Page 39 of Eat. Prey. Love.
His nose wrinkles and he makes a face so petulant that I lean in to kiss him lightly. “I do, and you can’t sweet talk me out of the funk that possibility will put me in.”
I can’t tell him how ridiculously adorable he is right now.
“No, but I can remind you that unlikemyparents, yours are almostneverdialed into the world. The gargoyles are damn near invisible, except for the ones working on the shifter resorts. The likelihood that they’ll find out you’re on this continent again is very slim.”
Nodding, he looks over at the email again, then up at the ceiling, and then over at me. “Fine. But only because it might help our future mate and if it brings the roaches out from under the cupboard, you have to help me deal with it.”
“Always,” I say softly before leaning in to kiss his temple. “Now help me with this blasted High Fae while you’re here so we can keep our minds offparents and our woman in class with an evil Khan.”
“Deal,mon amour.”
“So far, this is a bust,”Ren mutters as he shakes his head. “It’s fascinating history, and something tragically hidden from the shifter world, but I’m not seeing anything in the text that will help. It’s much earlier than the Treaty and focuses on their royal succession.”
I hold up a set of maps with gloved hands. “These are more telling. Notice all the territory boundaries and where they overlap… then look at the next set. See how certain borders are shrinking over time?”
He frowns, taking them gingerly and tilting his head. “Oui. It appears the Fae lose land each time they’re re-drawn. I wonder if there’s some correlation to human politics or business…”
That’s it—it has to be tied to major shifts in governments.
When he gives them back, I take the first map and pull up both a screen on the PredNet and the human internet done in the same time period. Slowly, I send both maps to the printer across the room, then move on to the next era. Once I’ve finished gathering all the dates for the maps at hand, Ren runs over to grab the print-outs and brings them to me. It only takes a few moments to confirm the humans don’t have anything to do with this.
“You might try printing out the prey maps as well,” my lover murmurs from behind me. “Raina wouldn’t have mentioned that if it wasn’t important.”
I nod. “That’s true. But even the pred maps don’t seem to show a political gain other than more territory.”
The gargoyle scratches his forehead, then snaps his fingers. “Timelines. Look up timelines, Flames. The border changes might have to do with resources, not governing bodies.”
Frowning, I use the library’s access to the Preynet to print hard copies of the maps he suggested. They don’t appear to be hugely different for the first couple of periods, but the ones since the Treaty arevastlydifferent. There’s definitely something to this theory, and I’m beginning to realize it has nothing to do with dangerous species. That propels me to search the historical timelines for all three, making sure to check boxes for events, innovations, and other notable moments.
“This is going to take a while,” Rennie says as he watches the screens scroll by. “Going through centuries of history from all three species and ferreting out what might affect the land will be a grueling task.”
“We need help.”
“I believe so,mon ami. Perhaps Chester? He’s not working in the office after twelve today. If we each tackle a group and highlight things around the times to go over together, we might even be able to finish today.”
Taking off my glasses, I rub my eyes. “I’ve never been so grateful that it seems like no one in this damn college comes to my library.”
“It’s beentwodays, Flames.” Rennie chuckles, his eyes dancing with humor. “Have you made a judgment about the entire student body in that time?”
“The books are so dusty Betsy had an allergy attack in the first hour,” I retort. “And that was in the current fiction section. She had to don a dust mask to start the archives.”
He laughs, shrugging as he grabs the shifter maps. “They focus on the arts pretty heavily here. I’ve never had students at Apex focuson poetry as intensely as my class yesterday. I was shocked to find they actually gave a damn about hidden meanings and literary devices. I’m sure you’ll at least get the writing majors soon enough.”
“Love, literacy and reading comprehension have been on the decline for decades. I know I bitch about PredNet and social media, but people just don’t love books anymore.” My expression is sad as I sigh. “As if that wasn’t bad enough, research skills are abysmal. We’re becoming even more outdated by the day—even at work.”
The room is quiet for a moment, and then it fills with belly laughs. I blink at him, my jaw dropping as he continues to clutch his stomach and roll around in his chair. He wipes his eyes, shaking his head as I just stare at him. He finally takes a breath, trying to gather himself and I roll my eyes.
What the hell is so goddamn funny?
“What a sad sack declaration,” he says when he’s gotten control of himself. “We’ve lived far too long to worry about that kind of shit, Flames. Our kind both have extended life spans and that’s not a new revelation. We’re destined to watch other species and the world evolve—and it’s not always for the better. No need to mope about because our passions aren’t in vogue at any given moment.”
“Well, I…”
He smirks at me as I bluster. “Plus, unlike most creatures that are damn close to immortal,youfoundtwomates.”
Flushing as I consider that, I make a face at him. “You’re annoyingly accurate for someone I have to spend eternity with.”
“It’s a blessing and a curse.” He pulls his phone out, winking before he texts Chess. “And you love me regardless… don’t pretend otherwise.”