Tonight, you may… feel some things, but I will try to dampen what you feel through our connection, so you don’t experience what I’ve been experiencing.
My cheeks heat, thinking of my wedding night.How do you… dampen the feelings you send through our connection?
Ebron tilts his head.You just think of glowing golden connection flowing between us, and then imagine the connection going dark. It doesn’t stop all communication and awareness between us, but it helps.
Thanks.
Have a nice night.
Oh, it’ll be a very nice night… with a lot of mating.
That’s more than I needed to know, big guy.
Smiling, I watch as Ebron moves back into the center of the courtyard, then leaps into the sky. I stare as he joins his mates, flying in circles above the city. What must it be like to feel so sure? To know just by looking at someone that you’re supposed to be with them, and then it all just clicks, it’s just easy? I don’t know, and it doesn’t really matter. Because that’s not exactly how things worked out for me.
But would I really want to change anything that’s led me here?
The truth is, I don’t know. I won’t know until I see if we can all work together. I won’t know until we’re married, and I get to see what married life is like with these four. It’s both scary and exciting, like jumping off of Ebron’s back.
Taking one last look at the night sky, I slip back inside only to find more than a half dozen bottles of liquor on my table, some dice, and little glasses. None of the bottles are open yet, and themen are all standing around awkwardly, like they were waiting for me.
“What did Ebron want?” Sevrin asks, and I can tell he wants to reach out and touch me, but he doesn’t, even though my body wishes he would.
I don’t quite know what to say. “He wanted to make sure I was happy with the mates he’s chosen for me, because he wanted to officially claim his own.”
“What did you say?” Lucien is studying me carefully.
I tug at the fabric of my dress, nibbling my lip. “I told him that we’re getting married tomorrow, so it’s decided, and he can have his mates.”
All three princes seem disappointed by my answer, and now I wish I gave a different one. But I can’t seem to find the words to soften what I said without wearing my heart on my sleeve, so I go with a different tactic. “So, are we trying to get an army drunk?”
Lucien grins. “Nope. Just the five of us. I thought it could help us… get to know each other better. Hollowborn, how well do you hold your liquor?”
“His name is Sevrin,” I correct.
Sevrin gives me a look that’s almost a smile beneath his skull face painting. “Very well, actually.”
Lucien grabs one of the bottles and sits on the floor. After a moment’s hesitation, we all join him on the floor in a circle. He cracks open the first bottle, a dark bourbon, and grins as he begins to fill up the little glasses. “But let’s have some fun with this. I have a few games in mind.”
Uh oh.I wonder how this is going to go.
“Should I be worried?” I ask.
Lucien just grins.
That can’t be good.
14
Harper
“The first gameis Hammer and Cup,” Lucien says, wiggling his brows.
Alaric, Gareth, and I groan, but Sevrin just looks confused. I nudge Sevrin, getting his attention. “Basically, one of us starts pounding a rhythm on the ground. Everyone else has to match it. If you mess up the rhythm, you take a drink.”
His eyes widen. “Oh, Drink and Vomit. I know it well.”
Well, I don’t like that that’s what he calls it, but Lucien has suggested a game that he wants to use to bring us closer together, and we’re all going to play it. No matter how… vomit-inducing it might be.
