On the Prowl

when he felt your second nature being born. He left immediately to look for you.”
    “Good thing.” The giant face didn’t smile, I wasn’t sure it could, but one great eye dropped me a wink. Then he flew away a short distance so the others could get a look. “Who are they?”
    “An aunt, two cousins, and your half-brother.”
    “I have a brother?” It was too much to take in. The closest thing to a sibling I’d ever had was Seb. And for some reason, I’d never really counted him.
    “That would be the red one. He was, er, a little perturbed with me, as you can see.”
    “What?” I turned to see Heidar rubbing the side of his jaw ruefully.
    “He packs quite a punch.”
    “I thought you said I fell on you?”
    “You did. Your brother just…helped connect the dots, so to speak.”
    I turned back to see a bright, fire-engine-red snout pressed against the glass. The eyes that met mine were a shocking, vivid green. He reared back when he saw my hand find Heidar’s, and those magnificent eyes narrowed to slits. He looked like he was contemplating having Fey for dinner.
    “Why is he upset with you?”
    Heidar looked sheepish. “For good reason. I knew you were Two-Natured as soon as I met you, but I didn’t realize until much later that you had never birthed your second self. And even when I did, I assumed—foolishly—that you were half Light Fey. Our twin’s birth tends to be somewhat…less dramatic…so I wasn’t too concerned. Even so, I shouldn’t have risked it. As your brother pointed out, I nearly got both of us killed.”
    “It wasn’t your fault.” If he could be honest, so could I. “I practically threw myself at you.”
    “Of course you did.” He said it so matter-of-factly, that it took a minute to register.
    I withdrew my hand. “What?”
    “It was the first time you’d been around another member of Faerie since coming of age—other than those Svarestri sticks in the mud. Of course you were drawn to me. Your twin needed me to manifest.” He grinned. “Not to mention that my family has a reputation for being irresistible.”
    “So you’re saying what? It was just hormones?”
    “In your case, I don’t know. But it was not my first time with another Fey. I could have controlled myself better. I should have.” He flushed slightly. “It’s simply been a very long time since anyone looked at me the way you did—anyone Fey,” he added after a moment.
    “I thought you said you were irresistible.”
    “I’m also half-human. Fey women who are full-bloods want full-blooded children, for the prestige and also because many estates cannot be passed to half-bloods. Those who are already partly human also want a full-blood so as not to weaken the line further.” He gave me a slight, lopsided smile. “When it comes to anything permanent, I suppose I am resistible after all.”
    “It sounds like Fey women are as stupid as the Svarestri,” I said, climbing into his lap. If it hurt him, he didn’t let it show.
    “You could do better,” he told me seriously. His eyes had turned the purest dark sapphire, and were brimming with an expression I couldn’t quite define. “I’ll never inherit, Claire. My father is the Blarestri king, but the throne can only pass to someone with a majority of Fey blood. So our children could never hope to—”
    “Aren’t you getting a little ahead of things?” I snuggled into his lap and bent my head to his delicate, pointed ear. Slowly, deliberately, I caressed its outline with my tongue. Within seconds, he was almost vibrating with need, and my own body was starting to feel the onset of another all-consuming tide of pleasure. God, I loved Fey men! “We haven’t made a baby yet,” I whispered.
    Heidar’s eyes widened as I began to move against him. “I don’t believe that will be a problem.”
    I waved at the gamboling dragons outside, who were now obviously showing off for my benefit. It would have been a scene to take my breath away, under other circumstances. At the moment, it was just making me dizzy.
    “Later,” I said when I could trust my voice. “We need to talk about how we’re going to get that damned rune back.”
    Heidar reached up to draw the curtains, and rolled me beneath him, all in one motion. “Much later.”

C HAPTER 7
    A week later, we were stuck in traffic hell going over the Brooklyn Bridge. We’d reentered Earth through a portal in Manhattan, necessitating a little trip to get back to the auction house.