“Spare no expense,” I instructed. “Make it luxurious, a world-class experience. I want it to be an evening he’ll always remember.”
Thystle’s eyes rounded. “Wow. You actually really like him, don’t you?”
His question forced me to confront my own emotions. The answer was yes; every second that went by confirmed my rapidlycementing feelings for Alaric. I’d never fallen for anybody this fast and hard—or fallen for anyone at all—so I wasn’t accustomed to this terrifyingly wonderful sensation.
Yet the analytical worm in my brain stopped me from declaring him my fated mate. In its vile, nagging voice, it insisted that a destined connection between us simply wasn’t possible. I was too weird. Too absurd in my desires. Too sexually incompatible with anyone to be their fated mate.
Wasn’t I?
After saying my piece,I returned to my room to prepare. I showered and put on my finest outfit, a custom-made suit by an expensive designer. I wasn’t one to get nervous before events, but the idea of meeting Alaric tonight made my heart pump faster.
I expected the date to be on the beach, the way it always was—but as I reached the castle’s ground floor, Gaius met me in the hallway. Shockingly, he wasn’t wearing a neon Hawaiian shirt. Instead he wore a simple yet classy waiter’s uniform. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen him wear one, but this one seemed fancier than before. Had my brothers given him my memo about the luxurious dinner service?
“Good evening, Mr. Chromatimaeus,” Gaius said in an affected voice. “Please allow me to be your guide to your dinner reservation.”
I followed him with an amused smile. “And where exactly is my dinner reservation being held?”
One of the unspoken rules of the Games was that no filming was to occur in our castle. It was our home, after all. Yet Gaius never left the building. He escorted me down a rarely usedhallway, as ifhewas the one who lived here instead of me. The sprawling castle had more than enough room for all of us, and as a result, space went unused. I couldn’t recall the last time I’d taken this hallway. What would I find at the end of it?
“Your dinner reservation is in the brand-new restaurant, of course,” Gaius replied jauntily.
I had no time to pry further. As Gaius opened the door at the end of the hall, I was met by a baffling sight—a beautiful, high-class restaurant that came out of nowhere. What had previously been an empty room was now an inviting, extravagant place to eat.
Gaius chuckled. “It’s not often I see you speechless, Jade.”
“It’s not often Iamspeechless,” I admitted. “What happened here? How did you summon an entire restaurant into my home?”
“The answer, my friend, is always money. Well, that and a lot of effort.” Gaius put a hand on his chest. “Alas, I’d love to take the credit, but I had nothing to do with it. Your brothers made it happen.”
A familial warmth bloomed inside me. They’d done all this for my sake?
“Ha! Surprised, aren’t you?”
Aurum’s voice cut into my thoughts. I turned to see him and the rest of the brotherly admin crew beaming with pride.
“Yes, actually,” I said. “I wasn’t expecting all of this.”
Thystle scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, we felt bad for saying that stuff about Alaric earlier, so we wanted to make it up to you.”
“Thystle,” I murmured, touched by his heartfelt apology. “Thank you, everyone.”
“You can’t help who you fall in love with. Even if it is an arrogant cat like Alaric,” Crimson teased.
He wasn’t wrong about that. But Alaric’s arrogance was one of my favorite qualities about him.
Then the rest of Crimson’s statement hit me like a bucket of ice water.
I started to speak. “Did you saylo—“
“And there’s the lucky cat himself!” Gaius announced. His powers of projection smothered everything I said, ensuring nobody heard my half-spoken question.
I whipped around to see Alaric, and when I did, my heart tangled into a fuzzy knot. His silky white hair tickled his bare shoulders, which were revealed by a loose cream wool cardigan. The black collar remained striking against his pale skin. As always, he was effortlessly gorgeous.
His heterochromatic eyes flashed when I met his gaze. A shiver of anticipation rolled across my skin. How did he look even more beautiful every time I saw him?
“Good evening,” Alaric said. Noticing the presence of my brothers, he added, “Am I too early?”
“No, you’re right on time,” I replied. “They were just leaving.”
