Page 94 of Acedia

“We have a deal.” The room immediately smelled better as nervousness was replaced by relief. “Astrid will be acting as one of our guards for the first trip at least—I don’t need to run that by her. She’d never agree to anything less.” I paused, considering it. “She’s also probably here right now, hiding in the rafters or something.”

Sebastian startled, his gaze flicking upward. I hadn’t meant it literally. She probablywashiding here somewhere, but the rafters were a little extreme.

“I don’t know anyone who’d be willing to take on Astrid in combat. She’s probably only gotten more formidable since she started training with your Guard,” Sebastian observed.

“Probably,” I agreed. And she’d been training the new ex-Hunters in Elverston House to be just as dangerous. It stood us in good stead. “Are you in a rush to leave? If not, I’ll pour some wine. This is a success worth toasting to.”

“I’m not in a rush,” Sebastian said, offering me a tentative smile. It might have been a grimace, I wasn’t good at reading expressions unless they were Iris’s.

“I guess I could stay,” Harlow added, cutting Ruvyn an unimpressed look out of the corner of her eye. I was giving him a golden opportunity to redeem himself, and I was going to be annoyed if he messed it up.

Fortunately, he was wise enough to immediately move around the table and engage her in conversation while I crossed the room to where the goblets and wine were set up. Evrin was already there, content to hover in the background rather than take any attention for himself.

“How have you been?” I asked him quietly. “You look well. Happy.”

“Of course I’m happy. Have you seen my mate?” he asked, looking at me like I’d lost my senses. “She’s a dream.”

“I’m glad to hear it and not at all jealous of your happiness.”

Evrin snorted. “You’ve got nothing to complain about. You’re going to be mated soon enough.”

“You sound more confident of that than I am.”

“I hope you wouldn’t be so stupid as to let Iris go. Part of my reasoning is selfish, of course.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Some little courtly child came up to me in the corridor and told me that he wasn’t afraid of my lack of horns anymore, even though his mother was, because Iris told him not to worry aboutit,” Evrin replied, amused. “I’m not overly enamored with the idea of being approached and spoken to on a regular basis, but I suppose it’s a nice change from everyone running away from me.”

I almost swooned, like the lovesick swain I was. Where was Iris right now? It felt like we’d been apart for too long already, and I wanted to share the news about the human realm trip with her. I wanted to share everything with her.

I was barely allowing myself to think about it, but if what Cora and Jade said was true, if proposing to Iris was back on the table, if that was something she wanted…

Then I had some planning to do.

Ideally, I’d be married by the end of the month.

Chapter 27

Iris clung to my hand outside the portal in full sight of the entire court, her scent filled with nerves.

“It’s going to be fine,” I soothed, smoothing a hand down her hair and pulling her in for a hug. “I’ll be back in under an hour.”

“Don’t take any unnecessary risks,” she ordered raspily.

“I’ll be on my best behavior.”

“You’d better be,” Astrid grumbled, stomping past to wait at the portal. I didn’t take it personally—she’d outright refused to let any other ex-Hunters come with us, adamant that no one was adequately trained enough to help and insisting that they’d be more of a hindrance than anything. I understood the logic, though it meant that she was putting a lot of pressure on herself.

“I’ve arranged dinner for us afterward—just the two of us,” I told Iris quietly. I couldn’t let myself think about that now because all of my concentrationhadto be on the upcoming trip.

“Oh.”

“Oh?” I pressed, alarmed by the faint concern in her voice.

“No, no. That’s fine,” she said hastily. “I’m sure it will be lovely.”

“Are you really sure? Because you don’t sound sure.”

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