Page 49 of D'Vaire or Nothing
“My fair Lichpriestess, I am most eager to learn what wonderful name you have selected to be my moniker for eternity. Will you provide it to me?”
“Welcome to our D’Vaire family, what do you think of the name Winstan?” Saura asked. “It means friend, and I thought it suited the familiar of the Aqua Superus.”
“I love it, and I believe I will hyphenate my last name, even though I’m not a mage, so it matches my summoner,” Aqua Superus Familiar Winstan Arturus-D’Vaire declared. “My duties will be straddled between the Coven of Warlocks and the Circle of Mages. It seems fitting for the only lockmage familiar.”
“Welcome to the Coven of Warlocks, Winstan,” Dra’Kaedan said. “Given the independent spirit of your summoner, I’m not surprised that you already know what you want to do with your life, and we can’t wait to work with you.”
Winstan flashed a grin that Josh noted lacked his small overbite. Thankfully, that imperfection had ceased bothering Josh many years ago. It didn’t hurt that Donnell thought it was sexy either. “I was summoned in a casino; I think the nickname Win suits me.”
“Yep, definitely Josh’s familiar,” Owen remarked with a chuckle. “Already knows what he wants and declares it with full courage.”
“Has this bear ever gotten over his issue with Fate?” Winstan asked, referring to Owen’s ongoing desire to avoid meeting his mate so he could continue to enjoy himself with a variety of men.
Everyone but Owen answered no.
Winstan chuckled. “His poor mate. Meanwhile, Josh, introduce me to your handsome bear and your elemental.”
Doing as he was told, Josh was thrilled that Dylan wanted Winstan to hold him. Not only did it allow Josh to sneak close to Donnell, but Josh wanted his familiar and elemental to get along. Since Winstan was cooing at the bear cuddling him, they were already doing great in that respect. Delighted, Josh pointed at the basket.
“It’s going to take you weeks to go through all the stuff the D’Vaires brought for you.”
“I’m surprised Aleksander and Rafe were too busy to join us,” Brogan said. “They added a ton to the basket and were nearly as excited as the Coven of Warlocks about Win joining the family.”
Josh’s eyes widened. “Wait. Who talked to them?”
“You did,” Brogan replied. “You were the one who sent out the text, remember?”
“No one told me to include the High Kings in my text,” Josh exclaimed in horror.
Renny laughed. “Sadly, this isn’t even the first time we’ve forgotten to include Aleksander. Whoops.”
“I’ll call them,” Saura said. “We’ll blame this on Dra’Kaedan. As the Grand Warlock, it’s his job to oversee everything.”
Dra’Kaedan rolled his eyes. “Anyway, Win. Let’s talk.”
“Please don’t bother him about cake; he’s been alive for less than an hour,” Renny pleaded.
“Actually, I was going to ask about his stance on ninja kittens being the most supreme way of handling disputes between a warlock and his familiar,” Dra’Kaedan corrected.
“I haven’t had the chance to discuss it with Josh, obviously, but my thought was we should do things a little differently,” Winstan said, grinning.
Josh found his smile infectious and was open to his ideas. “What did you have in mind?”
“Bears. Teddy bears, to be exact. Sword-toting teddy bears to settle our disputes.”
“That’s so fuckity fan fanfuckulous, I want to start a fight with you so we can test it out,” Josh enthused.
“We definitely need a test run, and I want to play with magic.”
“What do you think about a battle royale of kittens and teddy bears fighting?” Dra’Kaedan asked.
“That I already have the best life and I’m not even an hour old,” Winstan exclaimed. “And afterward, we celebrate with cake!”
Cackling at the way Renny and Dre’Kariston rolled their eyes in unison, Josh leaned up and kissed Donnell.
“Thanks for being my mate, and you better cheer me on as I try to destroy my familiar with a magical sword,” Josh warned.
Donnell plucked Dylan from Winstan’s hold and smiled. “Good luck wielding a sword with round little teddy bear paws.”
