Page 175 of First Light

“It’s not that.” She didn’t know her own feelings, and it irritated her. “I don’t want to ignore them, it’s just…”

“You have time.”

“And I’ll have to go back to the Shadowlands eventually, right?”

Cadell cast her a dark look. “You owe the Crow Mother a favor, Carys. She’s not going to forget it.”

“Right.”

“But as I said, you have time.” He scanned the forest. “I’ll find the fae gate soon, and then we’ll be able to travel much more easily.”

“Iamgoing back to work, you know.”

“We can get around that.” He eyed her up and down. “We should start running in the mornings.”

She winced. “Oh God. The training montage is coming.”

“Perhaps your friends will want to train with us.” He stretched his arms and cracked his knuckles. “It will be… fun.”

Cadell hadn’t met her friends yet, but Carys had warned them she’d found a cousin from Wales who was coming to stay for a while. She’d have to wait and see if Laura and Kiersten bought the fiction when they came over for dinner that night.

“You remember that they’re coming over for dinner tonight, right?”

“Yes.” He closed his eyes and turned his face back to the sunshine.

Sometimes she found him sitting in the middle of the meadow, lying on the ground and baking like a cat, and the only words she could find to describe his expression were “confused wonder.”

Cadell loved the sun. He was currently figuring out how to use all of her father’s power tools so he could build a roof deck on the barn. Probably so he could lay out naked and sunbathe.

“Hey, Cadell?”

He was silent, and Carys realized he was probably speaking with his mind even though she couldn’t hear him anymore.

“Cadell?”

He blinked and looked at her. “Yes, Nêrys?”

“You need to come in the house.” She held out her hand. “Come on. You can’t keep lurking around every night while I’m sleeping without ever going inside. Even my very-not-nosy neighbors are going to start asking questions.”

“I’m guarding you.”

“It feels like lurking. And I should show you around before my friends come over. If you don’t know where the bathroom is, they’re going to look at you weird.”

He frowned. “I don’t care.”

“I do.”

Cadell hadn’t been in her house once, and Carys still wasn’t sure if the man was sleeping in the forest at night or in the shed. He said he was sleeping in the shed, and he’d taken the cot and sleeping bag she gave him, but she had no idea.

Could dragons sleep inside? Any interior space felt too small for him, but until they found the fae gate, Cadell was forced to adapt.

She’d offered to fly him back to the UK twice now, but he declined. He followed her everywhere but refused to learn to drive. Officially he had a passport, a green card, and a Social Security card, but he seemed to have no intention of using them.

If he didn’t start working or hunting though, she was going to have to take out a loan to feed the man. He put away more barely charred meat than anyone she’d ever seen.

Cadell eyed the deck and the back door with trepidation. “How tall are your ceilings?”

“Are you claustrophobic?”