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Goddess. These people are gods, and I’m just some memory depraved Remnant girl. A Remnant girl who might have Magic, my mind argues.

I adjust his bow tie. “Is that the one that you had sex with?”

He rolls his eyes “It was a mistake.”

“You were telling me that Eris will be jealous. Continue,” I grin.

“She’s engaged, but that doesn’t mean she won’t try to cause problems. Try not to converse with her. If you do, keep it to a minimum. I don’t want any issues with her tonight. I want to save it for another time.”

“Got it. Be silent and stoic.” I salute him.

“Oh, Jos, you are a far cry from stoic, and you are historically loud.” He gives me that boyish grin I love and kisses me on the cheek.

I look up at him in all his beautiful glory. “Thank you for bringing Vivian.”

“Of course,” he says sweetly, then leads me through the velvet curtains into the palace. When we reach the entrance, Vivian is already standing there, fussing over Minos and Hermes. She always busies herself.

“Woah,” Minos gasps. Hermes chokes before he can get a word out.

Hermes finally recovers. “She makes you actually look like royalty for once.”

“Well, Hermes.” Minos grips his shoulder. “It looks like the days of prince playboy are over. The future protector of the Underworld has finally graced us with his presence.”

“They’re going to kneel just at the sight of you two.” Hermes raises his eyebrows.

Aedon tightens his grip on me. “Where are we at with time, Minos?”

“The gala will have started, and almost everyone will have arrived. Perfect timing if you ask me.”

“Go get in the car. We’ll be there in a moment,” Aedon says with all the air of a prince. None of them bat an eye. Vivian peppers them with questions about etiquette as they exit through the massive doors.

He turns to me. “Is something wrong?”

“What makes you say that?” I scoff.

“You’re squirming,” he says in all seriousness.

“I just hate parties. Especially ones where I’m the center of attention.”

His eyes narrow, and he inspects my facial expression. I don’t want to think about how I’ll have to tell him about my catastrophic meltdown all those years ago, or how I tucked the Grimoire into his library. He hasn’t forced me to talk about the danger hanging over our heads, but I know he’ll ask soon. I convince myself that’s tomorrow’s problem. Tonight, my husband and I are going to make an appearance out in the world, and it will set the tone for the rest of eternity. Sounds fucking exhausting.

“Are you ready?” Aedon takes measure of me, letting his skepticism go.

No, I’m not. “Which answer lets you know that it’s begrudgingly?”

“That was a given,” he smirks. “You look…There aren’t words for it, Jos. You put me to shame.”

“That’s nothing new. I always do,” I chirp.

“I’m just a lucky bastard who gets to call you my wife.”

“So you know your place?” I grin.

“It’s not next to you, if that’s what you’re insinuating,” he says with a husky voice.

“What about on top of me?”

Someone clears their throat. “As much as I want to stand here and see where this is going, Minos is in a fit in the car. If I hear the word safety out of his mouth one more time today, we won’t make it there,” Hermes interjects. I hadn’t even noticed him return.