“Yes. Their auras are impressive. What are you again?”
“A star, born to mages who tried to sell me to a warlock, then I ran away and ran for fifteen years. It’s how I met Stiila.”
“I met her when she married one of my ogres.” He smiled.
She smiled. “I like your horns.”
He shuddered, and his glamour rippled. “Don’t. I am on the edge of control with my other half already.”
Wylda cocked her head. “Your other half? You have two consciousnesses?”
He inclined his head. “I do. Do you still have wings when you wish?”
“I do.”
“Will you allow me to court you?”
She stared at him and remembered his features, his excitement, her pain, and his regret. “Why?”
“Because you are smart, you are sweet, and you didn’t attack me after our coupling. You simply got up while I was dazed and left.”
“Yeah, I should have thought that through. You live around a lot of ogres.”
He quirked his lips. “I sent them after you. You evaded them, and their embarrassment was extreme.”
“Oh. That makes sense now. I hid and got out of the country a few days later.”
His eyes widened. “You were still there?”
“Yup. So, I blessed the people who were hiding me, and they got me to the airport.”
“Blessed how?”
“Pregnancy where there had been none. I can force harmonious matches between magical races with ease. It is what the wild magic was designed to do.” She smiled. “What I was designed to do.”
He blinked and nodded. “The tengu and his wife.”
She looked at him in surprise. “Yes. How did you guess?”
“Tengu don’t have daughters. They did.”
She grinned. “Yes. Most of the blended ones end up as girls but with their father’s attributes.”
He smiled and stroked her neck. She leaned into his fingertips, and he looked pleased.
“I have to get back to my friends.”
“Why?”
“Because they are staring at us and are about to come in through the door, if not the glass. Could be either.” She smiled brightly.
“I am going to be at the party for Stovos. You will be there?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Will you save me a dance?”
Wylda stared at him. “You dance?”
