“Yep. I know Ivy. She’s going to love it now and when it’s done. But more so when it’s done and you get her a really fluffy, comfortable armchair.” Despite the history we had, I was glad Thea could put aside my asshole behaviours to help. Sometimes, it was hard to remember what I’d done. When I was working, it was also easy to just…forget.
My memories would be forever fractured. Not broken, but also not quite whole. There would be pieces that were hidden, that slipped away when I wasn’t paying attention and would come back eventually.
The damage had been done; Dante made sure of that.
I released a breath and shook my head. “Would you come into town with me to look?”
“Have you gotten picture frames yet?” she asked, again crossing her arms.
“No.”
A small smile pulled at her lips. “Then you’re paying, Nash.”
Thank fuckfor Rhadamanthus and his shadow jumping. He got Thea and me out without drawing any suspicion and picked us up the moment we needed it.
Of course, Ivy knew we’d gone out. The bond would have told her as much. But she thought we were doing research on Thea’s identity and possible creature. As it was, with the dismantling of Dante’s empire, we’d found at least three compounds he’d been jumping between. The one in Luna, a manor just outside the city centre where he’d been operating his trafficking, and another small compound in Aither, at the very end of the Titania Mountain Range.
To say I was disappointed in my Court, the one I used to call home, was an understatement.
But with those compounds, we were locating artefacts and writings that were changing the landscape of what we knew, not just about Emris, but the old Gods. And within, we hoped to find anything that might explain Thea’s origins—if she had any in our world, that was.
We were trying to keep it under wraps, not just to hide it from our world, but to understand it better before it eventually leaked. Because it would.
“We have food!” Thea announced, holding up bags of takeout—well, Avalon’s version of it. We didn’t have fast food, necessarily, but we had variations of it. Burger places were big, as was pizza, but we did our own styles of both.
And from the Underworld came glorious smoked meats, tender and used in all different ways. A new place opened in theclosest town by a group of shifters and demons who met during their time in Elysian after Dante’s attack, and they’d come together to build something new.
Ivy waddled her way towards us, eyes locked on the bags. “Oh, that smells amazing.”
“Girl, you should have seeninside,” Thea said, hooking arms with my mate. “They did the place up all themed. Hawk said it was kinda Elysian inspired, with volcanic rock and shit. Anyway, it was so cool. We’ll have to take the girls in, because…” As they walked off in the direction of the outdoor sitting area where some of the guys and kids waited, I stopped, blinking hard. Darkness swam at the edges of my vision for a moment, shadowy spots dancing across my eyes.
The room around me was unfamiliar, and panic set in. The large windows across from me revealed a large group of people, none of whom I recognised, and the noise…
I moved to cover my ears as a ringing sound started, echoing in my skull. Pain pulsated through me as I looked around for a way out. My shoulders burned as I considered releasing my wings?—
A hand clamped down on my shoulder.Are you okay?someone asked inside my head. It made me flinch and turn towards the creature.
Broad, tall, light hair, blue eyes. I blinked again. I knew this male. Knew his voice. Knewwhyhe communicated with me that way, but…
I shook my head, mouth suddenly dry.
Someone else entwined their fingers with mine, and when I looked down, it felt like a light switch flipped. My mate’s sweet, calming scent filled my lungs with each breath I pulled in, and her touch calmed my racing heart enough for the pieces to fall back into place.
“There you are,” she murmured, smiling. “Come on, we’re having dinner.”
My breath came out shaky. “Right. Dinner.”
“You went to this new place in town,” she reminded me, “with Thea.”
Thea. Blonde, smoky sweet scent, unknown. Not a threat. I remembered her. She was helping me with a surprise. “Yeah. Thea. That’s right.”
The soft smile and the tentative hold Ivy had on me allowed me to slowly return to the present. The ease with which I’d forgotten made my chest constrict, but somehow, she could always bring me back.
I didn’t fucking deserve her, but I would be forever grateful for my girl.
Ivy guided me onto the back stone patio overlooking the back of the island. Through the trees, you could just see the field of wildflowers, the stone pavilion, and the pond.
The large table outside could seat us all, as well as a few additional people when needed. The handcrafted item had been a gift from the Summer Fae, a small sign of respect and thanks for all Ivy had done during the battle with Dante, and a request for forgiveness for their part in his schemes.
