Wren: Good night.
It’s not morning there, and it’s barely night here. But it’s how Wren and I sign off when she’s on a trip.
I let my phone drop to my chest. Have I made a mistake? Have I ruined everything?
I change my clothes, unable to stay away from the collection any longer. At least, that’s what I tell myself when I quietly close my door and softly step down the hall.
29
EVANDER
“Someone got frisky.” I can scent Raine on Roark. I don’t need to pick up his hand to know where it’s been.
“We haven’t done the ceremony,” Kieren says.
“You don’t fucking need to remind me of that. I’m the one who’s been here all week, avoiding her to the best of my ability when all I want to do is push her up against the stone wall and see how loud she moans.” Roark crosses his arms over his chest.
I nod to Percy as he backs down the driveway, taking the car to the garage on the lower level.
I cock my head at Kieren. “Same.”
“She said she would talk to you tomorrow. So we do the ceremony tomorrow afternoon.” Roark has never been in a rush to do a ceremony before. But I get it.
I pull out my calculator. “She’s our last candidate. We all agreed, right?”
“Definitely,” Kieren says.
“I believe she could be the one.” Roark leans on the Rolls next to me, and the car shifts.
“Well, we can’t mess it up, then. The alignment of the portals has beenscava.” I do the calculations. As one of the few dragons in Cloud Rift who can’t open the Crest Wing portal, I like to know when the damn thing is going to work or not. So yes, I do the math. Every fucking time. I don’t want the damn thing flinging me to the Elderglen portal and end up having to explain to my Nan why I wasn’t home for my sisters’ graduation from the academy.
“We’re fucked,” Roark supplies.
“Yup,” I agree. “Misaligned and having power issues. We shouldn’t do the ceremony if the portal is off.”
“You think it will make a difference?” Kieren asks.
“I think there’s a chance that she’s the one. We all feel it, and if we do the ceremony when there’s not enough power? Sure, she’ll still have the lightning. But it will take longer. We get our power from our realm. And the lightning on a human? It takes power. We need the portal open, charged, and correctly aligned.”
“And when will that be?” Kieren leans toward us.
“Monday. Next Monday.”
“Fucking hell, that’s a week.” Roark storms off.
I jog after him. “What did you tell her?”
“I told her about our thunder. That we will share a mate.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“Did she freak out?”
“No, she . . . she . . . was thoughtful. Inquisitive . . . But I didn’t tell her everything, and she knew it.”
“Well, that’s good.”
