It was something Jaden could understand, even encourage. He’d sent more than one lost young vamp to Oberon’s mountain palace.
When they first met, Duncan had looked past the fact that Jaden hadn’t yet pledged himself to Oberon. Duncan had seen Jaden, and liked something in him. He’d taken him in, made him his right-hand man. Hell, he’d fucking blood-bonded with him, even if it was only the lightest bond a vampire could cast.
To be bonded to a White Court Sidhe lord was almost unheard of for one of his kind. He’d been Duncan’s ever since.
And if it wasn’t for the fact that the Deranged Darling was Duncan’s family she’d already be dead.
Jaden stomped out of the office, closing the door behind him and relocking it quickly. She’d never know he’d been there. He’d long since learned the knack of searching without leaving a trace. He headed to his own office, located right next to Duncan’s, and slumped into his chair. He put his feet up on his desk, tipped his head back, and tried to come up with a plan that would free him from Kaitlynn without losing the one person on the face of the earth Jaden would gladly die for.
Ruby spent lunch mostly absorbing what Leo had told her in the hayloft. The part that wasn’t trying to understand everything she’d been shown was enjoying the look of shock and awe on Moira’s face all through the meal. She kept darting glances between Ruby and her father, and Sean knew exactly what his daughter was doing. He kept his face serene, but when Moira wasn’t looking he winked at Ruby.
After the meal, Ruby turned to Aileen. “Is there anything I need to know about a Sidhe mating that Leo might not want me to know?”
“Hey!”
Ruby ignored Leo’s indignant shout and focused all of her attention on Aileen.
Aileen stared at her thoughtfully. “What has he told you so far?”
Ruby recounted everything Leo had told her, leaving out the incredibly hot sex they’d engaged in, but from the small smile on Aileen’s face she had the feeling Sean had already filled her in on that small fact.
“So. You know how the Claiming is done, starting with tasting and ending in…hmmm… I believe you understand that part just fine.” Aileen smiled serenely at her son, who flushed bright red. “The Vow is quite simple, really.”
Turning to Sean, Aileen took his hands in her own. “I vow that from this day forward you shall not walk alone. My strength is your protection, my heart is your shelter, and my arms are your home. I shall serve you in all those ways that you require. I pledge to you my living and my dying, each equally in your care. Yours is the name I whisper at the close of each day and the eyes into which I smile each morning. I give you all that is mine to give. My heart and my soul I pledge to you. You are my Chosen One, you are my mate, and you are bound to me for eternity.”
Sean kissed the back of Aileen’s hand, the love he felt for his petite wife very evident. “I vow that from this day forward you shall not walk alone. My strength is your protection, my heart is your shelter, and my arms are your home. I shall serve you in all those ways that you require. I pledge to you my living and my dying, each equally in your care. Yours is the name I whisper at the close of each day and the eyes into which I smile each morning. I give you all that is mine to give. My heart and my soul I pledge to you.
You are my Chosen One, you are my mate, and you are bound to me for eternity.”
Ruby sighed. “That’s beautiful.”
Aileen turned to her, her face still glowing with her love for her husband. “That’s the Vow. There’s a bit more to it than that, a flow of magic that’s exchanged when two people take the Vow. That’s called the Binding.”
“But I’m human, I don’t possess magic.”
“Oh, yes you do, kitten.” Ruby turned to find Leo watching her, that quiet possessiveness once again in evidence. “All humans have magic, they just don’t know how to find it.”
“I don’t know if I understand.” Ruby stared into Leo’s otherworldly face, knowing her confusion showed by the concern in his expression. He hadn’t bothered to put his glamour back up.
“Trust me, kitten. Okay? Without speaking the Vow there’s no way to demonstrate the Binding, and since my parents are already bonded they can’t show you what it looks like.”
She sighed. “I’ve trusted you since the party, so I guess I can keep going out on that particular limb.”
Leo picked up her hand and placed a gentle kiss on the back of her fingers. “The only possibly frightening part for you would be if the Binding is strong enough to have visible results.”
“Like the Claiming?”
Leo shot his parents a quick look. “Not quite. If the Vow is taken during a time of stress it’s possible the show would be a bit more spectacular than that.”
“Oh.” Ruby thought the Claiming light show was spectacular. What would be next, fireworks?
“What’s the third part of the mating again?”
“There’s the Claiming, the Vow, and the Binding.”
Her head was beginning to spin. She got the Claiming and the Vow, but… “What’s the Binding again?”
“That’s the part where my power and yours blend, bonding us together for eternity.”
Oh. “Eternity is a really long time, Leo.”
“No. It’s not. Eternity is looking for your soul mate and never finding her.”
Leo used the hand he was holding to pull her to her feet. “We’ll be in our room.”
Leo closed the door and turned to face his reluctant mate. “Okay, kitten, now you know.”
“You’re positive I’m yours?”
Leo nodded, his eyes never leaving her face. Her face was shadowed, her brows drawn together in a thoughtful frown. She licked her lips and drew a quick breath. “How does this affect Shane’s kidnapping?”
“If the Malmaynes have their way, our mating would be set aside in favor of the alliance marriage, something I’m not willing to risk.”
“How can a mating be set aside? I kind of thought that was permanent?”
“Our mating isn’t complete. They could say that I could fulfill the terms of the contract and then return to you. Of course, Sidhe breeding being what it is, odds are you’d be around seventy years old before Kaitlynn conceived.”
“Seventy…” Her awed whisper tapered off into a low whistle. “And you’d still be…” She waved her hand in his direction. He could only assume what she meant.
“Young? Yeah, pretty much.”
Her “hmph” was thoughtful. “But, if they won’t accept Shane or Moira as a substitute…” She huffed out a breath and began pacing, growing agitated. “I mean, why does it have to be you?”
“Because my magic is almost pure Sidhe. Moira’s is almost pure leprechaun and Shane… Well, we’re still not quite certain how to classify Shane, other than wild.”
Ruby cocked her head, more confused than ever. “Wild?”
“The Sidhe and leprechaun blood in Shane is almost evenly mixed. He has the powers of both, with a little extra something genetics seems to have thrown into the mix.”
“What would that be?”
Leo shrugged. “If Shane exerts himself, using both his leprechaun and Sidhe powers in tandem, he can make fantasy reality.”
“You mean he could actually make that tent appear?”
“The harem tent? Yes, down to the outfit you were wearing.”
“Wow,” she breathed, intrigued at the possibilities.
“He uses it mostly in his work. He’s an artist.”
Her eyes went wide with admiration. “Wait. Your brother is Shane Joloun?” When he nodded, she whistled again.
Leo moved, pulling her against him. His hands cupped her ass, kneading it leisurely. “I wouldn’t even think of it, Ruby. You’ll find you have a very jealous mate.”