Page 81 of Shattered Illusion

“What’s all this?” I choke out, fisting their shirts and holding them against me.

“Well.” Axel steps back, but I don’t let him get too far away. Luka tries to follow, but I band my arm around his waist, holding on for dear life. “Cor meum, we couldn’t think of a better way to ask our mate if she’d be our date to the veil-shattering gala.”

I groan and then wince when I see Axel’s face fall. “I didn’t mean it like that.” I shake my head, reaching out for him. He comes willingly, even though he’s lost the smile on his face. “It’sjust that that’s all I’ve heard about all day, and I swore my room was safe from any gala talk.”

“If you don’t want to go, it’s okay, goddess. Axel and I will completely understand. We just wanted to take our mate out and show off how proud we are to be with you.”

Well, damn. Now, I feel like the biggest asshole.

What would it really hurt if I went to this thing? It’s not like someone will take one look at me and know that I don’t belong. Even though I truly do in a normal sense. Plus, getting to see my mates all dressed up like that? I’d be stupid to say no.

“Ask me again.” I shove them both away, backing up a few steps.

“What?” Axel asks incredulously, darting his gaze to Luka and then back to me.

“Ask. Me. Again.”

Luka chuckles at my words and smacks Axel on the chest before dropping to a knee and holding the rose out. That kicks Axel into gear, and he drops, too, his rose clutched in his white-knuckled grip.

“Bailey, will you do us the honor of attending the annual veil-shattering gala as our date?”

More tears trail down my cheeks as I tap my lip, playing like I’m contemplating my answer. Axel starts to fidget from where he’s kneeling on the floor, but the smile on Luka’s face never slips. I swear that man can read me better than I can read myself.

“I guess.” I shrug a shoulder, feigning nonchalance when, really, I’m squealing inside. This morning, I wasn’t excited about the prospect of the gala, but all it took was two handsome men to change my mind.

“You… you guess?” Axel sputters, his blood red eyes wide with disbelief.

“Silly vampy.” I drop down in front of him, cupping his chilly cheeks. “Yes.” I look over at Luka. “Yes, to both of you.”

“Mmmm, I knew you couldn’t resist all this.” Luka makes a show of running his hand across what I know is an impressive 8-pack beneath his blue shirt. Axel chuckles as leans over and smacks the back of his head. “Ow, fucker. Not the hair.”

A watery giggle slips out before both men sandwich me between them, raining kisses down all over my face.

It’s a moment like this that makes me want to go back to that lagoon, smack my human self upside the damn head, and tell past me to lose the horrid thoughts when it comes to supernaturals. They’ve always been depicted one way to those in the human sectors, but I’ve come to learn that they’re nothing like what we’ve been taught. They’re, dare I say, better.

“My mother is going to be so excited to meet you.”

Ex-fuggin-scuse me?

Is it too late to retract that better statement?

Yeah?

Damn.

The gala istwo days away, and I’m slowly—or not so slowly—freaking the heck out.

“Where the hell is she?” I grumble to the emptiness of my room, pacing back and forth as my anxiety takes me on yet another rollercoaster ride.

Marion was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago. She said she had the perfect solution to our dresses and was on her way, but where the hell was she coming from?

The freaking mall?

I shudder just thinking about that place. She wanted to go as soon as she found out the guys asked me, but I just couldn’t bring myself to say yes. While I’ve left the academy since then, it’s been in the safety of the guys’ presence. And she didn’t want them to go. She wanted my dress to be a surprise for them. I agreed, wanting that, too. But the memories of the day at the mall still linger too close to the surface. Hence why she’s supposedly on her way with an alternative.

I just really hope she didn’t take it upon herself to pick out my dress. Knowing her, she’ll have picked out some pale monstrosity and expects me to wear it. I love the girl. She’s become my best friend. But showing up with that will be the quickest way to end our friendship. She knows it, too.

A knock at the door signifies her arrival, and my sanity slowly coming back to me.

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