“So yes.”
“We’re going to do the ceremony tomorrow?”
“I can’t. Mother’s being?—”
“The stubborn queen we all appreciate?”
“Yes, and a mother. Who’s concerned that Aisling’s in danger from the Firested at the academy.”
“Your sister’s a lot younger than us, and I’ve been scared of her on more than one occasion. She can handle her own shit. Plus, she has allies at the school.”
“How very reasonable of you. But the queen is beyond that now. I’m also thinking she’s figured out we’re ready to give up. We can’t have a leader of Crest Wing who’s not in a thunder. The Crest Wing citizens wouldn’t stand for it, in the long run. There’s bending tradition and then there’s shattering it.” My mother’s not one for evenleaningagainst tradition.
“Well, break out Thor’s hammer because we’re going to have to smash some shit,” Evander says.
“If that’s what needs to happen, I’m not opposed to breaking shit. I have to go back tomorrow. We can’t do the ceremony now that my mind is elsewhere. I have to get Aisling back to school, and soon.”
Evander sits on the corner of my desk. I’ve given up telling him not to. “She won’t be able to catch up with her studies if we don’t. I have some connections with a few teachers. I’ll see if they can get her classwork to her in the meantime.”
I cock my eyebrow at him. “By teachers, do you mean females you’ve fucked?”
“Is it a problem that they’re one and the same?”
“I suppose not. Are you ready to be in a closed thunder, anyway? One female shared between the three of us for the rest of your life?” I ask Evander. Because lightning mate or chosen mate, that’s what we’re destined for.
“It sounds crazy, but yes. I am. But I’ve got no more oxygen left for candidates. That’s the horrible part. I meant what I said the other night. The witch and the fae with the fucking prophecies could be wrong. They can be wrong. Ilike Raine. I have a good feeling about her. But if she’s not it . . . I’m done. I’m tired. Aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
The door opens and Roark strolls in, taking his normal position on the other corner of the desk. “I like her.”
“Me too. I think she’s the one,” Evander replies.
“How can you know?” I ask. “We haven’t done the ceremony.”
“I feel it in my mark.” Evander cocks his head to the side.
“You felt it in your mark when you got food poisoning in London ten years ago. And in the middle of a battle when we were fighting the Firested during the last uprising. Remember, we were searching for female Firested warriors for three years afterward. I don’t fucking trust your mark.” I push him off my desk.
“What does yours say, Roark?” Evander asks. “No, forget it. Yours tingles every time your cock gets hard. It’s no good.”
“My cock is amazing.”
I scrub my hands down over my chin. The two of them can go at it like this for hours and not stop. Children, men, my best friends, the ones I trust with my life. The ones who will be with me forever. The ones I don’t need to guard myself around. But right now, if they don’t stop arguing, I’m going to shift a talon and draw some blood.
Evander sits back down on the desk. “It’s big enough. Not as big as mine.”
“It knows what to do better than yours.” Roark laughs.
“You have no idea. I leave females speechless, unable to move.”
“From boredom, because they fall asleep?” Roark pushes Evander from the desk, and he flops onto the sofa. Roark moves next to him.
“If you’re going to come to blows, take it to the roof,” I say.
“Forget blows on the roof. I could go for a good shift. I’ve been penned up on security detail all day.” Evander drops his shirt on the sofa and heads up the circular stone stairs. He’s running ahead of Roark and me.
I left the dining room because my dragon was pushing at me. Pushing for me to touch Raine. So while I’ve got plenty of work to do—the ledger from Crest Wing and the spreadsheet from the Earth accounts—a good shift is exactly what I need. But I’m stressed out beyond belief. I can see both my mother’s point of view and my sister’s, and the two of them are no longer talking, which brings things to a boiling point. Normally, I’m on my mother’s side. She’s logical and has been queen for a hell of a long time. But right now... it doesn’t fit what I need, and that’s a new feeling. It’s not sitting right with me.
