“Sure. I’d like to meet your family. Iris—”
If he was going to go back to telling her she was gorgeous, she didn’t think she could handle it.
“Oh, right,” she said breezily, “you wanted to know if I thought we should tell people about the mate bond. It doesn’t feel right to do it over the phone, but maybe we could tell them at dinner?”
Keith nodded. A little matter like when to announce major, life-changing news, and he could take it in stride. He was only prepared to fight about whether or not she was beautiful.
Before she could stop herself, Iris said, “I think you’re gorgeous too, you know.”
He broke into a smile as bright as a supernova.
*
This time it was Iris’sturn to step out and pretend that the cottage was actually big enough for private phone calls.
She dialed Seraphina, who picked up after two rings.
“Hi, Iris.”
Seraphina’s smooth contralto voice was like velvet and honey. In another world, Iris was sure she could have been a major singer.
All the same, she didn’t think she was imagining the note of reserve and wariness in Seraphina’s tone, a little bit of bitter underneath the sweetness. It hurt, but Iris couldn’t blame her for it. For years, almost all their phone calls had come with an explanation of what Iris was in trouble forthistime. Even though Iris had been officially reformed for months now, it was hard for Seraphina to believe Iris had really left all her bad habits behind.
“Hi.” She sucked in a deep breath. “I know this is short notice, but I was wondering if I could come over for dinner tomorrow? And bring a guest? I’d have you and Blake over here, but you know it’s hard to fit four people in the cottage.”
She actually could have done it in a pinch, and they both knew it, but it was hard for Seraphina to see her fish, and they both knew that too.
“Of course you can come. But who’s the guest?”
She’d taken her deep breath too soon. Now she needed to take another one. If she kept on like this, she’d hyperventilate.
“Keith Ridley. He’s—”
“My goodness, Iris, I know who he is. The tribute.”
Iris wondered when her sister had started sayingmy goodness.
But of course she knew who Keith was.Irishad known right away, and she had never been nearly as tapped-in to local goings-on as Seraphina was. She and Blake had been pillars of the community for years.
“I’ll have to completely rewrite tomorrow’s menu,” Seraphina said, already sounding frantic. “How on earth did you meet him? And why is he even with—”
She cut herself off, but Iris knew what the rest of that question was:Why is he even with you, of all people?
In a way, she was almost relieved to come across someone who agreed that it was baffling that she and Keith were even in a room together, let alone formally matched, let alonemates. Keith was too nice to admit it, but at least Seraphina could confirm that this was truly surreal.
“The Council matched us to each other.”
There was a long silence on the other end of the line.
Seraphina said, “The Council matched you to each other.”
“Yes.”
“The Silver Council. Our Council. They matched you to a tribute they sent to the FBI.”
“He’s not with the FBI,” Iris said. “He’s with the U.S. Marshals. He’s part of a special team that deals with shifter crimes that human law enforcement—”
“I don’t care!” Seraphina said. “I don’t care if he’s with the FBI or the CIA or the Marshals or ... or whatever other organizations humans have to keep themselves civilized! I care about the fact that you didn’t even tell me this was on the table. I care about whether or not it’s actually going to make you happy. How can he possibly be right for you?”
