She sighed and dragged a hand through her hair. For a moment, she just stared at the floor again, trying to untangle the mess in her head. She didn’t want this. Didn’t want the marriage. Didn’t want the politics. Didn’t want Maldenis showing up in her life like some walking reminder of a very questionable decision in a very nice spring.
But the reality was sitting there, whether she liked it or not. Basilisks who had done absolutely nothing wrong might get caught in the fallout. Halflings, Zeus’s kids, who wouldn’t know they were in danger.
She exhaled slowly. “Well,” she said quietly, more to herself than anyone else, “this is great.”
Medusa didn’t interrupt.
Liora straightened a little and crossed her arms. “Okay, time to lock in,” she muttered.
Medusa smiled faintly at that.
“I’m not thrilled about it,” Liora continued, already feeling the headache forming behind her eyes. “But I also know I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I just walked away.”
She finally looked up. “If something happened to those basilisks because I refused to deal with this mess…” She shook her head. “They didn’t do anything wrong.”
Medusa’s expression softened. “No,” she agreed. “They didn’t.”
Liora let out one more slow breath. “Where is he?”
Medusa’s smile turned slightly amused. “In the lobby.”
Liora groaned. “Of course he is.”
“He insisted on waiting.”
“That sounds like him.”
Medusa pushed away from the desk and folded her arms. “So,” she asked calmly, “what are you going to do?”
Liora stared at the floor for another second. Then she straightened her shoulders. “I guess I’m going to go talk to my accidental husband.” The words still felt ridiculous when she said them.
Medusa’s grin widened. “Good luck.”
Liora sighed and headed for the door. The building’s lobby was bright with afternoon light streaming through glass walls looking out over the bustle of Alindale. Creatures of every kind moved through the space—shifters, fae, the occasional gargoyle courier gliding past the upper levels.
She spotted them immediately.
Maldenis stood near the far wall, speaking quietly with Perseus. Even across the room, she could see the contrast between them. Perseus stood tall and still, arms crossed in that way that meant he was barely tolerating something. Maldenis leaned casually against the wall, all loose confidence and serpentine grace, his tail coiled comfortably beneath him.
And annoyingly he still looked just as good as she remembered. She felt it before she could stop it, that familiar flicker of awareness tightening low in her chest, like her body recognized him before her mind could shut it down. She had a duty to focus on, real problems, real stakes, not dangerously attractive basilisks who made it far too easy to forget that.
She squared her shoulders and walked toward them.
Perseus noticed her first. His gaze slid past Maldenis and landed on her. Then he gave her a look that wasn’t angry exactly. But very clearly,this is your mess. And just like that, he walked away without another word.
Maldenis turned to follow Perseus’s movement and then spotted her. A slow smile spread across his face. “Well,” he said lazily, “look who decided to come say hello.”
She stopped a few feet away and crossed her arms. “Don’t start.”
“Oh?” His brows lifted. “No warm greeting for your husband?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Maldenis.”
“Yes, Liora?”
“If you keep calling yourself that,” she said sweetly, “I’m going to shove you off the nearest tower.”
“Violence already?” he grinned. “We’ve barely begun our married life.”
