Page 97 of D'Vaire or Nothing
“You wanted us to find new paths, Momma,” Seltivare said. “We have. I’m quitting my job at Deck of Cards to work at Dérive with Ashby. Your house is on the market. Chieftain Tristis finally signed the paperwork to sell the business. That’s what you wanted us to do, to explore the world. I found my mate. Mavi will find his too. I know it, or I’ll be mad at Fate. There’s no reason you need to run off befriending random people again to find a tribe. You have one that wants you.”
“What do you mean you are quitting your job at Deck of Cards to work at Dérive?” Mavizare asked, his voice rising with each word.
Seltivare patted his brother’s thigh. “Settle down, we’ll talk about it later. I already told Ashby he must take us both. We are twins. A package deal.”
“Will I have a desk and a company car?” Mavizare asked, bending forward so he could ask Ashby directly.
“A desk, sure. A car provided by a company that provides magical transportation? Absolutely not,” Ashby responded.
“Okay, that makes sense,” Mavizare said. “What about vacation days? How many will I have?”
“Worry about it later; we have to convince our parents to join us at D’Vaire,” Seltivare hissed at his brother.
“Could we apply to this place?” Vateltir asked. “Can we submit applications to join Elven D’Vaire?”
Dra’Kaedan shook his head. “No. You’re family. If you want to live here, pick a room and move in. What if I offered another proposition to you? You have experience running a company. Would you be willing to handle the day-to-day operations of this sanctuary? You can hire who you need, handle the staff of elves that rotate, or make whatever decisions you want. There is a board that oversees the sanctuary, but I know they’d be willing to work with you to build something functional here instead of a rotating door that doesn’t offer the tranquil atmosphere we want for old and new residents.”
“Speak to your board and ask them their thoughts,” Seltivare’s mother answered immediately. “If we can work together to create a vision that works for us and them, we would love to aid ourselves and you in this venture.”
Saura rubbed her hands together. “Hot damn, this is exciting. Maybe if we can get this worked out, we can finallylaunch a marketing campaign out there that convinces some elves to follow through on the application process.”
“If we take the jobs, I won’t consider us successful until it breathes with the same life as Dra’Kaedan’s Coven,” Vateltir said.
Seltivare was so excited at the thought of his parents becoming part of the D’Vaires in whatever way suited them, he was almost no longer irritated that for eternity he’d be introducing himself as Seltivare D’Vaire.
Almost.
Thankfully, he had a beautiful, kind, sexy hybrid at his side to make everything better. Delighted with Fate and Ashby, Seltivare kissed the druid-jaguar’s cheek, which earned him a second buss on the lips.
“Killian thinks we should use some magic and rescue your plants from your old house,” Ashby said. “What do you say we find him when we get home and add them to our garden below the tree where we’ll work?”
Chapter 6
Ashby was in an excellent mood. In the two weeks since he’d met Seltivare, nearly everything in his life had been rearranged. But it was nothing compared to what the elf who’d left his home, tribe, job, and parents had done to become Ashby’s mate. Thankfully, the sole thing Seltivare complained about was the big bed he slept in alone. That situation was close to being over or Ashby would lose his mind thanks to his fervent desire to strip Seltivare, but the elf was too important to rush anything.
That morning, Seltivare and Mavizare had embarked on their first day as employees at Dérive. It was delightful to sit next to Seltivare through the day, and Mavizare was equally ecstatic to have chosen a desk at Kitchi’s side in the High Kings’ office that was shared by many and open to everyone.
As for Seltivare’s parents, Ashby and every other D’Vaire were thrilled with their decision to take a suite at Elven D’Vaire. The couple were working diligently with the board of the sanctuary to work out logistics, and Zolilara and Vateltir were determined to befriend the five resurrected elves who’d kept to themselves for many years.
Every person involved wanted to succeed in creating a tranquil sanctuary that appealed to newcomers. Ashby hopedit would work out and was ecstatic that he could use a transportation spell to reunite the twins with their parents at any given hour. It made Ashby feel less guilty about being able to keep his family members close, while Seltivare no longer shared a roof with his folks.
Vateltir and Zolilara had recently celebrated the sale of their house, and Ashby was thrilled to have Seltivare’s plants from his former home in the expanding garden beneath their office tree. The couple had dug their spades into the ground and discussed their plan to add azaleas, since Fate had made Ashby smell like that to Seltivare.
Ashby expected many shared hours of gardening in the future and was considering the possibility of adding a small greenhouse for them to experiment with hybrids. It was something he needed to discuss with Seltivare. Thankfully, they saw eye to eye on nearly everything except for the glaring issue of their sleeping arrangements.
But Ashby didn’t want to think about that right now. He was sitting on the sofa in the garden-themed suite—Seltivare refused to allow any changes to be made to it—and doodling some notes to himself on his phone about tasks he wanted to accomplish in the morning. The television was on but the sound muted as an enthusiastic druid discussed with his audience his latest gardening experiments.
It was an interesting show and one Ashby watched routinely. However, he’d lowered the sound because Seltivare’s parents had called. Mavizare had been summoned from his nearby suite, and the pair was chattering excitedly with their folks. Ashby marveled at how he’d gone from sitting in a beautiful room by himself to sharing it with an elf with a sweet mouth and a wicked tongue who had breathed life into every one of the druid’s spaces.
A new revelation had Ashby nearly dropping his phone. He’d lost his heart to the beautiful Seltivare. It made sense. They shared a love of growing things, held family in high esteem, and except for their less-than-stellar sleeping arrangements, had experienced no bumps in their short road as a couple.
Of course, those things were easy to point out in Ashby’s mind, but what he adored most was Seltivare’s goofiness with his twin, his sweet teasing, and the way he’d shown no hesitation as they’d both devoted themselves to being a mated pair in far more than name only. They were building a life together.
Although their relationship was a new seed instead of an ancient stalwart tree, Ashby could already envision a future with Seltivare at his side no matter what Fate threw at them. As if Seltivare somehow knew what was on Ashby’s startled mind, the elf turned to him and his mouth curved in a warm smile.
Ashby flashed the handsome elf a smile and added a wink. Deciding it was pointless to focus on work any longer, Ashby set his phone on the coffee table and kept his gaze locked on Seltivare. As was his habit, he was dressed in a black tunic and pants with accents in blue. D’Vaire colors.
The loose layers of his hair were slightly overgrown as Seltivare was considering following elven tradition and wearing it past his shoulders now that he was no longer Tristis. Ashby supported Seltivare no matter his decision, but he secretly hoped to someday learn the art of decorating his mate’s long tresses with beads and braids.
