“We will?” Cyrus’s question rumbled through me, since he had pulled me so tightly against his body.
I felt my lips twitching at the undertone of amusement in his question. Coen snorted out a laugh.
“Fine.” I shrugged casually. “I’ll go myself.”
“No,wewill go,” he snapped out. “We had a deal, bug. Your safety is now my concern.”
“What’s the deal?” Willa asked casually, ever-considerate of sensitive topics and situations.
“I think it’s a private deal,” Coen muttered quietly, his tone laced with humour.
“What private deal?” she asked, even louder.
The panteras around us started to shift about—some in amusement, some in annoyance. They were on edge, clearly. Willa’s sudden tonal shift probably wasn’t helping things. She seemed to realise the same thing, because she lowered her voice to a loud whisper.
“Are you making private deals with my sister?” she accused Cyrus. “Without making an honest woman out of her and offering for her hand?”
I knew that she was joking, but Cyrus didn’t seem to. His arm dropped, his hands landing on my shoulders again and spinning me around, his head ducking down a little to fix me with a puzzled expression.
“You’re not an honest woman?” he asked.
I tried to hold in my amusement, but a male laugh behind me had Cyrus’s confusion deepening.
“It’s a dweller custom,” Willa explained patiently.Wow, she was convincing.“A dweller woman can’t lay with a man out of wedlock. If she does, she becomes a dishonest woman.”
Cyrus frowned at me. “When does this dishonesty start?”
Willa let out a shout of triumph as I rolled my eyes.
“Iknewyou two had slept together!” she shouted, causing the panteras to stir again.
Cyrus was switching his attention from her to me, his alarm growing. “We need to get wedlocked,” he said firmly. “Who here can wedlock us?”
“Anyone can do it.” Willa shrugged casually, moving into my line of sight. “You just need a few rings and you need to repeat some words and make a few promises.”
“What kind of promises?” Cyrus asked, as I started to wonder if the joke had maybe gone a little too far. “I haven’t brushed up on dweller customs in a long time.”
“That you will belong to each other completely and forever,” Willa explained, a smile of mischief beginning to light up her face. “That you will love and protect each other.”
Cyrus waved his hand dismissively. “We have already made such promises.”
I blanched as Willa turned an astonished stare on me.
“No we haven’t!” I squeaked.
“Yes we have,” Cyrus countered. “Have you forgotten? I can take you back to my home and remind you.”
Willa started laughing, until she realised that the Abcurses had all gathered around her, frowns on their faces.
“What?” she asked them, spinning around. “Ohhellno. It was ajoke,guys!”
“Why didn’t you tell us about the dweller wedlocking rule?” Yael asked, his green eyes narrowed almost dangerously. “Willa-toy, you belong to us. We should be wedlocked in the dweller way.”
“We arenothaving this conversation right now!” She tossed her hands up in the air, walked to my side and grabbed my arm before marching me toward the opening of the cave.
“Well that backfired,” I noted casually.
“Shut up,” she tossed back. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you slept with Neutral.”
“Will! It onlyjusthappened.” I groaned, lowering my voice as the others approached behind us. “Are you really upset?”
“No, not really,” she sulked, kicking her foot against the ground. “I just don’t want him to steal you away from me.”
“He won’t,” I promised.
“He might,” Cyrus countered, stepping up beside me.
He sounded serious. Willa scowled at him, but I focused my gaze ahead, trying to ignore the sudden pounding of my heart inside my chest.
