Page 95 of Close Quarter
They ate in silence, Rhys's leg pressed against his under the table, until a waiter came and took their plates.
Rhys shifted his chair to stare out into the sea.
"Why doesn't he want to know me?"
Silas's shifting mood had become infectious, it seemed. "Pardon?"
"My father." Rhys wrapped his fingers around the arm of his chair. "My real father."
The half-fae. Silas sat back. "That may not be his motive at all."
Rhys turned back from the sea. "Why else would he have given me hush money?"
Oh, this would be an interesting conversation.
"As I said before, most of what I know about quarter-fae is myth. But here's something to consider. All that you--" He stopped and corrected himself. "All that we have done together here, we've done while floating in an ocean with only a greenhouse garden to draw on."
Rhys furrowed his brows. This was obviously not the answer he had been expecting. A moment later, however, understanding dawned across his face. "What we'll be able to do on shore..." Rhys rubbed a hand over his gaping mouth. "Oh shit."
Indeed."A new set of issues, for sure.
Quarters are mythic for a reason."
"What will happen to us?"
"I'm not sure. You'll be noticed by the courts.
I don't think there's a way to avoid that."
Rhys shifted in his chair but kept silent.
"Do you want me, Rhys? Want me by your side?" He knew the answer.
"Yes."
"Then there's not a being in this world that will keep us apart."
Rhys glanced out to sea, his jaw working.
"Even Anaxandros?"
So Rhys did know the soulless's name. Silas held out his hand. "Not even Anaxandros."
Rhys nodded and twined his fingers with Silas's. "About time you came around."
That forced an honest chuckle from Silas.
Three days. Why did it seem longer?
He brushed a thumb over the back of Rhys's hand. "What do you think a court might do if they knew a half-fae was fertile?"
Rhys reacted as if someone had slapped him.
He jerked back, his hand slipping from Silas's.
After a moment, he stood. "You can't tell me that they would--" Rhys made a croaking sound, then sank back into his seat. "That they would force him to have more..." He fell silent, trembling.
Most likely in rage. It was an abhorrent idea, one he'd never abide. "Not all courts. Not even most. But some, yes. I said fae are passionate.
