Page 22 of Pulled By the Tail
They had not been bad people, but they had been flawed. As with many of the aristocratic families murdered during Talmar’s civil war, they sort of had it coming. They weren’t outright villains. His father spent his days in scholarly research, leaving the management of the estate to his brother. His mother served as a member of Talmar’s parliament. But they spent staggering sums of money, seemed to care only for their pleasure, and that made them easy targets.
As a child, though, he understood none of that. He had been fascinated with the flower-shaped music box and played it nightly before bed. The melody lulled him to sleep and the fact that it had been in his bed was the only reason it came with him as they fled Talmar. Bright had gathered him up, blankets and all, and carried him on the shuttle. Only later, when they were safely in orbit, did they discover the music box as it fell out of the wad of blankets.
It stayed with him, the only tangible link to his parents and former life on Talmar. The music box could have been sold for a small fortune and they would not have had to stay in dilapidated stations.
Sentimental fool.
He couldn’t deny it. The scraps of his personal history were so few that he clung to the pieces he had. Quil knew this and exploited it at every turn.
The music box wound down, the last notes fading into the silence of the house.
“I thought I’d find you here,” a familiar voice said.
Talen drained the last of the now-cold tea. “I’m not in the mood for your nonsense, Quil.”
“But you are in the mood for nostalgia.” Quil turned over the music box, inspecting it carefully. “This could be in a museum.”
Or a bank vault.
Talen took the precious device and locked it back in the display cabinet.
“I have a gift for you,” his brother said, producing a flat box.
Talen instantly knew what the box contained. “Do not think you can buy my forgiveness with gifts, especially that kind of gift.”
Quil cracked the lid, displaying the flexible claw caps inside. “You must be responsible and think of protecting your mate. Humans are delicate and their skin is not as thick as ours.”
He meant that literally. Tal skin was durable and resistant to casual contact with claws. It took effort to shred a Tal skin with claws alone. Humans, however, could be shredded to ribbons before a Tal realized they even touched the human. He had served alongside enough humans in the Navy to see it happen during hand-to-hand training. He never had a human bedmate, but he could imagine the consequences of claws unsheathing in a moment of passion.
Quil had no shame.
“I do have experience in these matters,” Quil added, making the moment worse in every possible way.
Humility, patience, kindness, justice, fortitude, and prudence.
And practice. I do not wish to gut my brother. Not really.
“I do not need a sex talk from my brother,” Talen said, taking the box and ignoring Quil’s idiotic smirk. He left the library, Quil following close on his tail.
“Are you no longer speaking with me?”
“I’m tired,” he said.
“Then stop prowling the house and find your bed.”
“No, I’m tired ofthis.” He paused, motioning between himself and his brother. “I am not helping you when I fix the trouble you cause.”
In a rare moment of openness, Talen saw unease on his brother’s face, only to be quickly replaced with a nervous smile. “Of course that’s helping me.”
“No, you are a grown male. When our mother told me to take care of you, she did not intend for you to always be a kit.”
“I am not a kit,” Quil said, showing the first signs of exasperation.
“If you behave like a spoiled kit, you are a kit, no matter your years.” His tail lashed violently behind him. “And I have spoiled you, but this must end. Tomorrow we will rectify what you have done to the human female, but that will be the last time I scurry behind your wake of chaos. No more.”
Quil’s ears moved forward and then back. His posture became more guarded and closed off. “Will you stay?”
Talen wanted to reassure Quil that they were always brothers and would always be together, but the words never came. “I don’t know.”
