Chapter 17: Standing Credit

The black envelope held one sheet of paper and four lines.

Garrick Holt contested the Hearth Right of Carys Winslow Draven.

He would stand at the north border at moonrise in five nights.

He would face the head of the Serpent Clan before both packs and both clans.

If the head fell, the human went to the wolves, and the valley went with her.

The eldest Elder read it aloud and folded it very small.

"Five nights," he said. "Prepare."

I went home with Caspian because the Elders said we should not be apart.

I also wanted to.

He drove.

He did not say a word until the estate gates closed behind us.

Then he got out, walked to the stairs, and sat on the third step from the bottom.

I stood in the hall with my keys in my hand.

"You said four weeks," I said. "Payable in person."

"I did."

"I'd like to collect."

He looked up.

There was a cushion beside him on the step.

It was blue velvet, square, embroidered with a tiny gold serpent, and it was a little crooked.

"I made it," he said. "I remembered the anniversary. You needed one to sit in the car."

"Is it for sale?"

"No."

"Does it have a price?"

"It has a standing offer. I would like to be the one who offers it."

I picked it up and held it against my chest.

I did not put it in the ledger.

"Okay," I said. "Show me the dome."

The starlight dome sat on the roof of the east wing, a clear glass room the width of a dance floor.

He had built it for me.

I had cried the first night I saw it.

He had stood behind me with his hands in his pockets, hoping for the best.

Tonight the glass was dark and the stars were close.

I put down the cushion and turned around, and he was already standing too near.

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