Page 16 of Tides of Fate

It’s his turn to blush. “Fuck, tell me you all just got here.”

Jay growls and punches him lightly on the shoulder.

“See, Jay? He’s got it now. Come on. Let’s go in there.”

“There” is the sitting room, reserved for their most esteemed guests, and Leo has never, not in all his years, ever, ever, ever stepped foot inside.

Ever.

“Uh…”

Jay has already stormed ahead, so Gideon takes Leo by the shoulder and frog-marches him into the entirely white room.

“It’s only a room.”

Gideon knows it’s not just a room. It is Lauren Arnell Costas’s room, but that’s probably why Gideon has chosen it. He and Leo’s mom look for ways to piss each other off more than is healthy—for Leo, that is. They seem happy as can be with their subtle (not at all subtle) feud.

Deciding he should get this over with before his mom comes back, he asks, “Why are you guys here? We didn’t even know we were coming.”

“We had the car LoJacked. You left your phone in the Art House, and Nix’s is in his room. Leo, we didn’t know where you were—whereNixwas. He’s not supposed to be out of the house yet, and neither of you had your fucking phones!”

Jay’s face is flushed an angry red.

“Cool down, Alpha. We have just had this conversation. Back off.” Gideon is surprisingly calm. “Leo, Grayson is Nix’s soulmate, and they just bonded.”

Gideon lets that sink in before adding, “He’s puking his guts out and running a fever. Finn is treating him for Broken Bond Syndrome.”

Holy shit.

How had he forgotten how sick Luca had been ten seconds after Gideon had left for work two years ago? And that had been after an entire week of letting the bond settle. Gideon had had just a minor headache and reported being in the worst mood, but Luca had suffered so much worse.

Finn said it’s got nothing to do with secondary gender or even personality—it’s just biology. In the same way that people handle other illnesses differently, the severity is dependent on the individual.

“Holy shit, we should go. I’ll get Nix. I’m sorry. I thought I had my phone. I’m so sorry.”

He’d been so distracted by having Nix to himself that he hadn’t even thought to check in.

Jay sighs, anger dispersing with a single breath.

“I know you are. We need a family meeting when Grayson is back to normal. Let’s go. Wait…uh…would you mind if I drove Nix home? You and Gideon can say our goodbyes, yeah?”

Yes, Leo minds…a little. Rocky ending aside, it was his date with Nix, and he’d have liked to kiss him on the doorstep and say good night.

But Jay has a few apologies to make from yesterday, and he probably doesn’t want an audience.

They arrive in the den only to find Nix sitting on the couch with his mom and a stack of magazines on the coffee table in front of them. Nix is laughing at something his mom has said, and she is smiling in return.

Leo hears Jay whisper, “What the—”

It’s true—Leo can’t remember the last time he saw Lauren Arnell Costas smile. Maybe never. Finn once posited that maybe it was because she couldn’t—sometimes, long-term neurotoxin use did that (it fucking doesn’t. Jerk).

He jumps up when he sees them, his face wreathed in smiles. “Guys, did you know that Miss Lauren writes forVogue? Can you imagine?Vogue.”

He’s so excited, he hands the magazine back to Leo’s mom with a charming little bow. He wobbles a bit as he stands and puts a hand to his head.

“Oh…”

That is the only warning they get before his mate’s eyes roll back in his head, and he swoons like an overcome Victorian maiden.

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