Page 7 of Roar Letter Word

Addie didn’t know what to say to that. She had dated a few celebrities and famous people. But royalty was still a step up.

The side door opened, and Pritesh came out carrying a tall glass. She handed it to Addie. Addie didn’t realize until her lips were already on the glass just how thirsty she was.

“I started listening to you with your second album,” Pritesh said as she drank. “It helped me get over one of my worst breakups. You captured what it felt like to have to build a new life without someone so perfectly.”

“I’m so glad,” Addie replied. It wasn’t the first time she had heard that. If only the album had helped her get over her own breakup as much as it seemed to have helped other people. She hadn’t felt like things were getting better until she was well into the relationship whose decay had been her third and fourth albums.

Pritesh turned to Gerri. “Does bringing her here mean that you’re … her and Mahes?”

“Could you keep her company for a little?” Gerri asked rather than answering. “I have to talk to Mahes briefly about the situation.”

“You won’t regret it when you meet Mahes,” Pritesh promised Addie, leading her through one door while Gerri confidently took another. “I’ve not met any man quite like Mahes.”

“So, what is he like, exactly?” Addie asked, looking around the mansion. Clearly, he had a taste for nice things. There were pieces of art all over the walls, along with comfy-looking furniture, as well as various machines and gadgets, many of which she could only guess the use of.

“Well, that’s a good question,” Pritesh mused. “He’s a confident man. That’s the first thing you’ll notice about him. Even when he makes a mistake, it doesn’t bother him because he knows that if he made it, it must have been a reasonable mistake to make. But he also cares about people. He listens when you talk to him, and when someone comes to him with a problem, he’ll do everything he can to solve it.”

“He certainly sounds nice,” Addie admitted. She had met her share of men who became furious whenever everything didn’t go perfectly or who got mad at her the moment she asked anything of them that they didn’t already want to give. Maybe Gerri really had found someone worth her while.

“It’s more than that, though. He’s just … he’s alive. That sounds funny, but you’ll see what I mean as soon as you see him.”

“And is Gerri Wilder good at this?” Addie asked, sitting in a chair that Pritesh gestured to. Itwasstrikingly comfortable. That was a good sign. Addie had met a lot of rich men who bought whatever furniture was most expensive or gaudy. Mahes chose chairs that one could actually put their butt in.

“You don’t know about Gerri Wilder?” Pritesh said, sounding as if Addie had just told her she’d never heard of air. “She heads the Paranormal Dating Agency. And she has a 100 percent success rate.”

“A hundred percent success rate? That’s impossible.”

“It should be. But not for her. That’s why she’s so big. King Alyx has given her the freedom to match anyone with anyone. The fact that she’s taken you on as a client is … well, let’s just say that there are people who would spend fortunes to get what she’s giving you.”

“I don’t even know if she asked for anything in return,” said Addie. “I assumed that Franny had figured it all out.”

The two of them talked for a few minutes, mostly about Mahes and her upcoming album, which, as usual, she pretended to have more ideas for than she did. Gerri was right. She did like Pritesh.

And then suddenly, Gerri’s voice rang out.

“Addie! You can come join us now.”

Addie stood and followed the voice toward another decadently decorated room. Sitting in a large armchair and facing the door was the most handsome man she had ever seen.

He was large, larger than any Earth shifter she had ever seen. But more than that, he simply oozed power. He was the kind of man who didn’t just have money and influence. He understood it, and he deserved it.

And he gaped at her with an expression she couldn’t decipher but clearly meant something very important.

“It’s … very nice to meet you,” he said finally.

Had she done something wrong? But no, Gerri was smiling. So this was all right. So far, anyway.

“It’s very nice to meet you also,” she replied. “My name’s Addie. Addie Swanson. I make music.”

“Music, eh?” Mahes replied, regaining his natural calm. “I’m afraid I’m not very familiar with Earth music, but I’m sure I’d love to hear your work sometime.”

“That’s okay,” Addie returned. “I’m not very familiar with the Nova Aurora kingdoms.”

Mahes chuckled. “Nicely done.”

“My proposal is simple,” Gerri spoke up. “I would like to leave Addie with you for the next week. Over the course of the week, you can do whatever you want together. Once the week is over, I’ll return, and you can decide what you’d like to do next. If you want to return to Earth, Addie, or if you want to make some other arrangement.”

Wait,thought Addie.Has there really been no planning here at all?

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