Chapter 170

Violet’s POV

I was pacing the guest bedroom that had been our home for nine days. I knew I was pacing, but I couldn’t stop doing it.

“You’re going to wear holes in your cousin’s carpet,” Theo chided.

I kept pacing.

A knock sounded on our bedroom door. I glanced at my husband as he finished buttoning his shirt to make sure he was decent before I invited in the knocker. Once I did, Marcy came in, leaning against the doorframe.

She said nothing.

I raised a questioning eyebrow at her. “Yes?”

Marcy crossed her arms across her chest. “Oh, I’m just here to talk you out of not going to this party.”

It was our last full day in Henosis, and Marcy had somehow managed to organize a giant, all-day get together with all the Braverns and Fairweathers, going so far as finding accommodations for every single member of Theo’s family so they could stay the night and put off the half-day trip home until after we left tomorrow morning.

“Who said we’re not going to the party?” Theo asked.

Marcy raised an eyebrow in return toward me. Honestly, how well she knew me was utterly annoying. I hadn’t even expressed my thoughts to anyone yet – she just knew.

I spun to face my husband. “It’s just that we put so much on the line to be here. We have to get a fucking divorce just to make this trip happen.”

Pain flickered through Theo’s eyes at the mention of the divorce.

“We’re risking exposure of our intent for treason to get the answers we need to make said treason happen. How can we possibly spend all day at a party when we still don’t know how to undo the fake mate bond, when we still don’t know how to prove your brother cast that damn spell, when we still don’t even know what these fucking bands are?” I patted my own forehead in frustration.

Theo looked at me empathetically as he approached me. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me once on the mouth. “Marcy?”

“Oh, thank the Goddess,” she muttered. “I thought I was going to have to stay silent.”

I chuckled as I turned to look at my cousin. “What?”

“While here, you’ve found out you have magic, reestablished your connection to it, found out why you’re hallucinating and what you need to do to stabilize your magic. You’ve discovered the Fairweather clan who both will serve as militia alongside us Braverns should you need one and will provide motivation to keep fighting when it feels like you’re losing. You’ve had desperately needed hours to reconnect with your mate and celebrate a pregnancy you’ve been forced to keep secret, and you’ve had hours of training your magic which could save your life in the near future.”

My eyes glassed while Theo held me.

“It may not all be what you came here to do, but that doesn’t mean your time here was wasted,” Marcy added. “And celebrating with people you love and very well may never see again is not frivolous. It’s life giving and revitalizing and necessary to remember what you’re fighting for.”

I took in a shaky breath as Theo rubbed my back with a smile on his face that clearly said he agreed with everything Marcy was saying.

“And, little cousin,” Marcy added with a look I’d seen her give her kids, “it may behoove you to remember that not everything is about you. Maybe all these people, leaving their farms and livelihood for a couple of days to make the trek for this ‘party’, need to spend time with you more than you need to spend time with them.”

I chuckled at her chastisement that felt completely fair. I sighed, leaning into my husband’s chest. He kissed the top of my head, then said, “Spending time with the people who matter most could make all the difference in the end.”

I looked up at my husband then, his words echoing the reason I gave for taking a break from the archives in the first place.

“I guess we’ll meet you at the barn in an hour then,” I told Marcy.

“Excellent!” she replied, pushing away from the threshold to stand upright. “Though I don’t fully trust you to follow through on that because you’re ambitious and calculating, so I’ll just be downstairs waiting to walk over with you whenever you’re ready. Love you, cousin!”

By the time I turned to glare at Marcy, she had already shut our bedroom door behind her. I opened my mouth to yell after her but was interrupted by my ringing phone. I pulled it out of my pocket and answered when I saw who it was.

“Good morning, Kincaid.” I stayed near my mate, drawing on his strength to keep the worry out of my voice. Kincaid hadn’t contacted me this entire trip, as we had agreed upon.

“Good morning, Alpha. How is your retreat going? Two back-to-back mate rejections is a challenge, but if anyone can work through it, it’s you.”

We had spent the entire night before the trip going over all the secrets I’d been hiding from him. He knew this wasn’t really a retreat to heal from my mate rejection from Theo. Hell, he knew Theo and I were still secretly together.

Either someone was listening to his side of the conversation, or he was assuming Owen had access to this conversation somehow. So I played along.

“It’s… complicated,” I replied, treading carefully as I made eye contact with Theo. We had had a long conversation this morning about telling Kincaid exactly what was going on with my hallucinations and unstable magic. Beyond keeping my word about not hiding things from Kincaid anymore, we needed someone to keep an eye on me in case I was pulled into another hallucination – someone who could pull me back out.

I shook my head, indicating to Theo that this wasn’t the right time to divulge everything. He clenched his jaw, but I held up a hand.

“Some of my symptoms have been alleviated as anticipated,” I said of the pregnancy symptoms, “though others have sprung up unfortunately.” That was putting it lightly when it came to these hallucinations. “I’ll give you all the details upon my return, but it’s nothing we won’t be able to manage.”

“Wonderful! I’m glad to hear you’ll be coming back with more energy because Darkmoon could use you at full strength.”

I stiffened. That’s why he had called. Something was wrong in my territory.

“Any problems?” I hedged.

“Nothing I can’t manage as long as you’re still coming back tomorrow as planned,” he answered. I waited in silence, knowing that when he didn’t divulge more, it was because he didn’t want the information getting to the wrong people.

“And this is why you’re my Beta,” I responded. “Call if you need me for anything before tomorrow.”

“Will do.”

We ended the call, and I immediately quelled my mate’s concern. “I promise I’ll tell Kincaid about my unstable magic upon my return, but the line wasn’t secure.” Theo sighed in disappointment but nodded.

“In fact, I can tell him to share with Dahlia so you’ll know when he knows.”

Theo pulled me close. “Thank you.”

I kissed my mate. “Now let’s go make some memories.”