"I told you it was going to be cold by the bay," Jace says as he turns to me and slides the ticket for the ferry into the front pocket of my jeans. I can't take it because my hands are currently shoved into the sleeves of my windbreaker.

"I know, but the wind is frigid!" I say through chattering teeth as he wraps his arm around me and leads me into the throng of tourists boarding the boat that will take us to the Statue of Liberty, the first stop on our tour of slightly cliché but necessary attractions of New York City. Of all the things on the list, this is the one I'm the most excited to see.

We step onto the ferry and instead of leading me to one of the benches under the protective awning, Jace and I keep walking until we reach the far end of the boat. I place my hands on the railing and he cages me in with his arms on either side of me. I savor the warmth radiating from his body, letting every muscled inch of him chase away the chill.

The Statue of Liberty sits in the middle of New York Bay. It's sunny today, and the rays are reflecting off the water, the sparkling effect making it look much warmer than it is. But the statue sitting in the distance makes this cold air worth it, and even more so, so does the man behind me.

"This is beautiful," I murmur, my eyes scanning the horizon, my hair whipping across my face in the mid-morning wind.

He doesn't answer me right away, and I glance up to find him studying my face. "What are you doing?" I ask.

"I've seen the statue before, but I've never seen you so captivated with something. You're breathtaking."

I'm sure I'm a mess of windblown curls and reddened cheeks. But I feel beautiful under his gaze.

I turn all the way around to face him and brush my hair from my eyes, but it's stubborn and keeps flying back across my face. "You say the nicest things to me, you know that?" I giggle and when he cocks his head to the side, I say, "I was just thinking about how we used to be such assholes to each other all the time."

His arms slink around my waist, pulling me close. "I kind of think you like my asshole side. It can always make an appearance again if you'd like?"

I raise my brows and press myself flush against him. "I do, actually. I think it's sexy when you're all dominant and tough. What about you? Did you like my bitchy side, Wilder?"

"No." He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. "I thoroughly enjoy your sweet and sexually needy sides."

My heart melts and I run my fingertip down the center of his chest. "Oh yeah? It just so happens that I'm feeling a little bit sexually needy right now," I whisper, looking up at him through my lashes, raising up onto my tiptoes to kiss him on the soft spot behind his ear. I take my time going back down onto my feet, brushing my pelvis against the rapidly hardening bulge behind his zipper.

"Be careful, little hurricane. If you keep teasing me like that, I guarantee you I will do inexplicable things to you right here and we will spend tonight touring one of the NYC jails." Emphasizing his point, he presses his growing cock against my pelvis.

A strangled whimper escapes my lips, and he smothers it with a kiss. When he finally pulls back, I whisper, "What, we can't have sex in public here? Back home, everyone just does it wherever they want."

He laughs. It's a hearty sound that brings a smile to my face. "Sounds about right for a chaotic realm. Humans call sex in public 'indecent exposure and lewd acts.' They land us in jail with a hefty fine." He looks around the ferry and back at me. "I'd be damned if I'd let any of these people see you naked."

I look him up and down and slide my hand around to grab his ass as I turn back toward the railing. I lean back against him and say, "I found another side of you I really like: your possessive side." 

He kisses my neck. "Last night I learned I liked your submissive side. I already knew you liked the orders but the hints of pain were a nice surprise."

I clench my thighs together at the memory of every touch, kiss, bite, pinch, and caress we shared last night. Jace touched me in every way I've ever wanted to be touched, even in ways I didn't know myself. "It was a surprise to me too, Jace. It was one of those things I guess I needed to experience to know for sure. And I'm going to be eternally grateful that I experienced it with you."

"We will have more before you go. But for now, let's go tour this statue," he says, as the boat pulls into the dock.

From across the bay, the Statue of Liberty looks so small, but standing at its base with my head craned back, I realize how very wrong I was. Even the sculptures erected of Lucifer and Lilith in Infernis are not as impressive. The mother and father of Chaos have nothing on Lady Liberty.

"Wow," I breathe, squeezing his intertwined fingers as we walk toward the pedestal where groups of people are crowded taking photos of in front of the statue and pointing and talking in countless different languages. "It's so much bigger than I thought it was going to be!" I look up at Jace only to see him staring down at me again. "What?"

"You levitate things and are slated to rule your own Circle, and this is what impresses you?"

I shrug and look back up at the statue. "I've been levitating things since I was old enough to walk, and ruling my own Circle is just expected. This is just cool," I say, bumping his hip with mine. I open my mouth to say something else when my eyes fall to a familiar figure across the sidewalk, leaning against the flagpole. "Oh, fuck." My voice is little more than a rasp above the wind.

"What? What is it, Desi?"

"That's my brother," I say, my heart sinking to my feet.

"What?" Jace says again, louder and sharper this time. "Where?"

"Right there," I mutter, gesturing for Avaros to meet us in the middle. "Coming this way."

"What is he doing here?"

"I have no fucking idea." Avaros meets us in the middle of the walkway, tourists walking around us and paying us no mind. My brother is, as always, dressed to the nines in a blue pinstriped suit and wing-tipped shoes, his red hair somehow managing to stay in place whereas mine is still whipping around my head like a kite. "Avaros. What are you doing here? Is everything okay? Mom and Dad?"

He ignores my question and holds out a hand to Jace. "How's it going, man? It's good to see my sister hasn't scared you off yet."

"Far from it," Jace replies as they shake.

"Hello, Avaros! Over here. I asked you a question."

He gives me a pointed look like I'm the one being rude when he was the one who ignored me. Brushing a speck of lint from his sleeve, he says, "Mom and Dad are fine, but Angelo has called a meeting concerning you. Dad would like for you to be there."

Me at a meeting with Dad and Angelo? They've conducted their little meetups in the human realm since before I was born, but I've never so much as seen a picture of our rival realm's leader. It doesn't make sense that Angelo would call a meeting about me.

Jace's hand tightens around mine. "Is Desi in some kind of trouble?"

Avaros shakes his head. "No. But it is important that she come." He looks at me. "I think this has to do with you finding an Eternal Partner."

My heart seizes in my chest, and I gnaw on my bottom lip. "Oh. Wh—why would Angelo care about that?"

"Who knows. But don't look so freaked out, sis." He gestures to Jace with a ginger brow raised. "You've already found him, so it shouldn't be a big deal." My brother stops and regards Jace with interest. "Come to think of it, you should come too. Dad will want an update anyway."

"When and where?" Jace asks.

"Now. They are meeting at this Irish Pub in Manhattan."

Jace lifts a brow. "Isn't a pub a little public for their dealings?"

I pull him toward the ferry dock and say, "Dad and Angelo have some theory that the best place to talk business is around drunk humans. The shit they say is so unbelievable that if someone overhears, they blame it on drinking too much."

"That's incredibly stupid or genius. I'm not sure which."

"Pretend like it's genius," Avaros says, patting Jace on the back. "You want to stay on the future father-in-law's good side."

An hour later, we walk into a dimly lit pub on Ninth Avenue. A few people in business suits sit around the dark wood bar, sipping on their drink of choice. The music is lively but not overbearing and the red-bearded barkeep could be the eighth child in our family. We zigzag through the round tables to the large booth in the back corner. I trip over my own feet when my dad scoots out of the vinyl seat. 

No leather. No boots. No axe hanging at his side. My father is dressed in a black tailored suit with a tie.

"Dad," I say as he pulls me into his arms for a hug. "Is everything okay? Avaros was pretty scarce on the details." I shoot my brother a glare as he sits next to who I assume is Angelo on the opposite side of the booth.

Dad smiles and puts his palms on my cheeks. "Don't worry, Desideria. Everything will be fine. Just sit so we can talk."

My stomach sinks when I notice that he doesn't say that everything is fine. Jace doesn't falter though as he shakes my father's hand.

"Jace!" Dad exclaims. "Good to see you're still hanging in there with our girl."

"I don't think hanging in there is the right term. It makes it sound like being around Desi is difficult, and that is the last thing being in her presence is for me, sir."

Despite the stress of my father calling us to an urgent meeting, I want to melt out of my chair into a sticky puddle on the ground. Even if I spent forever in this realm, I'd never get used to hearing him say sweet things.

Instead of slipping out of my chair, I settle for intertwining our fingers under the table and squeezing. "Thank you, Jace," I say before giving my father a pointed look. "See? Not everyone is annoyed by my constant need for structure."

"That makes one being in the entire universe," Avaros mumbles.

"I personally enjoy a bit of structure."

My gaze darts to the man across from my father. The ruler of all tranquil things looks as if he just came off a hard night with his rock band. His shaggy blonde hair flows past his shoulders, and his beard is in desperate need of a trim. The attire he chose for this meeting is more fitting for a day at the beach than meeting with his counterpart. He must be freezing in his fringed shorts and tie-dyed t-shirt with a peace sign over the chest. Even my toes are cold at the sight of his flipflops. I expected a lot of things from the ruler of Pax, but this wasn't one of them.