Page 82 of Dark Witch: Entangled Fates

Aru glanced at his watch, his heart quickening as he saw the hands ticking closer to midnight. He had seen Kian and Syssi rise from their seats a few moments earlier, making their way over to the newlyweds to offer their congratulations and farewells.

Now that Kian's sisters were in on the secret, they could cover for him and make his early departure seem less conspicuous. In a way, it was a relief to have more people in the know and not have to carry the weight of this burden alone, but it was also the main cause for the churning in his gut.

It was illogical to feel that way about people who couldn't reveal his and Aria's secret even if they wanted to, but it was so ingrained in Aru's psyche to guard the telepathic connection with his sister that he couldn't help but feel exposed and incredibly vulnerable despite the safety precautions the princess had provided by compelling her children and their mates to keep the information from leaking out of their small group.

"Go." Gabi patted his arm. "You don't want to be late."

Aru hated leaving her alone. "Are you staying or going to call it a night?"

Gabi smiled. "I'm staying. I'm going to spend some time with Karen, Gilbert and the rest of the family. Everyone is fussing over Karen, and I need to do my share of fussing as well. It's my duty as her sister-in-law."

Aru leaned in to press a soft kiss to her cheek, breathing in the sweet, familiar scent of her perfume. "Enjoy yourself." He brushed his lips against her soft skin. "And if anyone asks where I am, tell them that I had something I needed to take care of, but I didn't tell you what it was."

Gabi chuckled, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "I'll tell them that you are sick of attending weddings."

Aru shook his head. "Only if you make it sound like a joke," he warned.

She laughed. "Of course."

The truth was that he had attended enough weddings to last him a century. The princess's speeches were great, full of warmth and wisdom and heartfelt emotion, but even though she had tried to make them individual for each couple, there was only so much variety she could introduce and only so many ways to say the same things over and over again.

With a final squeeze of Gabi's hand and a murmured goodbye, Aru slipped away from the table and made his way out of the dining hall.

Thankfully, he didn't encounter anyone in the elevator, and as he entered the corridor leading to the heir's cabin, he glanced at his watch and saw that he had exactly two minutes left to get there on time.

Hurrying his step, he got to her door and was about to ring the bell, when he heard a cabin door open behind him, and as he turned around, he saw Kian and Syssi stepping out of their cabin, which was located on the other end of the long hallway.

Unlike the previous nights, they were still dressed in their evening clothes, most likely because they hadn't had time to change out of them.

Aru waited for them to catch up.

He had no idea what Kian wanted to talk to him about before the telepathic meeting took place, and he hoped that it wasn't about revealing his and Aria's secret communication method to even more people.

Kian looked aggravated, and as the couple reached Aru, he tugged on his tux lapels and pressed the doorbell. "Saying goodnight to all these people cost us valuable time. We only had enough left to grab Syssi's notepad and had to rush over."

The door opened, and the princess's Odu bowed. "Good evening, Mistress Syssi, Master Kian, Master Aru. Please come in."

"Thank you," Kian said before ushering his wife in.

Avoiding eye contact with the cyborg, Aru walked in behind them.

His aversion to the Odus was another illogical thing that he couldn't help, and he wondered whether it had been encoded in his genetics.

"Good evening, Clan Mother." He bowed to the princess.

She smiled and inclined her head. "Please call me Annani, Aru. If you do not, I will correct you every time you use my title until you get used to using my given name."

"As you wish."

He was not going to address the heir to the Anumati throne so casually. He would just have to perform verbal gymnastics to avoid addressing her directly.

They sat down, Syssi next to the princess and Aru and Kian each taking an armchair, more pleasantries were exchanged, and then the Odu served tea and coffee.

When each of them held a cup in hand, Aru turned to Kian. "So, why are we here early?"

"Syssi had a vision about the pods," Kian said without preamble and turned to his wife. "Would you like to tell it, or do you want me to do it?"

Aru was grateful on two counts. The first that Kian was not asking to let more people in on the secret, and second, that he wasn't wasting time.

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