Page 34 of D’Vaire or Nothing (D’Vaire #44)

W ith a grunt, Seltivare Tristis pushed his spade into the sandy dirt of his garden.

Seltivare’s Russian sage had beautiful violet-purple blooms with silvery foliage, and he loved it, but it grew rapidly and would take over the entire bed if he didn’t routinely dig up the spreading plant.

Although it was already warm outside the home he shared with his brother and parents in Las Vegas, Seltivare didn’t mind a little sweat as long as he was among his flowers.

The sound of the backdoor sliding open warned Seltivare that the peace of his afternoon was about to end.

“Selti,” shouted his mother, Zolilara. “What are you doing? You have to be at work in an hour. Get inside and take a shower.”

“Okay, I’m going,” Seltivare said without an ounce of joy.

His mouth twisted, and his shoulders slumped, but he grabbed the sage he’d uprooted and trudged toward the house to bathe.

The last thing he wanted to do was go to his job.

Twelve years ago, Seltivare had turned eighteen and immediately gone to work for his parents.

They owned a cleaning company and tidied up the homes of many important Tristis elven families.

It was a wonderful job. Seltivare didn’t mind cleaning, and his parents dealt directly with the homeowners.

As long as Seltivare worked hard and ensured everything in the houses sparkled, he earned a nice paycheck.

His father, Vateltir, had encouraged him to be mindful and save most of his earnings.

Seltivare had taken his advice, but he was happy to splurge on seeds, tools, or fertilizer for his garden.

Then the dragons had advertised jobs for their latest resort, Deck of Cards.

Which would have been fine if his mother hadn’t discovered the list of openings.

For years, she’d despaired that Seltivare and his identical twin, Mavizare, hadn’t met their mates.

She dragged their family to the annual elven gathering, but Fate wasn’t answering her call.

For reasons Seltivare didn’t understand, Deck of Cards had swayed Zolilara to change their entire lives.

She’d sent Seltivare and Mavizare off to interviews, and much to the horror of the brothers, they were hired.

Their parents were elated. Now they would be exposed to people.

The innately shy twins would blossom, or so their folks hoped.

To keep Mavizare and Seltivare from quitting, their parents had made the bold step of putting their company up for sale.

Unfortunately for them, Chieftain Tristis had rules requiring large purchases, like their company, to gain his personal approval.

They’d found a buyer immediately but were waiting for the required paperwork from the Chieftain’s office.

That hadn’t kept Seltivare’s parents from putting their home on the market. They were determined to force their sons into change, complete with a new roof over their heads. Vateltir and Zolilara wanted to downsize to save money since they had yet to decide what new venture to try next.

Moving as slowly as possible, Seltivare marched through the only home he’d known and tried not to roll his eyes at the pressed uniform already hanging in the bathroom.

His mother was doing everything she could to ensure he went to work.

It was sweet of her to iron his things, but he wanted to throw them in the trash and return to his spreading sage.

Although they were Tristis elves and the tribe was famous for cutting their hair short and refusing to wear traditional elven tunics and pants, Seltivare’s parents had a different set of rules in their household.

Their hair could be cut above their shoulders, but they stuck to every other elven custom.

Seltivare stepped out of his linen pants and peeled off his tunic to shower.

It was tempting to dawdle. But it would invite his mother to do something bold, like charging into the bathroom and dragging him out by a pointed ear.

So, Seltivare shampooed, conditioned, and soaped quickly.

All elves were descended from the Fae, and the last bit of magic gifted to them as their former realms were destroyed allowed their tresses to dry almost instantly, which let Seltivare focus on toweling the moisture from his body.

He carefully hung up his towel on the rack, then tugged on a pair of boxers.

Underwear was annoying, but zippers near his skin and private parts horrified Seltivare, so he wore them without too much complaining.

The resort was card themed, and he was assigned to clean the garden area, so the outline of a spade was embroidered in gold on his black shirt.

Once he’d slipped it on and buttoned it, he pulled on the matching dark trousers.

His boxers were irritating, but nothing ticked Seltivare off more than socks and any shoe that wasn’t an elven sandal.

Although traditional elves were known for forgoing swear words, Seltivare cursed a blue streak under his breath as he yanked socks over his toes, which were decorated in a plethora of shimmering black rings.

He’d run out of swear words by the time he tied his admittedly comfortable work shoes.

“Selti,” his mother called out. “Hurry now, you’ll be late.”

Seltivare grabbed his comb from the drawer and quickly dragged it through his hair. Thankfully, there were no tangles, and it fell toward his face in layers. With terror rising in his chest, Seltivare rushed out of the bathroom and nearly plowed into his mother.

“Oh good, you’re ready. Mavi is already outside. Go now. And make friends.”

“Yes, Momma,” Seltivare said as he lumbered past her.

The moment the front door shut behind him, he rolled his eyes and flipped his brother off for honking the horn of the car they shared.

Seltivare wanted to inform his mother that he had been hired to pick trash up around the massive garden area and the adjoining casino, not to socialize, but he wasn’t crazy enough to invite her wrath.

His mother was a wonderful person, and he loved her immensely.

However, she was a strong woman, and the last thing he wanted to do was get on her bad side.

“Selti, hurry the fuck up!” Mavizare yelled through his open window.

Seltivare pulled open the door of the sedan and glared. “I hope Momma heard you.”

“She can’t hear us through the house. At least not well enough to make out our words. Plus, I’ll lie and say I was speaking in Modern Elvish and she misunderstood. She doesn’t know Modern Elvish.”

“Because it differs massively from the dialect she grew up with and she hasn’t learned it,” Seltivare murmured as he climbed into the car and fastened his seatbelt.

“Which is why I like to remind her you and I speak her ancient Elvish and the modern one,” Mavizare said impishly.

“You’re probably the reason we’re off to this resort today. If you weren’t irking Momma, she wouldn’t have come up with this plan to sell the company and make us work with people.”

“Training has been so nice, the other employees have been kind, but there are people checking in today, and I would prefer if they stayed home.”

“At least you were assigned to cleaning hotel rooms and suites,” Seltivare reminded his twin.

The drive to the resort was far too short for Seltivare’s liking, and he wished his brother would drive slower despite him doing below the speed limit.

“It’s unlikely you’ll have to do more than say hello to anyone passing you in a hallway. ”

Mavizare shuddered. “Yes, you are in the garden and casino. I feel bad for you. You should’ve asked if it was possible to be transferred.”

“Mavi, I can’t start my job by making demands or asking for special treatment. I have no reason for wanting to go to a different spot other than I don’t want to talk to people. That doesn’t make me sound like a pleasant employee.”

“Do you remember when we were little and Momma would ask us if we made new friends at school?”

“Yes, she’d get flustered if we told her we didn’t need friends because we had each other.”

“Maybe we should’ve made some damn friends so we’d be in a Tristis home right now scrubbing floors,” Mavizare muttered.

They sat in silence, both contemplating the future they had to face in a few minutes as Mavizare drove them to their destiny.

Neither twin was naturally outgoing, and they preferred the comforts of their quiet home.

But Seltivare also knew that he and Mavizare wanted mates.

It was too bad they didn’t show up at the front door of their house instead of Seltivare’s entire life being thrown into chaos thanks to his mother’s fear that the twins would spend eternity alone.

Mavizare pulled into the employee lot, and they turned to each other wearing matching frowns.

“This sucks,” Mavizare said.

“Yes, let’s get it over with,” Seltivare replied.

With plenty of grumbled curses, the twins clambered out of the vehicle.

But as they stepped closer to the resort, they slapped smiles on their faces and straightened their shoulders.

Their parents had infused them with pride in themselves as employees, and they would not let the resort down despite their dislike of their current situation.

Right before they crossed the threshold into the vast building, Mavizare tugged Seltivare into his arms and squeezed him tightly.

“Have a good day. Text me on your breaks.”

“You too. Don’t go out to the car tonight by yourself. Wait for me.”

“It’ll be dark, I’m not going out there alone.”

“Good,” Seltivare said. He kissed his brother’s cheek, and they entered the resort.

They waved goodbye and headed in opposite directions to start their workdays.

Each member of the team had a locker, but Seltivare had yet to put anything in his, so he bypassed visiting it.

Instead, he went to a room outside it where his supervisor was already waiting.