Sarah
“You look fine,” Sydney assures me, resting his hand on my thigh as he drives us toward the castle the next afternoon. Rain patters against the windshield, and the frigid landscape is suddenly changed–the silver glow replaced by deeper shades of brown, black, and red.
Spring is nearly here.
A few months ago, I was pacing in my apartment wondering how’d I’d survive alone, with an infant, with an empty refrigerator and barely any money left.
Now I’m sitting beside my mate on our way to break the news to his family.
I squeeze Sydney’s hand and look over at him. His blue eyes soften, but his brows are still pinched with a glimmer of anxiety.
Last night, lying in bed together, we talked about what tonight needed to look like. Sydney is going to take the lead, making an announcement sometime during the dinner proceedings that we’re mates. He was excited as he talked about it, and I realized that this–me–was all he ever wanted–and all he told himself he could never have.
I didn’t really give him the choice in the end, did I?
Blake whines in his car seat, which is surrounded on either side by several dishes Cosette insisted she prepare for the dinner party despite choosing not to come. I found that odd, given that she’s so close with Sydney’s family and the staff at the castle. Today, while she helped me blow dry my hair until it gleamed, and chose the navy blue trousers and white blouse I’m wearing, she barely said a word to me. Her eyes were heavy and sad, and she looked… worried.
I’ve never seen her worried before.
“We’re almost there, bud,” Sydney says as his hand slips from my thigh. He reaches back, his eyes still fixed on the road, and strokes Blake on the top of the head. Blake grunts with annoyance but eventually gives in, his whines turning to soft coos. “He really hates that car seat, doesn’t he?”
“Loathes it.” I reach into my purse and open the makeup compact Cosette gave me, checking my reflection in the tiny mirror. We left my hair down and perfectly straight, fastening it away from my face with little silver pins depicting the phases of the moon. Soft brown eyeshadow makes my violet eyes pop, and a smudge of pink lipstick finishes off Cosette’s masterpiece.
But I feel like an imposter–because I am one. Really, honestly. Tonight, Sydney will introduce me to his family as his mate. His future wife. His Luna, and one day, his queen.
Sasha has no room here. Sasha isn’t part of this equation. Looking back, the tiny little girl who didn’t truly understand what was happening when she saw her name being etched on a gravestone never stood a chance.
Sydney drives through the gates of the castle but doesn’t pull along the circular driveway leading to the grand front entrance. He pulls around back where several archways lead into the garage. He parks the truck right outside the garage doors and starts gathering his things–keys, wallet, phone–tucking them into his pockets while I try to stop my heart from racing out of my chest.
“There’s going to be a lot of people here, Sarah. We’ll be lost in the fray until the dinner begins, so don’t worry about anything now. I’ll take the lead. You won’t have to explain anything if you don’t want to.”
I nod, holding his gaze. I watch him walk around the front of the truck. He opens my door, but steps up to me instead of letting me exit. He leans in, caging me against the seat, and kisses me soundly.
It’s the kind of kiss that has warmth ghosting down my spine, giving me a glimpse of what’s to come later tonight, I hope.
He pulls away, a bit breathless, murmuring something about how maybe, just maybe, we could locate a supply closet and find the relief we both desperately need, but Blake lets out a growl that sounds like it coming from a much larger creature than a tiny shifter baby.
I chuckle a bit, wiping my smeared lipstick off Sydney’s lower lip. “I’m ready. Are you?”
“I am,” he whispers, giving me one more gentle kiss.
He lifts Blake out of the car seat, and I follow him through the castle's back entrance. Kitchen sounds fill the air, and a flurry of excited maids dart from doorway to doorway as we make our way down a long hallway that’s obviously meant for the staff. Sydney stops one of the maids to let them know about the food in his truck, and then the hallway widens, and we’ve reached the foyer.
It’s empty.
Sydney adjusts Blake on his shoulder and looks around.
“Where is everyone?” I ask, but then a flash of golden blonde hair appears.
At first, I think it’s Isla. A much younger version of Isla, down to the slight build and delicate facial features. Blue eyes that don’t match Sydney’s narrow on him in a slightly annoyed look. “Wow, you’re super early. How embarrassing. You’re supposed to be fashionably late like the rest of the family.” She crosses her arms beneath her chest and tilts her head, her golden hair falling in soft curls over her shoulder.
“Misty,” Sydney grumbles. “It’s always so nice to see you.”
She shrugs, flipping her hair over her shoulder before her eyes slide to mine. She grins at me with a cat-like stare, and I feel my stomach do a little flip. I’ve heard about Misty, of course. Everyone seems to grumble when they mention her name. Beautiful, popular, seventeen-year-old Misty who had to be shipped away to Maatua for her own safety instead of going to the prestigious Wellington University with her friends.
She’s a bit much, according to her brothers.
“Holy shit, you’re gorgeous. What the hell are you doing with him?” she giggles.
My mouth pops open in a laugh at Sydney’s expense.
“Go bother someone else,” he growls, but her eyes light up.
“There’s nobody here yet, dumb-dumb.” She plants her freshly manicured fingers on her hips and frowns at Sydney. Her dress–bubble gum pink–matches her nails. “I’ve been so bored.”
“Where’re our parents?” he asks, taking a few steps toward her.
“Having a meeting or something upstairs in Dad’s office with Aunt Ella and Uncle Ryatt. Kenna kicked me out of the library because I was ‘bugging’ them with questions about Evander’s Ghosts.” She twirls her hair around her fingers and pouts. “They’re all the rage, you know,” she says to me. “The Ghosts are so handsome and manly.”
Sydney groans, and her smile widens.
I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have siblings. This exchange is, apparently, a very accurate glimpse of what that could have been like for me.
“What are they meeting about?”
“I waseavesdropping but I heard a car pull around back. You interrupted me, so it’s your fault I have nothing juicy to tell you. I’m sure it’s more about what they’re doing with the Gabriel situation or whatever.”
“I’ll give you twenty dollars to go back upstairs and find out what they’re talking about.”
“I want eighty.”
“Fifty,” Sydney says with an arch of his brow.
“Fine,” she says, flipping her hair over her shoulder. She extends her hand, and he digs for his wallet, slipping her a crisp fifty dollar bill. She turns for the stairs but pauses, looking at me over her narrow shoulder. “I’m going to sit next to you at dinner tonight.”
“Oh, okay–”
She floats away, Sydney watching her with an annoyed expression. His eyes soften as he turns back to me. “Sorry about that. Misty is… Misty. I don’t know how else to explain it. My grandfather, Maddox, told my dad this is what he deserves after the whole ‘wife competition’ stunt he pulled during his early years on the throne. She’ll be impossible to marry off, and I pity whoever ends up mated to her.”
I choke on a laugh, and Sydney seems to relax a bit.
“I guess we can go up to the library then and see Kenna–”
“Why are you so early?” Ryan says as he comes around a corner holding a can of beer.
Sydney sighs. “I didn’t think we were that early. This is the time Mom told us to show up.”
“Well, we’ve got another hour until dinner,” he groans. “Sarah, nice to see you.”
I smile at him, and he smiles back, but seeing Ryan has my mind reeling back to my strange interaction with Hadley last night. It is possible they’re mates?
I definitely think they might be. That would be perfect, honestly. My best friend and my future brother-in-law.
“We were going to go upstairs for a while. Misty said Kenna and Evander are in the library–”
“Yeah they are, I was just up there. Come on, I’ll go too.”
“Do you know what the meeting is about in Dads office?”
“Yeah, Ryatt thinks he knows where Gabriel is. A few Draven stragglers were found near the border of Eastonia and confessed when Ryatt took over the interrogation. Misty told me. She heard the whole thing. Other than that, it’s just family gossip. Apparently, Ryatt owes dad some money for an old bet they had going about Kenna and Evander and whether they were mates.”
My head turns back and forth as I watch the brothers talk.
“I just gave Misty fifty dollars to go back and listen in!”
“Are you surprised?” he turns to look down at me as I follow them up the stairs. “A little word of advice; never play cards with our sister. She’s a filthy cheat.”
“She counts cards,” Sydney adds with a laugh. “If she wasn’t a princess with a ridiculously lavish inheritance coming her way in a few short years, she’d carve her own path as a criminal mastermind, I’m sure.”
“Oh, definitely,” Ryan agrees, but Sydney gives him a slightly secretive look, and I realize they’re using the mind-link, having a totally different conversation out loud than they are in their heads.
I follow them up and over the grand staircase and into the depths of the second floor, which is full of twisting hallways that branch off into new corridors, new rooms I haven’t had a chance to explore.
One day, Sydney and I will live in this castle. That doesn’t feel real.
I continue to follow them in silence as they have a conversation between their two minds. I’m honestly not bothered by it at all. I know they’re talking about Gabriel. I know Sydney wants all of the information he can get about this update.
But I’m also incredibly relieved he’s keeping me out of it. I don’t want anything to do with Gabriel. I’d wipe my own mind of his memory if I could.
Sydney stops walking. I nearly run into him as he says to Ryan, “I need to talk to them. I should be a part of this conversation and whatever they’re planning.”
“I agree. I’ll keep Sarah company, don’t worry. Take Blake with you as a buffer.”
Sydney smirks but looks down at me apologetically. “I’ll be right back.”
“It’s okay,” I assure him.
When Sydney walks out of sight, I slowly turn my attention to Ryan, who’s standing beside me with his hands tucked in his pockets.
He clicks his tongue. “Sydney told me everything.”
I chew my lower lip. “Everything?”
“I like the name Sarah better, anyway. It suits you.” He nudges me with his elbow.
Some of the tension in my shoulders unwinds.
“Do you want to go to the library or do you need a minute? There’s a little sitting room nearby. It’s rarely used. Cozy, you know.” He shrugs.
I take a deep breath. “Honestly, yeah. I could use a minute to just… prepare.”
“I get it, totally.” We start walking again, side by side. He opens the door to the sitting room in question, and I find myself standing in the embrace of emerald green walls with dark trim, and a crackling fire.
Ryan stands in the doorway. I turn to him, tilting my head toward the twin armchairs. “Do you need a minute, too?”
“Sure, fine,” he smiles and closes the door behind him before sauntering over to one of the chairs and plopping down, spreading his legs in a very manly fashion.
Sydney is very tall. He’s also built like an athlete, firm and lean. Ryan, however, looks like an absolute giant in the chair. He’s a little taller than my mate and built like he has to eat a million calories a day to retain his muscle mass.
But he’s soft hearted, I can tell. In fact, there’s something strange about Ryan that I can’t figure out. Like I’m drawn to him, but not in a sexual way, of course.
I’d just really like to be his friend.
There’s something else about it though, and he seems to pick up on my confusion as we both shift our weight in our respective chairs.
“You feel it too, right?” he asks.
“Feel…what?”
“I figured it out after Sydney told me the truth,” he breathes, arching his brow at me. “You looked so familiar, but I couldn’t place you, even before you wiped my memories in the atrium that day. But there was still a piece of you in my mind, nagging at me.” I flush, but he continues, “Sydney and I are twins.”
“I know–”
“You and I… well, your mate bond with my twin brother connects me to you in some weird way.”
I squirm a bit, frowning.
He notices and laughs softly. “We’re not mates, Sarah. Sorry to break your heart.”
“Are you saying we have a bond?”
“Familial, yes.” He meets my gaze, and into my mind, he says, ‘We can mind-link, and you’re not part of my pack, and haven’t yet said your vows before the Goddess to join our family. Weird, right?’
‘This is weird.’
‘Tell me about it.’
We smile at each other.
‘I’m glad you’re here, Sarah. Sydney needed you.’
‘I needed him.’
Somewhere in the bond between us, which now that he’s mentioned it, I can almost see the single thread binding us, something he also shares with Sydney, I get a sense of… someone else.
His mate. Her imprint lingers there, so faint I can barely feel it, but she’s there. He found her. He definitely knows who she is.
I meet his eyes and realize he knows exactly what I’m thinking right now.
“Is Hadley your mate, Ryan?”
His eyes darken. “Sarah–”
‘Where are you?’ Sydney asks through the mind-link, and the moment between Ryan and I shatters.
“Time to meet the rest of the family,” he says gruffly, extending his hand to me.