Page 26 of Avaritia

Rainy opened her mouth to argue but Theon cut her off. “Sister, you have never been to the human realm. You cannot comprehend how truly vulnerable we are in that form until you have experienced it. In their realm, we are helpless.”

“I wouldn’t be,” Rainy argued stubbornly. “I’m fast. No Hunter would be able to catch me.”

The two of them continued to bicker as we entered the in-between, Theon keeping a firm grip on me the entire way while I silently regretted my choice of footwear.

“Theon has always been like this with all of his siblings,” Xanthia told me with a happy laugh. “It’s how he shows his affection.”

That shut my mate up.

Damen was waiting for us as we exited outside the palace, grinning from ear to ear and not looking bothered by the two extra guests. “You actually showed up.”

“Are you surprised?” I asked, smiling back at him. Theon immediately took a step forward, angling himself in front of me.

Damen snorted. “Very. How much convincing did you have to do to get His Grace here to agree?”

All my attempts to gently nudge Theon out of the way went ignored, so I stepped around him with a huff, giving him an impatient look. “None? You were happy to come along. Right, honey?”

I gave my mate a teasing look that he didn’t return.

“I’m not at all happy to be here,” Theon assured me, his gaze so wholly on me that it was as if no one else was here.

“Interesting,” Damen murmured. “Well, come on then. We’re dining outside—I suppose Allerick thought it would be more neutral ground.”

“Yes, the most neutral spot on his grounds, surrounded by his guards,” Theon grumbled, though Wilder—who’d been waiting by the entry room—fell into step behind us. Rainy was quiet, but Xanthia was more than eager to fill the silence, remarking to Damen how much the gardens had changed since the last time she’d been here.

I watched the two of them, trying to work out if there was any weirdness there. Obviously, both she and whoever Damen’s mom was had been the former king’s lovers at some point. Was it like a polyamory situation? Or maybe more of a one-night stand deal? Shades were a lot less hung up on monogamy than humans were.

“What are you thinking about?” Theon rumbled, dipping his head to speak directly in my ear.

I glanced up at him, surprised he was interested enough to ask. He wasn’t exactly the chattiest of dudes from what I’d seen. Then again, he was wildly out of his comfort zone right now—maybe this is what a nervous Theon looked like.

“I’m thinking about your dad’s baby mamas and wondering if they’re all cool with each other,” I admitted.

Theon was silent for a moment. “That isn’t what I expected you to say. You never say what I expect you to say.”

“Good. Keeps you on your toes.”

“The various mothers of all my father’s children do get along well, yes,” Theon said slowly, like he was translating my question into formal Shade-speak. “He was… very upfront in what his relationship with them would be.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Is that how you operate? Am I one of many?”

This was totally not the time or place for this conversation, but it had suddenly occurred to me that Theon might also feel the need to spread his seed far and wide, and I would very much not be cool with it.

Theon scoffed. “Before you, it had been twenty years since I’d taken a lover.”

I made a slightly strangled sound at that. Twenty years? “I didn’t make you break some sacred vow of celibacy or something, did I?”

“No.”

Well, alright then. Apparently, that’s all he was willing to say on that subject.

The dinner hadn’t been set up too far from the entry room, which seemed like it was a gesture of goodwill for Theon’s benefit, and I suspected it was Ophelia’s idea.

“Welcome,” Allerick said stiffly, standing from the table. Ophelia stood with him, immediately excusing herself from his side to hug me, squealing like we hadn’t seen each other in months rather than a couple of days.

“I love your outfit!” Ophelia said, tugging gently at the bow at my neck, just enough to make me nervous. I took a step back under the pretense of admiring her dress, but mostly to put some distance between her and the mark on my neck that I swear everyone could see through my clothes.

As always, Astrid was a lot more cautious, hanging back to eye up Rainy and Xanthia. Tallulah, Meera, and Austin weren’t here, so I guessed this was more of an inner circle type dinner, which was cool but also kind of weird to be invited to. Like I was the local school burnout being asked to sit with the popular kids at lunch.

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