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D espite the early hour, Richard Marwood had already lost count of how many cups of coffee he’d sucked down. That wasn’t unusual for him. He loved the delicious brew, and since he was a necromancer, the effect of the caffeine didn’t last long. As Richard gulped another swallow, a dark-haired man rapped on his open door, then sailed into the room without waiting for an invitation.

Richard smiled. Since the moment he had resurrected Douglas Braund, they’d clicked. They had similar working styles and successfully managed conference services for the largest Marwood resort in Las Vegas.

Although nepotism had helped Richard—his father had hired him—he devoted himself to his job. Not only did he love what he did, but he didn’t want anyone whispering behind his back that he wasn’t worthy of his position. Thankfully, Richard had a wonderful team, and that helped tremendously. Douglas was an integral part of their success, and Richard was ecstatic to work with him five days a week.

“Do you need more coffee?” Douglas asked, hovering near a guest chair without sitting, ready to fetch whatever Richard needed. It was unnecessary. Richard preferred to get his own refreshments or snacks, and as co-director, it wasn’t part of Douglas’s duties to retrieve anything for him. But the inspirit was kind. Perhaps too kind.

“I’m good, thanks.”

Douglas dropped into a seat. “You must be excited about our next appointment.”

A wave of tender emotion swept through Richard. He kept his face impassive; work was no place for his heart to melt. But it was difficult to maintain his stoicism. There were few people Richard loved as much as his younger brother, Eric.

His sibling was a rare necromancer, a destiny-touched one born with a skull on his hand to set him apart from the norm. Eric’s skills went far beyond Richard’s ability to raise the dead and teleport with the aid of a crystal.

Destiny-touched necromancers were often hunted by murderers who claimed the powerful sorcerers were a danger to everyone. But Richard wasn’t fooled. People were jealous of necros like Eric. Even with his special gifts, like being able to talk to ghosts and guide them to the next plane, Eric didn’t draw attention to himself. On the contrary, Eric wasn’t bold. He maintained the lie that he was a mediocre medium to keep the existence of necromancers from humans.

Two of Richard’s grandparents—one on his mother’s side and the other on his father’s—had been assassinated prior to his birth. The destiny-touched were believed to be found most frequently along family lines, so Richard’s parents had worried about having children without a safety net in place.

To protect their offspring, Clark and Rosalind Marwood had hired an inspirit named Gabriel Wolfebrier. They’d discovered his existence after he killed his summoner to protect a destiny-touched child. Unfortunately, Gabriel had been too late to save the child, but the Marwoods had gained a fierce protector who devoted himself to safety—particularly Eric’s.

As long as Richard could remember, Gabriel had been there for him and his family. Before Eric had even confessed that he had a crush on the blond inspirit with the serious green gaze, Richard had noticed the way his brother stared at the handsome man. So, of course, Richard had insisted on formulating a plan to snare Gabriel for Eric.

Little had Richard known that Gabriel was Eric’s soulmate. A necromancer or inspirit couldn’t discover the person destiny—or whatever force picked their soulmate—had chosen for them until they had sex with them. Eric was extraordinarily handsome and one of the sweetest people ever born, but it’d taken years for Gabriel to finally cave and take Richard’s brother to bed.

Now they were getting married, their souls were bound completely together, and Richard was ecstatic. They were so happy, and Richard wanted the perfect wedding for them.

“I can’t wait to plan Eric and Gabriel’s big day, but I bet you anything my brother is going to have little input on anything fun,” Richard said.

His baby brother had no interest in fabrics or décor. Richard and his only cousin, Maribeth, picked out every scrap of clothing in Eric’s closet because the man gave zero attention to what he wore. Their mother had designed Eric’s bedroom. Eric didn’t care what his space looked like. Richard couldn’t imagine such a state. He’d handpicked everything in his own suite, and it’d taken him months to perfect it. He liked to shop, so it was easy and enjoyable to take on the task of filling Eric’s closet.

“At least he’ll be interested in the food,” Douglas remarked with a knowing smile.

Richard rolled his eyes. “His first request will be for mashed potatoes.”

“Do you think Gabe will have thoughts on the reception?”

“I doubt it. Eric immediately informed me when Gabriel was living in the guest house that it was a literal blank slate with a few beige necessities. And considering how infatuated Eric is with Gabriel, along with my brother’s obliviousness about anything décor-related, it had to be incredibly dull for him to notice.”

“Well, Gabe does basically wear the same outfit every day to work.”

It was true. Gabriel wore a dark suit and white shirt daily. There were no random days with a blue shirt or even a tie to break up the monotony of his wardrobe. Richard privately thought it was cute the way the two soulmates shared a lack of interest in clothing, even if he personally didn’t understand it. While his own closet was made up almost entirely of black, no two articles of clothing were the same.

“You’re right, and my mother will insist my brother involve himself in this process, whether he likes it or not.” The phone on Richard’s desk rang, and he picked it up. It was his assistant, Benjamin, letting him know his guests had arrived. Richard grabbed his padfolio and half-full coffee cup. “Let’s head to the conference room.”

“I’ll grab my stuff and meet you there,” Douglas said, rising.

With a nod, Richard waited for the inspirit to head out, then he strode swiftly to the conference room. A smile bloomed as he noted the presence of a man he hadn’t expected to accompany his mother. Richard set his things on the table and moved to embrace the special inspirit who had been part of his life since before his birth.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you, David,” Richard commented as he hugged him.

The shy man held on tight, and Richard took comfort from the man his mother had resurrected. David helped her run the house and was a genius in the kitchen. Every book recommendation Richard needed came from David, and the pair had recently started taking weekly kung fu classes because the inspirit wanted to learn self-defense. Richard refused to allow David to go alone, nor did he want the inspirit to pass up the opportunity to try something new, so he’d immediately volunteered to accompany him. It wasn’t Richard’s favorite night of the week, but he did it without complaint.

That was as adventurous as David’s life got. The inspirit preferred not to leave the house unless it was with someone else and rarely spoke outside the Marwood mansion. He was shy, but there was also a haunted look that crept into his eyes sometimes that made Richard wonder what in his past had scarred him.

Richard refused to question David. And even if he wanted to, Richard’s mother would hop in and prevent it. Both of Richard’s parents protected the inspirit fiercely and allowed David to keep his secrets.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Richard told David. “We can use your expertise.”

“Rosalind told me on the car ride over she wants Eric and Gabriel to have the final say on everything,” David confided.

Richard smirked. “Yes, like he did with his bedroom.”

Douglas sailed into the conference room, and Richard kissed David’s cheek, then moved on to embrace his mother. It’d been less than an hour since Richard had been with his family eating breakfast, but they were his world, and he adored them.

“I tried to invite Maribeth, but she insisted on staying home,” Rosalind revealed, worry in her blue eyes.

Maribeth had been distant lately, but she was working through a lot. Her only parent had kidnapped Eric, intending to kill him. Alden Marwood had lost his wife twenty-five years ago and had somehow twisted the situation in his mind, deciding that the destiny-touched Eric was to blame. Thankfully, the plot had been foiled. But not without a cost.

Maribeth had been shot by her father while trying to save Eric, and to keep from going to jail, Uncle Alden had taken his own life. Maribeth’s shoulder wound had healed quickly thanks to her necromancer blood, but for reasons Richard couldn’t fathom, she blamed herself for what had happened.

It frustrated Richard, but he had to allow his cousin to handle her emotions the way she wanted, and she insisted on going at it mostly alone. Richard was her best friend, but she refused to confide in him. It worried him and did little to help him sleep at night.

“Maybe Eric can convince her to get involved,” Richard suggested, already knowing it’d be a futile gesture. Maribeth would insist that Eric and Gabriel be the ones making the decisions and that her presence had no point.

“We’ll see,” his mother replied, though Richard could tell he’d done nothing to ease her worries. “Hug Gabriel.”

Doing as his mother bid, Richard was taken into a big bear hug by the brawny inspirit Eric had been crushing on since he was twelve years old.

“Are you ready to spend all that Wolfebrier money?” Richard teased.

“I’d spend every penny to please your brother,” Gabriel vowed. Delighted that Eric had someone who loved him unconditionally and would literally lay down his life for him, Richard grinned at the tall inspirit.

“Good thing for you the mashed potatoes he’ll request won’t put much of a dent in your bank account.”

Gabriel cracked a smile, then stepped aside to greet Douglas. Richard’s delight grew as he tugged his only sibling into his arms.

“Your man looks good today,” Richard said.

Eric fixed his dreamy blue gaze on Richard’s face. “He looks good every day.”

“Oh, trust me, I know. Why do you think I worked so hard to get him to notice you were more than the destiny-touched necro he was sworn to protect?”

“Considering what you think of hot guys, I’m surprised you didn’t tell me to run in the other direction,” Eric muttered.

Richard’s track record with men was sorry at best. He didn’t have vast experience, but his encounters had soured him. Every damn time, he’d allowed himself to become fixated on a handsome face and hadn’t considered their personality. But no longer. The last straw was allowing some pretty man with no kindness in his heart to take the last vestiges of his virginity.

Trying anal sex had been painful and embarrassing. He could vividly recall being on the bed with his ass in the air and his cheek pressed into a pillow as the man whose name he refused to remember emptied into him with a grunt. Meanwhile, Richard hadn’t even been hard any longer and had desperately waited for it to end so he could escape.

He’d told no one about his tears afterward. Instead, he’d promised himself that he was done with that foolishness. The first frisson of desire was nice, but it didn’t end well for him. Richard was no longer willing to gamble himself or his body on anyone. He made poor choices when it came to men.

So, he was done with them. Permanently. The last damn thing he wanted was a soulmate. Much to the disgust of his brother.

Richard swatted Eric’s ass. “Be good. We’re here to celebrate love. Specifically, yours and Gabriel’s. Now, slap a smile on your face and pretend you care about tablecloths, dinnerware, and floral arrangements.”

Eric’s mouth twisted in disgust. “We have to decide all that?”

“Gabriel’s not going to listen to any talk about elopement, so yeah.”

“No one warned me about all this shit. I just want to be with Gabriel,” Eric muttered as he stomped inelegantly to a seat near his soulmate.

Amused, Richard grabbed a chair next to Douglas and allowed a vision of a silver-and-white reception to float into his mind. White represented inspirits, and unlike that of most necromancers, Eric’s essence was silver instead of black. The two colors would be perfect together, and Richard wanted it to sparkle as brightly as the love flowing between his brother and Gabriel.