Chapter Two - Wilder
Ry’s lips are moving, but I couldn’t care less about what he’s saying about the food. My focus is on Leigh leaving the party and how I haven’t had a chance to talk to Jaxson or anyone else about the daemons invading this city because of all the guests I had to greet tonight.
I quickly look away from Leigh, scanning everywhere for Soter.
He’s here with several other Borealis Blades, providing extra security for the wedding, but he’s also here to help Glaucus Blade Commander Wendy Detzer find where these daemons are coming from.
The case has been open for nearly five months—it’s time to close it without causing panic among the public.
Part of me wants to pull Soter aside, get an update on his progress, and offer help.
It’s his first case as Borealis Blade Commander.
But Leigh deserves my full attention this weekend.
Whatever’s happening with the daemons will have to wait until after the honeymoon, but let’s pray the case gets solved well before then.
“Where’s Leigh going?” Isolde asks, catching my attention.
I twist to see Leigh saying a few parting words to her mother, edging closer to the exit.
Frowning, I move to intercept her. She wants to sleep alone tonight, but who said anything about sleeping?
My grin widens. I have so many things I plan to do to her before we pledge ourselves to one another at the abbey.
She’s been distracting me all night in that dress—the material so revealing I doubt she’s wearing anything underneath.
I’ve made a private bet with myself to find out.
These formal parties have never really been my scene. The sparkling wine is too sour, all fizz and pretension. When I tried to order a beer earlier, Isolde acted as if I’d committed high treason. Did I overlook some unwritten royal protocol?
All I want is to be alone with Leigh. Nothing else should matter. Not the daemons, not Soter taking my job, not this ridiculous party—just her.
I take another step toward the exit. Leigh pauses mid-conversation, her gray eyes meeting mine and narrowing with recognition. She knows exactly what I’m thinking.
My smile sends a playful message: If you try to run, I’ll catch you.
Leigh shakes her head, offering a sly smile.
She needs to relax and let her hair down, so to speak.
She’s been on edge for months. Maybe she feels pressured to make everything perfect this weekend, especially after Queen Jorina’s heart attack on Samhain.
We’ve postponed our wedding multiple times, and now that the day is finally here, Leigh seems distracted.
She’s been avoiding the subject since we got off the train this morning.
Earlier, she gave me some excuse about archaic traditions and not sleeping together, then planted a mind-bending kiss on me.
Still, before I could do anything about it, like checking out the honeymoon suite early, she giggled and ran off to get ready for the rehearsal dinner, leaving me alone and turned on as hell.
Leigh has been going through a lot lately, and I understand the struggle since I’m facing my own identity crisis.
After years of active duty as a Blade, I retired two days ago—walking away from the career I’d been training for since my Emergence.
I’d even made commander earlier than I ever thought possible, but I gave it all up without hesitation for her. For us.
Now I’m having a hard time figuring out who I am without the badge.
Being a Solar Witch means being a Blade isn’t just a job, it’s literally in my blood and part of my magical nature.
When I enrolled, the Blade Academy made it clear that I needed to protect and serve.
Even years after the Labor Laws were abolished, old habits die hard.
If Leigh knew how much I miss it, she’d think I love work more than her. I don’t; that could never be true.
Even now, I can barely believe she wants to marry me.
Me. A nobody from the working class, who half the people in this room called Wilbur when we first met, as if I look anything like a Wilbur.
Born part of the Nebula class with dirt under my nails and calluses on my hands, I never imagined a world where I’d end up with the Queen of Corona.
Yet here I am, about to become her husband.
Sometimes I wonder if she’s settling, choosing me because she’s too busy to find someone better.
But then she looks at me with genuine adoration …
She looked at me the same way during the speeches tonight, like I’m her anchor in the storm—that’s when I know what we have is real.
She needs to remember how to be happy again. What happened with Aradia was not her fault. And I’m going to help her get there.
I click my tongue when Leigh leaves the party. She wants to be chased.
Ry grabs my sleeve before I can follow her.
I glare at him. “What?”
He frowns, golden curls making him look years younger than twenty-seven. “You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?”
Yeah, I was too busy thinking about the Blades and getting Leigh naked to care. “Sorry. Habit.”
“I’ll overlook how rude that is since this weekend is about you and just repeat it: Jax has been on the phone for the past ten minutes, and he looks worried. Is he okay? He’s seemed kind of off all night.”
I follow Ry’s gaze. Jax stands away from the crowd, dark brows furrowed.
Is Wendy giving him a hard time? Jax isn’t on Domna duty tonight, but if there’s been an update on the case, she won’t hesitate to call him.
“Jax has seemed uneasy,” Isolde comments, her eyes fixed across the room.
“Yeah, I guess,” I agree, although he and I haven’t had much time to talk, not with people chatting me up every five minutes and keeping us apart.
Isolde bites her glossed bottom lip, focused on whatever has her attention. Before I can follow her gaze, she walks off. “Be right back.”
Ry’s eyes remain fixed on Jax. “Wendy’s been pressuring him about the daemons. She’s desperate to find the gateway they’re using to get here before the Glaucus Precinct evaluation next month. It doesn’t look good that outside forces from Borealis have been brought in to handle this.”
The Council’s pressuring Wendy to solve this daemon case before the wedding, but something’s off.
These daemons are different—harder to track, more elusive—like something magical is hiding the gateway they are using to get here.
The Council doesn’t want to hear that, though.
To them, facts are just excuses. They’ve thrown money at Wendy’s Blades, thinking that’ll fix everything, but you can’t just buy your way out of a supernatural problem.
Meanwhile, Jax is drowning in work, and having Soter—who he can’t stand—on his turf isn’t helping anyone.
Ry straightens. “Incoming.”
Jax joins our group. Finding Leigh will have to come later; I need to check on my friend first. “What did Wendy say?” I ask.
“Wendy? Oh, she’s tired and pissed as hell,” Jax replies, half-heartedly.
“Another daemon sighting?”
Jax shakes his head. His eyes look guarded, but he blinks and is all smiles and laughs. “I thought we had strict orders not to bring you work stuff?” he teases.
I frown. “If there is a problem, I deserve to know. So does Leigh.”
“Last I checked, you retired.” He plucks invisible lint off his gold paisley dinner jacket. “Sorry, buddy, but what Wendy tells me is classified, and you’re not married to the queen yet.”
My expression hardens. “Jackass.”
Jax laughs, but it quickly fades as someone steals his attention. I’m nearly to the point of grabbing him by the shoulders and demanding answers.
“There you guys are.”
My sister wears a revealing red dress that matches her crimson eyes. “I didn’t know Leigh was such a big fan of pink.”
Jax’s throat bobs. “Hi, Desi.”
Desiree smiles. They may be exes, but they still talk regularly.
Like me, she hasn’t seen Jax face-to-face in a while.
He hardly comes back to Borealis these days, almost as if he’s hiding up here in the mountains.
“Jax, can you believe we weren’t seated together at dinner?
I had to make small talk with that tiresome Felicity woman.
She kept telling me my drinking blood was making her lose her appetite. I almost bit her just to shut her up!”
“You look well, Jaxson,” Vane says. My sister’s vampire mate, who stands taller than Jax, is dressed in a flashy green-black suit and layers of ancient gold jewelry.
He makes everyone, including me, look underdressed.
Jax’s eyes immediately lose their brightness, and his confident stance wavers.
Honestly, I’ve never seen him so on edge. Is something going on beyond the case?
“You too,” Jax mumbles, and I wince at his disingenuous tone.
Vane pulls Desi close and kisses her temple. She grins like the luckiest girl in the world while Jax’s face goes ashen.
I can’t watch this; it’s just too painful. Jax looks like a wounded animal. Is Desi the reason he’s been acting strange? Last I checked, he had a boyfriend. Did that end?
I’ll ask him about it when we are alone later.
“I’ll be right back,” I say as I step away from the group.
Grabbing a smooth pink ribbon from one of the flower arrangements, I wrap it around my hand, tighter and tighter. Time to catch my bride.
I leave the ballroom, but Leigh isn’t in the hallway. She probably went to bed like she threatened, though I’d hoped to catch her first. This maze of a castle has at least a hundred rooms—I can’t believe she called it a chalet.
I turn the corner toward Leigh’s bedroom, and centuries-old stone walls rise on both sides of me.
My mom paces the hallway with her phone pressed to her ear.
Her brown hair flows down the back of her butter-yellow column dress, a welcome contrast to the harsh braid she usually wears at the hospital. She doesn’t notice me.
“Yes, I received the scans,” Mom says to whoever’s on the other line.
My jaw clenches. Is she working?
“You were right to call me. It looks—”
I clear my throat, and Mom’s shoulders tense.
She made me a promise. No work during my wedding.
I should never have expected her to follow through.
Work is all she’s ever done. Slowly, she turns around, her smile wavering.
“Doctor Crux, let me call you back,” she says, ending the call with the Altum Healer.
“I thought you were taking the weekend off.” My tone is as flat as her stare.
“I am.”
I chew on the inside of my cheek. “Then what was that?” I gesture to the phone.
Mom averts her gaze. “It was nothing.”
I don’t know why I’m surprised. Mom has made and broken many promises over the years, but this is my wedding. I figured that for this, of all things, she would finally show up for me. I hate how wrong I was.
“Come on, honey, don’t be mad. It was just a phone call,” Mom says dismissively. She laughs, but I don’t laugh with her. My parents have always put their careers first. They sacrificed our family’s happiness, which is exactly why I quit my job—because I vowed never to be like them.
“Mom, I believe the hospital can manage things without you for a few days.”
She sighs. “Yeah, maybe.” She goes silent, and I’m about to leave when she asks, “Where are you going? Is the party over already?”
“I’m looking for Leigh,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Is everything okay?” Mom asks in that gentle tone—the one she mainly uses with patients.
Pushing my hair out of my face, I nod. “Yeah.” She understands that Leigh has been struggling since losing Aradia. I’ve just been pretending it’s not as bad as it really is. Mom’s good at reading people, too.
She studies me a little longer, her clinical gaze searching for cracks. Satisfied that I don’t need her to patch me up, she grins. “I saw your bride heading that way”—she points behind me—“maybe six minutes ago.”
“Thanks.” I turn around, but she grabs my sleeve.
“Wait, I want to talk to you. Your dad—” She opens her beaded bag.
I glance down the hallway. “Can it wait?” I want to see Leigh one more time before we exchange vows at the altar.
Mom snaps her purse shut. “Of course.”
I kiss her cheek. “Desi and Vane are in the ballroom. You should go mingle.”
“Sounds fun.”
Feeling satisfied, I leave Mom behind and pick up my pace. Smirking, I run my fingers over the silky ribbon in my pocket.
Leigh, what are you up to?