Free Daemons in the Mist (The Marked Ones Trilogy: Book One) by Alicia Kat Vancil

actually I think Nualla just met him this week.”
    And that’s when all hell broke loose.

    In the short time after Nikki had accidentally outed my complete lack of good judgment from the weekend in front of nearly our whole family, absolute chaos had ensued. Nikki had buried herself far into the pillows of the couch to avoid my fierce glare, and my parents were sitting in stunned silence, their mouths hanging open.
    “Nualla, are you out of your mind ?!” Andraya crossed the room and gestured dramatically. “Are you trying to expose us or something?” I really didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything. “You never think , Nualla! You never think about how what you do affects all of us!” Andraya screamed at me.
    Alex finally stood up and walked over to my sister. “Andraya, that’s enough,” he said, placing a hand  on her shoulder. “You know this was, and is, Nualla’s decision to make. We can have no say in the matter.”
    Andraya wilted under our father’s hand. As much as she would hate to admit it, he was right.
    “Nualla, did you marry this boy of your own free will?”
    “Yes.” I looked up into his face, tears pricking my eyes. The moment he had placed his hand on Andraya’s shoulder in my defense I had hung my head. I hated to disappoint him, and even though he had said it was my decision to make, disappointment still shone in his eyes. “No one forced me to make this decision. It was my own fault.”
    Alex raised an eyebrow. “Fault?” When I didn’t answer he reached out and pulled me close for a hug. Smoothing my hair, he looked down at me. “Nualla, sweetheart, choosing a life mate is not something to be ashamed of. It is a big decision that is only for you to make.” He looked over and I knew he was glaring at Andraya as he continued. “And none of us, or anyone else for that matter, has a right to demand explanations from you.”
    I loved my dad; no matter how bleak things looked or how stupid I felt, he always made me feel better. “Really?” I asked, looking up at him.
    He smiled down at me. “Really.” He released me and took a step back. “Now since he is a Neodaemon, he will have to register at The Embassy and will no doubt have lots of questions.”
    I looked down at my shoes. “Yeah, about that…he’s human.”
    “Yes Nualla, you mentioned that, that is why he will…” Alex stopped talking when he saw me start shaking my head.
    “No I mean he’s still human.”
    “ What ?” Alex said, completely taken aback.
    “Way to go, Nualla, you even managed to screw that up,” Andraya said from across the room.
    “Andraya dear, you really aren’t helping,” Loraly said with a sigh.
    “But you married him?” Alex asked, looking confused and concerned at the same time.
    “Most definitely. We had fake ID’s, but I’m pretty sure we spoke the oath so—”
    “What do you mean by ‘pretty sure’?” Alex asked, his eyes narrowing.
    “Well…you see we were…” I looked at the floor and braced for the reaction to what I was about to say. “Well all three, I mean all four of us were um…really drunk.”
    Silence hung in the air, someone coughed but I couldn’t tell who since I was still staring at the floor. The silence drifted on till it became unbearable. Finally, I just had to look up. Alex was staring at me in complete disbelief. “You got married to a boy you barely knew while you were drunk ?!”
    “Basically,” I admitted reluctantly.
    “Nualla, are you completely insane ?!” Andraya shouted, but Alex put up his hand, and she didn’t continue.
    Alex looked at me, and I could see barely restrained anger behind his eyes. I had only seen it on occasion since he was a really kind person but still, it was frightening. He had only questioned my judgment a few times while I was growing up. However, he never had cause to question Andraya’s.
    “As I said, Nualla has made her decision, and we have no right to question it. Though I would have