Desdemona followed Titus down the hallway and into an elevator where they stood on opposite sides, riding down silently to the ground floor. They emerged in the lobby of Silverdrake Tower and crossed the wide marble floor that was inlaid with the crest of his clan. Before the dark times, people thought such things were mere decorations. Now everyone knew their true meaning. The silver dragon coiling around the star was the ancient crest of the Silverdrakes. And they placed it on each one of their real estate holdings.

Even with the trauma and stress of the Dark Sun and the resulting necessity to reconstruct the entire human civilization, Titus was relieved to have his magic again. The utter relief of his dragon vibrated in him every day. While he had supported the alliance and the right of humans to live freely without immortal interference, he’d hated the veil.

Titus may not have been the most cooperative immortal on the planet today, like his brother Orion. But he believed all beings deserved to live free. No human, no immortal, and no God should be a slave or a slave owner. He would believe that to the end of his days.

But now here he was, escorting this child down the street to buy her new shoes. He could be her father many, many times over. But he had to mate with this woman and be her match. As if a five thousand-year-old dragon could be the husband of a nineteen-year-old girl. It was preposterous. Even if his feelings for her still burned like an eternal flame.

“We have reconstructed the stores throughout much of the downtown. The immortals and humans alike enjoy going back to the way things were as much as possible. I think you will find what you need in this store,” he said, pointing to a luxury boutique.

Her eyes lit up when she looked at the brightly lit store window with designer shoes and handbags on display. She clapped her hands together in excitement but then looked up at Titus and went back to being a surly teenager. He almost rolled his own eyes at her attitude. They walked inside and the human attendant immediately came to help them.

“Lord Silverdrake,” the woman said, bowing.

Desdemona looked from the woman and to Titus and scoffed. She clearly did not take Titus as seriously as the people of St. Louis now did.

Titus took the admiration with swift graciousness. Humans tended to want to follow the strongest leader, not unlike immortals. But humans could be so simpering, it turned his stomach sometimes.

“This is my bride-to-be, Desdemona Hawthorne. She needs new shoes.”

“Your bride? Has there been an announcement? Everyone will be so thrilled. Congratulations, sir,” the woman said enthusiastically.

Several other women emerged from the back storeroom and started gushing about their wedding.

“Will it be a big event?”

“We haven’t decided yet.” Titus said.

“Oh yeah. It’s going to be a huge wedding. All the immortals are coming. You can call me Lady Desdemona. Look what I can do,” Desdemona said, singing out a few notes that made the papers on the counter begin to float into the air.

The human women turned and gasped at the sight.

“We’re still ironing out our plans,” Titus said. “Darling, why don’t you try on some shoes?” Titus said.

The last thing he wanted was a wedding, let alone a huge wedding with every immortal they knew.

“It’s going to be a big event,” Desdemona said, not shutting up. “That’s why we are going to need at least six months to plan it. We’re waiting for our wedding night for him to claim me. Isn’t that romantic?”

Titus was losing his patience with her behavior. These women were notorious gossips and he knew that the news would spread throughout the city in no time at all. Now he would be locked into whatever it was that Desdemona chose to tell people. He was seriously questioning the wisdom of his decision to offer her his rose.

“Sweetheart,” he started. “Let’s not bore them with the details. We are here for shoes, remember? I’m taking her on a romantic date later,” he said, addressing the clerks. “She used to live in a rustic compound with no electricity, and now she’s going to be my bride. Isn’t she lucky?”

Desdemona looked up at him with shock and her eyes, but her expression changed quickly, seeing that he was matching her challenge. He raised an eyebrow at her and smirked.

“Yes, we are going to have the most romantic dinner. But no hanky-panky afterward. We are waiting for a wedding night. In six months.”

“Sweetie, these ladies don’t want to hear about our personal life.”

“Oh, that’s fine,” said one of the saleswomen.

Titus picked up a pair of gold sequined shoes and shoved them into Desdemona’s hands. “I think these would be perfect. Don’t you?” he said. “Now it if you’ll excuse me ladies, I need to make a phone call outside. Try to get her all set up, okay? We’re going to have a fabulous evening.”

He quickly left the store and emerged out on the sidewalk, the cool St. Louis air nipping at his nose. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been so irritated. Not even the Dark Sun could compare to the inconvenience of a nineteen-year-old girl who had her heart set on irritating him. And she had succeeded. Now he remembered why it had taken him so long to commit to her in the past. She may be a completely different person now, but she wasn’t that different. Orion had said it was because they were equally matched. Titus thought it was because Desdemona had a serious character flaw. Namely her immaturity.

His glass pad pinged in his pocket and he pulled it out to see that Ajax had contacted him. He flicked over the screen and answered his nephew’s video call.

“What is it Ajax? I’m very busy right now.”

“I heard you brought a bride back from the temple. Good job, uncle. Now you are a true Alpha.”

“Why are you calling me?”

“You know how I wanted to get the games going again? Well I’ve been talking to the guys and we’ve set up several immortal teams. We want to use the Superdome to play. I told them you wouldn’t mind.”

“You told them wrong.”

“Come on Titus. I have as much right to use the Superdome as anyone.”

Ajax flipped off his glass pad screen and disappeared from view. Titus was dealing with a monumental amount of immaturity today. Ajax was two thousand years old and should not have been acting like an adolescent human. But he was. Was Titus the only adult left in the Silverdrake clan?

Orion had shirked his duty the second his wife had come back into his life. Ajax was more concerned about playing football than he was about reconstructing the city and providing electricity to the starving and dying humans. And the woman who was supposed to be his bride was trying to put off their claiming for another six months, if she ever let him claim her at all.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long low growl. Responsibility had never been his strong suit. He simply didn’t like seeing senseless death and destruction. Since the responsibility of Alpha had fallen on his shoulders, he had done his duty. He’d even found a bride and brought her home. What more did these people expect from him?