“There aren’t that many neutral casters,” Killian said. “There are only three in this room.”
“Four. I can separate my two wells,” Severin reminded him.
“We can’t expect you guys along with Idris and Liam to do all the work,” High Arcanist Royce the Red commented. “We should offer the books in both light and dark. Perhaps the neutral casters choose the most important topics and offer a third version.”
“I think Royce has a good plan. We want to offer information to as many people as possible. As far as putting together classes to teach what we’re going to develop, we can have their final school project each year to create an entire book. It will slowly allow us to expand the number of titles available,” Liam suggested.
“I am so pleased we are already helping further the education of your Council and I am grateful that no one will forget the Fae,” Rorie enthused, squeezing Renny’s hand.
“Okay, let’s build this spell. We need to start with learning how to tug on memories, so we aren’t adding our opinions and biases into the knowledge,” Chander stated.
As the experiments began and simulators popped up, Rorie kissed Renny and it lifted a bit of his sorrow as he thought of a world that forever knew of the people he’d had no choice but to leave behind.
Chapter 32
From the moment Renny was summoned, he’d dreamed of his mate. Because he had a dragon form along with Dra’Kaedan and Dre’Kariston, everyone had assumed he’d be with a shifter too, but that assumption was wrong. Renny didn’t mourn the loss of his phantom dragon mate. Almost from the start he’d been taken with the impulsive fairy that had tamed his own beast, but problems had sprung up from the start with no workable solutions.
As he pulled on a glorious cloak made from Orlami’s shedded scales, Renny smiled. It was his mating day, and the joy in his heart was slowly squelching the guilt and horror inside him over the destruction of the Fae realm. While he could never forget what Rorie had lost, he was learning to forgive himself for not trusting Fate to find a path where they could both be happy. Rorie held no grudges, despite the way Renny had tried to keep him at bay, which only made him love his other half more.
There was a quick knock on the door to Dra’Kaedan and Brogan’s room, where his warlock had insisted he go to change, and Renny opened it to find a blond man, who he bore a striking resemblance to, grinning at him.
“Ready to go?” Dra’Kaedan asked.
“Come inside, I want to talk to you for a minute.”
“If you’re having second thoughts, I want you to know I’m going to set you on fire despite whatever punishment I might get from Mom.”
“Sometimes I ask myself how I can be your familiar when you’re obviously so damn crazy,” Renny teased. “I’m not having any apprehension about being with Rorie. I love him. I need a moment to tell you some shit.”
“Rorie’s pretty wonderful. I still don’t get how you aren’t with a shifter—and don’t tell Brogan this, because you know he’d start pouting or some shit—but I’m jealous of your new dragon form.”
“It is pretty badass. I’m not sorry we were all wrong. I can’t imagine myself with anyone else but Rorie now.”
“Of course not. Tell me what’s on your mind. You’re holding up Aleksander and Rafe’s first mating ceremony together.”
Renny smiled. “I thought for sure you were going to say something about cake.”
“Oh, no worries. I’m totally fixated on cake. I mean, I don’t know why I haven’t been able to see it yet…but I want to eat it. I figured I should try not to annoy you today.”
“You know when I was summoned, I knew from the start that I loved you. I never wanted to be like Derwin’s ass and act like you were my enemy or something. I couldn’t understand why he resented Dre’Kariston or made it his mission to be an asshat to him. You’ve treated me like family, and I’m grateful for that. You and Brogan always include me in shit, and you allow me to be an integral part of the sanctuaries. Thank you. I feel incredibly lucky to have you as my warlock.”
To Renny’s surprise, Dra’Kaedan’s eyes darkened with anger. “What the fuck are you thanking me for? How else would I treat you? You are myfamily. Why wouldn’t you be involved in the work of the Coven of Warlocks? Aren’t you a warlock familiar? I did nothing to bring you to life but cast one little spell six centuries late. Fate gave you to me and to everyone else. I include you in things because I love you, not because you’re some dude I summoned. Do you understand?”
“You don’t need to get pissed off about it,” Renny replied, his face reddening. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I was trying to tell you how I feel about shit.”
“Then say I love you and move the fuck on.”
“Fine. I love you.”
Dra’Kaedan pulled Renny into a tight hug. “I love you too, asshat.”
“Why did you refuse to officiate any part of my ceremony today?”
“One, you already asked me to be a part of the bloodletting, and two…it’s not my place. This home belongs to Aleksander and Rafe. If it was just Aleksander, I might’ve gone ahead and done that, but I love Rafe too much to make it weird. What, the three of us are going to stand up there? No, that’s fucked up.”
Renny thought it over and realized Dra’Kaedan was right. “It would’ve been you and Rafe because no way would Aleksander have done it if it meant his mate couldn’t.”
“Exactly, and Aleksander loves mating ceremonies. I’m here for the cake.”
