Page 38 of Solstice

She ran her fingers over it, giving me a small smile. “Tomorrow’s the big day.”

“It is.” I’d get up in front of my colleagues and plead our case. I’d sponsor the verbiage I helped create, and hopefully, fingers crossed, it would go to the Senate. After that, it was out of my hands.

“Are you nervous?” She gave me a soft smile.

“I’m always nervous right before.” The anticipation was the worst part.

“You’ll do great.”

“Because you’re here.” I ran my thumb over her knuckles, bringing them up for a kiss. “I always feel better when you’re here.”

I said it to make her smile, but she looked like she was on the verge of tears.

“Miri, what’s—” My secretary buzzed my phone, and annoyed, I pressed the speaker. “Yes, Joanna?”

“Your committee meeting starts in five minutes.”

“Thank you.” I hung up and looked at Miri, but she’d recovered and pulled a mask up around her emotions, brushing whatever that was under the rug. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, darling. Go to your meeting.” She smiled and gave me another kiss before turning to head back into the front room. “See you at home?”

I nodded, my focus catching on the sway of her hips as she walked away from me. Something about that look in her eye sent a nervous twist through my gut, so I pulled out my phone and texted Lex.

Me:Check on our wife. She just came by and looked upset.

Lex:Got it.

Perhaps this was the best part of our strange relationship. If I couldn’t be there for her, Lex could. And if not Lex, then Carter. We each had our own personal dynamics with the others, and though jealousy occasionally reared its head, we respected those bonds.

That was why the world would never understand, why we could never tell anyone the truth about us. Society wouldn’t see the shades of gray, too focused on things like inheritance and patriarchal traditions. It wouldn’t matter if Lex also loved Carter and Miri. It wouldn’t matter I’d never stopped loving any of them. They’d just see something foreign and unusual, and they’d try to crush it like a house spider.

Six years ago, I’d hated my mother for trying to control my public image. I’d been raised to believe anything I did would come back to haunt me, and now that I was here, I looked back on my younger self with pity. Who would I be if I’d been honest then? Who would I be if I’d dragged Lex to California to find our long-lost loves? How would this world be different?

Existential dread aside, I gathered my things and pursed my lips, stuffing my binder in my tote before leaving for my meeting.

11

Lex

Xwas right. My princess seemed off.

I couldn’t put my finger on what about her was different. She had the same glint to her eyes, the same springtime flowery scent, the same timeless smile. But my internal bullshit meter went sky high the second she walked into our house.

She was hiding something, and the more she lied about the fact she was fine, the more the sour taste of her dishonesty boiled in my gut.

It was in the way she quickly shifted her gaze anytime I got too close. When I wrapped my arms around her and nibbled on her ear, she curled toward herself and moved anywhere else. That made even more suspicious. Miri only shut me out when she was upset with me, and I hadn’t fought with Ivy in weeks (that Miri knew about) so what the fuck?

I could demand she tell me, maybe use my magic to force it out of her, but we’d promised not to use our gifts on each other without permission. So, I sat at one end of the couch, typing on my laptop, occasionally catching her attention as she flitted around the kitchen with an apron attached to her neck. The house smelled like cookies and chocolate. She’d been craving sweets all day, so she went to work baking as soon as she arrived.

Ever since Kit had found Smythe, we’d been watching him. If he knew one of the royals had gotten out of Faerie, I’d expect more of a rush to leave town. As it was, he seemed…content. Normal. We didn’t know what Smythe was planning, if anything at all. We could show up on his doorstep only to be handcuffed and gagged and sold to the king in exchange for his pardon. But nothing about the walking-talking midlife crisis in the photos screamed “preparing for war.”

Hell, he wore New Balances, for Christ’s sake.

After Ivy gave her congressional speech, we planned to hit the road and go after Smythe. This was the whole reason Miri had come into town. She’d been there the last time we had to interrogate him. It only made sense she’d come along again. I would have preferred the four of us go together, but Carter was in Romania filming season five.We’d only have the luck we’d been born with, and I prayed that was enough.

But none of that mattered if Miri hid her own secrets. We didn’t keep things from each other anymore. We’d learned our lesson about that. So…why did she seem so guarded?

This rolled around in my mind until a plan started to form. Miri leaned over the kitchen island, licking brownie batter off one rubber spatula and peanut butter off another, her eyes rolling back in her head while she alternated between them. I paused for a moment, wondering if I’d ever licked brownie batter off her before, and then I considered what it would taste like combined with the decadence of her skin.

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