Page 75 of The Powers of Nyx
Ivy cupped his cheek and gave him a soft smile. “I know.”
“Any tricks on how to deal with all of this, Kingsley?” Elias asked.
Adrian’s brows furrowed, and he pursed his lips. I wasn’t shocked he was being asked—who better to ask than the son of the current Queen, who had gone through all of this before?—but I also knew the issues he had with his family. The dynamics between us were different from regular mate circles. We felt everything a lot stronger, harder, more intensely than the rest, and it affected our magic, too.
Adrian was silent for a few moments, a war playing out in his eyes. I felt a little bad for him. But also sort of vindicated. If it weren’t for him and the others, I’d have Ivy in my arms right now.
But at the same time, I knew this conversation was needed. Not just for us mates, but for Ivy, too.
He sighed. “We’re basically a family unit now,” he said, looking between each of my fellow bond mates, then to Ivy. “We have to stop treating this like it’s one mate against the other.”
Ivy’s gaze softened, and she dropped onto the bed with a sigh. “I want this to all...work,” she said quietly, “but I’m not going to choose who I spend more or less time with. There isso muchgoing on right now. With the academy, my training, the kids. I feel like I’m being pulled in all these different directions, and I don’t want to be feeling that way when I’m with you.Anyof you.” As she ran a hand through her hair, she glanced around the circle. I sat up and inched closer to her back.
She was right. She shouldn’t have to be choosing between any of us, and we shouldn’t be making her feel that way.
“I will admit, I have monopolised a lot of your time,” Elias said, followed by a deep sigh. He knelt down in front of her and cupped her cheek. “You need more time with your other mates, Angel.”
She searched his face carefully. “You have been pretty possessive.”
Elias cracked a smile before leaning forward and pressing a kiss to her lips. “I was trying harder at the first safe house. Right, Kingsley?”
Adrian shrugged. “Yeah, and I should also say I’ve had a lot of alone time with you, too. Second safe house made sure of it.”
“So, it’s Maeve’s and Rowan’s turns for a little...alone time,” Ivy concluded, nodding slowly, peering up at Maeve warily. “But that doesn’t meansharedtime isn’t off the table. Like Adrian said, we are kind of a family unit now.”
I brought a hand to her shoulder, but she stiffened at my touch. “Ivy?”
Her gaze cut to mine and then to Elias’s and Maeve’s. “Sorry. I just...” She stopped and cleared her throat before shuffling back on the bed and out of Elias’s reach. “It’s kind of just hit me how...huge this is.”
Anxiety swirled within me as she wrapped her arms around herself. “This isn’t the time to close in on yourself, Sweetheart,” Adrian said, and she flinched. “Remember what we promised?”
Slowly, I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into my chest as she sighed. Her head fell back against my shoulder, but she stared up at the ceiling for a moment. Even though we didn’t have a completed bond, I could almost hear the trajectory of her thoughts and worries.
“We are going to be spending the next, like, five hundredyearstogether,” she whispered, glancing down at her hands as she twisted them in her lap. “It’s kind of insane knowing that. And this isn’t just about me—you guys are stuck together, too.You might each be individually bonded to me, but you kind of have to be able to get along, too, right?”
“You’re right,” Adrian replied. “Being stuck with Rowan for the rest of my life is going to suck, but I’m sure we’ll make it work.”
Ivy snorted, shaking her head. But I reached for one of the scattered pillows and threw it at his head. He barely had the time to duck and miss it.
“Fuck you, princeling,” I said, tightening my hold on Ivy.
He raised a brow. “See, we’ll be fine.”
Ivy rested her arm over mine, giving my fingers a squeeze. “I’m pretty sure you guys will be alright. But what about others? I mean, I kind of know your thoughts about—” She pressed her lips together, and we all stiffened.
Her mystery mate.
“We won’t kill him,” Elias offered, “but I won’t make any promises about him not feeling any pain. Not after what he’s done to you.”
He had a lot to answer for, this mystery mate. I’d thought that, at the very least, he would have tried to reach out again after the nightmare. But knowing he hadn’t made my blood boil.
Ivy shook her head. “I don’t want to be stuck with someone who doesn’t want to be with me. These mate bonds are...well, they’re a lot of responsibility, and there’s a lot of baggage here. I essentially have three kids and a kingdom, and he didn’t sign up for that. He didn’t know.”
But we knew. We were committed—or at least, I hoped she figured that out. We were by her side, no matter what, and we would be for the next week and in five hundred years.
“You guys are...You are the best things that have happened to me in a long time. I never thought I would get one chance at love, at a family, let alone...” She glanced up and met the stare of eachof her mates. “I never thought I’d get four. Or however many more end up here.”
Right now, Queen Greer would be planning balls so potential bonds could be identified. Hell, there was a chance she’d likely meet one at the academy—it was full of powerful creatures, all of whom would be vying for a place at her side.