Page 97 of Moody as a Minotaur

“And is it really rushing, if we’ve been dancing around this for… how many years exactly?”

I brushed my lips across his. “You’re right. My mother is a worrier, and she likes to spread her worries around.”

And, oh boy, did she worry. I hadn’t even mentioned the whole getting permanently, irrevocably hitched thing to her. All I’d been talking about was moving in with Levi and giving the apartment to my cousin until he decided on what he wanted to do with his life.

Ever since Fin discovered Willow Lake was teeming with supes, he hadn’t wanted to leave. He was currently taking a break from university, saying he had other things he wanted to learn first. He and Jeremy were gettingalong famously, which was a whole other worry, but not one I would be sharing with my mother anytime soon. She didn’t know about magic, and Nana and I had decided it would be better that way. For now, at least.

“What do you want to do?” Levi asked.

“Let’s get married,” I said, dragging him deeper into the woods behind the Willow Lake Inn.

I’d expected the forest to be quiet, since most of the birds had already flown south and the animals would be settling in to hibernate. But I was wrong. Chickadees fluttered from bare branch to bare branch in the aspen trees. Ravens watched us from their high perches atop pine trees. And nuthatches were racing up and down tree trunks.

I marveled at all those little creatures as we walked to our meeting place. It almost felt like they were here to act as our witnesses and celebrate the moment with us.

Soon, we found Teague in a small clearing.

I’d always thought of Teague as having boy-next-door good looks. He was the kind of guy who you’d expect to be friends with everyone, including the teachers, and chosen for all the sports teams in high school. But that wasn’t the Teague who greeted us today.

This Teague was every bit the death mage.

Black filled his eyes, to the point that I couldn’t see any white or iris at all. He appeared larger, although I couldn’t say exactly why. Maybe it was his power that made it seem that way—a power so great even a human like me could feel it.

When he spotted us, he smiled and nodded at us. At least that’s what I thought was happening. Since he didn’thave irises, it was a little difficult to tell exactly what he was looking at.

“Hi, guys,” he said with a smile, which, I have to say, was creepy as fuck with those black eyes.

If I hadn’t seen the bit of light reflecting on the surface of his eyes, I’d have thought there was nothing there. And everyone knows how creepy those dolls with no eyes are, right? It was like that, but on a living, breathing person. I shuddered.

“I was soaking in the power in the forest to get ready for the ritual,” he continued, seemingly unaware that I was wishing I hadn’t watched so many horror movies as a kid.

God, I was an ass. Here he was, helping us, and I was likening him to a possessed doll. Right. I could do better. I straightened my shoulders and forced a smile.

“Thank you, again, for doing this today,” I said, trying to meet his eyes, but not sure if I was looking at the right place. It was a bit like when someone had a lazy eye; I never knew which one I was supposed to look at, and it seemed rude to ask. So, I tried to pick a point somewhere in the middle.

“Am I making you uncomfortable?” Teague asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I hedged.

Levi glanced at him. “Why? What’s wrong?”

Could he not see the eyes?

Teague laughed. It was a normal, nice laugh. “It’s okay. I know seeing me like this can be unsettling, particularly for people who are new to the supernatural world.”

Now I felt like even more of an ass.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. You aren’t the first person I’ve made uncomfortable.” He beckoned us closer until we were standing directly in front of him. “Are you ready to bind your lives together?”

Levi looked at me to answer the mage.

“Yes,” I said. “What do we need to do?”

“Join hands with one another.”

I pulled off my gloves and stuffed them in my pocket. I slipped my hands into Levi’s and stared up at him. It really felt like a wedding. He smiled at me. He was so damn calm. I’d expected him to be the one panicking this morning, but it’d been me. And now, his hands were steady and dry, while mine were shaky and clammy.