Page 45 of Invidia

I was shaking my head before he even finished speaking. “She’d choose me out of pity, Damen. Just to make me happy. Tallulah puts everyone’s happiness before her own.”

He made a sound of frustration, but nodded in understanding. This wasn’t some unsolvable riddle. The answer was as glaring as orb light.

I couldn’t tell her.

I couldn’t have her.

“Okay. Fine. I’ll let it drop. But if you care for her at all, you’ll join her on her date.”

“I’m sure Tallulah would appreciate that,” I replied dryly, ready to walk away. To return to my small room in the barracks and speak to no one until tomorrow’s shift started.

“She would. She’s presently outnumbered, and she looks extremely uncomfortable.”

“Why didn’t you say that earlier?” I demanded, storming toward the palace. Fucking Damen. Why didn’t he lead with the most important information first?

He overtook me when we entered the palace, leading me to one of the private drawing rooms on the first floor. I inhaled the air constantly, trying to catch a glimmer of Tallulah’s unhappiness in the air, and finding nothing. Then again, she was good at hiding it when she wanted to.

“This one,” Damen whispered, nudging me forward before backing away. “Good luck.”

It was not a room designed for privacy, which I appreciated. There was a decorative glass panel in the center of the door, perfectly framing the sitting area in the middle of the room and its occupants.

Its many, many occupants.

I’d categorized Aither as an okay prospective candidate because at least he had a close relationship with his family, which would provide Tallulah with a support network here. That was certainly something I’d never be able to offer her.

Though perhaps it was a little too close if he’d brought the whole lot of them on a first date.

Aither and Tallulah were sitting in the very center, closest to one another, and they spotted me at the same time. He frowned, and before I could come up with some half-cocked excuse for why I was here, Tallulah stood, eyes lighting up as she beckoned for me to come in. As far as I was concerned, if she wanted me there, that was all the excuse I needed.

“Good evening,” I said, opening the door as though the plan had been for me to join them all along. It only seemed fair that Tallulah have some guests if Aither was going to bring so many.

The silence that greeted my entrance was deafening. If space had allowed, I had no doubt that everyone would have backed up, eager to get away from my grotesque form.

“Hi,” Tallulah said shakily, glancing around the room with a slight frown. Her scent wasn’t one of distress, but it certainly wasn’t one of joy, either.

“Aither, how are you?” I asked, keeping my voice pleasant and mild. Internally, I was a little more conflicted after a lifetime of being told to stay out of everyone’s way, to not make them uncomfortable with my presence. “I’m sorry to say I haven’t been acquainted with your family yet.”

The looks of revulsion at the empty space where my horns should be were impossible not to notice. Tallulah’s frown had grown increasingly pronounced as she took in each guest one by one.

There had been plenty of similar looks when I’d joined her table at dinner, but Damen had clearly been enough of a buffer for Tallulah not to notice. What she was seeing now was how regular Shades reacted to it. Perhaps I owed Damen a thank-you for ensuring I was here. I couldn’t tell Tallulah about why everyone hated me without her pitying me, but I could show her.

This is what your life would be like with me. See how awful it is? I would never do this to you.

I care about you too much to inflict this existence on you.

After an uncomfortably long pause, Aither finally made the introductions. “Evrin, this is my mother, Gratiana. My younger sister, Eydis. My grandfather, Bard. And my cousin, Drustan. This is Evrin. He guards the in-between.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” his grandfather muttered. Tallulah’s smile remained fixed in place, but her gaze took on a sharp edge. I should have expected that fiery defensive side to appear—it only ever did for anyone other than herself.

“Did you need something, Evrin?” Aither asked, polite but pointed.

“He’s here for me,” Tallulah interjected with a beaming smile. “Just like you said you wanted your nearest and dearest to meet me, I wanted the same.”

I almost wished she’d said anything else. There were too many Shades in this room. Those words would get out. The court would start their whispers.

“Evrin is your nearest and dearest?” Aither repeated derisively.

“Evrin knows me better than anyone in the shadow realm,” Tallulah said confidently, patting the chair next to her and giving me a pointed look, telling me with her eyes to sit down.

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