Every surface displayed art—paintings, sculpture, even the furniture. A record player spun Madonna, singing BT’s lyrics through a tiny speaker.
A door across from me led to Hero’s rooms.
I wish I had the privacy of a door. I’d popped into my dorm, thinking it would be sex-free in the late morning today, only to find Erick with his pants down and his cousin’s power slave watching from the couch. There wasn’t enough bleach in the world for me to sit on my couch again, ever.
“You can stop eye fucking my room, Quinn.” Everly grinned. “I mean, if anything, you should be looking at Hero in an apron like that. He’s a good cook. And if you were under contract, we would be actual sisters!”
Hero’s ears turned red, and I bit my lips shut. Cayden, sitting next to me, pulled me close and actually growled.
Everly ignored all of it. “How many Intentions have you gotten?”
I looked at Brit, who grinned. “She’s ask’n you, Lady Um.”
I snorted before wrinkling my nose. “I don’t know what an Intention is, so none?”
Everly stiffened, and even Brit let out a strangled cough.
“I don’t know either,” Cayden whispered in my ear. “We’re both dense this time.”
I relaxed and wiggled closer to my friend.
“An Intention is the first step to a contract,” Everly explained. “And you should have several at this point. Some families wait to meet each other, but many reach out immediately. Intentions often include gifts and lists of benefits and alliances.” Everly furrowed her eyebrows. “My family sent you one the moment my uncle told them about the forge.”
My eyebrows shot up to my hairline.
“They’ve offered you my oldest brother, who sired a girl last year. He’s sought after, but they did say you can have your pick, Hero included.” Everly grinned.
Hero didn’t turn from his cooking, but his ears turned a further shade of red that matched the heat coming off my face.
“I’ve definitely not gotten anything like that,” I mumbled.
Brit punched her fist into her palm. “Unless Cayden’s destroying them…”
Cayden shook his head, though he looked like he wanted to.
Brit let out an unhappy grunt. “Then, the Architect’s blocking your mail. Why do I see so much good, yet everything’s different when it comes to you, Quinn?”
I fingered the teardrop pressing into my navel. On some level, everyone in this room knew I was different, even if they didn’t know why, and accepted me anyway.
“Because I’m different.” It wasn’t everything, but it was also the first time I had admitted the obvious.
Brit and Everly both looked at my tunic-covered stomach.
Brit whistled. “Bring it here, let me see it again.”
Fear, tension, every emotion that held me back, released. My friends didn’t push. They just accepted and moved on. How had I found such amazing people?
I wiggled out of Cayden’s arms and revealed a little of myself. Everly had put in the piercing, and Cayden healed it. The mixed metals covered the surface of the teardrop like a chaotic cracked mosaic, and the diamonds from my past filled the center.
We oohed and ahhed over it a few times before Everly jumped up. “Quinn, this means you can use your magic now.” She clapped excitedly. “And we must do something to celebrate. Something daring and fun!” She let out a squeal and rushed into her bedroom.
The delicious smells of pasta and cream sauce curled through the room. My stomach growled, but not from starvation, only from the good smells.
We sat quietly, enjoying the sounds of cooking. The song changed to “Like a Virgin,” and I pulled Brit up to dance, singing along. Once the song ended, I refocused my thoughts on Intentions.
“Have you ever gotten an Intention?” I asked Brit.
She waved us back to our seats. “I’m not fertile, and my family’s gone.” Her expression grew hard. “I bring noth’n to the table and stay out of games I can’t win with my fists.”
