Page 24 of Killian
We picked a spot, and he whistled. Three trucks had come, and all were MacLadens. Each one smiled at me before they started working, and when the boys came out to see what was happening, Jenkins showed them what the crew was doing. The boys thought it was the best thing ever.
Another car pulled up, a beat-up Nova that had seen better days fifty years before. Maisy climbed out of it, and Jules reached for me. I scooped him into a hug and told him she wasn’t there to take him away. She didn’t even look at him when I went out to talk to her.
“My lord, thank you for gettin’ rid of Gerald. I didn’t wanna mate to ’im, but Papa is set in his ways,” she said, watching another young man on Jenkins’ crew. “Axl saved me the first time, and Gerald left me alone until Papa called him a couple of days ago.”
I went through her memories then, discovering she’d given herself to the young man watching us. Axl ‘saved’ her by feeding her his blood and claiming Jules because Barnham wanted her to get rid of the cub so she could marry Gerald. In her mind, Jules didn’t belong to her after that.
“Who is he?” I murmured.
Maisy sighed. “Cully. His daddy’s Naven. Papa got to keep his store, but Naven lost several hogs to Xeno. Papa thought he was better than Naven after that.”
“Does Naven have a problem with you and Cully being together?” I asked.
Her gaze met mine then. “No, not at all. Just cain’t pay the price Papa wanted for me.”
Shifters were always trading their kids for money, and it pissed me off. In Fire Ridge, the girls chose the boys, and the boys had to pay.
“How old are you?” I asked.
“Twenty-five,” she said.
“Then you’re grown, and your Papa has no say.” I smiled. “You tell him his King said so, and if he has a problem, he can talk to me. If you and Cully want to get married, then go for it.”
“Are you sure?” Maisy whispered. “You’d marry us?”
Hell. Was that one of my duties?
It is,Indy thought.
“Yep, I’ll marry you to Cully,” I nodded.
Cully hollered behind me, and I laughed softly.
“Anything else I can do for you?” I asked.
“No. Thank you, my lord.”
“Please call me Killy.”
Chapter seventeen
Zander
I’d gone to check on the second crew, which was finishing a job in Spartanburg, and made it to Killy’s to see about the pavilion by noon. The hearth was going up and the plumbing was run from the house. The crew had framed in the base and was laying down the floor when I pulled up. Killy was rocking in the swing, and Jules was sleeping through the hammering.
I headed up the steps after talking to Jenkins, who told me Killy had given Maisy and Cully permission to marry. Well, Killy seemed to be doing all the right things.
Hey,I thought, stopping in front of him.
Hey,he smiled back.
I just came to check on this crew. Looks like things are coming along.
They are. Indy and the boys went home after lunch, and Maisy’s arrival scared the hell out of Jules.
I glanced at the top of the boy’s head, which was all I could see of him. He was covered in a large black blanket.
Shifters move on from things we hold onto,I thought.
