Page 88 of Becoming D'Vaire
Chapter 30
Grigori followed Delaney into one of the many bedrooms at D’Vaire. Most of the guests who were invited to share in their mating ceremony had headed home. Those that remained were part of the group shuffling through the door. As his palms grew damp, Grigori tried taking a few deep breaths but found it was doing nothing to calm him. He came to a standstill near a coffee table where the Arch Lich had just set down three cups of cooling tea. They were for the men getting ready to shadow walk to the other side of the veil.
Delaney grabbed his hand and laced their fingers. “I’m going to be fine,” he said gently.
“Okay,” Grigori replied with a forced smile that felt weird on his face.
“I can stay here.”
“No, you should go. You want to. I’m always a nervous wreck. Don’t worry about me.”
Delaney frowned. “No, you’re not. I know this isn’t the normal shit couples have to deal with.”
“I don’t want to interrupt you, but maybe it’ll help if I give you the rundown on how this works,” Chander interjected, which Grigori appreciated. He always found the more he knew about a subject, the better.
“I’d love for you to explain everything.”
“Okay, let’s start with the basics. This is xlenthin tea. It’s the safest choice for shadow walking. It doesn’t have many side effects, and it doesn’t last for all that long.”
“Those side effects include tasting like shit,” Dre’Kariston commented. “Chand’s advice to me was to drink it fast, and it’s still going to be bad, but at least it’s over with quickly.”
“Del, the important thing is for you to not panic after you drink it. We’re going to lie right down, and you might have some light euphoria. Then it’s going to put you into a trance where you can’t move. Under no circumstances will you stop breathing, so just relax and let it help you cross over. We’re going to be following Dre’Kariston’s lead on our destination. Last time, he did an excellent job of getting us to the right place. I have every confidence he’ll do the same today,” Chander stated.
“So it works pretty fast?” Delaney asked.
“Yes, after we’re on the bed, we’ll grab hands before we can’t move, and we’ll be on our way.”
“They won’t be gone long. Last time we decided on twenty minutes. Dra’Kaedan and I opened up portals for them by resting a hand on them,” Alaric added.
“We could extend it, but it makes our loved ones nervous, so we’ll compromise on that one. If for any reason you decide Del’s not crossing home quick enough or you get so worked up you need to yank him back, all you have to do is focus on your mating band. Or even better, your collar. Focus on the connection you two share and tug on his soul. It’ll pull his ass here instantly,” Chander directed.
Knowing he could make Delaney return if necessary soothed some of the jagged edges inside Grigori, though he was still going to sweat his way through twenty minutes of watching his mate lie still on a bed with two other dark sorcerers. “Okay, I can do that.”
“I promise you, there’s zero danger of Del getting stuck there,” Chander stated, then turned to Somerly. “The same goes for Dre’Kariston. It’s normal for you to be worried about your mate, so no one’s judging you guys for being scared.”
“He’s done it before, and I’m still ready to shit my pants,” Alaric threw in.
“It does help knowing Alaric and Grigori here are as nervous as me. I keep telling myself you all know what you’re about, but I suppose I can’t shut off my heart,” Somerly said.
“No one’s asking you to,” Dre’Kariston told Somerly as he swept a hand over his cheek. “All three of us know we have your trust, and if the shoe were on the other foot, we’d be the ones panicking.”
“Is there anything else we need to know? How long will it take the tea to wear off once the twenty minutes is up and you’ve returned home?” Grigori asked.
“The effects of the tea will end almost as soon as we wake up. We won’t be groggy or have any other symptoms. We’ll come back and give you a full account of our trip,” Chander said.
“Good, because we’re insanely curious,” Saura answered.
“Ready to drink this shit?” Chander asked.
Both Delaney and Dre’Kariston nodded as the Arch Lich handed them cups. All three men drank their tea quickly, and all of them wore looks of distaste afterward.
“Kiss your men, and let’s lie down,” Chander ordered.
Grigori pressed his lips gently to Delaney’s. His other half smiled at him, then walked over to the bed. The three sorcerers situated themselves, with Chander in the center and the other two on the edges.
“Well, Chand, it’s our second time in bed together,” Dre’Kariston commented with a grin.
“It’s my first threesome—I’m glad it’s with Del,” the Arch Lich joked.
