To that, Arden’s lips curved up, and a dark glee spread across his stormy eyes. “Oh, I have witnessed quite a few engagement collapses in my time: runaway brides, grooms sleeping with the maid of honor, a rogue troll coming to object and steal the bride away. You name it, I’ve seen it. And have gotten paid.”
“Oh, good.”
“Trying to get out of your arranged marriage, are you?”
“Yes.”
“Can I ask why? Because I have lived through five centuries, two hundred and seventy-five wars, eighty-six vampire scandals, and stillthat man’sjawline is the most dangerous thing I have ever seen.”
“Because he’s … a mayoral mannequin. He’s full of scripted sincerity and PR-approved charm. I don’t think there is a single genuine thing about him.”
“Ah, yes. He does come off as Mr. Electable. Because he, as crazy as this may sound, wants to be elected.”
“Hey, whose side are you on?” Iris grumbled.
“Yours, love, always yours. I support a woman’s rights and her wrongs. I will let you decide which category this falls into.”
“I don’t belong on land,” Iris said, her barely contained emotions drifting to the surface.
These were the real ones.
Not the over-the-top dramatic ones she pretended to have in front of or around Finn.
She’d hurt her own throat from pretend-sobbing over that thing he’d said about collecting shiny things.
To her horror, he hadn’t been turned off by the display, either. He’d been waiting with a cup of tea and what seemed like a real apology. She tried to tell herself he was so good at spin that it was impossible to tell if he was being real or not.
“Oh, you pretty thing,” Arden said, producing a pocket square that featured—of course—a heart pattern. “Heavy is that coral crown,” he said, patting the tears on her cheeks. “Well, just because there won’t be a wedding doesn’t mean we can’t have fun planning the most fantastic one imaginable.”
“Fun how?”
“Well, we can go visit venues, for one. I was thinking, given who you are, something near an ocean would be ideal.”
“We could visit the beach?” she asked, spirits rising.
“Of course we can. You knowyoucan, right? You’re not a prisoner here.”
“I wouldn’t even know how to get there.”
“That’s what GPS is for.”
“I don’t have a phone.”
“You don’t have a phone.” Arden repeated it as if she’d declared she didn’t have bones or lungs.
“No. I wouldn’t know how to use one if I did.”
“What is this fiancé of yours doing to help integrate you into the surface, exactly?”
Iris squashed the sudden, unwelcome urge to defend Finn. Because what the heck was that about?
“He gave me the card to access the saltwater pool in the basement.”
At Arden’s blank look, she shrugged. “Monty volunteered to show me the city. So I guess Finn thought that was enough.” She couldn’t really blame Finn for the fact that she had turned down the pelican and his desire to ‘hobnob with the rich and scandalous’—whatever that meant.
“Right. Because a social-climbing pelican should be in charge of making sure you know how to function like an adult in a big, overwhelming, sometimes dangerous city.”
“You know Monty?” Iris asked as Checkers came sauntering into the kitchen.
