Chapter 4 #3
Liora straightened a little and crossed her arms. “Okay, time to lock in,” she muttered.
Medusa smiled faintly at that.
“I’m not thrilled about it,” Liora continued, already feeling the headache forming behind her eyes. “But I also know I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I just walked away.”
She finally looked up. “If something happened to those basilisks because I refused to deal with this mess…” She shook her head. “They didn’t do anything wrong.”
Medusa’s expression softened. “No,” she agreed. “They didn’t.”
Liora let out one more slow breath. “Where is he?”
Medusa’s smile turned slightly amused. “In the lobby.”
Liora groaned. “Of course he is.”
“He insisted on waiting.”
“That sounds like him.”
Medusa pushed away from the desk and folded her arms. “So,” she asked calmly, “what are you going to do?”
Liora stared at the floor for another second. Then she straightened her shoulders. “I guess I’m going to go talk to my accidental husband.” The words still felt ridiculous when she said them.
Medusa’s grin widened. “Good luck.”
Liora sighed and headed for the door. The building’s lobby was bright with afternoon light streaming through glass walls looking out over the bustle of Alindale. Creatures of every kind moved through the space—shifters, fae, the occasional gargoyle courier gliding past the upper levels.
She spotted them immediately.
Maldenis stood near the far wall, speaking quietly with Perseus.
Even across the room, she could see the contrast between them.
Perseus stood tall and still, arms crossed in that way that meant he was barely tolerating something.
Maldenis leaned casually against the wall, all loose confidence and serpentine grace, his tail coiled comfortably beneath him.
And annoyingly he still looked just as good as she remembered.
She felt it before she could stop it, that familiar flicker of awareness tightening low in her chest, like her body recognized him before her mind could shut it down.
She had a duty to focus on, real problems, real stakes, not dangerously attractive basilisks who made it far too easy to forget that.
She squared her shoulders and walked toward them.
Perseus noticed her first. His gaze slid past Maldenis and landed on her. Then he gave her a look that wasn’t angry exactly. But very clearly, this is your mess. And just like that, he walked away without another word.
Maldenis turned to follow Perseus’s movement and then spotted her. A slow smile spread across his face. “Well,” he said lazily, “look who decided to come say hello.”
She stopped a few feet away and crossed her arms. “Don’t start.”
“Oh?” His brows lifted. “No warm greeting for your husband?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Maldenis.”
“Yes, Liora?”
“If you keep calling yourself that,” she said sweetly, “I’m going to shove you off the nearest tower.”
“Violence already?” he grinned. “We’ve barely begun our married life.”
She pointed a finger at him. “Keep pushing.”
He chuckled softly, clearly enjoying himself far too much. But then he straightened a little, his expression easing. “I do appreciate you coming down,” he said, the teasing fading just a notch.
She blinked. The sincerity caught her slightly off guard. “Don’t get used to it,” she muttered.
“Still counts.”
She shifted her weight and looked toward the glass wall for a second, gathering herself.
This is simple, she told herself. All she had to do was go back with him and talk to the elders.
Explain that it had been a misunderstanding, a mistake.
An honest mistake. Surely even ancient basilisk traditions had some kind of clause for that. Right?
She straightened and put on what she hoped looked like a confident expression. “We go there,” she said briskly, “we explain what happened, they realize it was an accident, everyone calms down, and your family stops being socially exiled.”
He watched her with unmistakable amusement. “That’s your plan?”
“Yes.”
He tilted his head. “That’s adorable.”
Her eye twitched. “I’m serious.”
“Oh, I can tell,” he said, his smile widening slightly. “But you might want to prepare yourself for the possibility that the elders don’t see it quite that way.”
She waved a hand dismissively. “They’re reasonable, right?”
Maldenis didn’t answer immediately. Which was not encouraging.
Liora frowned. “They’re reasonable,” she repeated.
His grin returned, slow and dangerous. “Well,” he said, “they’re old.”
She groaned. “This is going to be a nightmare.”
“Probably.”
She shot him a look. “You’re enjoying this.”
“A little.”
Her eyes narrowed again.
He leaned closer slightly, voice dropping just enough to be teasing again. “You know, for someone trying to get out of being married to me, you did come find me pretty quickly.”
“That was for the mission,” she snapped.
“Of course it was.”
“And for the basilisks.”
“Obviously.”
She glared at him. He looked entirely unrepentant.
Finally, she sighed and rubbed her temples. “Let’s just go,” she muttered.
“After you, wifey,” Maldenis chuckled and gestured toward the exit.
She pointed at him again. “One more comment like that and I will push you off something.”
He laughed as they headed for the doors.
But as they slipped outside into the bright streets of Alindale, Liora quietly crossed her fingers behind her back.
Please let this work.
If everything went right. If the elders listened. If they accepted the explanation, then by this time tomorrow…
She wouldn’t be married anymore.