Page 5 of Rain of Shadows and Endings

More of the Legacy were starting to arrive. They were dressed in their formal finery and gowns, just as the Fae were. Tessa watched as they interacted with one another. Family Guards, Fae chosen from their Kingdom’s armies to guard the ruling families, were beginning to line the edges of the room. Some had bows and quivers full of arrows. Others had swords at their waists. The mortals of the realm had guns, but they did nothing against a Legacy or a Fae. Both races healed quickly, and unless those bullets were made of shirastone or nightstone—which were incredibly expensive and heavily regulated—they wouldn’t do anything. Even then, they would have to hit the head or heart.

Servers were plentiful now, offering glasses of wine to the Legacy, and Tessa pouted. Now she was hungry and thirsty.

“Have any of you seen Lange and Corbin?” she asked, continuing to watch the Legacy move about the room.

Brecken snorted a laugh. “I’m guessing they found a room for a quick fuck before the festivities.”

“They wouldn’t,” Katya gasped, her amber eyes widening in shock. “Here?”

“Oh, they totally would. Those two go at it whenever they can, and they like the thrill of forbidden places,” Brecken answered with a wink.

Tessa was sure that was a blush at the implication of Brecken’s words, and she was jealous that Katya’s dark skin hid it so well. Brecken had had his eyes set on Katya for a few months, although Tessa didn’t know why he bothered. The odds of them getting assigned to the same Kingdom were not great. She didn’t understand why any of them formed relationships to be honest. If she got separated from her best friend, that was going to be hard enough. She couldn’t imagine being separated from someone she loved so intimately.

But just as she thought that, she saw Corbin and Lange slip into the room, hand-in-hand. Corbin’s shaggy brown hair was definitely disheveled, and Lange’s shirt was mis-buttoned beneath his jacket and tie. The cocky grin on Lange’s face said he’d definitely just gotten some.

“What’s going on, guys?” Lange greeted when they reached the group.

“You tell me,” Tessa replied, reaching to fix his buttons before straightening his tie. “Which room do I need to avoid the rest of the year we’re here?”

Corbin and Lange exchanged mischievous grins before Corbin’s hazel eyes met hers. “We’ll never tell,” he said with a wink.

“We’re all getting drunk as soon as the Selection is done, right?” Lange asked, his sky-blue eyes wistfully following a server with yet another tray of wine.

“Yes,” Tessa agreed. “And doughnuts. The ones with chocolate on them. Not the powdered sugar ones. Then drinking.”

“For the love of the gods, Tessa. You’re acting like you haven’t eaten in days,” Dex said with an exasperated sigh.

Tessa merely shrugged, shifting from foot-to-foot. These heels were killing her feet. She was used to sneakers. And pants. Not dresses. “I’m bored. How much longer until this thing starts?”

“Sweetheart, you need to find someone to take you to a coatroom. It makes time go by so much faster,” Lange taunted, and Corbin elbowed him in the ribs.

Tessa rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t hold back her grin. She planned to do exactly that tonight, only with a mortal. And not in a godsdamn coatroom.

The Lords and Ladies and their heirs had to be arriving any minute, and then this thing could get going. Maybe she could sneak a glass of wine somehow…

Her eyes fell on a couple of Legacy who were standing near the edge of the crowd. One had his back to the room, but the other seemed to be watching everyone intensely. He was slightly shorter than the one with his back turned but only by an inch, if that. He had dark brown hair that reached his jawline and piercing sapphire blue eyes that Tessa could see from across the room.

Then the other one turned to look out over the crowd, and Tessa sucked in a breath.

It was the Legacy from the corridor. The one who had cornered her in the alcove. He appeared to be watching everyone as intensely as the other male. Every once in a while, he would say something to the Legacy standing next to him, and he would be handed a folder of some sort after a moment. Where his companion got the folders from, Tessa had no idea. If they were outside the Pantheon, she was sure they’d be looking at tablets rather than paper documents. The two would look over the contents of the folder, heads close together, flipping a few pages, before the first would hand it back to the second and continue to observe the crowd. Tessa forgot about trying to steal the wine as she studied the two Legacy, trying to figure out what they were doing.

“You’re staring,” Dex murmured into her ear.

“He’s the one who took my chocolate from me,” she answered, the Legacy again being handed a folder.

“What are you going to do, Tessie? March over there and ask for it back?” he chided.

“No,” Tessa admonished. “But I can certainly fantasize about ways to hurt him for it.”

“Is that all you’re fantasizing about?” he teased.

“Fuck off, Dex. You know I would never fuck a Legacy. Not by choice anyway.”

Before Dex could respond, a commotion at the main entrance drew everyone’s attention, and a moment later, the first of the ruling families came through the door. Of course, it was the Achaz Lord, his wife on his arm and his Source a step behind him. On his other side was the Achaz Heir, Dagian Jove. He had golden blonde hair, sharp cheekbones, and golden eyes. He was in a black suit with a white shirt. A gold vest was visible beneath his black suit coat, gold thread running along the cuffs and lapels. A gold tie matched his vest. His eyes went straight to the Fae slated to be Selected, and Sasha gave him a weak smile.

As the ruling families began parading through to the front of the room, Tessa’s mind and eyes began to wander. She looked back to where the Legacy from the alcove had been standing, but the two were gone. She scanned the crowd, searching and finding no sign of them.

Dex squeezed her waist where his arms were still wrapped around her. “You’re fidgeting.”

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