“What is wrong with you?” Aodhán surged into the room, fae energy roiling out in front of him like an approaching firestorm.
The Eldest Himiko, the Jómon, settled a paper onto a neat stack on her desk and looked up, calm. “Good morning to you too.”
“No, it’s not a good morning,” he growled, throwing his customary caution to the wind. “I thought you had gotten this out of your system.”
Himiko gave him a bland look, the warning in her dark phoenix eyes still subtle, and smoothed a tiny wrinkle in her silk kimono. “To what are you referring?”
Aodhán ignored it and slammed his fist onto the desk, the neat papers skewing across its surface. “You know damn well. I have them all on the lookout for her now. The agency called me as soon as your man left.”
“Ah.” Himiko stared in displeasure at the papers and began straightening them back into order.
Aodhán paced back and forth before the desk, his anger causing eddies in the air that ruffled the papers. “How could you? She is your daughter! Not some nameless orphan. She is a princess of my father’s court!”
“Then let him be saddled with her, if she is so important to him.”
“And what of Carrick? Should we send her twin away, too?”
“Of course not. Carrick is my son. His place is here.”
“And Keiko is your daughter!” Aodhán’s fist again found the desk, the stacks skittering.
Himiko’s little nose wrinkled as though she smelled something noisome at the girl’s name. “She is worth nothing to me. Small, malformed, defective. I should have killed her at birth.” She placidly began gathering the papers once again.
Aodhán’s hand flashed out, seizing the papers and throwing them onto the floor. The gray wolf curled up beside her desk gave a start as one settled onto his nose.
Himiko folded her dainty hands within her kimono sleeves and looked up at her sidhe husband. “What do you want of me, Aodhán? I’ve told you how I feel about her. I’ve made it abundantly clear what I think of being burdened with a girl child. Would it not be kinder to send her away to some desperate family that might overlook her shortcomings?”
Aodhán looked at his wife, his dread mistress, pain etched into his lovely features. “She is my daughter. I love her.”
Himiko waved a dismissive hand. “If you loved her, you would let her go to someone who did not cringe at the very thought of her. I have tried to be kind, but if you are determined to see her stay, then so be it. Keep her out of my way. My kindness has its limits.”
Aodhán sagged with relief. “Thank you.” He turned and headed for the door.
The flash of her vampire fangs was a subtle thing, barely showing past her sweet lips. “Don’t thank me for this, Aodhán. You may live to regret your decision.”
Aodhán’s back stiffened but he bowed to her, anyway. He stalked from the room in search of his daughter.
The wolf flowed into the shape of a boy who quietly began gathering the scattered papers. Himiko took them, caressed the boy’s cheek in thanks, and got back to her reading.