Louis shot him a dirty look, shaking his head.
"You did that deliberately, didn't you?" I said, a flicker of humor pushing through the dark swirl of energy in my center.
Tyson shrugged. "Never hurts to remind him who was the youngest sorcerer. You know, just in case he forgot."
I laughed. My brothers stared, because apparently I didn't do that shit any more.
Fuck, I needed to sort myself out and fast. I couldn't be the morose fucker of this group. I refused.
And that meant I needed to get my ass to Faerie and track Justice down. We had a lot to discuss.
There was just one thing I had to do first.
One thing I owed to my mate to deal with before I took the next step in claiming what was mine.
16
Justice Winter
The next month passed in a blur of information and new experiences. I never realized how little I'd learned in my fleeting visits before, but my parents certainly made up for lost time, having my full attention now.
There were days of learning about our culture and history. Speaking to fey who were hundreds of years old and had actually lived through our wars and triumphs was definitely eye opening.
I was introduced to important members of our parliament, learned our most significant laws—there weren't a ton, but enough to give me a headache on top of everything else. And I also met multiple members of my family. This was a huge plus for being in the ruby lands.
Who would have thought poor little orphan Justice would actually come from a loud, friendly, hugging family.
Sure as hell not me.
“It’s time to connect to the stones,” Deloria said to me over breakfast on my thirty-third morning here. “You’ve aced your classes, started using your power regularly, and you’re fitting in just beautifully. There’s only one thing left.”
I swallowed roughly, managing to get the porridge type mixture they preferred here down without choking. “You think I’m ready? What if they reject me?”
She didn’t look remotely worried. “Time won’t change whether you are accepted or not, so it’s best to get the test over with. I’m satisfied that you shine with enough ruby energy to convince anyone that you’re fit to rule this land.”
Reaching out, she grabbed my hand. I returned her squeeze without flinching. Huge progress.
"You're ready," Deloria repeated. “Tomorrow morning. I’ll inform the council and townsfolk.”
Jumping to her feet, her face alight like she was about to marry me off, she rushed away, calling back that we’d talk later.
I had to laugh. It was that or I’d freak out under the pressure. Deloria hadn’t been lying—in my time I’d learned and accomplished a lot. I’d even reached the point where magic was often my second or third option to achieve my goals, instead of forgetting I had it at all.
It helped that the swirl of energy was so strong inside now that it made me very aware of its existence. And the fact that I quite liked the convenience of it was even better.
I finally felt ready to embrace it all.
Pushing minor nerves aside, I spent the rest of the day in planning sessions for this ceremony. Usually they had more time, and everyone was in a tizzy about it being tomorrow, but I didn’t really mind. My only request—one I kept to myself—was how much I wished Jacob could be there.
I missed him. Like … so much more than I expected. The way magic had awakened an awareness inside of me, Jacob did the same, and I always felt part of him with me.
Being separated like this was a decision I was growing to regret. I could only hope that all of it had happened for a reason, and that, in the end, we’d be stronger for it.
* * *
“You’re so beautiful!”Deloria cried, clapping her hands together as she stepped back to survey me head to toe. Reaching out, she adjusted the headpiece I wore before declaring me perfect.
I hadn’t been allowed to look at anything during the process, so this was my first chance to see what she’d done in her hour playing dress-up with me.
