This was one sacrifice I couldn’t make.
“I spoke with Selene last night,” I said, eager to share the news that I hadn’t been able to the night before.
His tanned skin paled. “What happened? Did she do anything to you? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Oh, God, no! It’s okay! Everything’s okay,” I clarified, and I realized how that might’ve worried him. “It was actually a good conversation.”
He eyed me warily, and I sighed at the speculation in his eyes. I nudged him back down onto the bed. “I’m not just saying that, so don’t worry,mea sol. It was honestly a good conversation.”
“What did you talk about?” he asked as I climbed over him to lay my head against his chest. His arms came around me again, careful of my still-tender, healing injuries, and I curled into his warmth.
I didn’t want to linger on sad things; I wanted to share only good with him now. “I asked her about performing a mating ceremony for us.”
He stilled, and I almost wondered if I shouldn’t have been the one to ask. “Is it bad I asked?”
“No!” he said. “It isn’t. I just... I didn’t expect you to ask her.” A smile crept across his face. “I was going to ask her when I saw her the other night.”
I frowned, lifting my head to gaze up at him. “The other night?”
“I... don’t want to talk about it. The conversation didn’t go well with her, and I... I didn’t want to talk to her after that,” he explained, as his fingers traced idle strokes along my arms.
Damien is upset with me. Selene’s words rippled through my mind. I hadn’t understood what she meant at the time. Had they gotten into a fight?
“This is perfect, though. We’ll have to start planni—”
“I...” His brows rose when I interrupted him. “I asked her if it could just be us.”
Guilt immediately set in. I hadn’t stopped to consider if he’d want others there, if he’d want to plan it out.
“Okay,” he said simply, his eyes nearly glowing with adoration, a crooked smile curving the corners of his lips. “If that’s what you want.”
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t think. It just sort of happened, and I want to have the full experience, but...” I was so tired. I didn’t have the energy to plan out something big. It had taken so much out of me to help him plan Barrett’s funeral, and I didn’t want to waste any time.
“No apologies,” he said. “We could be mated alone in the shadow steppes with not a soul for miles, and I’d be happy just to be joined with you.”
My chest swelled. “Selene said for us to come to her when we’re ready, that she’d be happy to perform the um... mating ritual.”
“How’s tonight sound?” he suggested, his crooked smile widening into a grin.
I giggled as he pulled me up to nuzzle his face against mine, the stubble on his jaw tickling. “It’s a date.”
59
CASSIE
The house was quiet, save for the giggles that burst from my lips as Damien brushed kisses over the back of my shoulder.
“I’ll never finish getting ready if you keep distracting me,” I said, nudging him back. He released me so I could head into the closet to step into my gown.
He’d given Ethel the night off. No one would know we’d done this. It would just be us and Selene, and that was okay. This was for us, so we were united in every way we could be before the end. I slid the sleeve up my arm, the delicate chiffon glittering with my movements. I wondered what it would be like. Zephyr had told me how the mating ceremony was more than just an exchanging of rings like mortal marriages. It was a melding of souls.
“Can you help me with the back?” I asked as I stepped out of the closet, holding my gown in place. It was the same one I’d worn to the meeting with The Council. I loved this gown with starlight woven into pale gray gossamer fabric that hugged my body until it cascaded down from my hips into sweeping skirts.
Damien smiled, stepping over to help lace up the back as I pulled my hair over my shoulder. He wore an outfit similar to what he’d worn when I’d first met Selene. His chest was bare, a robe of delicate black fabric hanging from his shoulders, and he wore black pants.
My fingers passed over the glittering gemstones stitched into the bodice, depicting delicate vines of jasmine climbing across my chest, the fabric thinning just above my breasts and between them. I’d once felt too exposed in this gown, but now, I felt truly beautiful, and the way Damien’s eyes roamed over me left my heart dancing.
Damien had helped me with my hair over the last half hour. I’d left the natural waves loose, and he’d braided sections of it, the braids crossing and overlapping across the back of my head. The act nearly made me cry, and my cheeks hurt from how wide I’d smiled watching him concentrate on my hair in the mirror.
