Thorne cursed beside her, and Devora gasped so hard, she choked on her tea.
Rissa merely chuckled. “Iknewyou’d figure it out.”
“Shifter senses never lie.” I tapped my nose with a grin.
“Wejustfound out,” Thorne grumbled. “I thought we could keep it a secret for at least a little while.”
“There are no secrets among friends, lover boy.” I set the knife down and rounded the table to envelop Rissa in a hug. “I’m so happy for you, Rissa.”
“Thank you.” She squeezed hard, then pulled back. “And now that you’re governor, we’ll get to see a lot more of each other. I’ll need regular updates on the state of the province, and I’m convening a quarterly meeting with all the governors at the capital.”
“Yes, yes, I get it.” I waved her off. “Business talk later. Now, we celebrate.” I raised my mug of steaming tea, and the others joined it. “To baby Nox Aris and the health of your beautiful family.”
Thorne snorted into his tea. “We arenotnaming it Nox.”
I took a sip. “You’re right. What if it’s a girl?”
“To baby Aris,” Rissa repeated, eyes twinkling at me. “Andto you. The new Governor Duma.”
The title made the smile fade from my face. Governor Duma.My father’s title.
But a small bloom of pride rose from the weeds, filling my chest with warmth.
Devora wrapped her free arm around my back with a wicked little grin. “Hmm,” she hummed lazily. “I’ve never been with agovernorbefore.”
I kissed the tip of her nose. “Get used to it, darling. You’re stuck with me.”
She rested her head on my chest, a smile in her voice as she said, “I think I can live with that.”
86
Devora
FIVE WEEKS LATER
“Close your eyes.”
“I’m not sticking my finger in it again, Nox.”
His chuckle wafted over me, warming me to my toes. “It’s not that. Just trust me, darling.”
I shot him an unimpressed look, then sighed and closed my eyes. “Okay, done. Now what?”
I felt his presence shuffle across the floor of his chambers, then I heard something scrape against the wood. With a smirk, I sent my shadows drifting toward the sound, trying to scope out what he was doing.
“Stop that,” he grunted.
My shadows whisked back to me as I laughed.
Finally, his footsteps drew nearer. The bed dipped beneath me, and his thigh brushed mine. “Open them.”
I blinked my eyes open to see his lips tilted into a shy grin. When I looked down to his lap, there were two planks of wood, each with the bust of a silhouette carved in its center.
My brow furrowed. I recognized those silhouettes. I remembered seeing them in the shadows the night of the Noctus Vigil back in Tenebra. There was a man with short hair and broad shoulders,and a woman with a quill raised in the air and a long braid running down her back.
My mouth went dry. “Is that…”
“Happy birthday, Devora,” Nox murmured.
