Page 18 of Reveal Me (Immortal Vices and Virtues: All Hallows’ Eve #2)

Niamh

T he sheets twisted beneath me like a battlefield of restless limbs.

Each turn and toss was more frantic than the last. My mind raced, replaying Dion’s words, that toast, over and over in my head.

His confession, the rawness in his voice, the way he looked at me, like there was no one else in the room.

Could I trust him? I wanted to. But I’d rejected him. Because he’d lied. Hadn’t he?

“Niamh? Can we talk?” Stella’s voice came from the open door. I was so distracted by my thoughts that I hadn’t heard her knock, if she had.

“You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”

She shook her head with a smile on her face.

“I love Oz with everything I have, but... becoming his wife tomorrow? It feels so real. More real than it did when we became mates.” Her hands nervously adjusted the sheets on the bed, as if doing so could ground her in this moment.

“Mating is private. It was just between us. Marriage is public. It’s a real live contract with the world. ”

“Are you saying you want to elope?”

“The wedding planner would kill me. Besides, the people need to see a good spectacle. There’s been so much hurt and pain in this realm. I want to give Panthera something to smile about.”

I nodded, letting the weight of her words settle on me.

She tilted her head, studying me. “The people would love to see their king married.”

“He’d have to commit to just one woman first,” I scoffed.

“Is that really the only reason you rejected him? Because you don’t think he can commit? It’s not something else?”

“What else could there be?”

“I don’t know. Maybe his feet stink? He has bad hygiene? He’s a dog person?”

“He’s a player. A womanizer. He slept with someone else even after I told him we were fated mates.”

“Wait. You told him you were his fated mate?”

“Not exactly. But he definitely heard me say it.”

I didn’t want to tell Stella that he’d heard me say it to him when I assumed he was a guard.

Nor that while I was saying it to the man I believed was a guard, and I was also trying to jump said guard’s bones.

And while I was saying I knew who my fated mate was, about to seduce who I thought was another man, I was the one taking the bond for granted. It didn’t make me look good.

“He slept with someone else after he knew it was me.”

“How do you know he slept with someone else?”

Crap, this was going to make me look even worse. But I decided to come clean. I could’ve called Tori and come clean. She probably would’ve had my side. There was that girl code saying that you knew what kind of advice you wanted to get when you chose which friend to tell it to.

“So let me get this straight. You pretended to be someone else and seduced your fated mate.”

“Yes.”

“And when he took you up on the offer, you got mad. After a lot of orgasms.”

“It was a lot of orgasms.”

“So you believed someone was a criminal. Then gave them the tools to commit a crime. Meanwhile, you stood by and watched? You know you’re culpable too, Niamh.”

“Whose side are you on, Stella?” I took a deep breath and let it out, wondering if it was too late on Tartarus to call Tori.

Her eyes softened, and she reached out, gently touching my hand. “I’m on the side that will make my best friend and my favorite cousin happy. You two belong together.”

“But he cheated.”

“No, babe, he did not. He’s a shifter. I guarantee he saw through my makeover. Or rather, smelled through it.”

Stella tapped her nose. And that’s when I remembered. I remembered Stella assuming I was Dion during her session when I’d walked into the room. I remember Oz thinking Dion was in the room and then frowning at me.

Dion had said he’d known. He’d said he’d known it was me the whole time. Holy shit.

Was I the asshole?