Velvet Haven

watching over you.”

    “Here, try this.”
    Bran watched as Mairi took a crust of white bread from Rowan and rubbed it between her palms, littering the bottom of his cage with bread crumbs.
    “What bird doesn’t like bread crumbs?” Mairi asked her friend.
    This one , he thought.
    “He’ll eat. Sooner or later.”
    Mairi stepped away and stretched up on tiptoe to reach into her cupboard. She pulled out a blue box with white lettering. “Frosted Mini-Wheats?”
    “Can’t hurt to try it.”
    Again she crumbled up the cereal, which rained down over the bread crumbs.
    Why did she insist on crushing everything?
    “Go on,” Mairi said gently, prodding him with her hand. “You’ll like it.”
    Not likely. He’d much prefer a steak, or some of that food in the white containers. It smelled delicious. Chinese food, they had called it. He’d never had it, but the aroma filled the small apartment. Grudgingly he admitted that he had come to like human food. As a Sidhe who commanded the elements, he did not need food for nourishment. His magic was his food source. But years of mingling with mortals had taught him to eat, and crave, certain culinary delights. And bread crusts and cereal weren’t going to cut it.
    “Maybe he wants some egg roll?” Rowan asked while she scraped the leftovers from her plate into the wastebasket. “He’s big enough to down one whole.”
    Mairi grimaced. “You don’t think he eats mice, do you? Or garbage?”
    Bran flapped his good wing and fluttered about the cage. If she stuck a mouse in here, he was going to be pissed.
    “Fussy-assed crow,” Mairi grumbled as she shoved another Mini-Wheat into his crate.
    “I don’t think he likes to be referred to as a crow.”
    He cocked his head and thanked the goddess for Rowan. Despite his strange, and alarming, sexual connection to Mairi, it was Rowan who seemed to understand him in his animal form.
    She bent forward and reached her finger into the cage, touching him. “He has lovely markings. I wonder how he got them.”
    “I’m worried he won’t eat.”
    His heart softened as he saw the concern on Mairi’s face. “He’ll eat. Eventually.”
    Mairi nodded and brushed her hands on her pants. “You look exhausted.”
    “I am,” Rowan murmured. “I called Dillon to come pick me up. He’ll be here any minute.”
    “You didn’t have to do that. I would have taken you home.”
    Bran looked between the two women, wondering who the hell Dillon was. No doubt Sayer already knew, since he’d been in Rowan’s mind, enchanting her.
    “That’s what I pay him for,” Rowan said with a tired smile. “Besides, who knows how long I’m going to be out for, and he needs the money for school.”
    “Well, tell him to be careful. He drives that flashy little Nissan way too fast.”
    “Yes, Mom,” Rowan said with a laugh. “I’m going to wait outside for him, clear my head with the fresh air. I’ll call you later.”
    Mairi watched the door close behind her friend. In that moment, Bran felt the pain and anguish she was feeling, and he vowed, as he watched her, as he wished he could go to her and hold her in his arms, that he would do what he could to understand Rowan’s lineage and get her the help she needed.
    If she was not all mortal, then maybe the magic of Annwyn was what she needed to rid herself of whatever disease was making her ill.
    The phone rang and Mairi picked it up.
    “Hello?” She grimaced when she heard the voice on the other end.
    Bran could hear a male voice, and he saw red knowing that Mairi might have interest in another man. For some absurd reason, he thought of her as his. Especially now that she had healed him.
    “I can’t tonight, Sanchez. What about tomorrow night?”
    The man mumbled something and she nodded, said good-bye, then hung up.
    “Oh my God,” Mairi groaned into Clancy’s upturned face. “If I didn’t love Rowan so much, I’d kill her for making that deal with Dr. Sanchez. Can you believe it, Clancy? Sanchez only released Rowan from the hospital after she begged and she agreed to get him a date with me.”
    The dog stared up at her blankly, but the vessels behind Bran’s eyes began to pulsate. Mairi with another man? No. Never . But then he stopped and realized how foolish his thinking was.
    She couldn’t be his. He shouldn’t be anywhere near her. If what he’d seen in her dream last night was true, she was the mortal who would destroy him.
    But she had healed him, the voice