'Do you really believe so?' Damen asked, chancing a half a step closer and lifting his hand to brush a stray lock of blond hair from Laurent's forehead. He lets his touch linger, fingers skimming down the side of Laurent's face, along the curve of his jaw before falling away again. 'And do you think he still might have liked me even when I started courting his little brother?'

It was a strange thing to imagine. If there was a universe like this one, a universe so unlike his home where he and Laurent were both dropped unexpectedly, could there also be another where Auguste had lived, where Damen hadn't run him through, where Vere had prospered and the Regent wasn't a regent at all. Could Akielos and Vere have united without bloodshed?