Chapter Thirty-Four
As Jessica and Owen walked away, I pulled on the Beast’s vision. Jessica’s aura was midnight blue swirled with silver and red while Owen’s was like a stormy ocean at sunset; gray with blue swells, a few whitecaps, and a halo of scarlet.
“What do you see?” Remy asked, his voice low.
I told him.
He nodded. “As expected.”
Was that good or bad? Their auras were hardly innocent, but compared to Remy’s, Jessica’s and Owen’s were practically benign.
“Why didn’t you warn me you’d be saying that name?”
Remy led me to the dance floor. At a nod from him, the orchestra began playing a ballad version of a contemporary song. Now music covered our voices.
“I only know the box step,” I warned him. And I hadn’t danced since homecoming when I was fifteen, but I left that out.
He smiled down at me. “We’ll manage.”
It might have been the way Remy moved, or how my dress billowed like a cloud of smoke behind me, but I didn’t feel awkward despite our being the only couple on the floor.
If I missed a step, Remy subtly redirected me, hiding that.
If I turned the wrong way, his body maneuvered mine back into alignment.
Figures that he was an excellent dancer.
He could do things with his body I’d only read about before, and that had nothing to do with the skill he was showing now.
Soon the dance floor filled with other couples. Remy maneuvered us away from them and drew me closer.
“I knew you’d be strong enough to contain it,” he whispered, answering my earlier question.
“It was still a big gamble,” I whispered back.
Warmth ghosted across my cheek as his lips brushed it. “It’s not a gamble when you’re sure. Now you’re safe, because no one will suspect what’s inside you after Wardens said that name several times in front of you without incident.”
I supposed not. I let out a choppy breath. “You also didn’t tell me you knew that someone was making new Beasts.”
Something dark flashed over his features. “I was going to. It’s just been a busy two weeks since we met.”
Two weeks! I started counting. No matter how my mind rejected it, the math didn’t lie.
“It feels so much longer,” I said in shock.
He drew me closer. “Age teaches that weeks, months, and even years can blend together, but what’s unforgettable are the moments. Some break you, some heal you, some scar you, and some”—his voice deepened—“contain lifetimes within them.”
I believed that. So many of the moments I’d experienced with Remy made the rest of my life feel like a nightmare I’d recently woken up from.
To feel this much, this fast was terrifying.
I wasn’t just in over my head; I was full-on drowning.
That might not be able to kill me in real life, but this version of it could definitely break my heart.
That’s why I had to distance myself emotionally. Not an easy thing to do, considering I was still in his arms and Remy was staring at me with that possessive, burning gaze, but I knew one definite mood kill for both of us.
“Do you think Daegal’s going to show up tonight?”
A hard smile tugged at Remy’s mouth. “He might be too busy. I left several urgent things for him to attend to today.”
If he’d accomplished any of the revenge list he’d mentioned, I had no doubt about that.
“Still, it’s early,” Remy added. “Our real guests are only now arriving. Speaking of that, there’s the Warden of the Northwest Territories.”
I followed his gaze. A blond man strode along the edge of the dance floor, wearing a full-face black mask, shoulder armor, a cloak, and lots of black leather.
I’d think he was cosplaying as a Final Fantasy character except the armor looked real, and the way he moved screamed “predator” instead of “cosplayer.”
“How many Wardens are there?” I whispered.
“In America? Less than a dozen. The world? Scores.”
That’s all Remy had time to say before the blond Warden reached us.
“Harland,” Remy greeted him, moving us off the dance floor. “Good of you to make it tonight.”
“I wouldn’t miss this, Remington,” Harland said in a deep voice. Was that an accent I heard? If it was, it was so faint I couldn’t place it. “And you must be Raine Stone.”
Every inch of Harland’s skin was covered, so I couldn’t see anything except his eyes. They were so dark, flat, and fathomless they reminded me of a shark’s.
I held out my hand. “A pleasure.”
Harland shook it, the leather from his glove cool against my skin. “You have to be quite the woman to make Remington relinquish his only céile bestowment so quickly.”
Only?
“She is,” Remy said, tracing his fingers down my bare arms.
His touch was distracting, but now I remembered Zenobia had said something similar when she barged in on our meeting with Daegal. It hadn’t registered then, but now I was shaken.
Remy had said that céile meant “partner.” He’d also said we’d only be faking this relationship for a year, tops. How could I be his “only” céile bestowment, then?
“I’m sure she is, but why the rush?” Harland said. “You’ve been single for decades. Now, I barely made it to your engagement party because you only gave twelve hours’ notice. Is there more happy news?” he added with a glance at my midsection.
“Hell no,” I burst out while realizing that we hadn’t used protection yesterday. How had I forgotten that? I always insisted on condoms because I couldn’t trust birth control pills, shots, or IUDs when I shared my body with a supernatural stowaway that could negate all of them.
Harland snorted. “That was emphatic. Not fond of children?”
Sure, I liked kids, but if I got pregnant, I might be carrying a Baby Beastie that could burst out of my body like one of those creatures from the many Alien movies.
“We’re not ready for children,” Remy said with much more aplomb. “We’re enjoying having each other all to ourselves.”
“Of course,” Harland said in an I-don’t-care tone. “I wish you every happiness. Is that Owen and Jessica by the bar?”
“Probably,” Remy said. “They went to get drinks.”
That black leather mask moved as Harland smiled. “Think I’ll join them, then. Raine, the pleasure is mine. Remington, finish your dance. I’m sure we’ll talk again later tonight.”
“Of course,” Remy said.
Harland left.
I bit my tongue and tried to count to ten. I made it to seven before I said, “Tell me you’ve had a vasectomy, used an invisible condom, or did something magically similar yesterday.”
Remy’s brows rose. “A little late to ask—”
“Fuck!” I burst out.
Several heads turned. I didn’t care. I was too panicked.
“But the answer is yes,” Remy went on, his mouth quirking as he led us away. “To the magically similar part, at least.”
Relief nearly made my knees give out. “Thank God.”
That brought up the céile issue. I was about to voice it when Remy said, “What do you see when you look at Harland?”
Right. I was supposed to scope out all the Wardens, among other people. Eyes, I thought to the Beast.
Colors suddenly shot out from all the dancers Harland was walking past, but his aura was the most notable. It haloed him in dark, murky grays and bleeding scarlets.
“He’s bad,” I said quietly. “Like, watch-your-back bad.”
Remy sighed. “I’m not surprised.”
I had questions about that, too, but I probably couldn’t ask them here. Besides, my other question took priority.
“Can you only share your ‘partner’ power once?”
Remy gave me a sharp look. Then he drew us farther away from the crowded parts of the ballroom.
“Three times,” he said as we walked along the wall. I was relieved until he went on. “Once for your successor, once for your chief advisor, and once for your beloved.”
I felt like I was spinning, and not in a good way. “Mandal’s your chief advisor, so that’s gone. You need a successor, so if you haven’t doled that out yet, you’ll have to, and you shared your ‘beloved’ one with me. How could you give that up?”
Remy led us to a small staircase at the farthest corner of the ballroom. A tuxedoed attendant bowed and backed away from the landing. Odd. Was this area normally off-limits?
“I’m a Warden,” Remy said once we were climbing the staircase. It was empty, so maybe this was an off-limits area. “You heard the lengths people will go to in order to become a Beast or use one for themselves. No matter the cost, I couldn’t leave you with all that power and no way to control it.”
No matter the cost …
The words rang through me. Yes, Remy had given me a way to control the Beast. He’d also protected me so I could survive to keep controlling it. I’d always be grateful for that … and he was smart enough to know it.
The staircase ended at a wide aisle that overlooked the ballroom like an indoor balcony. We were the only ones here, and at this height, we were almost level with the silk and trapeze artists. They continued their gravity-defying leaps, twines among the silks, and spins above the main ballroom.
“Yes, now you don’t have to worry about my Beast being used against you,” I whispered.
“In fact, I’ve repeatedly used its power for you.
I’ll keep doing that because I owe you, so if you’ve been doing the …
the other stuff to cement my loyalty, you don’t have to.
And if you ever want your ‘beloved’ power back, I’ll give it to you, because otherwise, if you fall in love with someone, you’ll have to watch her grow old and die. ”
“Depends on the species,” Remy said after a pause. “Many of them aside from humans are very long-lived.”
If Daegal was over a thousand years old, that was certainly true of dragons. Yet Zenobia had almost claimed that last céile spot for herself, and she hadn’t needed it to avoid aging.
“Why did you break up with Zenobia?” I asked, and then immediately regretted it. He didn’t owe me an explanation.
If Remy was offended by the question, nothing in his expression gave it away. “She failed the test I gave her.”
“What test?” I couldn’t be expected to let that one alone.