Mated To My Mate's Worst Enemy (ARIA) novel Chapter 622

Chapter 622

ARIA

"Nina," Kael said.

"I'm serious," she said. "I need to know this happened. I need physical evidence. The clipboard pieces should be preserved in a display case."

"That's extreme," Kael said.

"My jaw dropped," Jordan said. "Actually dropped. I had to close it manually."

"I had to clean my eyes," Nina said. "I thought I was seeing something incorrectly. I looked again. It had not changed."

"I side with Aria," Kael said. "It happens."

"Name one other time," Nina said.

"I—" he started.

"Name one," Nina said.

"There have been—"

"Name one," she said.

"The training yard incident last—"

"That doesn't count," Nina said. "That was agreeing with a decision Aria had already made and you were retroactively supporting it. Name one time you sided with Aria in a room where the other option was Ivory."

Kael opened his mouth.

Closed it.

"Aria almost got executed," Jordan said helpfully.

"Jordan," Kael said.

"I'm just noting that the historical record has some relevant precedents," Jordan said. "In the interest of complete documentation."

"I do things without Ivory's input," Kael said. "It's not always a fallback position."

"When," Nina said.

"Regularly," he said.

"When," she said.

"I—" he stopped. "The budget allocation for the third quarter was—"

"Ivory was the one who flagged the budget allocation issue in the first place," Nina said. "You responded to her flag."

"The eastern border patrol schedule—"

"Ivory's security recommendations formed the basis of the schedule," Jordan said.

"The—" Kael stopped.

The room waited.

"I feel I can fly," Nina said. "Can you fly, Jordan?"

"I feel the wings coming out," Jordan said.

"I feel we could stab ourselves with wolfsbane and survive," Elite said, from the corner.

Everyone looked at Elite.

"The significance of the moment," Elite said, with complete composure, "seemed to warrant participation."

"That's extreme," Kael said.

"We were going for extreme," Jordan said.

"Come on," Kael said. "I do things independently. It's not that shocking."

"Name one," Nina said again.

"Killian," Kael said. "The room. The exile lift. Ivory's input—"

"Was given after," Nina said. "You'd already made the decision and she endorsed it retroactively. Timing matters."

"I—" Kael stopped again. The expression of someone who'd been handed a mirror and was finding the reflection more interesting than expected.

"It's fine," Jordan said. "It's actually—Kael, it's a good thing. Aria is your mate. This is what it's supposed to look like. We're celebrating."

"You said you could fly," Kael said.

"I said I felt the wings," Jordan said. "They haven't manifested yet. The feeling is still good."

"Oh my god," Nina said, and her voice had the quality it got when she'd arrived at something that was very specifically wonderful. "I need to lie down. This is too much for one morning."

"Everyone is being dramatic," Kael said.

"We earned the dramatic," Nina said. "We've been watching you defer to Ivory since we were seventeen. We've earned a significant amount of dramatic for today."

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