Page 19 of Rule

“She has to eat,” I said. “Not that sheis.”

“What do you mean?”

“She did not eat any of the food I broughtto her last night. Not a single bite.”

“She will eat when she is hungry enough,”Bran said as an odd look of guilt flickered across his face. “I take it thetranslator is not working yet?”

“No, but I believe her name is Evelyn.”The human name sounded foreign on my tongue.

“What kind of name is Evelyn?” Bran said.

I shrugged. “You know the humans sometimeshave strange names. She -”

The human made a cry of pain and we bothturned to see her leaning over with her head between her knees. I pushed pastBran and crouched in front of her. She ignored me, and I poked her lightly onthe top of her head. “What is wrong, human?”

She straightened and stared at me. Her paleskin was even paler than normal, and her eyes were huge in her face. Littlepain lines were etched around her mouth and she was breathing much too quickly.

“Human – Evelyn, do you feel faint?”

“She cannot understand you, Court.” Branhad placed Bella in her booster chair, and he stood next to me, staring down atthe human.

“Does she look like she is in pain to you?”I asked.

“Yes,” Bran admitted.

“Perhaps we should give her some gallberryjuice.” I studied the silent, sweating woman in front of me. “If she is sick,it will help.”

The human began to talk, but it still madeno sense to me. I glanced up at Bran. “Pour her a glass of juice, would -”

“I’m not here for the nanny job. Oh shit.How do I make them understand? Maybe I could pantomime it. Think, Evie.You’ve played charades before. How hard can it be to make them understand you’rehere for breeding not nannying?”

The human was suddenly completelyunderstandable. I heard Bran heave a sigh of relief behind me, and I poked thehuman this time in the thigh to make her stop talking. “Human, do youunderstand me?”

Her mouth dropped open. “I… I do.”

“Good. The translator is working.”

“There’s been a mix-up,” she said. “Theyput the wrong chip in me. I’m not Sabrina, I’m Evelyn. I’m here on a breedingcontract, not a nanny contract.”

“We know,” I said. “Bran realized theerror when I brought you home.”

Her eyes flickered to Bran and bright redstained her cheeks. “I’m sorry about last night when you came into my room. Ithought – I thought you were the king and I was supposed to breed with you.”

“Why were you in her room last night?”Jealousy, all too familiar and unwelcome, was seeping through me. Which wasstupid because I was absolutely not attracted to the female. She was too smallfor my tastes and her skin was too pale, even for a human female. Of course,her eyes were a fascinating shade of green and her pink lips were plump and herdark hair…

Krono, I was acting like a fool. Still, itdidn’t stop me from scowling at Bran and repeating my question. “Why were youin her room?”

“I was checking on Bella and I heard thehuman crying. I went into her room to tell her to be quiet so she would notwake Bella.”

“What did you do to her?” I asked.

Bran’s skin darkened with embarrassment.“I did not do anything to her. She kissed me.”

“I thought he was the king and I was supposedto breed with him,” Evelyn said quickly.

“Did you sleep with the human?” Obviousjealousy infused my words.

“Of course not.” Bran gave me look like Ihad gone mad, but under it, lurked a small hint of guilt. “I pushed her away.”

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