My mate said I had a knack for making the grumpiest of grumps soften in my presence—I’d grown to think of it as my superpower—but the more time I spent with Orian, the less I believed he was actually the asshole everyone painted him to be. He seemed unsure. Socially awkward, even. He wasn’t a bumbling fool like me, by any means. It was as if he wanted to talk—to me, at least—but he had no experience with it. Or he didn’t know what was acceptable to ask, so he stood in stoic silence, chewing over his words. Tee had no interest in conversation, especially when we’d first met. He’d been avoidant, and I’d had to wear him down, but Orian having purposefully sought me out proved he was amenable, he was just… struggling. I found myself wondering why.

I doubted I’d be far off if I blamed his father for it.

“Have you…” Orian clenched and unclenched his jaw as if carefully recalculating his words. I busied myself sifting through the soil and removing any unwanted debris to give him some space. “How goes the search for your father?”

“Oh. Um, we still haven’t found him, even with access to the restricted section of the library.” I winced as soon as the words left my mouth and sent him a pleading look. “Pretend you didn’t hear that.” He acknowledged me with a subtle nod. I sighed, letting my shoulders sag. “It’s been months. I’m beginning to think I just fell out of the sky or something.”

Orian hummed as if actually mulling it over. “It is a possibility. Considering you don’t have wings.”

“I—” I snapped my mouth shut, cutting myself off from explaining the meaning of an idiom. He’s not exactly wrong. “You know what? Good point. I don’t have wings. Or fangs. Or horns. And as Cair just loves to point out, I’m shorter than you giants.” I huffed a self-deprecating laugh. “I don’t really look Fae at all, do I?”

“I disagree,” he said, matter-of-factly, but didn’t elaborate. “Perhaps your father does not want to be found.”

“Uh, maybe? I just wish I knew either way.” I patted mindlessly at the dirt. “Even if he’d rather ignore my existence, I still want to know who he is.”

Orian tilted his head to the side—a mannerism he shared with his brothers. The three of them were like big, curious puppies, and I had to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing at the image. “Why does it matter to you so much?” he asked.