Page 103 of Sky’s Edge

“All right,” she agreed. “Now, on to better things, do you have your gown for the engagement party selected?”

“Lancet made me something. I already have it.”

“Excellent.”

“Do you?”

Her smile wasn’t wobbly anymore. “Oh, dearest. I ordered mine the minute I learned they were fated mates.”

I still had a wobble in my return smile because I was thrilled for Laura and Aleksei. They were very happy. They were very in love, and from what I could tell, fell deeper into that every day.

The problem was that part of my brain that sat way back was telling me I’d had the same in my grasp, and it had been cruelly ripped away.

By the male I was falling head over heels for.

After work, I was walking home (yes, all five blocks from Tempera to my flat, in heels, doing this without a problem since I did it all the time), feeling the autumn chill in the air, and unable to stop myself from comparing it to the freeze of Sigil.

I was equally unable to stop myself from thinking I quite liked the freeze of Sigil. It was bracing. And worth it for the view and the hot cocoa with peppermint schnapps.

Though, I refused to think about what really made it worth it.

The company.

I had a bag in my hand from Lion’s Mane, a premier purveyor of prepared-ingredient Cook-Companion meals that was luckily on my way home (they knew me by name there).

It was lobster ravioli, garlic bread, a salad and two chocolate-cherry cannoli.

What could I say? I’d barely eaten anything since returning to Nocturn, and I was suddenly famished.

I was not looking forward to being in my empty flat (something I’d never had a problem with before, but now I was thinking I needed a cat, or a dog—no, not a dog, that might remind me of Hurley, so decision made…a cat).

I was looking forward to my spa appointment tomorrow.

And I was psyching myself up to let it all hang out with the girls on Sunday.

It wouldn’t be fun to share how bad it hurt that Tanyn just ended us and…poof! Without a word from me, we were done.

But I suspected I’d feel better after I let it go.

I had two RS agents leading. Two following. And there was a craft crawling along above us with two more agents inside it.

As such, beings I passed were staring at me, wondering if I was famous or something.

One could say, after the Midnight Masque, Aleksei was taking no chances.

Laura’s security crew used to be four beings.

Now it was eight.

One could also say Aleksei was pissed at Tanyn, even if he didn’t know what happened. Laura told him I was upset, and that was enough (he was such a good male, I was so happy for Laura, when I wasn’t feeling miserable about myself, that was).

Though, I figured it was more, and that had to do with him finding his mate, and being so deep in that, not understanding exactly how Tanyn and I didn’t have the same, so letting the female he considered Tanyn’s mate (me) go was something that Aleksei couldn’t abide.

My building sensed me coming, the doors whooshed open to welcome me, and I was glad of it. Now that I was home, I suddenly couldn’t wait to set up my ravioli. Snarf it down. And lose myself in some trashy screen.

But one of the agents in front of me threw his arm across my chest before I could walk in.

“Hold,” he grunted.