“Oh my, what did I do last night?” Horror had entered the chat.
Rune huffed out a soft laugh. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“That doesn’t sound promising,” I muttered, hugging a throw pillow to my chest like it might shield me from whatever humiliation was coming next.
“You were… uninhibited,” he said carefully. “And sweet. You made people laugh. You made me laugh.”
My eyes widened. “I madeyoulaugh?”
He actually smiled. “Don’t let it go to your head.”
I narrowed my eyes—suspicious. “So what exactly are you saying? That we parade me around like the coven’s emotional support wife until morale improves?”
“Not exactly,” he said, but the corner of his mouth twitched. “I’m saying... the coven needs a win. A distraction. Something beautiful to focus on instead of what they’ve lost. You being here—being seen, not hidden away—might actually give them hope.”
Hope.That felt like a lot of pressure for someone who couldn’t even light a candle with magic.
“So what would that look like?” I asked cautiously. “Fake dates? Matching outfits? Holding hands in front of everyone at dinner and pretending I don’t want to throttle you half the time?”
He smirked. “I’d settle for a public breakfast and maybe a walk through the market.”
I blinked. “That’s it?”
“For now,” Rune said. “The rest can come later… once we figure each other out. I’m not asking you to play house. I’m asking you to let them see you the way I saw you last night.”
“And how exactly did you see me?” I asked before I could stop myself.
His gaze didn’t waver. “Like you belonged.”
Something cracked quietly inside me—something I hadn’t realized I’d been holding together with metaphorical duct tape and emotional caffeine.
I wanted to tell him he was wrong.
But instead, I just whispered, “Okay.”
When I entered the library,I had all intentions of telling Maple we were already married. I didn’t want to keep it a secret, but when she sat down across from me with that little scowl and her brows yanked together in the center of her forehead… I didn’t have it in me. I knew immediately that she would be scared off. I couldn’t do that to her, so instead, I settled on a truce.
I’d stayed up all night listening to her ramble in her sleep about magic, cats, and a broody Voodoo King. I’d laughed and questioned my sanity more than I would ever admit out loud, and I knew that if she couldn’t fix whatever was happening with the wolves… She could at least fix the morale in the coven. Shewas a bright light in this never-ending tunnel. Which felt like such an odd turn of events that this point but there was no turning back now.
I’d asked the ancestors to show me what wasmine… They’d shown me her, whether I liked it or not. Fate was deciding now, not us.
Her big eyes watched me with curiosity and something else… Something softer than before. I’d been expecting snark and sassy replies, but instead I got a different Maple this morning. I wasn’t sure if it was because of me, the vampire, or her night on the town, but… I was telling myself it was all me.
I unfolded myself from the comfy chair I’d occupied and held my hand out to her, palm up.
Her gaze flicked between my offered hand and my face. “Come on then. We have some work to do.”
It was high time I did the right thing. It was also high time I brought her into the woods to see if her magic could sense anything, but first… I had to write my wrongs.
I shota quick text off to my sister and told her to gather the rest of the coven. They were waiting for me in the courtyard. A few toddlers raced between legs, and a couple of people whispered as I entered the area with my bride. I stepped up onto the brick that surrounded the fountain in the center of the beautiful commons area and looked out over my people. Families of different races and magical abilities stared back at me.
I cleared my throat. “It isn’t a secret that the passing of my father hit me harder than I ever imagined. I didn’t think becoming the Voodoo King would ever be a role I was worthy of, but here I am. Through my grief, I wronged our newest member.” I held my hand out again, and this time Maple took it without hesitation and stepped up beside me. She was a goodhead shorter than I was, maybe more. Her smile was soft, but her head was held high with confidence as she looked at our people. Pride swelled within my chest. “Everyone, this is Maple.” I didn’t bother with her last name because it didn’t matter. She was a Benoit now, but I couldn’t give that away. “My father arranged for her to come here before his death in hopes that she would help us with our little problem. I should have introduced her the moment she arrived, but my brain was foggy with fear and grief.”
The whispers in the crowd around me picked up a notch. I held my hand up. “Maple is here to stay. She is going to be a part of our coven, and I expect everyone to treat her as if she were born here. I’m sure you have plenty of questions to ask her, and you’ll have more than enough time to do so when we all sit down for dinner this evening.”
A few people lingered as I stepped down and then helped Maple. I wasn’t dumb; I knew they were questioning her existence here, and why it took me so long to introduce her. Oh well.
Maple looked at me out of the corner of her eye. “That’s it?”
