Page 62 of Acedia

I looked at Soren, who nodded slowly, looking at me as though I’d grown another set of horns. “I’ll see if any of them are interested in coming up to the palace for a visit. I believe Jade has been working her way up to it.”

That seemed to be as good of a starting point as any. Jade was the ringleader of the newbies.

Soren excused himself, and I took a few moments to get ready while Iris finished her meal.

It felt…easy. Having Iris in my space felt like the easiest thing in the world. It felt like she belonged here.

We were friends. She understood me. I liked to think that I understood her. There was aconnectionbetween us, and the physical chemistry had been undeniable.

I straightened my spine, looking at myself in the mirror. I’d moved too quickly by proposing, I understood that now. But maybe that was the beginning of our path instead of the end of it.

Maybe, in time, there would be a second chance for us.

Maybe, I could figure out how to get Iris to fall in love with me.

Chapter 19

Damen walked next to me as we made our way to the meeting room, with Tilly on my other side, but I insisted on using my new shadow cane to navigate as best I could by myself.

I wanted to stay glued to Damen’s side forever so the shadows would never dissipate.

And maybe for some other reasons too.

The events of last night kept replaying in my mind, and I had to force myself to think aboutanythingelse so that my scent didn’t give me away. I’m not sure I would have minded it if only Damen could pick up on my desire, but the idea that every Shade I walked past could smell when I was aroused was a slightly mortifying prospect.

Fortunately, I had a lifetime’s worth of experience in masking my emotions.

“Are you sure Tallulah won’t mind that I’m here?” I asked Damen, fidgeting a little with the itchy fabric of the skirt I was wearing from yesterday.

“I’m confident. Do you like that outfit? You seem uncomfortable.”

I forced myself to stop fidgeting, not wanting to seem ungrateful for the clothes I’d been given. “Sorry.”

“Iris,” he sighed affectionately. “Stop apologizing. If you don’t like it, we can get you some different clothes. We should have already—those are all Verity’s things, aren’t they?”

“How could you tell?” There was an odd, unpleasant sensation in my gut that might have been jealousy.

“The color. Verity only wears pink.”

Oh, right. That made me feel a little better. What was I jealous about anyway? Verity was happily mated to Damen’s brother, from what I could recall. I hadn’t actually met him yet. Or if I had, he hadn’t said anything. I had heard such mixed things about Theon from everyone, I had no idea what to make of him.

“We’re here,” Damen said unnecessarily, because Tallulah’s squeal of excitement had already alerted me to her presence.

“Are you a hugger?” Tallulah asked.

“I’m not sure. We could try?”

I laughed as she pulled me into a firm hug. The only person I’d hugged for comparison was Damen. Tallulah was a lot softer, and her hair tickled my nose.

It was probably inappropriate of me to notice, but her breasts seemed to be a lot bigger than mine. Were mine abnormally small? I’d never been self-conscious about them before but I might start now.

“I’m so glad you could join us. Iris, you’ve already met Sebastian in passing—he’s here today, and my mate Evrin is here too. I’d like to introduce you to Harlow Miles. She’s been ourcontact in the human realm for a while now, and she’s stepped in as interim leader at the Hunters Council.”

“Hello,” I said politely, expecting a Hunter vaguely in the image of my mother to be standing in front of me.

“Hey.”

She certainly didn’tsoundlike my mother.

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