Maven's lips twitch, the barest sign of harmlessly sadistic amusement at the discomfort she wrought so easily. Behind her, I see Silas and Crypt also smirking at the expressions in the audience. Baelfire looks like he's holding in a laugh, and Everett shakes his head slightly, fighting his own smile.
But then their keeper goes on.
"Fate will. That's what matches the right souls together like pieces of a puzzle. Even the gods bow to the decrees of fate. It's a force beyond total understanding, but one thing that's obvious about fate is that it willed legacies to unite. It curbed the monstrous natures inside of us by matching us together in perfectly balanced quintets—one keeper and one member from each of the Four Houses. Very rarely did quintets not match that perfect pattern.”
Her shrewd, dark gaze sweeps over the massive audience in the ballroom. Everyone in here is still deathly silent, waiting for her every next word.
"But look around. Unity has been established, and we're in the start of a new era for legacies. So don't be surprised if, today, fate focuses less on traditionally balanced quintets and unity, and more on piecing together souls that complete one another in unexpected ways. And on the off chance any of you are planning to reject whoever fate marks as yours, good luck. Fate is a bitch…and I wouldn't have it any other way," she finishes, looking over her shoulder at her quintet.
They're all gazing at her like she's the center of the universe as every single person in this room goes nuts, applauding, cheering, and whistling.
"That's my sister-in-law," I proudly brag to the guys around me, my ears covered again.
Asher groans. "Don't remind me. I'm with you all the way, Shorty, but your relatives are fucking insane."
Brigid Decimus retakes the stage as the Amato quintet moves off of it. Once the applause has died down, she clears her throat.
"Many people here are students housed at Everbound. However, if you get matched and bonded, it's entirely normal and expected to…want to jump your quintet's bones," she says, shrugging like she can't think of any other way to phrase that. "Gods know that's what I did at my bonding ceremony."
Several people in the audience laugh. I see a couple of Brigid's quintet members, including Baelfire's birth father, smack their foreheads like they knew they couldn't trust her at a public address. Off to one side of the stage, Baelfire is covering his face while the rest of his quintet openly laughs at him.
"If that's the case today,please, for the love of all things holy, don't just start having a godsdamned orgy out here," Brigid goes on, confident even as she looks knowingly over all the legaciessnickering in the audience. "The last thing I'll say about this is, if you can't control yourselves or get the hell off school property before that bonding high gets to you, Everbound's east wing is full of plenty of empty rooms. Also, noise-canceling spells work wonders, so let's not forget those."
More people bust up laughing. Brigid herself is laughing, but just as she starts trying to get everyone under control once again, Jessica appears next to me, her eyes wide.
"He's here."
The smile on my face dies, my heartbeat picking up. Before Zak can feel the switch to dread inside of me, I step out of his arms, but my other boyfriends notice.
Kaenon looks between Jessica and me. "Who is here? Heidi?"
"Is she talking to a ghost?" Ian demands.
Jessica covers for me, grinning at Kaenon. "My future husband is. His name is Athanis. Feel free to send him the news.
Kaenon's concern turns to amusement. "If you are in earnest, he would be pleased. He's smitten with you."
"Oh, I'mveryin earnest, and I want to hear every little detail about Athanis being smitten, but would you mind if I steal my bestie away for a second? We need a girl talk."
"I'll be right back," I add, smiling before I hurry through the still-laughing crowd.
I can hear my guys' concern behind me as Kaenon starts to explain that I need "girl talk." I'm sure that won't hold up with the others for long, though, so I dart out of the ballroom quickly, turning the corner of a hallway to talk to Jessica for a second. Despite how crowded it is in there, this hallway is empty.
"You saw him? Where?" I hiss.
"You said he had big leathery wings and claws and shit, right? Because I saw a freaky bat guy coming up some stairs from the castle’s basement or whatever is down there, but then he just vanished."
He's in Limbo.
Oh gods, I need to tell Crypt he's here and ask where Nivarrah is and?—
"If you're going to ditch now, take us with you."
I startle, looking up to see Ian studying me. He ran in here so fast, I didn't even hear him coming. The others join us in this hallway within the next second, all of them frowning at me.
"Shit. You're about to get in trouble," Jessica sighs.
"What's going on?" Zak demands.
