Page 214 of Fated or Knot

Meaning there won’t be many potential witnesses to what happened next.

We stepped out on the balcony and Fal snickered as he tipped his hand. “Here are the stairs, my lady, in case you wish to escape me tonight.” They were cut directly into the stone, curling around and down from the balcony.

I wrinkled my nose. I was never going to live down that fateful jump off a railing. “My wings work perfectly well for that task, my lord.”

“I would be uncouth if I didn’t at least point them out to you,” he said, catching his tongue between his teeth playfully.

“Li’l bird! Over here!” Tormund announced, his waving hand emerging overtop the heads of the growing crowd in front of us.

We made our way to the front of the balcony, where he’d saved as much space as his arms could reach. That meant I fit in next to him, with Fal on my other side, and Kauz squeezing in beside Fal with his wings tucked in tightly. The dream warden took out a couple small magical tools from his suit pocket.

“Duke Revantee’s in his fifth century. You can tell because of the tails,” Fal whispered in my ear. He pointed out the kitsune in the middle of the patio below, a white-haired figure wearing a robe. Five snowy fox tails, tipped in orange, waved behind him. “A kitsune fact for you. They’re an Unseelie race that integrated with dreamlanders early and thoroughly. Most of their bloodlines have illusion magic because of that.”

“That’s interesting. Does he show off at every spring revel?” I asked quietly.

“Aye. I suspect up to half of the magic he’s about to perform are enchantments made by the rest of his pack. It’s still quite the show.”

I couldn’t wait. But I had to, as Duke Revantee didn’t start casting any spells for a good thirty minutes. I sweated on and off, but my mates kept me talking and distracted from my creeping pre-heat. Marius eventually shouldered through the crowd to join us, standing just behind me with his hand resting on my belly again, while I leaned companionably against Fal’s side. No more cramps came for me while I was surrounded by my alphas, which I was grateful for.

When the illusions started, they exploded into life. I yelped, as I’d missed the subtle trail of light from Duke Revantee, just to see a burst of red and pink appear overhead. It unfurled into the petals of a flower, becoming a delicate bloom that was a solid fifteen feet wide. A few fae whooped around us, accompanied by a hail of polite applause.

Several more illusions launched back-to-back, forming more gigantic flowers and the image of a red and white fox abovethem. I cooed in awe and latched my free hand onto Tormund’s arm to share the moment with him. He looked as equally awestruck by the sight as I felt.

“Oh, yup, my father’s having a great time with this,” Kauz murmured, looking at a reading from one of his magical tools.

“Good. He was looking bored,” I giggled.

In reply, he hooked his thumb to the side of the patio. Amongst the faces turned up to the sky was the whole of Pack Serian in a cluster. Thalas had his wing around Nemensia, who rested her head on his shoulder while he gestured animatedly at the magic on display. “That could be us,” Kauz added playfully. “She probably understands a third of what he’s saying, but loves to listen anyway.”

“Do you love magic that much?” I asked.

“I love you that much. You could talk to me about anything.”

I giggled. “Love you too.”

Fal smacked his lips. “So sweet, I can practically taste it.”

Kauz nudged him. “Try it sometime.”

“And step on your toes, Kauzden?”

“You might find it suits you well, Falindel.”

I enjoyed the show while they had their back and forth, smiling so wide my face was starting to ache some. They were both plenty sweet, when they wanted to be. And so was Tormund, effortlessly so, and Marius, who was coming around to the idea. I loved my whole pack so much, I ached to have them despite how my kelpie warmed my core with the heat of his hand.

Maybe the need nestled deep in my body was the sign that my heat was upon me. But I pushed it back and out of mind. I still needed to finish dancing with my males. After the show was done, Tormund practically lifted me in his haste for us to return inside to catch the next dance.

A hint of uncertainty passed over his face when he heard the next song. “I’m okay at this one, li’l bird. I had tutors…”

We didn’t end up matching the steps perfectly, and he had to fold his big body some to dance with me. We stepped on one another’s toes until he shrugged and started doing his own thing. He spun me to hear the chime of my skirts and we giggled together as we moved out of sync with the fae around us.

It was more fun just to be in his arms and feel the heat of his body against mine. I ended up panting and sweating from exertion, just trying to keep up with him.

He held me in a big hug as the music winded down, breathing heated gusts like a bellows. “Maybe I should’ve paid more attention to the tutors,” he conceded.

“It was good just as it was. Thank you for the dance,” I giggled, making the motion of a curtsy while still held in his arms.

“No, thank you.” He grinned as he set me on my feet and motioned to Kauz, who waited expectantly to take the next one. I was glad to hear no hint of a growl from the gentle giant toward him.

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