Three weeks later
My apartment is small. One bedroom. Kitchen the size of a shoebox. But it has actual walls and a door that locks and a shower with water pressure that doesn’t make me want to cry.
After a week in the mountains and then more time in Aurora facilities for all their damned debriefs, it’s paradise. Especially since Elena snuck in and gave it a little makeover. Seems that having a billionaire boyfriend has given her a sense of style. And a flair for spending his money.
I’m sitting cross-legged on our couch—because I have actual furniture now—laptop balanced on my knees. The screen shows seventeen different data streams. Syndicate communications I’m not supposed to be monitoring, but totally am anyway.
Because old habits.
“You are doing the thing again,” Kael says from the kitchen.
“What thing?”
“The thing where you promise Viktor you will rest and then immediately break into classified systems.”
“I’m not breaking in. I’m… visiting.” I don’t look up from the screen. “With permission. Sort of.”
“Mara.”
“K.” I finally glance at him. He’s standing at the stove, shirtless because dragons apparently don’t believe in shirts at home, attempting to make scrambled eggs. “Are you seriously lecturing me about rule-following while making breakfast at two in the afternoon?”
“I was in a council meeting until noon.”
“Right. Because Caleb needs the ancient Dragon King’s opinion on supply chain logistics.”
“He values my perspective on historical trade routes.”
“You’re adorable when you pretend you’re not basically retired.”
He points the spatula at me. “I am not retired. I am… consulting.”
“Consulting. Sure.” I grin. “That’s what we’re calling it.”
The bond hums warm in my chest. Content. Happy.
It’s been three weeks since we sealed it. Three weeks of Kael Craven learning how to be mates in a world that’s moved on four hundred years. Three weeks of him discovering things like Netflix and smartphones and the concept of brunch.
It’s been crazy.
I love it.
My phone buzzes. Elena.
Elena: Meeting tonight. Viktor wants everyone there. Something big.
Me: Define big
Elena: He wouldn’t say. Just said it was urgent. 7 p.m. Don’t be late.
Me: Have I ever been late?
Elena: You were late to your own birthday party last year
Me: That was ONCE
I set the phone down. “We’ve got a thing tonight.”
“What kind of thing?”
