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Soon, I’ll be back in the consort’s quarters, waging marital warfare with my unwilling mate and his aunt’s hideous vase.
For the first time since I set my plan in motion, tears sting at the backs of my eyes. Diana, being the person she is, notices immediately, and swoops in to wrap her arms around me.
“Don’t cry, sweet Willow,” she says, rubbing my back in soothing circles. “It’s all going to be okay. Just wait and see. Come on, let me show you the bathroom. The shower can be tricky.”
I sniff. “It’s okay. I’m sure I can figure it out later. But I’d love some coffee if you have any. I didn’t sleep well last night.”
“I can imagine,” Diana says, nodding toward the door to the adjoining bath again. “And yes, I have coffee, tea, and espresso, but first let me show you the shower. I’m afraid I’ll forget, and you’ll be desperate to get clean later while I’m out and end up frustrated and confused.”
I doubt the shower’s that complicated and I’m pretty handy with mechanical things, but I’m happy to put Diana’s mind at ease. Leaving my suitcase in a corner of the room to unpack later, I follow her into a pretty blue and yellow bathroom with framed mermaid paintings on every inch of wall space. It’s a perfect complement to the bedroom.
“This is so cute, Diana.” I motion to the pictures and wrought iron seashells and octopi mounted on the wall. “I love every single piece.”
“Thanks,” she says, brushing the seaweed print shower curtain aside. “I decorated my apartment myself. I want to be an interior designer, but like…better than my Aunt Claudia. Much better.” I laugh as she motions toward the faucet and adds, “Okay, so first you need to get the temperature adjusted down here. If you turn on the shower first, you will burn the shit out of yourself.”
She cranks the knobs and I move closer to see how she adjusts the hot and cold.
But to my surprise, she doesn’t continue the shower lesson; she takes my hand and squeezes tight as she whispers, “My apartment is tapped, this is the only way to talk without being overheard. But we have to be quiet, okay?”
Eyes wide, I nod. “Okay.”
“I’m sneaking away to meet with Jacob tonight to see what he knows about the attack, if anything,” she says. “Do you want me to see if his people can help you get out of here before the wedding? You don’t have to marry my brother if you don’t want to.”
Throat tight with gratitude, I shake my head. “Thank you, but I think I do have to marry him. There’s a lot you don’t know about Maxim and me. I’m happy to tell you what I can, but—”
“I know you’re fated mates,” she cuts in. “My dad told me after you met with him yesterday, and he wouldn’t lie about something like that. Or fake a horoscope or whatever your old Alpha did. But that doesn’t mean you have to marry Maxim, not in our pack, anyway. Fated only means you could be a perfect match if you’re both invested in the relationship. You could also end up just being perfectly suited to drive each other crazy.”
My lips curve in a wry smile. “I’m pretty sure that’s a given.”
Diana’s brow furrows empathetically. “And that will make you miserable, Willow. People with pretty pink auras like ours thrive on authenticity, kindness, and playful creativity. Living with a man who will turn everything into a fight for dominance is going to crush your spirit.”
I drag a hand through my hair. “Maybe not. Maybe we can make it work. We had a nice time together at the theater before the explosion. For a while there, I thought we were going to be friends.”
“But not now, babe,” she says, her eyes troubled. “I haven’t seen Maxim since your meeting, but I know my brother. He likes calling the shots—about everything, but especially when it comes to his own life. There is no doubt in my mind that he’s fucking mental over this and fully intending to make you pay for going around him to work this out with our dad.”
I nod. “I know. But I didn’t see that I had a choice.” I briefly fill her in on the night in Maxim’s study, my dream, and what I’ve learned about the prophecy so far. “I didn’t see another way to make sure he couldn’t treat me that way anymore while also protecting myself from people who think I can make them the ruler of the shifter world.”
Diana twines a lock of hair around her finger. “My dad thinks this prophecy is true, too?” When I nod, she adds, “What did your pack gift tell you?”
“Nothing firm,” I say. “It didn’t react to any of your dad’s questions about the prophecy. He said his old Pathfinder foretold it would come to pass, but Maxim says Pathfinders can fake that glow. Your dad taught me how to stop it when I don’t want it showing pretty easily, so maybe he’s right.” I shrug. “In any event, I think it’s too soon to say if the prophecy is the real deal or not.”
“But your dream said it was.”
“No,” I say, “my dream talked in riddles about kings and queens and woodsmen, then told me to contact Pax, which is how I found out about the baby thing. I called him yesterday.”
Her eyes go wide. “You called him? From the phone in your room? Shit, they’re going to find out about that, Willow. They keep track of every outgoing call. If the enforcers weren’t so busy dealing with the fallout from the explosion and everything, I’m sure Maxim would know about it already.”
I nod. “I figured as much. But I’m prepared to tell him the truth about what I discussed with Pax.” I motion to my face. “And I’ll have the glow to back me up.”
Diana looks somewhat mollified by that, but still worried. “Okay, we should probably turn off the water but let me know if you change your mind about an escape plan. Just ask me to help you curl your hair. That will be our code for needing a top-secret bathroom talk.” She reaches for the taps, but then turns back to me without twisting them off. “Oh, and I’ll need your help tonight. When I leave the engagement ceremony early, tell Maxim I’ve had a funny stomach all day, come check on me once, and then tell him I’m in bed asleep, okay?”
“Got it, but you won’t be in bed asleep, right?” She shakes her head and I ask, “So where will you be? I won’t tell Maxim, but I think someone should know, right? Just in case?”
Diana bites her lip for a moment before she says, “I’m putting myself out with the evening trash. Jacob’s going to hide near the dumpsters at the sanitation company’s next stop and fish me out before they pour more grossness all over me.”
I wince. “That sounds dangerous, Diana. Not to mention unsanitary.”
“I know,” she says, “but there’s no other way out. Maxim’s locked everything down so hard since the attack that all my usual tricks won’t work. And I’ll be fine. Even if I end up buried in trash, I’ll survive. One of the best parts about being a shifter, right? Harder to kill than a cockroach. That’s one of my dad’s favorite sayings, by the way. Prepare to hear it a lot if you have kids and are worried about them getting hurt.” She reaches over, turns off the water, then adds at her normal volume, “Dad believes in letting baby wolves run wild and learn from their bumps and bruises.” She stands and motions toward the door. “Come on, let’s go get that coffee. I could use a caffeine jolt, too.”
