Page 160 of Gemini Wicked

Ash has already split downstairs to check the doors and locks, the same way Lucius does at the domus. But it’s gonna be interesting to see how my Seelie Prince acts with Neo tonight.

I’ve definitely been tracking that Ash has been hanging back in the sack. He still hasn’t fucked any of us (except Zephyr on the side) since I came back to Avalon.

But Neo’s the gentlest point of entry into our whole polycule.

If our Seelie Prince makes any kinda overture tonight (which I’m definitely hoping for), Neo will be totally welcoming.

We climb past a tall arched window that opens over a shimmering expanse of starlit sea. I pause to peer out, but there’s nothing to see. Under a moonless sky that glitters with a million stars, the ocean is flat and impenetrable as a sheet of hammered steel.

Though I do wonder if anything that might be lurking in the water (like our missing kraken) is peering back.

A delicate shiver races down my spine and makes my scalp prickle.

Oh, hell to the no.

I really hope that’s just nerves, and not my erratic dash of Valyrian foresight acting up. Foresight is one of my recessives (I mean, until now).

Unless that’s one of the genes my new crown switched on.

I reach up to touch the Unseelie crown, just to confirm it hasn’t floated off my head, because that big pointy Evil Queen coronet feels light as thistledown.

Yep. Still there.

I’ll definitely be showing up for finals at the Icarus Academy tomorrow as the Unseelie Queen.

And Cleo can kiss my royal ass.

I fucking dare that bitch—and V’s Mads Mikkelsen doppelgänger of a dad—to try and take this crown.

“Well, shit, Goblin King. None of us expected what went down tonight, did we?” I frown at the empty sky (no snake, no dragon), then glance over my shoulder at my warlocks. “Did I make the wrong call? You guys think we shoulda gone after those two?”

“Vasili emphatically wished to be left alone. That much, he and his serpent made quite clear. Nor would Maxim’s dragon have welcomed our intervention. A shifter’s need to breed is a biological imperative.” Lucius gives us all a patient nudge to keep us climbing after Zephyr, who’s leading the way to the bedroom.

“Yeah. Guess those two are gonna need to work through it. Hopefully before we fly home in the morning for finals.” I reach behind me to lace my fingers through Ronin’s hot Leo grip.

Together, my guys and I keep climbing.

“Well, we all know V’s… complicated,” Neo says tactfully. “I mean, there’s stuff he wants that he’s not comfy asking for. He just needs space to explore that and make his own choices.”

“If you imagine Maxim’s dragon will give Vasili any sort of choice, you clearly don’t understand the breeding frenzy that consumes a rutting dragon.” Zephyr’s strained voice drifts down from the head of the stairs.

We’re finally at the top of the tower facing our closed bedroom door. Now my Unseelie sweeps an impatient arm outward. A violent gust of wind whips past us to blow the door open, so fierce the hinges almost splinter.

“Easy, love,” Ronin murmurs. Takes me a sec to realize he’s actually talking to Zephyr.

He’s talking to Zephyr the way he talks to us.

His mates.

A little bud of hope for those two has taken root in my chest. That hope has been growing all day while I watched them interact. Now, hearing the gruff affection in Ronin’s voice, that little bud unfurls and flowers.

Clearly Zephyr hears it too.

The Dark Fae King glances back, his eye startled and wary.

I come right up behind Zephyr and slip my arms around his waist. I’m still holding Ronin’s hand, so he’s half-pulled into the hug too.

Behind me, Ronin’s breath hitches.

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