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Brien came to my side. “I’ll treat her like a queen.” He ran his thumb and forefinger down my braid, his expression tender. “That’s a promise.”
My halmoni gave a ladylike sniff. “You’d better, or I’ll hunt you down myself. It’s not your money I care about, you understand. It’s that you treat her like she deserves.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
“All right, then.” Gripping my head in her strong fingers, she pulled me down to her and kissed me on the forehead. “I love you, cupcake.”
I gave her a careful hug. She was thinner than I remembered. Another woman might’ve appeared frail, but not Minji Park. She might’ve lost weight, but what was left was one-hundred-percent grit and guts.
“I love you, too—so much. You don’t know how much I missed you, these past couple of years. And I can do as much good as his mate as I could in SI—you’ll see.”
“About the last two years,” she started to say.
I released her. “I’m AWOL,” I admitted. “I—”
“So you did stake Crow?”
My mouth dropped open. “You know? How?”
“People tell me things. I only found out a few months ago, or I would’ve done something sooner.” She patted me on the cheek. “But now that I know, I’ll fix it, don’t you worry. I’ll be damned if I’ll let them take my only granddaughter from me. They got my daughter—they’ll have to be satisfied with that.”
Brien shifted on his feet. “Perhaps a sizable donation would speed the negotiations?”
They exchanged a look. “How sizable?” she asked.
“Very. Set up a meeting and we’ll talk.”
My halmoni’s smile was downright evil. “I believe I’m going to like you, young man. And I’ll set up a meeting as soon as possible.”
“Meanwhile,” I said, “I’ll contact Rafe Kral. He owes me a favor, big-time. And you know his father sits on the SI Board now. He’ll bring them to the negotiating table.”
“The Krals owe you a favor?” Her brows climbed up to her hairline. “Youhavebeen busy, cupcake.”
I wrinkled my nose. “It’s a long story.”
“And you’ll tell me all of it. But not tonight.” She looked from me to Brien, her expression stern. “I expect the mating ceremony will be soon, understand? My granddaughter doesn’t shack up with a man. I don’t care who he is. Is that clear, Leclerc?”
The corner of Brien’s mouth twitched. “Yes, ma’am,” he said meekly.
Now a stir went through the assembled syndicate members. The night priestess who was officiating our ceremony had arrived. Delphine was stunning in a dangerous, Lucrezia Borgia kind of way, her sleek body poured into a silver dress, her auburn hair braided into a crown intertwined with diamonds.
She welcomed us all to the ritual, then turned toward the ocean and raised her hands to the sky, speaking an ancient prayer that ended with, “We call on the Goddess Lilith to bless this special night.”
As if on cue, the wind picked up and clouds raced across the sky, alternately revealing and concealing the crescent moon.
Delphine brought her arms down and turned eerie blue eyes on me. “You may give the primus your hand.”
A gust of wind caught my hair, whipping it into Brien’s face. Laughing up at him, I caught it in one hand and gave him my other hand. His fingers closed around mine. His lips barely lifted, but I felt his joy through our bond.
Delphine raised her arms again and the wind died as suddenly as it had picked up. From the woods, an owl hooted. Below, the surf boomed.
When the priestess spoke again, her low, resonant voice seemed everywhere, as if it were echoing off the sky itself. “Do you, Nikki Twilight Kim, bind yourself to Brien Leclerc to be his mate as long as you both have life?”
My smile faded. My gaze snagged on Brien’s as I spoke the phrases I’d memorized.
“By the Lady Lilith and the moon She rules, I, Nikki Twilight Kim, take you, Brien Leclerc, as my mate. The mate bond is as old as the stars and as new as the crescent moon. My body is yours. My heart is yours. And my soul is yours. This oath I swear on the sacred blood of the goddess.”
Brien slid the ring he’d had specially made for me onto my finger. He’d kept the design a secret, telling me it was a surprise.
