Epilogue
Luke had agreed to a small mating celebration.
The Unseelie had interpreted small differently.
Connal should have anticipated the problem when Cosmo asked whether Luke meant small by human standards or fae standards. Luke had stared at the king’s mate for several heartbeats before answering that fewer people would be better.
Apparently, no one had thought to ask how many decorations those people required.
Living vines framed the entrance to the great hall, their leaves threaded with tiny lights that shifted color whenever someone passed beneath them.
Flowers covered every available surface.
Long tables curved through the chamber beneath floating globes of gold and silver flame, already crowded with enough food to feed the entire court several times over.
Luke stopped beside Connal and looked through the open doors.
“This is small?”
“The neighboring courts were not invited.”
“That wasn’t an answer.”
“It is likely the answer Cosmo would give.”
Amusement moved through their completed bond, warm and unmistakably Luke.
Connal still found himself pausing whenever that connection opened between them.
Before the claim, he had known Luke by scent, touch, and the relentless pull that had led him across two realms. Now Luke’s presence lived inside him, steady enough that even a crowded hall could not obscure it.
Connal tightened his fingers around Luke’s.
Luke glanced at him, his expression softening. “You okay?”
“I have my mate beside me.”
“That also wasn’t an answer.”
“I have learned from Cosmo.”
Luke laughed, and pleasure flowed through the bond with the sound.
One person remained conspicuously absent.
“Where is Gomez?” Connal asked.
Luke’s amusement shifted toward suspicion. “He said the pixies needed him.”
The doors behind them opened before Connal could explain why that should concern them.
Cosmo entered first, his horns wrapped in flowering vines and gold ribbon. He walked with the satisfied confidence of someone presenting the final result of a particularly successful campaign.
Gomez followed him.
For once, Connal understood why humans sometimes lost the ability to speak.
Gomez wore a fitted coat in a shade of blue bright enough to rival Avaneel’s wings.
Gold embroidery covered the sleeves and climbed across one shoulder before spilling down a short cape fastened with an enormous jeweled clasp.
Flowers and narrow ribbons had been woven through his hair, and a delicate circlet rested across his forehead.
A cluster of pixies surrounded him, making adjustments as he walked.
Gomez spread his arms. “Well?”
Luke stared at him. “What happened?”
“I am your best man.”
Connal looked at Luke. “Why is he the best?”
“It’s a human wedding tradition,” Luke explained. “The best man supports one of the people getting married.”
“We are not getting married,” Connal said.
“I know.”
Gomez pointed at him. “You’re getting mated, which is basically the fae version, and I am Luke’s best friend. Therefore, best man.”
Cosmo nodded solemnly. “He explained it at length.”
“You encouraged him,” Luke said.
“Of course I did. Every important ceremony should have someone whose primary responsibility is making certain the honored couple survives it with appropriate flair.”
“There isn’t a ceremony,” Luke reminded him.
Cosmo and Gomez exchanged a look.
Luke closed his eyes. “You added a ceremony.”
“A very small one,” Cosmo assured him.
Silenus entered behind them and surveyed his mate, Gomez, and the cloud of proud pixies. His expression settled into the same weary resignation Cosmo had worn when the fae attendants first prepared Luke for presentation at court.
Luke opened his eyes and took in Gomez’s cape, circlet, and glowing embroidery. “Now you understand what I meant about being kidnapped by a five-star hotel.”
Gomez smoothed both hands down the front of his coat. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
The pixies voiced their agreement.
Silenus sighed. “You promised him small.”
“This is small,” Cosmo said. “We invited no diplomats.”
Luke looked at Connal. “If I run, will you stop me?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
The bond carried the truth beneath the complaint. Luke was overwhelmed, but he was happy.
Connal lifted their joined hands and pressed his lips to Luke’s knuckles.
“Come, my mate. Our family is waiting.”
Gomez immediately stepped between them.
“Best man goes first.”
Connal stared down at him. “Why?”
“Because that is how this works.”
“It is not.”
“It is now.” Gomez took Luke’s free arm and looked toward Cosmo. “Ready?”
The consort clapped his hands. Music rose inside the great hall, joined by a burst of light from the vines surrounding the entrance. The pixies swept through the doors ahead of them, scattering glowing petals over the path.
Luke looked at the petals landing around him. Several caught in his hair. “Small.”
“Very,” Cosmo agreed.
Gomez escorted Luke exactly twelve steps into the hall before returning him to Connal with an unnecessarily elaborate bow. Applause rose around them, loud enough that Luke’s fingers tightened briefly around Connal’s.
Connal felt the first edge of discomfort through their bond and moved closer. Luke leaned into him for a heartbeat, grounding himself, then lifted his head and faced the gathered court.
He did not retreat.
Pride swelled inside Connal until there was no room for anything else.
Silenus and Cosmo took their places at the head of the hall. When the king raised his goblet, the music faded and the voices surrounding them fell silent.
“We gather tonight to celebrate a bond freely completed and two lives joined by more than fate.” Silenus looked toward Luke and Connal. “May the choices they have made strengthen them, their family, and the realm they have chosen to serve together.”
Connal lifted his goblet with the others. Luke did the same, his shoulder pressed against Connal’s.
Silenus did not lower his cup.
“We also honor those who protected both realms when danger came. Some crossed into battle. Others remained here when every warrior’s instinct urged them to join the fight.”
The gargoyles stood together near one of the long tables. Balthazar straightened while Fred glanced toward the doors as if he expected an attack to justify the attention.
“Our guardians obeyed their orders and kept their king and the Unseelie secure,” Silenus continued. “Their service allowed our warriors to fight without fearing what they had left unprotected.”
The court raised their goblets again. The gargoyles accepted the acknowledgment with solemn bows, although Connal saw Balthazar elbow Fred when he failed to bow quickly enough.
Only after the king drank did the celebration break open around them.
Music returned. Platters began traveling along the tables under their own power, and the pixies descended upon Gomez to inspect how well his ceremonial clothing had survived its journey across the hall.
Luke watched them fuss over the cape. “We may never get him back.”
“I heard that,” Gomez said.
“You were meant to.”
Within moments, Gomez had collected Cosmo and three members of the court Connal barely recognized. They bent around him while he spoke in an urgent whisper.
Luke narrowed his eyes. “What are you doing?”
“Networking.”
“You’ve been employed for less than two weeks.”
“And I’m already excellent at it.” Gomez motioned Luke closer. “Court gossip works exactly like my confidential kitten-medication network.”
Connal waited for the explanation. None came.
Luke pinched the bridge of his nose. “Those words do not belong together.”
“Of course they do. Nobody admits what medicine they have left over, everyone knows someone whose kitten needs it, and the auntie who feeds the strays knows everything happening within six blocks.” Gomez gestured toward his new companions. “Same system. Better clothes.”
One of the courtiers nodded as if this were entirely reasonable.
“What have you learned?” Luke asked.
“That the silver wine is better than the gold, the musicians take requests if you compliment the one with green hair, and Lord Whatever-His-Name-Is absolutely did cheat in last month’s card tournament.”
The offended gasp from across the table confirmed the final piece of information.
Luke looked at Connal. “I’m going to regret putting him in charge of anything.”
“You would regret leaving him unsupervised more.”
“That was my exact reasoning.”
Their shared amusement warmed the bond between them.
Across the hall, the doors opened again. Koios entered without ceremony, dressed more simply than anyone else in attendance. His gaze found Silenus first, then moved toward Connal and his brothers.
The narrow folio tucked beneath his arm made it clear he had not come only to celebrate. The very tall and handsome man beside him, however, drew nearly every eye in the hall.
Silenus motioned both of them closer.
Luke straightened beside Connal, his attention sharpening as he watched Koios cross the hall. The shift was subtle, but Connal had learned to recognize it. His mate had spent the past two weeks recovering from his injuries while working with Tyson to contain what remained of Hale’s operation.
Patrick had been cleared of any involvement.
Hale’s legitimate company remained under the temporary control of its board and family, while the official account attributed the destruction to an attack involving unauthorized experimental equipment.
None of them had discovered another copy of the tracking system.
Yet.
Luke’s former position had vanished with Hale, but his purpose had not. He had already begun building something new from its remains, moving between the human realm and the Unseelie with Tyson while helping both sides recognize threats that still existed there.
Connal had never seen him more certain of his place.
Koios bowed to Silenus, then acknowledged Luke and the brothers. “I apologize for arriving late. My mate encountered an emergency and was delayed.”