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Dad folds his arms. “If you’re already married, do we not get the pleasure of attending a wedding? Rather, Pollux, you married my daughter without asking me first?”
Pollux rolls his shoulders back and has the decency to look abjectly horrified. “Was that a step I missed? I apologize. I’m very unaccustomed to many human regulations.”
I snap my fingers in Pollux’s face. “Focus. Tears. Golden. You. Freedom. Priorities.”
Something finally clicks in his beautiful head, and he grumbles, “Right…” Taking my hand, he looks at my parents. “We’ll be back in a bit. I am sincerely sorry about this, but we will explain ourselves as soon as possible.”
Then, without another word, he pulls me up the hall, into my room, past some bags of yarn he knocked over, and into my closet.
Chapter 36
~~~~~~~~~~~~
How dare I not make my husband tiny frogs…
My brain feels very, very odd, and I would be willing to blame it on the fact I am sitting in a lab full of gleaming, bubbling, disturbing equipment, but I know it’s because Pollux just stepped us out of a supply closet on the other side of the room before setting me on the metal table I’m currently sitting on.
“Breathe,” he murmurs as he gets a pipette, lifts my chin, and captures my tears in a way that should absolutely not be activating my skank-reflex.
But it totally is.
I giggle.
“Kassandra, breathe.”
I inhale deep, and exhale slow, smiling a little foolishly up at my pretty soulmate. “My head’s fuzzy.”
“I know, dearest,” he murmurs. “You just tasted Faerie. It drives mortals to insanity, but it’ll wear off in a moment.”
“Have you done tests to learn that?”
“No. I have observed situations. First, you go a little drunk.” Carefully, he delivers my tears to a tiny test tube. “Then, you break a bit. It’s the most troubling part, because the haze lifts enough for you to feel your mind as it shatters. I should have told you to close your eyes. It can help slow down the effects. One way or another, the magic does infiltrate you, but it’s less painful if you aren’t attempting to visually perceive what your brain can’t comprehend.”
The fuzziness slips free as his words sink in. “You’ve seen that happen?”
“I have existed in parts of Faerie before Cael built his realm. There are some who coax humans into our world to watch them break.”
“Like Castor?”
His head shakes as he gets the last of the dampness off my cheeks and turns to his equipment. “Castor is a magnet for those who have given up on life. He doesn’t need to coax or trick humans into his palm; however, I have never witnessed him enjoy watching anyone break.”
“Really?”
“He values a fight. There’s nothing for him in seeing someone crumple all on their own. He’d much prefer playing a distinct part in the breaking, yet—to my memory—he always did seem disappointed whenever he’d win.”
“That’s…kind of messed up.”
“An apt description of Castor.”
Tilting myself in a futile effort to look around Pollux’s broad shoulders at his chemistry stuff, I say, “Is it going to be enough?”
Pollux smiles—it’s both chilling and stunning. “More than enough.” He sighs, losing his smile. “Now, did things go well with your parents?”
“They thought I was in a lesbian relationship with Zahra for a moment. Shortly after they thought I was pregnant with your child. After that, the rest was kind of easier.”
Pollux turns. And stares. Then he dares to say, “I suppose the jumping to dramatic conclusions thing is genetic?”
My lips pinch.
