Page 46 of Those That Defy the Realm

“No,” I say, reassuring her and deflating where I stand because I know I’m going to have to spill the whole truth now. “Them refers to Henry, and Claire.”

“Claire?” Kai tilts his head, confusion still clear on his face.

“Claire is Rory’s friend. She’s a human from Froan. Coincidentally, she and Henry knew each other before this spring. One thing led to another and all three of us kind of had a thing while we were all there.”

“No wonder you’ve been insufferable since you got back, you’re not pining after one person but two.” My brother’s expression changes, his face brightens like he’s just received the gossip of the century. In our small community, I suppose hearing this kind of admission first hand is somewhat of a thrill. “Are you going to keep seeing them?”

“How?” My voice raises as the frustration I’ve been keeping locked down sees an outlet.

“They can come here. We might be stuck but they’re not.” Kai makes it sound so easy.

“Right, I can totally ask them to uproot their lives, take Henry away from the important work he’s doing with the authorities for all vampire kind, remove Claire from her family and the friend she’s just got back.”

“I didn’t mean make them move here permanently. But if what you were doing in Froan was going somewhere, they’d be able to visit.”

“For the rest of their lives?” I don’t hide the exacerbation I feel. If Kai thinks I haven’t thought about it a thousand times already then my brother is not as smart as I’ve always thought he was. Them coming here once would be reasonable, but for them to have to travel to me forever? It’s not viable.

“Claire’s a human?” Mum interrupts.

“Yes,” I reply.

“Purely human?”

“Yes,” I confirm, and her face only cements my own thoughts. I’m signing myself up for heartbreak. Humans don’t live anywhere near as long as us. Only the Fae have the ability to bound a human life to their own. We’d have to watch Claire grow old and die in the sixty or seventy years she has left whilst Henry and I are still looking at close to two millennia.

Even Kai goes quiet, no doubt thinking about how much it would hurt him if his mate wasn’t a wolf shifter as well.

“This does complicate things.” Mum takes a mouthful of the coffee from the mug she had when I walked in, it must be cold by now.

I scoff, laughing at the way she’s summed up how fucked I am in four words.

My brother stands again and comes to stand in front of me, putting a hand on my shoulder. “We can figure that bit out later. Right now, there’s an ocean between you.” He turns to look at our mother. “Isn’t there a way we can send him back to Froan?”

My heart goes out of rhythm at the suggestion. It’s not a subject I’d yet broached. With neither Henry nor Claire really talking to me, I didn’t think going back would have much effect, not with them both taking that stupid deal I suggested to the letter.

“That is actually what I wanted to talk to your brother about this afternoon.”

“What?” I almost trip over my own tongue in a rush to get the words out. “Is that a possibility?”

“More than a possibility, actually. I wanted to get everything lined up before I talked to you because I didn’t want you to be disappointed if I couldn’t get it arranged. But, to be honest, Agent Morris was fully on board with the idea. It’s taken a few days for the documents to come over but I’ve got you a false name and six weeks on a working visa, if you want it?”

Everything in my body rushes all at once. I’m hot and my fingers are tingling with excitement, my wolf is pushing to the surface in a jubilance I haven’t felt since I’ve been back in the Northern Isles. I’m dropping the knife and my feet are moving before I’m pulling my mum into a bone crushing hug.

“Thank you.” My words come out a little choked and I realise I’m actually crying, the pent-up pining from the last week overwhelming me entirely.

“You’re welcome.” Mum wraps an arm around me and strokes my hair soothingly with her other hand. “I’d seen how miserable you were as soon as you returned. To start with, I thought that getting off this island had shown you what you miss out on by being trapped here, but after speaking to your father, we realised it was more than that.”

Pulling back, I wipe the tears from my cheeks. “Thank you,” I repeat. “When can I leave?”

“I’m afraid it will be another week, and we need to organise some members of the pack to go with you like last time. I won’t send you alone. And you’ll need to take other precautions as well.”

“I don’t care. I’ll agree to it all if I can go back. If you’ve done this twice now, is there a chance it could be semi-regular?”

“I don’t want to make that promise, but yes. From the discussions I’ve been having with Agent Morris, as soon as their citizenship laws go into practice, they can work on extending that to dual nationals.”

“Dual nationalities?” Kai asks from behind us. I step back to include him in the conversation.

“Yes, if I get my way, Froan will be able to offer us dual nationality without consulting West Scotia. If that happens we—where members of the pack wish—will be able to travel to Froan more freely and even take up residency there. It’s complicated with the treaty and residency is a long way off, but I want our pups to have access to the university, to internships, short-term jobs and such like.”