Chapter 255: The Taste Before the Vow III
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Sekhmet had the same face his father used to wear when his mind was made up.
Elena knew that face too well.
She had seen Eyra stand before ancient elders, gods, and killers with that same quiet, immovable certainty in his eyes. Once that look settled into place, words stopped being tools and became noise. You could argue with it if you wanted. You could shout at it. You could threaten it. In the end, none of it changed the decision. It only changed how loud the room became before everyone accepted defeat.
She saw that same look in Sekhmet now.
And for one brief moment, the years fell away. The boy standing in front of her blurred with the man who had once driven an entire house into fury by choosing with his heart and refusing to apologize for it.
Lady Seraphiel noticed it too.
Her expression changed ever so slightly. Not surprising. It was recognition. The sort that cut deeper because it came with memory attached.
Elena’s gaze shifted from Sekhmet to Lily.
There was a question in it, sharp and wordless.
Lily did not look away.
She stood beside Sekhmet without flinching, her posture straight, her face calm. Not foolishly calm. Not the kind that came from not understanding what was happening. It was the calm of someone who had already stepped too far into the fire to pretend she had only wandered near the heat.
Good, Sekhmet thought. Good.
Elena turned back to him.
"You are certain."
It was not really a question, but he answered it anyway.
"Yes."
Elena’s eyes narrowed by a fraction. "And this is not because your head was hit too hard during the auction."
"No."
Lady Seraphiel let out a thoughtful hum from where she sat. "That would explain some things though. It would be a very convenient answer."
Sekhmet ignored her with the sort of focus he had already learned was necessary for survival. Feeding Seraphiel attention only encouraged her.
Elena kept watching him.
Then she asked, very quietly, "You have thought this through."
"Yes."
Lily answered at the same time. "Yes."
That made Seraphiel’s mouth curve.
Elena’s gaze flicked once toward Lily, then back to Sekhmet, as if measuring the exact shape of the disaster now standing before her and deciding whether it was one of the preventable ones.
It was not.
She knew that.
Sekhmet knew she knew it.
At length, Elena exhaled slowly.
"All right," she said.
Lily blinked, perhaps surprised the answer had come so quickly. Sekhmet was not. Once Elena accepted that a decision could not be moved, she stopped wasting effort on pointless opposition.
Seraphiel tilted her head slightly. "That was fast."
Elena did not look at her. "Because he already decided before entering the room."
There was no irritation in her tone. Only fact.
She added, "Once he settles like that, arguing only wastes time."
Seraphiel’s smile deepened. "That sounds very familiar."
"It should," Elena said.
Seraphiel leaned back a little in her seat, eyes glimmering now with old amusement and older memories. "His father used to do that. Everyone else in the room would still think there was a discussion happening. Eyra would already be done with it in his own mind."
Sekhmet did not reply to that, but something in his expression tightened faintly.
Seraphiel noticed.
Of course she noticed.
"That is not an insult," she said more softly. "Stubborn men can be unbearable. But some of them are only unbearable because they decide once and refuse to betray themselves after."
Sekhmet let that sit where it landed.
Then he said again, "I need two witnesses."
That changed the room again.
Elena folded her arms. She already knew the reason but she asked the question anyway, "For what exactly?"
Sekhmet held her gaze and answered plainly. "For a private vow."
Lily’s breath shifted beside him, though she remained where she was.
Seraphiel’s eyes moved between them with bright, dangerous interest now. "Well. That is much more elegant than simply dragging the girl into romantic ruin."
Elena gave Seraphiel a flat look. "Must you speak like that?"
Seraphiel lifted one shoulder. "I am being supportive."
"You are being yourself."
"Those are often the same thing."
Sekhmet let them have their familiar little war for one heartbeat more, then turned his attention back to Elena.
"I will not do this carelessly."
Elena studied his face.
"I know," she said.
That one quiet answer mattered more than if she had given him a speech. It was trust. Hard earned. Rare from her. Real.
Lily heard it too. Her expression softened for half a breath before she composed herself again.
Sekhmet said, "There is something Lily needs to understand before we move any farther."
Seraphiel’s eyes sharpened immediately. "Now that sounds less romantic."
Elena understood before he said more.
Lily looked between them. "I do not like that all three of you have the same expression."
Sekhmet’s voice remained steady. "You need to see what feeding looks like."
The room got quiet. Both Elena and Lady Seraphiel knew what that meant.
Not because Lily recoiled. She did not. But the reality of the conversation shifted all at once. They had moved beyond confession, marriage, secrecy, and planning. Into flesh. Into hunger. Into the actual thing itself.
He continued.
"Not a gentle explanation. Not a cleaned up version. The real thing."
Lily held his eyes for a second, and he watched the understanding move through her. There was tension there now, yes, but not refusal.
"All right," she said.
Seraphiel studied her with a little more respect after that.
Elena’s voice stayed calm. "You do not need to pretend courage to impress anyone in this house. We do what young master wants."
Lily gave a small nod. "I know."
Sekhmet then reached inward through the bond and called the twins.
A short time later, Vera and Vela entered.
They came together as they often did, moving with that quiet, synchronized grace that unsettled most ordinary people if they watched too long.