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“Uh, no. Why would I be nervous? That’s not going on your page, is it?”
Tor laughs brightly and moves away to get a solo shot of his beautiful pearlescent suit, complete with a cape for added drama. I think he’d been a little envious of the mages and their cloaks on their last visit.
Giving up on his mini photo shoot, he comes to stand behind me in the mirror. We look absolutely nothing alike—I more closely resemble Seldon than I do Tor. I always felt like an awkward child compared to his six-foot frame and perfect face. But not anymore.
“Because you’re beingmated, you dork.” He shakes my shoulders playfully, with a little laugh, and I can’t stop my embarrassing giggle. I’m just too happy today to rein it in.
“Pfft.” I blow a raspberry at my brother and turn so I’m facing him and Seldon. “I’m excited, sure, but nervous? There’s nothing to be nervous about. So long as, at the end of the day, Roan is my mate, I don’t really care about the rest.”
“So, that’s why we’re having the big old circus for the event, right?” Seldon gestures broadly, eyeing our outfits specifically. Because I wasn’t left out of the drama. Oh, no.
My cream suit has been tailored to perfection. And the best part? The cutout back with intricately embroidered lace to show my bare skin underneath. I’m grateful to have my gifts back because there is no way I’m hiking all the way to the Whisper Falls in this get up without a little glamour and protection.
Rolling my eyes at Seldon, I pass out the glasses of champagne on the dresser and take the remaining one for myself. “We’re having the ‘big old circus’ because, aftereverythingthat’s happened in the past year, we figured we deserve something special.”
“Cheers to that.” Tor raises his glass, and Seldon follows, murmuring his agreement. Not that he was ever opposed to the ‘big circus.’ He helped me plan most of it. Tor cocks his head to the side and looks at me, a cheeky glint in his eye. “So, just mates, is it? Notbonded mates?” He winks then, buffing his nails on his suit.
“Oh fuck off. You and Caelan got lucky.” I shove my brother, making Seldon chuckle. And even though he stumbles, not adrop of his champagne spills. Fucking luck. “The Woods just knew that if it didn’t give you two a power boost, you wouldn’t have been able to defeat Marieth and save me. TheProtector of the Woods.” I add a little flair to my words, but Iactuallyspill my drink.
Tor’s indignant huff only makes Seldon laugh harder on the bed. There is a knock on the front door—hopefully, the knock we’ve all been waiting for: Seff telling us it’s showtime.
“I’ll get it.” Seldon slides from the bed with his usual dancer-like grace. He pauses at the door, thinking for a moment. “You know, it’s not a done deal yet. You guys could still end up bonded mates. Rafe was telling me about it… apparently, it’s not as uncommon as we thought it was.”
And then he disappears, thundering down the stairs in his boots.
“Do you think.…” Tor asks, trailing off, bumping his elbow into my shoulder.
“Honestly, trying not to think about it. Now that Iknowit’s a real possibility, it feels like I’ll be disappointed if I think too hard and it doesn’t happen.” It’s the only thing that has really niggled at me the whole time we were planning the mating ceremony.
We won’t know until tonight, anyway. Bonded mate rituals are a little more… natural than traditional mating ceremonies. To be fair, though, everything I’d learned about it, I’d really learnt against my will, because it basically meant acknowledging my brother and Caelan getting freaky in the Woods.
There are more footsteps up the stairs, and Seldon bursts back into the room. “Look who came to say hello!” Since it obviously hadn’t been Seff, I’d half expected it to be Edith, but no, it’s Roan’s parents.
I’ve grown close to Dirk and Lydia over the past few months. At first, I’d just gone with Roan when he visited them on his trips to Twin Heads, but recently, I’ve been going on my own, too,when I’ve been in town to see Dr Brordieu. I even drive there on my own now, since Roan taught me how.
“My Gods, look at you boys! Theo, you look beautiful!” Lydia cries as she hustles into the room, just as solidly built as her son, though her horns are a little less pronounced than his, just little nubs. She pulls me into a tight hug, dancing us both side to side. “Oh, I know I should have waited, but I needed to see you and see how you are. Seff is just getting cleaned up over at Roan’s. The guests are being sent out to the Falls now. Because I was coming over anyway, I’ve been told to tell you to wait thirty minutes and head on over. Except Roan’s leaving in twenty, so I recommend waiting forty just to make sure the path’s all clear.”
I blink a few times, processing the influx of information. There is a crinkle in Lydia’s eye from her smile that is so much like her son’s. Over her shoulder, I spy Dirk waiting in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his hands in his pockets. As lovely as Lydia is, and I do genuinely love her, Roan definitely gets his calm demeanour from his father.
“Right. I think I have it.” I eventually nod, hoping someone else caught at least part of those instructions.
“That means I’m going to have to leave now, too.” Tor says, drawing my attention. He looks conflicted, wringing his hands.
I know he wants to walk with me, but considering he’s conducting the mating ceremony, he needs to be there before me to get everything all set up. Lydia releases me from her embrace so I can go give him a squeeze. “Go, I’ll be fine. Promise. I can’t wait to see you up there.”
He squeezes me back, and there are a thousand unsaid words in the hug.I love you. Thank you. I’m grateful to have you. I’m sorry.
I know that sorry is in there, and I squeeze back twice as hard for it, fighting back the tears threatening my eye makeup. We haven’t really acknowledged that our parents aren’t here. Eventhough we were never close to them in any sense of the word, the hole left by who they should have been is still there.
Since everything that happened with Darius, I’ve spoken to our father twice. Once for him to tell us that he has put Tor and I back in the will, and a second time when we called him to tell him to take us back out.
Mother, on the other hand, has called a few times. It’s extremely delicate, whatever is beginning with the three of us, but it’s something. She even sent a gift for the mating ceremony. An extravagantly large bouquet of flowers and two items from our family’s heirloom treasury. A diamond choker I’d let Tor have and a rather delicate, matching diamond coronet I still need to get Seldon to arrange neatly in my hair.
“Well, darling, why don’t you walk with us and you can tell me all about your picture-thing on the internet.” Lydia effortlessly scoops up Tor, and Dirk silently hands him a tissue to dab at his watering eyes, and they are off.
“You ready for this? Really?” Seldon tops off my champagne from where I left it and I take it gratefully. The giddy blend of emotions is almost too much. I’m liable to cause a thunderstorm the way I’m going.
“Absolutely.” I drain my glass and grab the velvet box holding the coronet from inside the wardrobe.
