Heir of the Dog Black Dog - Hailey Edwards Page 0,21

thing for mortal women. He wouldn’t be the first. I might be the only child of his to appear on the conclave’s steps with blood on her hands, but that didn’t mean I was the only child he had sired.

The thought of having siblings out there... No. Raven said Mac had done this once before, with Mom. Pathetic, I know, but I clung to the childish dream she had been special to him, at least until she got pregnant with me.

I twisted to face Raven. “Why not wait for Macsen to return?”

“It’s a delicate time in Faerie, as I have said.” He glanced away. “We can’t afford to wait.”

Unseelie being concerned over the balance in Faerie struck me as suspicious. They weren’t all bad, just as Seelie weren’t all good, but Unseelie were called dark fae for a reason.

“I’ll think about it.” I pushed to my feet. “My father left this realm before I was born, so you understand why I don’t feel any particular attachment to his legacy or any concern for its continuance.”

Raven stood as well.

“I’m sorry he vanished,” I continued, “but I have to think of my mom, the parent who stuck around and raised me. I’m all the family she has. She needs me.”

As powerful as my father was, he had cultivated equally lethal enemies. Mom was under conclave protection, but being Mac’s mortal ex-lover, and the mother of his heir, made her a tempting coup for any of them. Especially if I wasn’t here to see the law enforced on her behalf.

I liked to believe I could handle myself, mostly, but Mom had no means of protecting herself against the fae.

I couldn’t do this. It would be Mac all over again. I couldn’t leave her for Faerie.

Raven inclined his head. “I can allow you twenty-four hours to consider your options.”

“Do me a favor while we sort this out.” I didn’t make it a question. “Don’t answer any more of the Morrigan’s summons, okay?”

“As you wish.” He trailed me to the door, pinching a lock of my hair and twisting it around his finger. “As it is, I have taken enough to sustain me.”

Unnerved by his familiarity, I glanced over my shoulder. “What happens if I don’t go?”

He bent to inhale the hairs caught in his fist. “The houses will declare war upon one another.”

Chapter Thirteen

Raven’s offer left me so keyed up, I decided against returning to the apartment. Mai would be waking up and getting ready for work soon. Opting to let her sleep while she could, I shot her a text and told her I was heading in to the office early.

I had solved the case. Go me. Fat lot of good it did.

Any doubts I had about Raven’s identity had gone up in smoke. He was here. He was real. And his plea implied dire consequences for Faerie if I turned down the Unseelie’s offer. I needed to get Shaw’s take on this before I involved the magistrates, and I had to involve them. Soon. Say within twenty-four hours.

Once inside the marshal’s office, I breathed easier.

“Hey there, sunshine,” Mable chirped as I passed her desk. “Are you going after that púca? An anonymous tip placed him at Oak Trail Park ten minutes ago.”

I exhaled on a curse too low for her ears. “Have you seen Shaw yet?”

“Yes.” She pushed her glasses up her nose. “He came by earlier to pick up a search warrant the magistrates wanted executed before sunup.”

Great. So he would be occupied for a while.

“In that case, I’ll grab a quick shower and check out the tip on the púca.”

Her voice trailed after me. “I don’t suppose you—”

“Catch.” I twisted and tossed her a square jar of lavender honey. “Let me know what you think.”

Her shocked laughter when she caught my pitch made me chuckle.

She picked her spoon off her desk and waved it at me. “I’ll do that.”

The scent of pine cleaner made me wrinkle my nose when I entered the communal showers tucked into the rear quarter of the marshal’s office. It took a few tries, but I managed to remember my combination and pop open my locker where I kept a change of clothes. Five minutes later I was standing under hot spray, ignoring the way my elbow kept banging into the wall of the tiny stall or the knobs jabbing me in the back when I turned to rinse my hair.

Cold air rushed beneath the sheet of opaque plastic and kissed my ankles, raising gooseflesh.

“Hello?” A