Chapter 105

“Yup, dad’s somewhere – I’m shocked he hasn’t come running yet,” mom says, dropping Jackson’s hand and fluttering her hand at him. “Rafe’s right – shower for you, and then Ariel is next. Because if your dad meets your mate covered in your blood and your scent – he’s going to flip.”

Jackson, as freaked out as he should be, presses a quick kiss to my head and then stands up. “I’ll be right back,” he says to me, looking down at me with worry. And I grin at him, touched a little – but what does he think, that I’m worried he’s going to run away or something?

“I know,” I murmur, reaching for his hand giving it a little squeeze. “Don’t worry. I’ll be okay.”

Jackson hesitates, I think fighting the instincts that tell him to stay absolutely by my side at all times, but then he sighs when Rafe wraps a hand around his arm and starts to pull him away.

Mom and I both watch as the two head for the second door in the chamber, which I guess leads somewhere else – communal bathrooms? Who knows.

And then, when my mate and my brother disappear and the door swings shut behind them, my mom turns to me with a grin.

“Well,” she murmurs, her eyes flicking over me impishly, “you’ve been busy, haven’t you, daughter?”

And I just moan and put my head in my hands, sinking back against the pillows.

Mom just laughs, shoving me gently aside and coming to snuggle up against the pillows next to me. “Oh, don’t pretend that you’re all tired now –“

“I am tired!”

• “Not too tired to gossipthe women in this family are never too tired to gossip. Come on, baby! I want to hear everything! I’m dying over here – we haven’t had any news of you in months –“

“Okay, okay,” I grumble, secretly pleased as my mom wraps an arm around me and pulls me close. Because she is right – I am dying to talk to her, and the ladies in this family – we really can talk. And so I launch into my story, laying my heart out plain for her.

I start at the beginning, at the wedding, and I apologize profusely for bailing on it without even saying goodbye – but my mom is all warm support, saying that she understands, and considering the horrible things those men said when they found out I’d fled…

“Well,” she says, tossing back her hair and lifting her chin, “they’re just lucky I let them walk away with their skins intact.”

“You are a lady, after all, mom,” I say, nodding sagely.

“And a queen,” she adds, mimicking my tone and making us both laugh. But then she squeezes me, urging me on.

So I tell her all about just wanting to be with Jesse and Rafe, my best friends, at first, but then as time passed how much I really, really wanted to be at the school. How much my heart, genuinely, sang when I was admitted as a cadet, how much I love my classes, the excitement I feel whenever I think about becoming a spy and helping our nation.

“I really want to do it, mom,” I murmur. “It’s…it’s more than just escaping from the wedding now. This feels like my life, like what I was…meant to do.”

“And it doesn’t hurt,” she says, her voice sarcastic, “that your super hot mate just happens to live down the hall.”

I squawk in surprise, sitting up straight and staring at her. “Did you just call my mate hot!?”

Mom bursts out laughing, shaking her head. “I mean, he is, Ariel –“

“That’s so gross!” I gasp, swatting her arm. “You’re my mother –“

“Your mother who has eyes,” she continues, laughing hysterically, “besides, I mean, it’s not as if the two of us don’t have a similar type.”

“WHAT!?” I shout, appalled.

“Oh come, on, Ariel,” mom says, rolling her eyes as she tries to get the words out around her vivid laughter. “Are you seriously trying to tell me that you haven’t noticed the similarities between your mate and your dad? I mean, talk about daddy issues –“

I yelp in protest then, grabbing my pillow and starting to thwap her with it, yelling disconnected words about how I didn’t even pick him, the Goddess did, and actually Jackson and dad are nothing alike, just because they’re both big –

But mom just laughs hysterically and eventually I join her, dropping my pillow and curling up at her side, covering my blushing cheeks with my hands and shaking my head at the heat against my palms.

“It’s okay, baby,” mom murmurs, dropping a kiss to my forehead as she shakes with giggles. “Your dad is hot too. Trust me, I get the appeal.”

“I don’t ever want to talk about this ever again,” I murmur, my words muffled in my humiliation.

“Too bad,” she sighs. “Cora’s going to come in here in a few minutes and say the exact same thing –“

“Cora’s here?” I gasp, sitting up eagerly and looking towards the door like she’s going to come through it at any minute.

“We’re all here, baby,” mom says, sitting up with me. “You think Cora and I are going to let your father and your uncle put on this ridiculously dangerous Examination without us at the end to patch everyone up? We come every year –“

“You do?” I ask, my eyes going wide.

“Yes! You didn’t notice that every year around this time we take a little vacation –“

“What a crap vacation,” I say, shaking my head.

But before my mom can agree, the door to the room flies open again and my mate comes stumbling into the room, gasping in fear and surprise.

But…not that mate.

The other one.

I’m caught between a gasp of relief and a moan of mortification – because my mom is going to be so confused by this. But I immediately open my arms for Luca, who comes crashing across the room to my side. I throw my arms around his neck as his slide immediately around my back, holding me close, shaking a little.

“Are you all right?” he gasps, horrified, worried.

“Are you!?”

“Ariel,” he snaps, leaning back to glare at me a little, “you are not checking in on me when I just heard that you showed up at the finish line unconscious, bleeding everywhere, thrown over Jackson McClintock’s shoulder – of all people –“

“I’m fine,” I murmur, my eyes wide and sorry as I see the real fear in him. “Seriously, Luc, I’m fine – I’m all patched up – I’m…”

And then my voice fades out as my mom clears her throat.

“Um,” I say, awkwardly turning to her and glancing between her confused but entertained face and my mate’s still-terrified expression. “Mom? I’d like you to meet…Luca Grant. Luca, this is my mom – she…she healed me up. Magically.”

I finish the sentence lamely, not knowing how to explain that. But Luca, to his credit, takes it in stride. He sits up straight in surprise but the immediately falls back on his manners, which are impeccable when he wants them to be.

“Your highness,” he says, immediately offering his hand, which my mother takes with a smile. “I am so sorry – you’ll have to forgive me, I was…I was very distracted. I care a great deal about your daughter and I didn’t – honestly, I didn’t even notice you sitting there.”

“You’re forgiven,” my mom says, turning her head at him curiously as she squeezes his hand. “But, if you don’t mind me asking, my daughter told me that she kept her identity and her gender a secret during her time at the Academy. How is it that you know?”

“Because,” Luca says, his eyes wide with his innocence. “She’s my mate.”

My mom’s eyes go wide with surprise and then scandalized delight.

“Well,” she says, turning her cat-like grin on me as I cover my face with my hands. “You really have been busy, Ariel. Very busy indeed.”