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“Did I object when you married Jeremy?”
    Nick recoiled as if Lorcan had slapped him. “No.”
    “Then why are you so angry?”
    Nick opened his mouth to answer, then thought better of it and stalked out of the room.
    Rory squeezed Lorcan’s shoulder. “He’ll come around.”
    “He probably thought you would wait for him,” said Layla, taking a sip of her tea. She smiled at Rory’s and Lorcan’s identical expressions of guilt. “I thought so.”
    Rory didn’t meet her gaze. “It doesn’t matter.”
    “In fact, it does,” said Layla. She placed the teacup back on the delicate saucer in front of her. “If you do this, your relationship with Nicholas will change. You won’t be able to go back to what you were. Your mating will put constraints on any possible romance you might share with him in the future.”
    Lorcan slumped in his seat. “The future will take care of itself. We have to worry about the present.”
    Layla stood. “If you are committed to this, then Nick will accede to your wishes. He loves you both too much to do otherwise.” She gave them both a sad smile. “If you’re wise, though, you should give him some time before you ask him for another favor. A decade or two should suffice.”
    Rory winced. “You think it will be that bad?”
    “I think that however much you think you hurt him today, you are probably being conservative. It may be irrational, given the fact that he’s happily married himself, but he’ll probably be nursing his resentment toward you for quite some time.”
     

C HAPTER 7
     
    April 2083; Cathedral of the Sky, Anchorpoint City, Colorado
    Rory walked down the familiar corridor of the crypt until he came to the final alcove. He hesitated at the doorway. Hard to believe it’s been six months.
    He stepped inside the small room and set his bundle down on the shelf to the left of the door. He picked up the broom that had been left for him, and began to sweep away the dust that had collected since he had last been there. When the room had been cleaned and the altar was polished, he replaced the white rose that Lorcan had left back on the altar. The lacquered flower had been spelled to repel dust, so it remained as vibrant as ever. Rory knelt on the floor and reached into his jacket to withdraw a nearly identical lacquered red rose. He put it on the altar next to Lorcan’s.
    Hello, Love, he thought. It’s been almost six months since I came here to talk to you, and a year since you died. A lot has happened since then. I’ve been more active in the Court, promoting the Great Work, and I think we’ve been making progress. All our friends are doing well. I actually started going to mass again. Ruarc convinced me that it might be comforting. So far, I can’t say that he’s been wrong.
    Rory realized he was fidgeting, and stilled his hands. Sorry, I guess I’m stalling. You never let me get away with that when you were alive.
    Take, I’m engaged to Ruarc. I know it was too soon, but there were reasons why I couldn’t wait. It’s a marriage of convenience, for political reasons, and our relationship isn’t physical, but honestly? He’s a good man, and I could see myself falling for him eventually. I always knew there would be someone in my heart after you, but I always thought it would be Nick, not him. Anyway, he agreed to my request to wait until I was ready, and the others accepted that so long as we declared our intentions publicly before the Court. He’s committed to seeing it through, for my sake. I wanted to make the same commitment to him, but he won’t let me. I think Ruarc wants me to hold out for Nick, as long as he can’t, but we’ve agreed not to talk about Nick as long as Jeremy is alive. He’s going to need us after that, if my reaction to losing you is any guide.
    Rory meditated for another hour, then got to his feet. He looked at the dragon crest on its wooden stand and took a deep breath.
    “Take, I love you. I will always love you. But