I found the perfect rings almost immediately.
It was like they’d been waiting there, patiently and quietly biding their time until it was time to call to me. Both rings were golden bands with an inlay of moss agate in the middle. But one came with gold flakes while the other had more platinum silver flakes. The mixture of the green, gold, and silver reminded me so much of Everett’s golden sandy eyes and Teddy’s magic swirling together. Everett’s eyes flared to match the gold of the rings when I showed them to him. He bought them immediately and passed me the boxes wordlessly, trusting me as he absolutely should. To explain the shopping bag when we met back up with Teddy, I snagged the perfect gifts for Quinn’s mom and aunts to make up for missing Christmas. It was three jewelry sets imbued with magic to remind you where your keys were and to prevent you from forgetting what you walked into a room for. Stylish and functional magic always made for the best gifts.
As soon as we got home, Quinn was waiting there with her cousins. I ran into her arms without hesitation, kissing her asshe spun me around like we hadn’t just slept together the night before. I don’t think there was a realm in existence where Quinn and I could have enough of each other. We would spend the rest of our lives catching up on every moment we lost while I was with Lilah, and I didn’t shed a tear over the chance to do just that. Quinn’s laughter and love were truly the missing puzzle piece for the best day ever. The only thing that would’ve made the day better was having her with me for all of it, but I knew she needed to spend time with her family.
That didn’t make missing her any less like not having oxygen.
Teddy and Quinn dominated the kitchen that night, dancing around each other with such fluidity and grace, like they’d been cooking together forever. I was surprised to see Quinn share the kitchen at all, but Teddy followed her lead. In the end, they made acarne guisadadish that was so ridiculously good I had thirds. The dinner itself was loud, messy, and just full of joy. I had spent the entire day smiling and laughing so hard that my cheeks and sides were hurting. It was everything and then some.
At the end of the night, Quinn and I had snuggled into bed with Clarkson between us and Dinah curled on top of us like a paperweight. I rested my head against Quinn’s shoulder, and she held me close to her. It wasn’t long before we were both asleep, tangled in each other’s arms. I didn’t want to be anywhere else.
It was all absolutely perfect.
And then, Everett burst my fucking bedroom door wide open.
Clarkson stood at attention immediately, barking at Everett with all the rage I could feel boiling within me and Quinn through our bond. Dinah yowled so loudly at the sudden noise that her voice cracked. She used both me and Quinn as a launching board with her tiny paws applying all the weight of her over ten pounds on our pressure points to leap from the bed and scurry out of the room. Quinn and I groaned in unisonas the peace of our sanctuary was destroyed in just one simple moment.
“Wakey wakey, kiddo!”
“What in the fresh fucking hell, Everett?” I snarled through bared fangs. I could feel my scales rippling across my skin with my agitation, the crystals all over my room shaking. My dragon roared, craving violence at waking up with such a start.
Everett stood casually in my door threshold in shorts and a shirt that had cutouts for his large brown wings. He smiled like an utter maniac, as if he wasn’t at risk of becoming dragon food. I wanted to make him deep throat one of my cacti plants and see if he would still be so cheery. “We are going to work out.”
“That’s fucking nice, homie. Have fun and make sure you tear your ACL.”
“Hey, I saidweare going to work out. That does include you, Byrdie Bee.”
“Work out? You burst into my room at—Cleo, what time is it?”
My large, smart crystal ball filled with white smoke for a moment at my request before saying and displaying the time in her perky robotic voice. “Good morning, girlie! It’s 5:31 AM. You are up early today!”
I narrowed my eyes at Everett, feeling them shift and sharpen into my dragon eyes. I glared at him with as much death in my eyes and facial expression as I could muster. “You know, if you leave right now, I can go back to bed and only find a way to turn your fur into a purse in my dreams rather than in real life.”
Next to me, with her arm tossed over her eyes, Quinn grumbled in an albeit sexy and husky morning voice that was full of simmering rage, which was even hotter. “I have blades sharp enough for it in real life and a growing desire to make my girl’s dreams come true.”
“Do you two know the best time to learn something new and athletic?” Everett posed rhetorically as he went on to answer it himself. “Early morning and when you least expect it so you go into autopilot mode and learn muscle memory.”
“There is no fucking way that is how any of this bullshit works, you absolute dumbass.”
“Definitely not how it works,” Quinn agreed.
“Someone has such a potty mouth early in the morning.”
“Can’t we do this later? Like not at the Devil’s Asshole o’clock when it isn’t still dark outside?”
“And miss the sunrise? I don’t think so, kiddo.”
“Everett Rian Leander, I swear to gods above and below?—”
Thompson’s mop of chocolate brown hair appeared from behind him to lean against the threshold beside him. He was in one of those tank tops that were open down the sides and a pair of sweats. Both of their muscular, tall forms in the doorway put into perspective just how wide the frame was and what a feat of architecture it was. “You really should go ahead and get up, Byrdie. You know how persistent he can be. He won’t let up until you get out of bed.
“Actually, I will get progressively worse,” Everett’s wild smile grew before he turned on the big light in my room, the one that Ineverturned on since I had so many string lights and the always-open windows. Immediately, Quinn and I were blinded, her hiss almost as loud and feral as mine. Quinn reached over to the nightstand, grabbed one of her daggers, and threw it at Everett. It would have struck Everett straight through his right bicep if Teddy’s green magic hadn’t stopped it before the tip could sink in.
Everett chuckled. “Don’t you worry, Miss Huntress. You are coming along, too.”
Quinn recalled her dagger, which magically and hastily returned to her outstretched hand. She growled. “Why?”
“Because I said so.”
