Page 339 of Awakened

My brain is basically mid-explosion, so when he not only takes me at my word—which, I might add, is a LIE—but also asks a follow-up question, it takes a solid twenty seconds to process it.

“Uh…Well… I’m really excited for…” I flounder, trying to come up with something—anything—as an answer. When my brain refuses to work, I freak out and mumble something like “Ahruebgsd,” which is totally not a word. Then, because I haven’t made this uncomfortable enough, I decide running away will make things better and pick up my pace.

Oh Gods, what am I doing? This is so stupid!

I should turn around. Tell him the truth—that I’m starting to really, really freak out. I don’t. I’m fully committed now to speed-walking through the gardens in a specially tailored, navy blue velvet three-piece suit like I’m in the weirdest eighties music video ever.

The worst part is I’m the only person in this realm who’s even seen a 1980s music video!

Oneric still doesn’t call me out. He just walks faster, shooting me a grin as he catches up.

“What’d you say? I must have missed your answer.” His smile turns sheepish, like he’s embarrassed to have missed the garbled sound I coughed out and tried to pass off as a word before running away in fear.

I wave him away with a laugh, “Oh… ah, you know what? I actually forgot.”

He nods, like it’s totally believable that I forgot something I said fifteen seconds ago.

Because I’m fully committed to my speed-walking, I keep it up the whole way through the gardens. When the path changes from cobblestone to grass, I keep going, even though the Ley line is probably thirty feet ahead of me and we have plenty of time to get there.

I imagine we look like quite the pair. Two males speed-walking through their backyard at nine at night. One dressed like he’s on his way to a meeting with the council and the other dressed like he’s about to go to the gym.

Neither of us speaks. Not a word is exchanged the whole way through the clearing. I don’t dare sneak so much as a peek at my Mate, choosing instead to keep my eyes straight ahead—on the Ley line.

Am I blinking? When’s the last time I blinked?

Just in case, I blink twice in a row. A few seconds later I blink again. Then again.

Oh, Fates, am I blinking too much now?

“You realize you let the block on your side of the Bond drop about three minutes before you decided to really go all in on this bit, right?”

When Oneric’s words register, the relief I feel is palpable. With a relieved breath, I stop walking, bend over, brace my hands on my knees, and try to get my breathing back under control.

“Oh, thank the gods,” I breathe. “Because honestly, I had no idea where I was going with that once we got to the Ley line. Like, do I keep going? Just do circles around the seam? Start some other calisthenics and make this a whole series?”

“I’ve got to say, I’m impressed. I haven’t seen you that committed to avoiding your feelings in a while.”

I straighten, grin, and beam at him. “Awww, really? Thank you. I just… kind of went with it, you know? Just felt right.”

Folding his arms over his chest, he nods. “So are you ready to talk about it?”

“You know what? I think I’m good. The workout really got me back on track, actually, I think⁠—”

“Asterion.” My Mate’s eyes narrow dangerously.

“Fine!” I throw up my hands in defeat. If he wants to talk about emotions, then we’ll talk about freaking emotions. “I’m fucking terrified, okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“What brought this on?” He places a comforting hand on my shoulder. “You seemed so excited before we got out here.”

“I just… what if she hates me? What if she’s nothing like I’ve seen? What if her Mates try to step in and force her to make decisions she doesn’t want to make? What if⁠—”

Wrapping an arm around my shoulder, Oneric pulls me close as we continue toward the Ley line. We’re so close now. Ten feet away.

“My love, listen to me. Are you listening?”

I give him a thumbs up, but for a second I forget how to uncurl my fist or put my thumb back down. My brain just… stops. My breathing picks up, and my heart starts to race, and oh gods, oh fates, I’m going to greet the Last Daughter with a thumbs up because my hand’s going to be stuck in this position until I die!

Chuckling, Oneric wraps his warm, strong hand around mine, gently pushing my thumb, then my arm, back into a normal position.