We wake late the next morning, still in our robes. I don’t know who woke first, only that my eyes opened from slumber at the same time Laurel’s did. We were instantly on one another, needy and frantic in our joining.

“What do you think Silene has planned for tonight?” Laurel asks when we manage to pull ourselves into a semblance of normalcy, resting her head in my lap while I sit against the headboard.

“I have no idea, but considering it’s my 350th birthday, I would imagine she went all out.” My grin is teasing and knowing.

“What?” Laurel sits up, eyes churning with an emotion I can’t place. “Today’s your birthday?”

I shrug. “Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? I wouldn’t have brought you here, wouldn’t have stolen you away from your friends.” She stands from the bed and paces. I stand too, unwilling to stay away from her side for even a moment. I grab her hand and pull her to my side, preventing her from continuing her anxious pacing.

“Are you suggesting you think I would have rather spent the night playing Skran with Silene and Fionn instead of endlessly fucking my mate for my birthday?” I ask, wrapping my arms around her body in a tight embrace. “Are you serious? This is the best birthday ever, and it’s only just started.” She blushes.

“I don’t have a gift for you. Do you give gifts for birthdays in Velmara? I don’t even know!” She sighs.

“I’m regretting telling you it’s my birthday, witchling. Accepting the mating bond is—it will be the best gift you ever give me.” I hug her tightly, trying to calm the whirling anxiety I know races through her veins. She relaxes into me and calm settles over her. I release her, then take her hand and lead her into the nearly destroyed sitting room to look for breakfast, famished after our all-night workout. “Thank the aether there’s a breakfast tray here,” I say as I grab a slice of sweet bread and stuff it in my mouth. She examines the destroyed room—plants creeping in from the windows, bookshelves destroyed, all the curtain rods on the ground. I spot the moment she realizes servants came into this room to deliver breakfast. Her cheeks blush deeply.

“We, uh, we really made a mess last night,” she says. I only wink at her with a satisfied smirk. She rolls her eyes, then snaps her fingers and the room returns to the pristine condition it was in last night. “I wish I had thought of that last night,” she murmurs, and I can’t help the chuckle that escapes me.