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Three Years Later
The armored SUV stopped in front of the building, and Nyx squeezed my hand.
“You ready for this?” my husband asked as the driver hurried around to open the door for us.
I laughed and returned his hold, rolling my eyes. “I swear you’re more excited about these openings now than I am.”
The door opened, but Nyx didn’t move, his golden-brown eyes boring into mine intently. “It’s because your successes are my successes,” he said honestly. “And when you do well, I feel it in my soul.”
His words touched me, and I ran a thumb over his impossibly full lips, wondering again how I’d gotten so lucky. A decade ago, I had been living in abandoned buildings, eking out a living any way I could, using magic to scrape by.
“Shall we?” he asked.
“We better. The children will think we ran off to Ironhelm if we don’t.”
Nyx grabbed my arm before I could move. “Is it too late to do that?” he asked with faux seriousness. “Run off to Ironhelm?”
“They already have a king,” I reminded him with a laugh, tapping his arm and urging him out the door and onto the sidewalk.
Immediately, a din enshrouded us as paparazzi began to snap pictures and hassle us for comments as we walked arm-in-arm toward the front doors of my newest dance studio. Through the pristine glass doors, dozens of balloons littered the wooden floors, streamers lined around the wall-to-wall glass.
The six dance instructors on staff already stood in place with their families, enjoying the expensively catered buffet spread, courtesy of Steelshire Castle.
A round of applause burst out when we entered, but the screams of “MOMMY” overshadowed any words of encouragement. Jessup and Lucian rushed toward me, throwing themselves at my legs as we entered, their governess hurrying up behind them, eying me and Nyx apologetically.
“Forgive me, Luna, Alpha,” she begged. “They got away from me.”
I scooped down to pick up my two-year-old son, Jessup, his hands curling into my perfectly coiffed hair to mess it up almost instantly.
“No need to apologize,” Nyx told her magnanimously. “We know what they’re like.”
“That’s not fair!” Lucian complained defiantly. “I want up, too!”
Nyx rolled his eyes and lifted our almost six-year-old into his strong, muscled arms, the two of us making rounds in perfect sync with each other.
“This is the nicest school yet, Luna!”
“You’ve really outdone yourself!”
“The inner-city children appreciate all your efforts, Luna.”
The praises were always nice, but they meant much less to me than the shining light of affection in my mate’s glowing hazel eyes, even as he wandered off to speak with some of the other guests in attendance.
Eventually, I set Jessup down, and the governess wandered off with my youngest as the head choreographer came to join me at the makeshift bar, set up especially for this occasion.
“Luna, I know you probably hear this all the time, but the underprivileged youth in South Havenmire sincerely appreciate all the efforts you have made on their behalf since you’ve taken to the throne,” he told me confidentially, his voice low as if he were telling a forbidden secret.
Oh, you don’t know the half of it,I wanted to respond, but I wisely held my tongue and smiled politely.
“You are probably aware that I grew up in the inner city myself,” I replied. “It’s a cause that’s very important to me.”
He shrugged and took a sip of his drink. “Everyone says shit like that, Luna, but no one does a damn thing about it.” He balked as if he realized what had just come out of his mouth, and I snickered. Relief overcame his face.
“You’re right,” I agreed. “But I always will speak up for those who don’t have a voice. Steelshire is a kingdom rich in both money and resources. There is plenty for all.”
I said this loudly and clearly, hoping that the overpriced suits lingering around would hear.
The choreographer chuckled mirthlessly. “Why, then, was none of that money ever going to the inner city before you came around?” he asked, shooting Nyx a thinly veiled dirty look. I immediately took offense and stepped between him and my husband.
