Wade left to go find his pack before he did anything stupid, like blurt out he thought Riordan was cute or offer the fae his number. He found his pack sitting at a table underneath a tree,some of Patrick’s old team huddling with them. Those few were mundane humans, and Wade figured they felt safer with his pack than by themselves, even with Gerard’s promise that no harm would come to any of them.
“Did you clean out the dessert table?” Patrick asked as Wade approached.
“No.” Wade reached between Patrick and Keith and dropped his plate between theirs. “I’m sitting here.”
“Pushy,” Keith muttered around his fork, but everyone on the bench scooted one way or the other to make some room.
Wade sat down, pressed elbow to elbow between Patrick and Keith, and then dug into his plate of delicious sweets. He half listened to the conversation around him, content to eat his way through the options he’d picked. Everything was really tasty, and he silently bemoaned the fact he wouldn’t be able to find any of it back home. He was scraping his fork over the now-empty plate sometime later when Patrick perked up, causing Wade to look around.
Gerard and Órlaith extracted themselves from a knot of guests nearby and made their way to the table, smiles on their faces and looking incandescently happy. Patrick stood, needing to lean against Wade to free himself from the bench, leaving behind his half-eaten plate. Wade watched Patrick approach Gerard before sliding Patrick’s plate closer.
“That’s not yours, mate,” Jono replied idly.
Wade sighed and slid the plate back to Patrick’s spot. “Fine.”
“I don’t know how you’re still hungry, considering the amount of food you’ve eaten,” Keith said.
Wade shrugged. Being hungry was a background sensation that he dealt with by snacking. He was still a growing fledgling and would be for the next few centuries, according to Reed. Shifting mass took effort and energy, and Wade preferred his human form rather than his dragon form on a daily basis. Hispack kept him fed—it had been one of the first things they’d done for him after he escaped the last fight ring Tezcatlipoca had thrown him into. Wade still remembered how Jono had emptied an entire vending machine at the PCB for him while he waited in that interrogation room, scared out of his mind and refusing to show it.
Wade hadn’t believed he was safe at that time and didn’t believe it for weeks, even after Tezcatlipoca had been dealt with back then. Eventually, he’d learned that Patrick and Jono had meant it when they’d said they would keep him safe, and Wade would be forever grateful for the kindness they’d shown him over the years. He could look on his fucked-up past before finding his pack with clearer eyes these days. His therapist called it progress. Wade called it growing up. It helped to do it with a family rather than in chains.
“Enjoying the food?” Órlaith asked from behind him.
Wade hastily moved his fork away from Patrick’s plate. “It’s really good.”
Órlaith reached out to ruffle his hair, and Wade allowed it. He’d liked her ever since their first meeting when they’d rescued her on the Skellig Islands, and she’d been angry rather than scared of her predicament, taking the rescue in stride. “Eat as much as you want. There’s plenty to go around.”
“Are you sure about that?” Jono drawled. “He could eat you out of house and home. He’s done it to us before.”
“Hey,” Wade protested. “You gave me a credit card for a reason!”
“Yes,” Marek said wryly. “I’m thankful I can cover the monthly bill.”
Wade picked up something that was a cross between a grape and kumquat and lobbed it at Marek’s face. The seer moved to catch it with his mouth, hazel eyes crinkling as he chewed. Wade took the teasing in stride, well used to everyone complainingabout how much he ate, even as they shoved food onto his plate and bought him snacks.
“I wish you could stay through to the end of the celebration, but I understand why you all must go,” Órlaith said.
“Before you leave later, we wanted to give you a token of our appreciation for coming,” Gerard said.
Wade perked up at that. “Gifts? Where’s mine?”
He leaned away to get out of swatting distance from Jono and ended up almost making Keith fall off the bench. The other man squawked, but Wade grabbed him by the arm and hauled him upright again.
Órlaith laughed as she gestured gracefully at several fae who walked toward the table holding ornate wooden chests. “Yes, we have gifts.”
Wade wasn’t sure if it was normal for fae to hand out gifts at a wedding rather than accept them, but he wasn’t going to complain. He itched to find his but politely waited until it had been handed to him. The carved box was small, fitting in the palm of his hand. When he flicked it open, he found a gold ring with a fire opal set in the band. An artisan had carved a delicate design into the opalescent sphere, the runes not anything Wade could read, but he could sense the magic in it all the same. Whatever spell had been laid upon the ring, it wouldn’t affect him.
He still took it out of the box and promptly put it on his right middle finger.
“There’s a protection spell in the fire opal. It will lend aid to whoever you tell it to, giving them whatever they need in that moment,” Gerard said.
“Oh,” Wade said, pleased with that, thinking about all the ways it would’ve come in handy in the fights leading up to the end of the world. If it would help keep his pack safe, then it wasboth shinyanduseful. Which meant he was never taking it off. “Awesome. Will people know it’s an artifact?”
“Some very strong magic users may be able to.”
Wade narrowed his eyes thoughtfully before adjusting his aura so the intricate barrier that disguised his soul and kept him appearing human to the world at large expanded just enough to incorporate the ring and its magic in his shielding. It felt like shifting mass in a way, the edges of himself smoothing out with the adjustment.
Gerard blinked at him, raising an eyebrow. “Huh. I guess that’s one way to hide it.”
