“Silas is stronger,” a third voice whispered.
Brayden walked, head held high and hand tightly clasping mine, as we endured the taunts and jeers.
It was in this moment that I truly realized how much Lena and Brayden’s love story mattered to me. They thought I was her—hell, I wanted to be her, but I also wanted him to find her. Against all odds they found each other lifetime after lifetime, and if I were being honest it was about the most romantic thing I could ever think of.
Everyone was lining up for something but I couldn’t see what until we finally reached a door labeledcoat closet, and a tall lithe fae who oozed power stood beside it. When his gaze fell on Brayden and then to me and our clasped hands, he grinned.
“Mr. Greywolf,” he purred.
“Dr. Greywolf,” I corrected him.
The man grinned even wider. “Lena, we’ve missed you these past forty years. Your sideline screams always make for great entertainment on fight night.”
My blood ran cold. Sideline screams? As in screaming from the sidelines of the fight? That bastard. I moved to lunge forward without thinking, but Brayden yanked me back and there were some cheers in the crowd.
The man tipped his head back and laughed. “So eager. We should let her fight one year!” he yelled to those gathered and they cheered harder.
Brayden’s hand clamped down on mine like a vise and my fingers ached. I got the message.
Stay cool. Calm down, I told myself.
The fae opened the small coat closet door to reveal it was empty and lined with red velvet. The back of the closet held another door handle as if you could walk right through to the other side. The Ether side?
Brayden pulled me inside and the fae peered at us for a long moment. “Enjoy the show,” he said, and closed the door as a blacklight flicked on overhead. My chest heaved as I stared at Brayden, glowing in the light, and a desperate feeling came over me. What if this was it? What if he lost again and we were all given to Silas? Or what if Leah had a memory tomorrow that she was in fact Lena and this was my last chance to tell him how I felt?
“I choose you,” I blurted, moving forward a foot so that our bodies were flush against each other. “Whether I’m Lena or Wren, I need you to know that I choose you.”
His eyes flared yellow and my breath hitched.
“Who do you choose?” I asked boldly.
He reached up, slowly tracing a finger across my lips, and my entire body shuddered. Leaning forward, he brushed his lips to my ear. “I choose Lena. I’m sorry.”
My heart plummeted into my chest. The entire closet shook then like it was going through an earthquake, and the back door suddenly opened. There was regret splashed across Brayden’s face, like maybe he had wanted to say something more.
“Well hello, dears,” a female voice called to my left. A tall fae with long blonde hair wearing an elegant green ballgown stood in the now open doorway. A tear slid down my cheek but I swiped it away quickly.
I choose Lena.The most heartbreaking words I could ever hear. He truly was loyal and would wait forever on a wife who might never remember him. In that moment, I knew I needed to let him go for my own sanity.
“Lynette,” Brayden growled, and the woman tipped her head back and laughed. It was a grating and evil sound. She stepped aside and Brayden laced his fingers through mine once more and pulled me out into the most elegant ballroom I’d ever seen. The second I spotted the white marble with golden veins running through it, there was a familiarly to it. Yes, it was the same as the castle I’d been portaled to but this… this felt like more familiar than that.
There were already hundreds of people standing around holding drinks and talking. The room was octagonal, with little circular pop-outs that made for almost a floral or sacred geometrical design if you were looking at a bird’s eye view. I looked up and gasped when I saw there was an entirely glass dome ceiling and the moon was full. It was the most beautiful room I’d ever seen, and in that moment something came to me. It wasn’t really a memory as much as a knowing.
“You married Lena in this room,” I said, and Brayden froze, looking over at me with a stillness that made me feel like I couldn’t breathe.
I searched my brain so hard for a memory then. Was it me he married? Or did I attend with Castiel? Brayden seemed to be wondering the same thing. We both just stared into each other’s eyes with anticipation. The harder I looked for the memory, the more it evaded me. I wanted to cry. I’d just told him I chose him and he’d rejected me. Now this fleeting memory that might give us what we both wanted… it was heartbreaking and mortifying all at once.
I shook my head, letting him know I didn’t remember anything more.
“Welcome, welcome!” a familiar voice boomed inside of the large space. We turned to see Lynette standing on a stage at the back of the room. There were four chairs behind her, and in them sat the Fae Lords. She didn’t hold a microphone, yet her voice magically amplified throughout the room.
Bastards.
My gaze went to their wrists, where they wore the bracelets that connected them to Brayden’s brothers and my sisters. I wanted to march right up there and rip them off.
The gathered crowd quieted as more and more people stepped through the open door we’d come through. Leah and Maddy walked out and spotted us, walking over to join us.
“This is a very special event that we all look forward to each and every year,” Lynette said, and the crowd went wild with cheers and shouts.
