20

ROWAN

IVY’S excitement and worry rolled off her in waves. It was like being in Avalon heightened everything; my feelings towards her, the bond between us, the strength of her magic.

But right now, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. The wonder in her stare, the way the brown of her irises brightened like mahogany under the sun. It made my heart skip a beat. There was a soft flush to her cheeks, and a beautiful tilt to her lips, both of which I wished were directed more at me.

Maybe later. I couldn’t blame her for her reaction to the palace. It was...something. The ceiling was broken into tall arches and little laneways for pixies who lived there. They were like pests, especially if you weren’t favoured by them. But if they liked you, they tended to bring you gifts.

Or at least, that’s what Adrian always claimed. I was not one of the favoured.

Sir Ya’Dahir guided us towards the north wing, which overlooked the forest. It was the second most secure wing in the palace, and I understood why he was taking us there, but the Queen’s wing would have had Ivy losing her shit.

“Have you any news on the Inferno?” Maeve asked. Her back was stiff, her shoulders thrown back. She had her hands clasped behind her. I wondered how she was dealing with the whole...being Ivy’s mate thing. She didn’t seem to be taking it well. Actually, she seemed a little too stressed, if I had to guess.

The Phoenix Compound leader glanced down at her, and he tensed. “They were received fine. So far, we have not learned anything new, and they have yet to be taken from us.”

Rolling my eyes, I sighed. Five hundred years, and the Fae male had the tact of a freshly shifted wolf. Not like Maeve was any better. I could tell he was trying, but one look at Eloise, and I knew he was failing. It was hard enough keeping her in the dark at the safe house. Apparently, a couple of bruised fists had her figuring shit out faster than we thought.

But they continued to talk in hushed tones all the way through the palace. Most floors were upgraded with elevators, yet we still walked the long way to the guest suites.

I slowed until I was walking beside Ivy and Thea, who had their arms linked, whispering about the palace. “What are you two gossiping about?” I asked, shoving my hands into the pockets of my gear.

Ivy glanced up at me with a soft smile before shaking her head. “We weren’t gossiping.”

“Let me guess,” I teased, “you were...gushing about Sir Ya’Dahir. He has that effect on all new recruits.”

She snorted, and Thea laughed. “No, but it’s good to know that’s Sir Ya’Dahir. I’ve only met Sir Theon.” Ivy couldn’t keep her eyes off the architecture. We were walking into one of the larger great halls, though I was surprised we weren’t taking servant passages towards the wing. “This place is just... wow .”

Maybe it was because I grew up here, in the Council wing with my mother, so I wasn’t seeing what she was. There were statues of Nyx all over the damned place. The great hall, which was used more as a local chamber of council—or whining about shit, if I were being honest—had a huge stone motif dedicated to the goddess that looked over the people. It was just a towering wall of rock, with Her chiselled into it. I had no idea why they thought it was good; it wasn’t like Her presence stopped the aristocracy of Avalon from being assholes.

But even though I didn’t see what she saw, it was still a wonderful thing, getting to observe Ivy. She was seeing my world for the first time, completely raw in her reactions. She wasn’t hiding anything, and I took great pleasure in watching each twinkle in her eye, every sharp intake of breath, the soft whispers as she pointed out something new.

“Wait till you see everything else,” I finally replied, smirking down at her. “This is just the shit everyone else gets to see. You’ll be surprised by what only you have access to.”

Ivy’s eyes widened, and she chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. As we passed through the great hall, I looked up at the stone depiction of Nyx and pointed at it. “You’d think we’d be on our best behaviour with Her looking over us, but nope. Absolutely abhorrent things happen in this room. Pretty sure there’s been bloodshed.”

“Archer,” Wolfy snapped. He sent me a withering look, but I grinned. “If you’re going to play tour guide, at least make it age appropriate.”

At that, I rolled my eyes. “Right. Little ears, what I meant to say, is that sometimes there are groups of people in this room who just don ’t get along. And they fight. Right beneath this statue of the Goddess. Pretty bad, huh?”

Eloise didn’t bother deigning me with a response, and Maisie didn’t quite get it, but Ginny snorted before covering her face.

“Got you to laugh, Gin.” That earned me another laugh from her, and when I glanced back at Ivy, she was grinning. “And you. Did I get you to laugh?”

Ivy shook her head with an exasperated sigh. Before she could respond, Sir Ya’Dahir guided us into a hidden hallway with another elevator. The attendant pressed his fist into his heart and bowed as we approached—more for Sir Ya’Dahir, since the charm on Ivy still worked at hiding her power perfectly.

“We’ll be going to the fifth floor, thank you,” Sir Ya’Dahir said as we stopped. There wasn’t much for Ivy to gawk at here, but when we did hit the fifth-floor bridge, she’d be amazed by the view.

The attendant punched the button and as soon as the elevator doors opened, escorted us in and punched the number on the door. It seemed a little...excessive now, after spending time with Ivy in the mortal world, but she smiled and thanked the older mage brightly, as did Thea.

When the doors closed, Thea sighed dramatically. “He reminds me of Moe.”

“Right?” Ivy replied, frowning. “I miss him. And Kacie. Hell, I’ll even say I miss Tommy.”

I stiffened, which was stupid, because she was just rattling off the people she used to work with. Maybe there was a hint of guilt in my reaction.

“Yeah,” Thea sighed, “I’m going to miss them, too.”

I couldn’t bring myself to respond, and neither did anyone else. The tension was palpable. Wolfy’s jaw ticked, and Maeve had her emotionless mask in place, while Adrian looked down at his feet. We were all feeling it. Maybe we all felt guilty over our parts in taking Ivy away from her life.

I sighed in relief when we hit the fifth floor and were finally let out of the stifling elevator. We stepped out into a small foyer, one overflowing with flowers, with pixies buzzing between the petals.

“What are those?” Ginny asked.

“They look like Tinkerbell!” Maisie exclaimed.

“Are they bugs or something?” came from Eloise.

I stifled a laugh as Ivy pulled them away from the flowers and the pixies. “How about we don’t disturb them, hmm? They’re just minding their own business.”

“But what are they? ” Maisie whined, clinging to Ivy’s side. “They’re so pretty .”

Ivy sent each of us a pleading look, as if to remind us that she couldn’t answer most of their questions. I almost felt bad for her, but there was something so pleasing knowing Ivy relied on us so heavily.

Finally, after pulling the kids away from the flowers, she heaved a breath. “You guys are no help.”

I bit down on my own jealousy as Elias stepped up behind her and enclosed her in an embrace. “I was hoping you would guess.”

“No way am I guessing different...creatures. I will not offend the little...what the fuck are they? ”

“Pixies,” Maeve said. “Flower dwelling creatures from the Fae realm. Closely related to sprites and water nymphs.”

“Way to sound like a textbook,” I retorted, rolling my eyes as our team leader narrowed her gaze on me. “They’re little shits who cause trouble. They get into your rooms and like to mess with your stuff.”

Adrian snorted and clapped me on the back. “Just admit it: they don’t like you .” He directed his stare at the kids. “Ivy’s right. It’s better to leave them alone. But if you leave out little sweet cakes or flowers, you might have a present on your pillow the next day. ”

“That’s a damned lie,” I muttered.

“Or, like Adrian said, they don’t like you.” Maeve spared me one last look before redirecting her attention to Ya’Dahir, who was watching us closely. “We should continue.”

Definitely , I thought. It was clear the kids were getting overstimulated. Maisie was ready to stomp away, but Elias grabbed her and swung the kid into his arms. Ginny’s face melted into a frown, so I stepped up to her and offered my hand. She glanced at it, then up at me, before slowly putting her palm in mine. Her hands were cold and clammy, and by the way she clung to me, I guessed she was stressed. The excitement was finally wearing off.

Silently, we walked the short corridor leading to the bridge. Open on either side, it acted as one of the few hallways between the wings. There were a couple of them scattered around the palace, but this one led into the guest quarters. Everyone slowed as we approached. On one side, we were surrounded by tall trees, the smell of pine overwhelming. On the other, cliffs and the falls. This part of the palace had access to the pavilion below, if we wanted to take an elevator down. Maybe I’d offer to take the kids down there later. They’d like that, right? I shook my head. The hell do I know about kids? I thought.

“Wow,” Ivy whispered. Her eyes were glassy, not from the wind that would have cut through the bridge. There were layers of protections against that. No, there were tears for something else. “This is...”

“I know,” I offered, although I didn’t. I couldn’t imagine the stress, excitement, and overwhelm she felt . It was a wonder we weren’t feeling her magic swelling, but maybe taking Maeve as her fourth mate had helped in some way. Far more than being anchored to that half-witted Fae.

She gave me another one of those soft smiles, the ones that melted all my strength and was determined to destroy all the work I’d done at protecting myself.

But I was ruined the first moment we met. I just hadn’t been ready for that yet.

~

We made it into the guest wing without incident. Sir Ya’Dahir left us at the doors with a reminder to Maeve that they’d need to have a meeting to regroup and prepare for the academy. It would probably have to be her and Elias, hell they may even demand the whole team, but I didn’t like the idea of leaving Ivy completely alone here.

I hadn’t encountered the magical signature from my visions yet. And I knew I had to keep a clear head if I did come across it. That meant being with Ivy as much as possible. I was the only one capable of identifying it.

My teeth ground together as Maeve input the necessary details into the code system by the doors. “These doors don’t have passwords,” she explained, stepping away from them as they pinged. “They recognise magical signatures. Like DNA readers in your world. Everyone needs to place their hand on the doorknob and wait for it to ping, and then it’ll automatically unlock for you whenever you come and go. I’ve set it up for just our nine.”

Ginny’s hand tightened in mine, and I gave her fingers a little squeeze. “Don’t worry,” I whispered, leaning down to her height. “It won’t hurt. You might feel a little buzz, but that’s it.”

There wasn’t a hassle getting the kids through. Their magical signatures were easy to read, and each ping of the system loosened Ivy’s shoulders. When it was her turn, it took a little longer because these doors weren’t exactly designed for her, and technically she was able to move freely throughout the palace, but this was done with her safety specifically in mind.

When it came to Thea, there was an issue.

“Come on,” she muttered. The system refused to ping for her, no matter how many times she went through the motions. “Not even the door recognises me as one of you. Great. That’s so fucking great.”

Maeve was as stoic as ever, but even she was stumped. “You may have to come and go with one of us. I know that’ll be an adjustment, but until we sort out what you are...”

Thea huffed as she shoved away from the door. “Fine. Whatever. I didn’t want the damned door’s acceptance anyway.”

I couldn’t help but snort. The rest of the team did their part: hand on doorknob, ping, and entry. The slight buzz I’d warned Ginny about ran across the palm of my hand, but otherwise, it had no lasting effect. Ginny went back to holding my hand as soon as we were given access to our suite. When we stepped across the threshold, my skin tingled with the wards protecting the space.

Without saying a word, we entered into a small foyer, one lit up by a chandelier that twinkled as we passed beneath it. There was another statue of Nyx below it, and two archways that branched off from the entryway. Maeve took the lead, and I supposed that was for the best. Thea was still bristling from the door’s rejection, and Ivy tried to keep the exhaustion from her face, but even she wasn’t nearly as good at hiding her emotions as some.

But that changed when we stepped into the suite itself. The foyer gave way to a semi-open living and dining room; there was a large fireplace against the far wall surrounded by built-in bookcases, and sofas formed a u-shape around a coffee table. The mantle was adorned by a framed painting from at least a century ago and fresh flowers.

It was the view from the dining table that made this suite one of luxury though. There was a set of double doors that opened up onto a large balcony that overlooked the entire back of the palace, from the waterfall to the forest and the bustling world below. There was a table out there set up for a relaxed meal, and off to the right, a kitchen should we decide to request a private chef or cook for ourselves.

While the rest of us were used to suites like these, the girls weren’t. Ivy ran her hand delicately over the plush fabric of the sofa, while Thea glanced warily at another set of built-in shelves along the wall. The children weren’t too interested in the living space, but they did rush over to the windows.

“I’m going to set up another layer of wards,” Adrian announced as he walked over to Ivy and pressed a kiss to her temple. She leaned into his embrace, and I forced myself to look away. “You’re safe here. I’ll be right back.”

She offered him a tired smile and nodded. “I know.”

But he didn’t release her. “You’re getting too good at blocking those thoughts.”

It hadn’t occurred to me that she’d been practising what Nash was supposedly teaching her. It was kind of strange not having him around, now that I thought about it. Yet somewhat peaceful, since he wasn’t riling Ivy up.

But Ivy shrugged, a hint of mischief in her eyes. “I told you I’d figure it out. Now you actually have to work for it.”

I averted my eyes as Adrian leaned down to kiss her. Ginny still clung to my hand, so I made a retching motion and pointed at her sister, which earned me yet another giggle. At least I was making progress somewhere. “Why don’t we go check out the balcony? You’ll see more of the palace from there.”

Ginny nodded happily, and I guided her over to the long stretch of windows where Eloise and Maisie stood, Elias not far behind them.

When Ginny and I approached, he offered me a nod, almost like he was accepting the fact that I was here, and I was here to stay. I had to admit, it felt nice. Like I had a place, not just amongst the team, but in this...family.

All I had to do now was make it official. I had to be Ivy’s mate.