Chapter 30: Sophisticated, Serious Men
Dane POV
Dane huddled by the fireplace in the library after Patch and Dirge yanked him out of a never-ending meeting with the trade representatives from the Northern Union of Trade Specialists (NUTS). The crackling of the blaze and the heady woodsmoke comforted him, as did Ravyn’s butterbur tea. He’d been wrestling with a pounding headache that came from his own anger toward Cyran, his stupid fight with his mate, and the constant dread that Patch and Dirge would blithely waltz into this Shrine of Lost Hopes because someone forbade them to set one paw inside. His little brothers had avoided that pitfall thus far. To hear them tell it, they’d made a magnificent impression on Makhel’s court. Although he felt Patch’s churning emotions through the mind-link, which he suspected Patch would cheerfully deny. Jiro could worm the information out of him.