It was no place for a halfblood.
“No,” she whispered, shaking her head. “Jaxon, if someone asks for my papers—or checks my rune?—”
“They won’t,” he cut in smoothly. “Not when you’re with me.”
He tilted her chin up, his touch featherlight but commanding. “You’re bonded to me now, Araya. You go where I go.”
The certainty in his voice left no room for argument.
She shrank closer to Jaxon as they crossed the threshold, bracing herself for the outcry—but no one even looked twice. Jaxon moved through the room like he owned it—his hand a steady pressure at the small of her back as he guided her with practiced ease, returning nods and murmured greetings as they wound their way through the room.
“Thanks for holding the table.” Jaxon clapped a mage Araya vaguely recognized on the shoulder.
“I’m always happy to drink onCommander Shaw’stab,” the man raised his glass in a mock toast, grinning as Jaxon tucked her in front of him.
“You remember Kai Sterling, don’t you?” Jaxon plucked a glass of sparkling wine off a passing tray, setting it in front of her. “He’s a runesmith now. Mara Redmond is an illusionist—” the slim, brown-haired woman nodded, offering a pleasant smile “—and Caylin Pryce, forensic spellwright.”
Araya nodded politely, nerves twisting her stomach as she instinctively traced the small rune at the base of her thumb. Jaxon’sfriends—they may have been at the Aetherium with her, but they’d hardly run in the same circles.
But Kai grinned at her, winking like they’d ever done more than exchange a handful of passing glances in the halls. “Jaxon’s little prodigy,” he said. “It’s good to see you again, Araya. It’s been years.”
“And yet it feels like yesterday,” Caylin said icily, swirling the dark wine in her glass. “I guess you never learned anything useful despite all the books Jaxon snuck you.”
Araya’s grip tightened on her glass, her shaky smile faltering as the dark-haired human woman’s smirk sharpened.
“Too bad that’s all over for you now,” Caylin said, her voice sugar-slick and venom-tipped. “You’ll have other duties, won’t you? Now that you’re bonded.”
Araya flushed at the cruel suggestion in the human woman’s voice, shame slithering down her spine. She dropped her gaze, knowing there was no retort. Bonded fae had a clear role—and it didn’t involve continuing to work.
But Jaxon cut in, steel threading his voice as he glared at the woman across the table. “Oh, Araya isn’t done working,” he said. “She’s going to be assisting me on a special project for the Arcanum.”
Caylin’s fingers curled around the stem of her glass, her expression shifting from sharp amusement to unease.
“That can’t be right.” She glanced around, looking for support, but Mara and Kai were suddenly very interested in their drinks.
Her hesitation hardened into anger. “That’s not allowed,” she snapped. “The regulations on bonded fae are clear. Once a bond is formalized, their employment status is revoked unless they hold a pre-existing magisterial appointment.” Her eyes narrowed. “And Araya doesn’t.”
Jaxon smiled. “Yet.”
Caylin’s jaw tightened. “That’s not how it works, Jaxon. There’s a process—waivers, formal appeal. You can’t just override Arcanum policy because you want to take your little pet to work. We have rules for a reason?—”
Araya stiffened at the wordpet, but Jaxon’s smirk only deepened.
“You’re thinking like a bureaucrat, Caylin,” he said, steel threading through his voice as he lifted his drink and took a slow sip. “I’m thinking like someone who knows the system.”
He set his glass down, leveling a cool gaze at the human woman. “Arayawillbe working with me. Anyone who has a problem with it is welcome to take it up with my father. He’s voiced his full support for the arrangement.”
The silence that followed was deafening.
Caylin flushed, pink rising to her cheeks as she faltered under the weight of Jaxon’s glare. Her fingers tightened around the stem of her glass as she darted a glance around the table, searching for support. But Kai looked away, feigning sudden interest in his drink, and Mara dropped her eyes, studying the grain of the table with rapt fascination.
Clearing her throat, Caylin squared her shoulders, forcing a razor-thin smile. “Well, Araya,” she said, her voice dripping with false sweetness. “Let’s hope your magic is as impressive as the… other attributes that have captured Jaxon’s interest. It would be such a shame if the Arcanum started to believe he only thought with his cock.”
Araya flinched at the crude words, losing the battle not to show a reaction.
Jaxon’s grip on Araya’s waist tightened, his fingers biting into her side. “The only appropriate thing to say to her is ‘congratulations,’” he said, pinning Caylin to the spot with the intensity of a predator sizing up its prey. “Now, this is a celebration, Caylin. For Araya. So celebrate—or leave.”
The words hung in the air, heavy and final.
