Page 78 of Vows Forged in Blood

“There is a good chance she will survive, Alaric. You could have eternity with her.”

“And if she doesn’t?” I snap. “If we attempt and she dies tomorrow?? I cannot do it Bastian, I need…gods, I need more time with her.”

“You could have forever with her if the turning works,” he points out.

“If. Are you ready to lose me so soon, brother? Because make no mistake, I will not live without her. Not for a single fucking moment. Where she goes from this day forward, I will follow—even if that is to the grave.”

Sebastian exhales roughly and downs his drink.

“There is no easy answer here, is there?”

“No,” I sigh. “No, there isn’t. Of course I want to spend eternity with her by my side, but the thought of losing her in an attempt to have that chance terrifies me in ways I cannot explain, Bastian.”

He sighs and shakes his head a little ruefully. “Leave it to you to find yourself in this mess. You always did have to be different, didn’t you, little brother?”

“All will be well, Bastian. Whether I have a year with her or fifty, it will be the best time of my very long life, of that I am sure.” He watches me through narrowed eyes.

“You’ve become quite a romantic sap now that you’ve found your mate, Alaric.”

“Fuck off,” I say, smiling.

“Now that you lot are finished with official business, can I please hug my stupidly reckless brother?” I blink in surprise asFiona storms into the room. I glance at Bastian and he gives me a look that saysas if I can control the little devil.

I leap to my feet and wrap her in a hug, squeezing her tightly. She hugs me back fiercely and when she pulls away, pink-tinged tears stand in her eyes. She wipes them away and swats me in the chest.

“Don’t fucking do that again, damn you!”

“Why does everyone act as if Iwantedto get shot with a poisoned arrow? As if I thought it sounded like a jolly old time?” She ignores my question and looks around the room, arms crossed.

“And where is your mate then?” I run my hand through my hair and exhale in irritation.

“Does everyone know then?”

Fi pats my cheek indulgently, as if I’m a child. “Only the important ones, dear brother. Not to worry. But where is she? I only got to see her from afar at the Choosing.”

“She’s resting,” I grate, wondering what Dahlia is going to make of having my most headstrong sister here. Fi waggles her light brows at me.

“I’ll bet she is, you dog.”

“FI,” I warn, exasperated already.

“Alright, alright. I promise to be on my best behavior, sir.” She gives me a mock salute and I can’t help but huff out a laugh.

We talk about this and that for a while, catching up on Clan business and Fiona supplying plenty of gossip from Astoria’s Keep. I tell them both all about Dahlia and our…courtship I suppose you could call it.

“Well, I love her already,” Fi says, grinning over a glass of blood-laced wine. I inhale sharply when I sense Dahlia begin to wake and Bastian laughs, knowing exactly what’s going on, though Fi looks a bit confused.

“Go, brother. Get your mate, we will see you later.”

“You’re staying?”

“For a few days, yes. I need to meet your Dahlia properly—and shield her from this she-demon,” he says, tilting his head towards Fiona. She makes an indignant huffing sound and throws a pillow at him. His eyes sparkle with a mischief that makes my stomach drop. I point an accusatory finger at him.

“No stories about me as a child, Bastian. I mean it.”

“I would never,” he says, full of feigned innocence.

“I certainly would though,” Fi adds with a grin, and the two of them look at each other, falling into a fit of laughter. The three of us have always been closer than any of our other siblings and I can’t explain how nice it is to have them both here, to have my whole family here within my home. I feel content in a way I never thought possible.

---