Chapter 11
Rylee
I clutch the small wooden box in my hand, butterflies flapping in my stomach. We’re due at the ball in a few hours, but I’ve had this planned since before the Athanry.
“What’s up, kitten?” Axl asks from where he lounges in a chair in my palace chambers.
Kal is next to him, Pierce and Jax on the sofa across from them. Each one is looking up at me with expectant, curious gazes.
“This feels a little silly now, in light of everything,” I say, suddenly questioning my timing.
“Nonsense,” Pierce chides. “Nothing you need to tell us or show us is silly.”
I smile at him. He’s right. With the Kings’ List upon us, I may not have a better time to do this.
I stand before them, shifting my weight.
“I had Mirren help me secure these before the Athanry. I’d planned on asking you all if you wanted to wear them once I came back, but then everything happened.
I wanted it to be more . . . romantic?” I pop the box open to show them the contents.
“But I’m afraid the timing of everything doesn’t really allow for such luxuries. ”
I pluck out a ring made from platinum and sapphires and hand it to Axl. Then I hand identical rings—except for their stones, ruby and emerald—to Kal and Pierce.
They grin up at me before examining them. Pierce looks at the interior of the ring. “Thirteen.” He reads the number stamped there. “Your badge number at the Choosing.”
“The number I once thought was unlucky, but it turns out, it’s the number that changed my life for the better,” I say, glancing to Jax, showing him the remaining contents of the box.
Jax smirks at the ink and needles there. “You want to tattoo me, butterfly?”
“I didn’t think you’d want a ring,” I say. “Tokens,” I continue, glancing at each of them. “From me to you. And just like you said to me, you don’t have to wear them if—”
Kal, Pierce, and Axl slide theirs onto their left hands quickly.
“I’ll never take it off,” Kal vows.
“So thoughtful,” Pierce says.
“I love it,” Axl adds, admiring it.
“Where do you want to mark me?” Jax asks, the question sending heat straight to my core.
I kneel before him as I take his left hand in mine. I stroke my thumb over his ring finger in the same place the other Legends now wear my tokens. “Here?”
He grins. “You can mark me wherever and however you want.”
I hurry to grab the ink and cleaned needles before I can lose my nerve. “I’ve never done this before,” I say. “But I’ve watched you enough times, I think I can manage a small one.”
“I know you can.”
I nod, hurrying to position his hand the way I need it, and get to work. It only takes a few minutes. Jax looks down at the small outline of a butterfly I drew just below his knuckle, a number thirteen within the wings. He dips down to kiss me.
“I love it,” he says. “It’s my favorite tattoo.”
“Really?” I ask, pride swelling inside me. “You have so many.”
He hauls me up, perching me in his lap. He cups my cheek, smiling for me. “Really,” he says. “Besides you, it’ll be my favorite thing to look at every day.”
I kiss him, quickly, then look at the rest of my mates.
“I suppose we should get ready,” I say, dread leeching into my previously light tone.
“Another ball,” Axl grumbles. “Thought we’d be done with them for a while.”
I nod but try to appear positive. “You all look so good in suits.”
Laughter fills the room, and we get lost in it, if only to distract us from the unknown.
“And think of how much fun we’ll have,” Kal adds. “When we can bring you back here and peel off your dress.”