.” Kai took a drink, savoring the burn in his throat, grateful for it. It was definitely going to be a long night. It had been over a month since he’d been in their bed without Isla, and he wasn’t sure how well he’d handle the empty space beside him. “We’re taking any suggestions.”
Davina rubbed the pup between the ears. “I’ll see what speaks to me. I doubt you want to call himadorable little button.”She gushed the last words, bringing her face closer to his. “Because that is exactly what you are, isn’t it?”
Kai snorted. “I’ll keep that one in mind, but yeah. Maybe keep trying.”
Davina gave him a deadpan look before going back to playing with the baby. “I love animals.” Her voice softened slightly.
“We were never allowed to have pets growing up,” Rhydian said, sipping his liquor. He was talking about back when they lived in Surles.
Jonah flipped open his leather-bound notebook and then a large piece of paper. A crane of Kai’s head revealed the canvas had been the map he’d been sketching of the tunnels. It was done with impressive care and detail, with charcoal used for certainties and something softer and removable for the possible routes. He’d even rendered Deimos’s Pack Hall with precision. Phobos’s was present but a blank slate. Kai couldn’t recall anyone ever going to it during the Hunt.
Jonah lined the three markers they’d collected last night in front of him. “A pet was another mouth to feed.”
Rhydian pointed at him. “There were the neighbor’s goats, though.”
Jonah snickered, dropping his pencil to the page. “Until they slaughtered them.”
Rhydian grimaced, nearly draining his glass in one gulp.
“Back in Charon, I had a cat.”
Davina’s voice had been so quiet that Kai nearly missed it. All three men had gone silent, eyes fixed on the petite woman on the floor.
It had taken about four months after she and Rhydian had mated for Kai to learn the truth about where she’d truly come from andwhyshe was here. Then about the horrors she’d endured within her home pack and all it had taken her to get to Deimos. Even after that, speaking about Charon had been a sore subject between them all, but since working with others who had escaped, Davina seemed to become much more open and comfortable speaking about her past. With the other refugees especially, but also with them. Still, Kai didn’t push too much, letting her tell him things when she was ready.
Davina wouldn’t look up at any of them, and her strokes over the pup’s sparsely-furred skin gentled and slowed. The baby settled, snuggling into her touch as if sensing her shift in emotion.
“I’d found her one day in a dumpster by the markets, abandoned. There had just been a new tithe culled—something ridiculous that I had to sell some of my mother’s jewelry to pay—but someone couldn’t afford to keep her anymore, or they hadn’t been able to pay and had been taken by the guard. I ended up bringing her home with me anyway, even if I’d have to scrape by to take care of her. She became my solace, my happiness after that, getting me through a lot of really, really hard nights.” Her voice broke, and it seemed just the thought of those hard nights cast a palpable cloud over her.
Rhydian leaned forward in his seat, prepared to scoop her in his arms if need be.
Kai’s hold on his glass tightened so much he swore he heard it splintering. He and his father hadn’t agreed on much, but what he’d done to help those who fled, he was fully behind.
