Page 66 of Bound and Tide

Xander could not turn to watch where she went, arcana holding him in place, but he could hear her voice calling down a hall.

And then there he was, the blood mage himself, Damien Maleficus Bloodthorne. Clearly he had run, pulled along by Amma, who still had hands wrapped around his arm, but he came to a halt, his violet eyes honing in on him.

“Well!” Xander was positively alight at the sight of that scowl. “To what do I owe this pleasure of all pleasures?”

Damien took a deep and leveling breath as he trudged over to the sofa and threw himself down. Amma sat gently at his side, still beaming.

“No, let me guess.” Xander held out his free hand, not knowing if they could see it but not caring. “Someone’s been horrifically murdered and you need me to bring them back.”

“No, no,” lilted Amma as she giggled.

“You can’t do that anyway,” Bloodthorne droned. “You’d need luxerna, and there’s no way you’ve gotten your hands on more of that.”

“I know some very enterprising foragers, Bloodthorne—you have no idea what I’ve discovered since leaving Aszath Koth.” Xander winked. “So what is it then? Has Zag been banished and you’re putting together a ragtag group of antiheroes to fetch him out of the infernal realm?”

Bloodthorne gritted his teeth. “Of course not.”

“Pity, because that would make an entertaining sequel to all this, though we wouldn’t want to pander, would we?” Xander pursed his lips and shuddered. “I wouldn’t be willing to go there anyway, too risky.”

Rolling his eyes, Bloodthorne slouched back into the sofa with a massive groan, pulling Amma with him, her hands still wrapped around his arm like she was stuck there.

“Oh, don’t be grumpy,” she said, pushing back loose strands of black hair from his temple. He turned disdainful eyes on her, but they quickly softened with that obnoxious human thing Xander now knew intimately.

“You got my letters, didn’t you?”

That drew Bloodthorne’s gaze back. “Yes, we both did.” He swallowed. “Thank you.”

Xander thought he would be embarrassed, but he was only filled with satisfaction then. The quiet that followed was full of all those unspoken things that had been written down, crossed out, ripped up, and rewritten until they were just right.

“Oh, I can’t take it anymore!” Amma squealed. “Just ask him!”

“Do I have to?”

She pressed a quick peck to his cheek. “You don’t have to do anything, but I would like it if you did.”

As if that really left the man with any kind of option at all.

With a deep breath, Bloodthorne announced with the pride only taking out entire armies warranted, “We’re getting married.” And then, finally, a grin spread over his face that was so damn pleasant Xander actually returned it.

“She’s finally making an honest demon spawn out of you? How generous. Will that make you the Baron of Fairyhole?”

“As amusing and mutinous as that would probably be for all of Eiren, Amma’s actually been in talks with her parents to dissolve the aristocracy in Faebarrow and replace it with a council led by the Athenaeum and the local guilds.”

“Oh, dark gods, that sounds positively utopian but awfully boring.”

Amma gave him a small shake. “And…”

“And,” droned Bloodthorne, “I would like to know if, when we make our vows to one another, you’ll…be there.”

Bile should have risen, and jealousy too, but instead, Xander’s innards went right to mush. “W-what?” he sputtered then cleared his throat. “You want me to watch the two of you fawn all over one another and…and express your deepest, most disgusting feelings?”

“See, I told you he would be an absolute ass about the whole thing.”

Amma’s nose scrunched up as her grin only grew. “Oh, the two of you are ridiculous! Damien wants you there, and I can tell you’re flattered to be invited. Will you come, Xander? For me? Please?”

“Oh, Kitten, how I’ve longed to hear you say—”

Damien sat forward. “By all that is grim and unholy, I will reach through this enchantment and shove my fist so far down your throat—”

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