Page 85 of The Tenth Muse

Selene smiled, wrapping her arms around my neck. “I told you, Aurelia. I want the full seduction. I want you to make me yours. Forever.”

I laughed, glad to know it wasn’t that she’d changed her mind about that part. “Yes, so why isn’t forever starting now?”

My darling girl smiled, devious and wicked. “Because Aurelia, you are going to go with the Librarian, take your reward, revel in your accolades and become the talk of the city. When I return in the spring, for the season, you will fall head over heels to court me … If you still want me, that is.”

It was a brilliant plan. One that would have tongues wagging about us from the start. But I didn’t want to wait out the long winter in the city without her. Now that I’d found her, even a few months apart sounded terrible. For the first time in my life, I knew where home was, and it was wherever Selene made hers.

Ridiculous as it might be to fall for someone so fast, I wasn’t going to question it. Luck was luck, and she was the best of mine.

I opened my mouth to protest, but she shook her head. “I won’t have it any other way, Aurelia. Take your time. Enjoy thelife of a rich woman, a woman with the unearned respect that comes from class status. Settle yourself with that, and then fall in love with me.”

I let her words sink in for a moment, understanding something I’d never had the means to comprehend before that moment. It would be an adjustment to not have to scramble and fight for respect. To simply be given it. “All right,” I agreed, finally. “But will you write?”

“Of course,” she said, raising on her tiptoes to press her lips to mine. “Filthy little missives about what I want to do when we are alone next.”

I groaned, dragging her body against mine as I kissed her. Her mouth was sweet from sparkling wine. She tasted of dreams and magic, of a thousand promises to be fulfilled. When she finally drew away from me, her eyes sparkled with tears. Librarian Endymion had returned, holding two first-class tickets for the train.

“I will see you in the springtime,” Selene said.

I dipped my head to whisper in her ear. “When I will fall in love with you again, for the very first time.”

I felt her smile as she whispered back. “Yes, that is the story we’ll tell our children someday.”

****

As the train pulled away from the station, Selene stood on the platform, waving.That is the story we’ll tell our children someday.She wanted children. Withme. I fell back against my seat, grinning like a fool.

Librarian Endymion sat across from me, staring in wonder atThe Book of Hours. She hadn’t opened it, but simply stared at it as though it were made of precious gems. The book itself was actually quite plain, which made me curious.

“I was afraid to handle it too much,” I lied with practiced ease. “I know it is very important, but I’ve never known … What isThe Book of Hoursabout?”

The librarian smiled. “It is the first book of hours one of our kind ever wrote.”

“A sorcière?” I asked.

The librarian nodded. “Yes, she was not the first of us, but she was the first we know of to document her life. That is all it is. Just the everyday ins and outs of her days with her family. The books she loved, the meals she cooked. Stories about her wife, who was the love of her life. Her five children. Her discovery of the threads that bind us all together.”

Something in my throat clenched tight. “Everything that matters, then.”

“Yes, child,” the librarian said. “That is exactly what it is about andexactlywhy it is so precious.”

I pulled a hanky from my tuxedo jacket, wiping tears from my eyes, as I watched the stars sparkle over the sea. Nuva Troi, and the possibilities for all that mattered most, lay ahead. I closed my eyes and prayed to Aphora to let me dream of Selene.

section seven

. . .

“Selene Krane Nabsthe Most Unexpected Pairing of the Season”

Those of us who’ve been around the block a time or two thought Selene Krane would likely die a dried-up old hag, but we regret to inform you: we were mistaken! In an upending of a volatile season, Aurelia Hart, Nuva Troi’s new darling, and hero to the Order of Mysteries, proposed to Krane at the Solstice Gala, proving that even the most wretched spinsters among you have a chance at not perishing alone.

For more of Selene and Aurelia’s shenanigans, find them at the Monas inDark Night Golden Dawn, which is the first book in the complete Immortal Orders Trilogy. They do, indeed, have everything that matters, and their children have no idea how they really met. And in case you were wondering, Section Seven never changes. If anything, they get worse.

The Immortal Orders continues this fall, with Selene & Aurelia’s granddaughter inBehind the Iron Gate.

about allison carr waechter

Allison Carr Waechter is the author of fantasy romance novels and assistant to two monster cats. She's probably trying to remember why she walked into a room right now or making another cup of tea.

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