Page 109 of The Powers of Nyx

I pressed a hand to his chest. “You are going to make me late, and I don’t want to make a bad impression.”

Adrian’s eyes twinkled with amusement as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Then let’s get moving.You’rethe one thinking about sex.”

My cheeks heated and I whacked him on the arm.This male, I thought, as he laughed and jumped out of my reach. He offered me a hand, grinning with a wildness that made my heart stutter.

“You are so not funny,” I muttered, though I wrapped my fingers around his. “Just show me how to get to the Queen’s wing.”

Adrian chuckled quietly to himself as he guided me out of our suite. Just like I’d suspected, the air was crisp and cool, and it burrowed deep into my bones. But it was fresh, clean. The scents of the forest and sweet flowers tickled my nose. The mountains outside our suite were capped with low-hanging clouds and what looked like potential rain.

“Hopefully my mother can give you an update on how long it’ll take for her and the other’s to be out of there. Lyra’s crap is being moved to an apartment now, and all of my shit is in storage until we can sort out the living arrangements,” he said. I watched from the corner of my eye, as his cheeks flushed red.

At that, I raised a questioning brow. “What are the living arrangements like there?”

I was intrigued. Because we were currently living a pretty messy life. Thankfully, Thea and the kids had their own space, so they didn’t have to deal with the drama, but other than my room with the massive bed, we had two other rooms they were sharing when rotating who was in bed with me, and it usually caused issues.

But I was definitely invested in understanding what home life had been like for Adrian. It wasn’t like I had any frame of reference to how life would look...together.

We entered the elevator, and Adrian hit a button without looking at me, but his hand tightened in mine. “It might be a little confusing.”

“Come on. It’s better you tell me than having to hear about it from your mom. Please?”

He sighed and ran his free hand through his hair. “Okay. Well, it’s basically an entire wing. You saw that pool when we first arrived? Well, there’s a second, more secluded one that leads into a cave system. I learned pretty quickly not to sneak out at night with my older brother, because that meant potentially running into our parents reigniting their bonds.”

I snorted a laugh and quickly slapped a hand to my face. “Oh, no. That’s—”

“Traumatising.” He nodded. “I know. I mean, other than that, my parents usually kept that to the bedroom. Like you’ve already heard, sex is pretty normalised. I mean, not in front of your kids, but it’s not demonised. So, while shocking, I kind of knew what was going on. Especially because I knew that it was different for my parents.” The elevator pinged and the door opened to a floor I didn’t recognise, but Adrian pulled me behind him into the hall.

“The wing is set up to be like...a house. A really, really big one. And it’s divided, mostly. The living areas, with its own private kitchen, family room, sitting area, formal and informal dining. Ten years ago, we managed to convince everyone to get a theatre room, too, because...” He shrugged and glanced down at me with a wry smile. “We got into human movies. So, there’s a lot there. And then there’s the parents’ half, and the kids’ half, which got lonely when everyone else left. Griffon was already long gone by the time I was born. Dante hung around, but not much, not when he had more fun traipsing through the realms. And although I had Sylvia, she was at the academy. The twins moved out by the time Lyra was ten, so then it was us.”

“That sounds...” I couldn’t quite put it into words, because despite the fact that he still had his mother and father, he spoke more about his siblings. How their departures had impacted him most. “Lonely. What about your parents?”

Adrian pulled us to a stop and tugged me into an alcove hidden by two large pillars and sheer, orange curtains. He dropped my hand to cup either side of my face. “As much as I love my parents, they weren’t...emotionally available,” he admitted, and the hurt that flashed across his green eyes made my heart hurt. “They were good parents, but even though my dad was around, and he took responsibility for me and Sylvia, there was always a divide. Obvious favouritism. But not between us kids. I have Griffon to thank for that. He made sure, as the eldest, to show us better. Which I know had to be hard for him, since there were twelve of us.”

It was the most he’d spoken about his family dynamics since our first date. My heart ached, feeling his pain—his desire for better.

“My parents were always more preoccupied with each other. Promise me...promise me, that if—when—we have children, they won’t have a life like mine.”

My eyes watered as I stared up into his. It was a discussion I’d been hoping to put off for a while, but I noticed now how badly he needed this. Swallowing hard, I nodded. “Of course. There willneverbe anything like that. I promise.”

Adrian released a shuddering breath and dropped his forehead to mine. “That’s why I don’t want to talk about the Queen’s Wing. I want...I was hoping we could make it more than it is. For ourfamily unit.”

The mention of that had my chest warming. “I like that idea very much.”

We stood there until we were forced apart by the sound of people in the hall. For the first time since we’d arrived, therewas a buzz in the air, which apparently had something to do with preparations for the ball. I shared a look with Adrian when we left the alcove, but he shrugged. There was a lightness in his eyes now that I’d made the promise, and when I tested the bond, there was no tension—nothing to tell me he regretted our discussion.

I didn’t have time to pay attention to my surroundings—the hallways were too busy and too similar—but we made it to a set of glass doors that overlooked a large balcony. Guards were standing on either side, though waiting for us was Seer Sable, a serene smile playing on her lips. When she noticed us, it brightened, and she opened her arms to me.

“There you are! We thought you’d gotten lost.” She grabbed my upper arms before planting a kiss on my cheek. “My dear girl, how was your first week at Oberon? No, don’t tell me yet. Let us go out and meet with Greer, hmm?” She glanced at Adrian then and waved her hand. “You can go now, Adrian. Your work here is done.”

With that, she linked our arms and dragged me away from my mate.

~

Queen Greer looked up as the doors to the balcony closed behind us. There were three other women sitting with her—Sylvia being one of them—though the other two were unfamiliar to me. I had no doubt they were Adrian’s other sisters; one had the same dark brown skin as her father, Sir Amais, but she had silver hair, while the other had pale white skin and vibrant red hair. The latter eyed me critically, while the former offered me a warm smile that revealed fangs. Both were equally beautiful, and that was something I’d yet to get used to.

Seer Sable guided me to the chair directly across from Queen Greer. “You know Sylvia already. But this is Falena, daughter of Sir Hugo, and Nefeli, daughter of Sir Amais,” Sable introduced.

“I hope you don’t mind that they join us,” Queen Greer said. “I get so little time with them, and they will be your greatest allies when I pass the crown to you.”

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