Page 123 of In Her Own Rite

“But she hasn’t,” she says, and I can hear the edge of fear in her voice.

“But she could,” Gabe says. “If I marry her. If I make her my mate.”

The whole room goes quiet, and I feel a ripple of shock rush over me.

“Gabe,” I whisper, and he looks over at me. I shake my head—Don’t do this. A mate bond is forever. To tie yourself to someone you don’t even love means sacrificing your one chance at happiness with the person who’s meant for you.

But Gabe turns away and looks back at his mom.

“Tekanni, don’t be foolish,” Saga says, her eyes serious. “This is the woman who hurt you. How could you possibly have fallen in love with her?”

“I haven’t, but that doesn’t matter. Giving her and her sister shelter on these islands is the right thing to do. I’ve read her asylum pleas—allof them. I’ve heard her speak to Kieran. I know she told him what he needed to keep Emerson safe, even though it gained her nothing.”

“Emerson would have been safe regardless.”

“But she mightnothave been. And in a moment of hesitation, this woman’s humanity won out. Can’t ours?”

Saga shakes her head. “I cannot let you do this.”

“I don’t need your permission.”

She blinks, and I can scent her rage in the air.

“No son of mine will bring a terrorist under my roof, no matterhownoble his reasons.”

“Then we’ll live somewhere else. We have three elder seats now. We’ve been looking atfikarigs.”

The room falls to silence as we all stare at the two of them, seeing whose will wins out. I look at Saga—my mentor, one of the people in the world I consider family.

She won’t make him do this, right? She won’t let him throw away his chance at a true mate just to bring this woman and her sister to the islands.

I glance around the room, silently begging even a single person to change their vote in favor of the Nayakkas staying. If we can get a majority, the sisters can stay here without Gabe throwing his one shot at love away.

But Saga shakes her head.

“We send the rebels out this week. If you haven’t marked her as your mate by then, she and her sister will be on that boat. And if you have…”

She swallows. “Don’t come home,tekanni.”

And with that, she ends the council meeting.

45

EMERSON

Three weeks later

“Heij.I want to show you something.”

Kieran looks up at me from the heavy wooden dresser he’s moving. His red-brown hair, pulled back in a little knot, is damp with sweat, and I can see he’s slightly out of breath with the effort of moving the furniture.

Our newfikarigis still half-empty, but with the influx of Kieran’s pieces and the items Maren has been ordering, it’s starting to feel like home. Tonight’s the first night we’ll all be staying here together.

Well, most of us. The aftermath of Gabe’s decision has caused some awkward shuffling of sleeping arrangements, since he wasn’t welcome at the oldfikarigafter the council meeting where he announced he’d claim Thalia as his mate. Pretty soon the rest of us didn’t feel welcome, either. Gabe’s spent the last few weeks crashing at Kieran’s studio, and the Nayakka sisters have been staying at Quinn’s apartment while she stayed with a friend. I’ve met Nomi twice now, but Thalia still refuses to meet with any of us. I highly doubt either of them will be moving in tonight, even though technically they’ll live here.

“What is it?” Kieran asks, wiping the sweat from his brow.

I hold out a hand playfully, eyeing him. “Come. I’ll show you.”

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