Piper (Queen's Birds of Prey #4) - Kathi S. Barton Page 0,15

him off us, they turned him over to the cops. That was shitty of them if you ask me.”

Now he knew how he’d ended up in the home. They’d sold him. Thinking about that made him realize they were no better than the woman at the home. Worse, he thought, because he had been their son. As he made his way to bed that night, he thought about what he’d said to Aunt Piper. He did wonder if this would make a difference to them if he told them. Abe was going to tell his mom first. She might have a better plan for them. He didn’t care, just so long as they never came around him.

Falling asleep was easier since living here. He didn’t wake in the middle of the night, terrified that he was going to be murdered in his bed. Abe had witnessed it once. The man that had taken one of the older kids had snapped his neck while his sister stood there, telling him to hurry before anyone woke up. Abe hadn’t eaten the cookies that came with dinner that night and figured it was the reason he wasn’t sleeping. The cookies had something in them. Abe never ate another cookie while there. He couldn’t even stand them now that he knew no one was going to kill anyone in the night. They were off the list of foods he enjoyed.

Chapter 2

Grant remembered the birds from when he’d been in the castle keep. They were something to behold, he remembered. He also remembered the old king. The fucking bastard had nearly killed his mother when she’d been in labor with him. It was small wonder either of them had survived working there.

Today he was digging a trough from the waterway to the back of his home. Grant had his mom move in with him some years ago. It was still the same now. They worked well together and didn’t have the problems with being together, as did some of the humans he knew living with their parents. He supposed it was because they were both magical and could make walls between them if they wanted some quiet time. Not that he wanted much of that anymore. He seemed to love being around groups more than he did when he’d been younger. Grant supposed it was because of his job as a doctor. That was his latest job anyway.

“Are you going to go with me to the castle in the morning?” Grant ask his mom why she was going there. “The lady of the house wants me to come by there and see if I can do anything with the material that was left in the castle for them. There are a few tapestries as well that she thinks could use a steady hand. To think the birds are all back now. It’s nice, don’t you think?”

“Yes.” He didn’t really care if they were back or not. He’d not had a great deal to do with them when he’d been here long ago and didn’t figure that was going to change all that much now that they lived around him. “I’ll have this dug out for you in an hour. Will you be ready to set up the water system for your herbs by then?”

His mom was the healer. Grant knew she also used magic when she made herbs or the like to help people. Being a fae, she was in tune with the earth more than most. Mostly she only made wraps or helped birth a baby or two. But she knew everyone in town, and they’d been using her forever, it seemed.

As soon as he had the water running the way she wanted it, it was easy for her to hook up the sprinkler system to turn on the herbs when she wanted. Grant laughed when she stood under the spray of water and cooled off.

“I think this summer is going to be a hot one.” He didn’t tell her the very definition of summer meant it would be hot, but he kept his mouth closed. “Do you suppose there is a chance we can get a few trees back here trimmed back? I’m tired of picking up sticks when the wind blows a little harder than usual.”

“I can do that. How far do you want them trimmed? I’m assuming you mean higher and not just trimmed off the fence.” She told him what she wanted. “All right, Mom. I can do that