My love life is the product of thousands of years of plotting. My head spins at the thought.
I’ve never felt more annoyed at being heterosexual. Even being just a bit bicurious right now would help.
Stupid attraction to men.
So inconvenient.
I zone back into the chaos that has unfolded around me. Sin and Morgana are arguing. Sin is standing now, waving his arms and looking livid, so situation no change there. Morgana looks like she’s having the time of her life tormenting him.
Rosie leans into me and whispers, “Are you back with us?”
I look at her, shocked that she’s paying such close attention. She smiles softly and whispers, “I think you’re great and all, but I get the distinct feeling you are very straight.”
I give her my most miserable expression. “Unfortunately.”
Magnus and Damien have joined the yelling and are also standing now, and I frown at the noise, trying to figure out what everyone is so flustered about.
Not to play the victim card, but their murderer isn’t trying to set them up with someone.
Rosie whispers a play-by-play of the last few minutes, “Morgana wants you and Sin to work togetherfor as long as you’re here. Sin is accusing her of meddling, and he thinks she’s delusional. Morgana is arguing that she’s just being practical and is accusing him of being afraid. So, Sin is pretty upset, and now Magnus and Damien are arguing that you should be training with them instead since you don’t want to work with Sin.”
I look back at the chaos, wondering when my life became such a train wreck. “Don’t I get a say in this?” I ask loudly, over their voices.
All eyes turn to me, and everyone goes silent. Annoyance overrides my immediate urge to not be the center of their attention.
“Not that it’s anyone’s business, but I’m not going to love anyone. And quite frankly, I think we have bigger issues,” I add, trying to sound as stern as possible.
Boundaries are important. I’ve decided my love life is off-limits.
Sin nods at me once before turning to Morgana. We both stare her down, daring her to argue.
Morgana just looks between the two of us with a shit-eating grin. “Of course. But be that as it may, there’s an entire Council of powerful people looking for you, Vivian. Sin is the strongest person here and the only one who can protect you from them. So, whether you love each other, like each other, or hate each other, you’re stuck together until the threat of the Council is gone.”
She still sounds far too pleased.
Sin opens his mouth to argue again, but Morgana cuts him off, her tone turning hard and commanding, “Sin, you mentioned you had off-realm business to attend to tonight. Go now. This will be your last solo mission, so take this time and get used to the idea.”
Sin shoves away from the table, his tattoos glowing a faint red. But he says nothing as he storms out of the room.
Magnus stage whispers across the table, “I told you he doesn’t call the shots around here.”
Damien makes a whip-cracking sound, and they have their desired effect as I break into a giggle.
Morgana gives them a sharp look, and they immediately look contrite.
I start picking at my food now that the conversation has finally lulled. But Morgana isn’t finished. “Would you all mind letting Vivian and me speak and private?” she asks mildly.
The food in my mouth suddenly feels like sawdust, and I swallow more wine to wash it down.
This can’t be good.
Damien, Magnus and Rosie immediately rise and give me encouraging looks before trailing out of the room.
At least they didn’t look worried. I’ll take that as a promising sign.
Morgana waits for the sounds of their footsteps to fade away before giving me her full attention. “Now that the immediate business is out of the way, I was hoping you could answer a question for me.”
She sounds mildly curious.
