Page 55 of Let It Snow (Eden’s Omegaverse #7)

Snow lies there for a moment, his gaze drifting across the ceiling. From the garden outside come the sounds of his brothers’ voices, the music playing, their meeting on the patio still going on, one I, of course, am not part of.

"Summer, remember when we talked about power? I never wanted that kind of life, never wanted anything that came with living in the spotlight. Dennis wanted it. He dreamed of it. But he also knew, deep down, he didn’t have the talent, which is why we became a team.

Over the past seven years, I’ve written music for more than a dozen films and around twenty video games.

Dennis signs his name, and that works for him.

He takes thirty percent of the fee; I take seventy.

To me, it’s a fair deal. He manages the public image of our little secretive ‘duo’, and I do the work down here in my…

basement. I have money and peace. For me, that’s a win-win. "

"So Dennis Darrento really is you. That name is a legend in the film music industry, and all this time it’s been you hiding behind it. Unbelievable. I’m starting to think my twenty million in the bank doesn’t even make a dent in your world."

Snow smiles gently.

"Money’s never meant much to me. I got a trust fund from my parents anyway.

I know how it sounds, like I’m playing at some noble stance, pretending I’m above it all, but it’s not about that.

For me it’s about peace. I want to live at my own pace, without stress, without the pressure of public scrutiny, without having to craft an image or deal with reporters camped outside my door. "

I sink back down onto the bed and slide closer to him, resting my face against his chest.

"It’s still hard for me to wrap my head around the scale of that sacrifice. I can’t help but feel you must’ve loved Dennis to do something like that for him."

Snow gives a small shrug.

"It was a very specific kind of affection. Our relationship was never straightforward. In a way, it was tragic, because I always knew one day I’d meet my fated mate. I told him that once. I knew it hurt him, knowing we were only ever temporary."

"So after Dennis left for college, did you two ever… you know, fuck again? While you were already in an arrangement with Theo?"

Snow hesitates, exhales softly, then answers.

"Well, it was an open relationship. And yes, from time to time, when Dennis came back to visit his parents, he’d drop by. But it wasn’t often. I think it was… hurting him more than it was helping him."

"When was the last time?"

"Maybe six months ago."

"Then I know what Bay was hinting at at the table. I just hope now—"

Snow lets out a small laugh.

"Don’t worry, Summer. I’m a monogamist, no matter what my past looked like. And you and I…" He smirks. "Well, you never took back your word when you said we’re boyfriends now."

I purse my lips playfully.

"I didn’t, and I’m not planning to."

After a moment of musing, I add,

"For someone who’s spent his life in a basement, you’ve had quite the colorful sex life. Maybe that basement’s just a chrysalis stage, while underneath there’s much more hidden. Or a dragon’s lair? From which you set out on the pleasure hunt."

Snow looks like what I said stirred something in him, some thought long repressed; he frowns.

So I keep it light.

"Do you like it?"

He raises an eyebrow quizzically.

"You know. Fucking."

Snow chuckles as if the question was obvious. "I sure do. I have a healthy libido." Then he smiles faintly. "But I’ve always known I wanted more than just a pleasure hunt. I just had to be patient inside my… chrysalis, and one day hope to build something better with the person meant for me."

We hold each other’s gaze, and I decide to ask something I’ve been struggling to find the courage to say for the past two weeks. With my anxiety, it hasn’t been easy. Maybe now’s the right moment.

"You know that square of land you’ve been clearing behind your parents’ place, cutting away all those shrubs? I was wondering what you planned for it?"

There’s a bit of a celebratory energy in the air. Snow rubs his chin.

"I want to buy a house."

I freeze.

Snow chuckles softly when he sees my face.

"Yes… I think it’s time to crawl out of the lair, you know, break free from the chrysalis." He winks. "I’ve been thinking of putting up a place kind of like Bay’s tiny house, a slightly more supersized version, with two extra rooms upstairs instead of one."

I sit up again, the conversation too big to keep having while lying down.

"Seriously?"

He nods with conviction. There’s a strange stillness hanging in the air. You can almost feel the electric charge, as if the atmosphere itself were alive with energy.

"A house… for us?" I dare to whisper.

Snow’s hand grazes my thigh, his eyes soft and warm.

"Yes, a house. For us."

My gaze sweeps across his face, his marked neck glands, his tattooed, bare chest. All… mine. He’s mine. And he wants us to have our own house!

"That’s sweet… Really?"

"Really, Summer."

Almost shyly, I touch his stomach, the firm, ridged muscles, hard under my hand. For a moment I fall silent, thinking about how to answer, just tracing the patterns of his swirling tattoos.

"Yeah… going back a bit to the healthy libido topic. You know… living in your parents’ house, I still feel like a teenager sneaking from room to room, always making sure not to be too loud.

I’d really love to have a space of our own, where it’s just you and me.

Truth is, I don’t exactly have a small libido either.

" Heat rises to my face. "I like to be fucked.

Wild. Often. Our own house could help with that… "

In one quick move, Snow rolls on top of me, his hair falling around my face, his warm breath brushing my lips.

"I’m on board with the plan."

He leans in to kiss me, but I stop him by putting a finger on his lips.

My face grows more serious.

"But that’s just a side issue, Snow. The more important one is… the kids. Creating a home for them."

Snow is silent for a while, then he nods solemnly.

"I think by the end of January everything will be ready. There’s just one little problem."

"What problem?"

Snow furrows his brows, hesitating.

"I told you once about my blind spot, Summer, remember? I think something’s coming… something big, that I can’t see."

"I don’t get it. Something bad?"

"I can’t answer that, Summer. There’s just a stretch of time I can’t see past. It blocks out everything beyond it, so I don’t know what’s going to happen."

I let out a huff. "You’re scaring me, Snow. That sounds dangerous."

"First, before that comes, there’s another event my family has to get through, something to do with my brother, Winter."

I blink, then sigh.

"Yeah… that talent for seeing the future, that’s one thing I don’t envy you or Moon for. It’s a burden, not a blessing. That awful sense of inevitability hanging over every vision…"

Snow leans in to press a soft kiss to my forehead.

"I don’t want you worrying. And since there’s another seer in this family, your brother, I think I’ll call him again and ask. Maybe he’ll have some insight that helps us figure this out, whatever it is."

"That’s a good idea, but remember, Moon can’t give exact dates. He only sees those little balloon-like snapshots, so he might not be able to say when exactly anything will happen."

"I know. But that’s better than nothing. I’ll talk to him in the next few days and see what he can tell us."

Silence settles. He’s still lying on top of me, and it feels so good. I’ve always loved the weight of his body pressing me down, the sense of being claimed.

"Maybe we could…?" I give him a look, letting out a low sound in AO.

"Always."

◆◆◆

At last, the house is quiet.

The holidays are over, and the Nolan brothers have gone back to their own homes. Winter has left too, the only beta brother Snow has.

The day he left, I stood at the window, watching as Snow went over to him while Winter was packing.

Snow warned him that something troubling was coming into his life, but Winter brushed it off even though Lake joined in, urging him to cancel his flight to Japan.

Snow explains to me that he almost never gives his brothers hints about the future. He keeps his distance because he knows how differently people react to that kind of thing. Not everyone welcomes meddling in their lives and choices.

Besides, Snow firmly believes in nonintervention except in the most dramatic situations, and now, he says, one of those situations is about to happen.

The next few days are heavy.

Lake is practically twisting himself up with fear. I see him pacing the house, restless, and Aiden trails after him, trying to calm him down.

I step in from time to time, trying to comfort him, but he only shakes his head. There’s no convincing him to relax.

Snow is struggling too.

I can see something haunting him, and when I ask, he says the image of what’s about to happen to Winter is breaking through a blind spot in his view of the future. He can hardly tell what exactly might occur.

Three days later, I step outside with Snow onto the patio, where his dad is sitting—a bundle of raw nerves.

Pale, trembling, lost in thought.

Lake’s love and concern for his children are truly without limits.

It’s something I envy in him; his bond with them feels almost magical.

I can’t help but suspect Snow’s abilities didn’t just appear out of nowhere in their bloodline, that Lake’s natural, intuitive magic, enhanced through his Bond with his TM, Aiden, has resulted in the extraordinary talent their son now has.

On that particular day, Winter boards a plane bound for Japan.

The problem is, the flight was originally supposed to include the infamous Blue Lowen, the same guy Anzo Ferro tried to assassinate two days before I escaped the fortress! Yes, the same person. Only this time, at the last moment, Blue backed out of the flight.