Page 39 of Vibing Unity

Or more it was that Mary had already taken enough from us and ruined too much between us. I didn’t want anything else going to her.

It made sense in my head.

The soak was exactly what we needed… But the company not so much. I frowned when Hudson showed up first, even if I wanted the food he brought. I was about to tell him to sod off,but Julian was totally fine with it and told him to hop in after he hung up his suit.

Oh, and to bring us more drinks.

Huh?

I let it go because Julian was all over the place so whatever he needed.

And I wanted the cake Hudson brought. A fucking platter of wedding cake and extra cakes of different flavors.

Of course I wanted it.

Neldor came next with pounds and pounds of pork that had been slow-cooked by spit and… Yes. Please.

“Everything was a hit,” he told us as he set it all on the table outside, the soak now abandoned. “People all over are talking about how strong the alliance is with the dragons for them to give such a huge gift and looking forward to being allied with them for generations if their heads are on so straight like this to respect our warriors.

“It honestly couldn’t have gone better. All the Guardians got way more than just a sandwich or something basic as a token. Plus, the ones most newly awoken who haven’t left Faerie yet are all pumped to finally do their training to learn about this world after tasting the food from Earth. Those last huge groups have been dragging their feet.”

I nodded. That had been a problem, but any given day we had mountains of problems, so we could never handle them all.

But at least for once there was a day without any fucking problems. Seriously.

Lucca and Darby came last with a ton of the catering and to report that Guardians were being awesome. They weren’t letting the hobgoblins clean up after they’d done so much to set it all up for them. Instead, they were using the magic from the food eaten and breaking down garbage and more.

It was already mostly doneandmost promised to help at rest stops or with something the hobgoblins would need to thank them for being part of such a nice surprise for them.

We all sighed in relief.

“So much for eloping,” I chuckled, shooting Julian a loving look.

He opened his mouth but then closed it, not saying anything until I pushed him. “I’m really glad we did this instead.” He nodded when I couldn’t hide my shock. “I always dreamed of my mating, my sweet fairy. I didn’t want a crazyroyalwedding because we would hate that and you hate being the center of attention, but—was this horrible for you?”

“No.” My answer was instant and truthful. I smiled at him. “No, I loved this too. This was my dream wedding even if a bit bigger than I would have liked because some stupid nobles snuck in and that irks me. This was great. I just kept dragging my heels because it wasn’t what we said we wanted, but if you’re really not upset then I’m glad we did it too.”

I was glad when he leaned in and gave me a soft kiss. Good, then I could settle with this because I really did feel guilty that I’d dragged him into something he hadn’t wanted because of my position.

Again.

Right as we were wrapping up the food, Wyn showed up and informed us that Mary was completely packed up and moved to her new residence. She’d thrown a fit that it had been done right away and at night, but he’d made it clear it was the choice to move then to her new, lovely cottage… Or jail.

Also, that she could go directly to Ara for anything that might have been missed and she would verify it really belonged to her and she wasn’t pulling a fast one. A team had already loaded the cottage with essentials, and anything else she needed could now be added to the weekly shopping lists.

So it was done. It was completely and truly done. The bitch could unpack herself and everyone else could deal with her.

I thanked him, and Julian and I shared a relieved look.

The moment Wyn was gone, I was in Julian’s arms and he had me on the table.

“Wait, wait,” I cut in when he tried to devour me.

“Sorry, did she ruin this?” he worried.

“No, no, not at all,” I quickly answered, rubbing my hands over his chest. “But let’s make a rule that there’s like a five-minute time-out after one of our parents is mentioned? Like that topic doesn’t get me going, ya know?” I felt better when mirth filled his eyes. “Plus, I need a quick shower, and I promised that I had something to get ready for you.”

He groaned. “I don’t want to wait and want you now, but I also want to see what you prepared.”

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