“I don’t care about that.” Con recaptured Andy’s flailing hands. “You know what I think? I think it’s Fate.”
Andy drew back, eyes widening. “Don’t say that around me. Don’t ever say that.”
“Why not? As I understand it, the Norse realms all respect Fate. Faerie does too. A more fatalistic bunch you’ll never find. But think about it—no matter how hard you tried to keep the contest running, thrusting candidate after candidate at me, even after claiming you weren’t in the running—I still fell in love with you.”
“Yeah, but that’s exactly the point. Any of the Norse contingent will tell you that you can never trust a norn. That a norn will always twist Fate to suit them.”
Con captured Andy’s hands again. “Are they right?”
“No! It’s against our creed, against our nature. We can’t affect our own fate.”
“Then why should anyone believe that you did?”
“Because I can affect other people’s fate. I could have affected yours, made you choose me despite the fact that I’m an aitcher. Nothing but a half-norn event planner who’s been threatened with perpetual world tree maintenance if I dare to interfere in human affairs.”
“Did you?”
“Of course not.”
“Well, then, what’s the problem?”
“The problem is that I could. What if I go bad? What if I’m… I’m corrupted by power?”
Con chuckled softly. “The power either one of us is likely to have isn’t a corrupting sort. Unless you can get corrupted by paperwork.”
“But I—” Andy peered up at him, eyes narrowing. “There’s paperwork in Faerie?”
“You have no idea.”
“But… but what about procreation? Won’t you need an heir?”
This time, Con broke out in a full belly laugh. “Not bloody likely. Even Gloriana didn’t intend to have an heir. No, it will just be you and me. But there are other conditions.”
“Conditions?” Andy’s voice was tinged with trepidation.
Con nodded. “You’ll have to become a naturalized citizen of Faerie, which means giving up your access to—which of the realms do you belong in, anyway? You never actually said.”
“Asgard.”
“Will it bother you, never to visit Asgard again?”
“I haven’t seen Asgard since my norn powers manifested and my aunts evicted me. I’ve been terrified they’d call me back for years.”
“Well, then?”
Andy took a deep breath. “Do I have a choice?”
And Con’s heart sank.
ANDY bit his lip, watching the hope drain out of Con’s face.
Con sighed. “I’d like to say you don’t, just so I won’t lose you. But you do. You never signed any of those blasted agreements. You have no obligation to me or the Queen or to Faerie itself. You have a life, friends, a place you’ve made for yourself. I can’t ask you to give that up.”
Andy’s heart melted at Con’s dejected expression. “Believe me, if it was up to me, I’d jump into your arms this instant.” Con cocked an eyebrow and held out his arms. Andy laughed and shook his head. “I said if. But it’s not.”
“Who is it up to, then?”
“You can take the cavalier attitude that ‘I’m the prince, and I choose you,’ but once you invoked Fate, you set something in motion that can’t be stopped, not when you said That Word in front of witnesses.”
Andy nodded at the Norse contingents. Both the light and dark elves were muttering amongst themselves, and he had no doubt they’d be lodging complaints in Asgard the instant Chef released them from the buffet.
“We’ll both have to appear before Odin and my mother and aunts to prove that I didn’t manipulate Fate in an unlawful way.”
“Fine. Let’s do it now.”
“And incur the wrath of Chef? I don’t think so. Let’s celebrate your coronation. The restoration of your father, the release of your mother, the future reconstitution of your brother. If you remember, you swore you weren’t marrying anybody today.”
“That was when I was pretending to be the prince.”
“But you are the prince, so your vow holds. That’s as binding a vow as any other. Let’s not rush.”
“All right. I don’t want to rush you. I want to take the time to woo you. To do whatever I need to do to convince your mother and anybody else who dares to object that you’re the only one for me. But I need you, Andy. I love you. And when I put my mind to it, I’m a very determined prince.”
“If you think you’re determined, you’ve never seen a half-norn event planner in action.” He drew Con down into a kiss. Okay, three kisses. Four. What the hell—five. “Now watch me work.”
Chapter Twenty
Three months later.
ANDY straightened Con’s collar and brushed the front of his blue velvet tunic, enchanted as always by the contrast between the plush fabric and the firmness of Con’s muscles. “Blue suits you.”
Con smiled down at him. “I like this color. It matches your eyes.”
“I’m surprised you aren’t wearing red, then. I barely slept last night, what with all those license agreements for the Faerie cell towers and the negotiations with the dryad guild.” He gave Con’s chest one last pat. “You weren’t kidding about the paperwork.”
“Still ready to make it official and permanent?”
Andy linked his hands behind Con’s neck and kissed the cleft in his chin. “I’ve been ready since you first proposed. But I think everybody else is finally ready too. Your mother was so sweet to me today. She invited me over to have lunch with her and Thomas next week.”
Alarm flickered across Con’s face. “Uh… really?”
“Didn’t she tell you?”
“No.” He set his jaw, looking suddenly grim. “I’ll just have a word with her beforehand. She’s the daughter of a fertility god, you know. You have to be careful when she offers you anything to eat or drink. Rey and I are both the result of her serving tea to Thomas.”
“But I’m a man. Surely she can’t affect me.”
“That’s what you think,” Con said darkly.
Andy gulped. “Okay. Good to know.” He released Con’s neck, laced their fingers together instead, and drew him toward the window of the very same suite in the Interstitial resort where they’d met three months ago.
Guests from a dozen realms were milling about in the garden, staff in Enchanted Occasions gray blazers dotted among them. His gaze was drawn again to the edge of the surrounding trees, where his mother loomed, other guests cutting a wide swath around her. He still couldn’t believe that she’d come. When he and Con had presented themselves to the tribunal in Asgard, he’d been convinced that his mother would blackball their mating, but she hadn’t, even offering him a wintery smile at the close of deliberations.
That was one thing. But actually leaving Asgard to attend the ceremony? Warmth bloomed in his chest. Maybe she doesn’t regret having a son after all.
He turned to find Con gazing down at him—and Odin’s beard, the look on his face. Andy wanted to just climb inside him and nestle there amid all the love. “Con. Are you sure you want to do this now? Wouldn’t you rather wait until Rey is reconstituted so he can stand up with you?”
Con shook his head. “I’d like him to be here, of course, but I don’t want to wait that long. We can’t really get started on the new infrastructure work until you’re officially my consort and a citizen of Faerie.”
Andy glanced down at the crowd again. “You know, there are still some people who’ll never believe I didn’t tangle the Fate lines for my own benefit.”
“Andy.” Con’s voice held a combination of affection and amusement. Andy recognized the tone—he’d gotten very familiar with it over the last weeks as he’d flailed about, learning his new role. “Does that really bother you?”
“I can’t help it. It’s something I’ve dealt with my entire life.”
Con stroked Andy’s cheek with the back of on
e hand. “Look at it this way. We all nudge Fate every day, with every choice we make.” He pressed a kiss to Andy’s lips. “I’m just happy you chose me.”
Joy bubbled over inside him, erasing his misgivings, because really—who could be unhappy when he was loved by someone like Con?
“Likewise, my prince. Now let’s go get married.”
“You’re sure you’re ready?”
“Absolutely.” He grinned. “Who am I to argue with Fate?”
E.J. RUSSELL holds a BA and an MFA in theater, so naturally she’s spent the last three decades as a financial manager, database designer, and business intelligence consultant (as one does). She’s married to Curmudgeonly Husband, a man who cares even less about sports than she does. Luckily, C.H. also loves to cook, or all three of their children (Lovely Daughter and Darling Sons A and B) would have survived on nothing but Cheerios, beef jerky, and satsuma mandarins (the extent of E.J.’s culinary skill set).
E.J. lives in rural Oregon, enjoys visits from her wonderful adult children, and indulges in good books, red wine, and the occasional hyperbole.
Newsletter: ejrussell.com/newsletter
Website: ejrussell.com
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Coming in June 2018
Dreamspun Beyond #21
Night of the Living Manny by Julia Talbot
Something besides love is growing….
Manny Brenden Torrance is good at his job. He’s dealt with all sorts of children and parents, but he’s never met anyone as intriguing as Liam Whitehouse. Liam is a scientist with three kids, whose job is keeping him away from home more and more. That’s where Brenden steps in to help.
Liam has secrets, though. He’s working on a project for a pharmaceutical lab that could change disease management. Or destroy it. While he and Brenden start a romance they both want to continue, things at Liam’s job come to a head, and suddenly the whole family of Dad, manny, three kids, and a big drooly dog is on the run from the one thing that might keep Brenden and Liam apart. And infect the world.
Dreamspun Beyond #22
Under a Blue Moon by Bru Baker
A Camp H.O.W.L. Novel
Once in a blue moon, opposites find they’re a perfect match.
Nick Perry is tired of helping people with their marriages, so when a spot opens up to work with teens at Camp H.O.W.L., he jumps at it. He doesn’t expect to fall in lust with the dreamy new camp doctor, Drew Welch. But Drew is human, and Nick has seen secrets ruin too many relationships to think that a human/werewolf romance can go anywhere.
Happy-go-lucky Drew may not sprout claws, but he’s been part of the Were community all his life. He has no trouble fitting in at the camp—except for Nick’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge the growing attraction between them and his ridiculous stance on dating humans. Fate intervenes when one of his private practice patients threatens Drew’s life. Will the close call help Nick to see a connection like theirs isn’t something to let go of?
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Nudging Fate
© 2018 E.J. Russell.
Cover Art
© 2018 Aaron Anderson.
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Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.
Digital ISBN: 978-1-64080-506-4
Mass Market Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64108-046-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017917548
Digital published May 2018
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America
Nudging Fate Page 18
