Page 195 of Bride By Initiation

"As long as there's no more sex involving my wife or me, you can take my token," I assert.

He narrows his gaze. "So no token and a nonnegotiable not involving sex. Done?"

"Yeah. I'm good," I declare.

"Kirill?" he asks.

Kirill hesitates, then agrees. "Fine."

Approval fills the man's features. He looks around the table, ordering, "Hand in the air to approve, hands on the table to object." He raises his hand.

The others all follow.

"Good." He steps in front of Zara and me. "Do you vow to uphold the laws of the Omni, preserve the initiatives of The Underworld, and maintain secrecy of our utopia?"

"I do," Zara affirms, gripping my hand.

"I do," I proclaim, squeezing hers back.

He smiles. "By the power of the Omni, I grant you a seat at the table." He turns toward Kirill. "When we deem it's time, you will marry our chosen one."

Kirill objects, "You can't arrange my marriage, Fedir. I'm King of the Omni. Only I can decide whom I marry."

"All kings need a queen. You're forty-five, and you're past due to take a wife. You also just agreed to a nonnegotiable, so stop objecting. You know the rules," Fedir warns.

Kirill grinds his molars.

Fedir turns toward me. "You will give your sister, Fiona, to Kirill."

"No fucking way," I blurt out.

Fedir scoffs, pointing out, "You changed the course of your fate and your sister's when you didn't choose the redhead."

I protest, "I'm not handing my sister to him."

Fedir reminds me, "You agreed to a nonnegotiable. A broken agreement within the Omni is punishable by death. Is that what you want for you and your wife?"

"I'll use my override token," Zara interjects.

Fedir chuckles.

A chill runs through my blood. I tug Zara into me. "What's so funny?"

Fedir points at us. "You two have a lot to learn. You cannot use an override token for someone who doesn't have a seat at the table. And you can never use it for your husband's debt. A debt of one spouse is also the debt of the other."

"That's stupid," Zara says.

"It's one of the rules his father made," Fedir says, glancing at me.

Damn you, Dad.

I declare, "My sister is not meant for an arranged marriage."

"You are wrong. Your sister was meant to sit at the table. Your father wanted it," he declares.

"Not like this," I insist.

Fedir asks, "So you object to her marrying a man who stood up for you and saved your life and your wife's?"

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