Page 61 of The Fifth Soul

CHAPTER 22

BRANDON

Ilet the door click shut and turn back to the batshit crazy, long-overdue love story between these two. My mind is already assessing all types of damage control I’ll need for the scene that happened out there.

“Can one of you care to explain what is going on?” I ask.

I don’t get an answer. My brother’s eyes don’t move from Janelle as she paces the space. For a bathroom, this place is big with a seating area. I should have chosen a better spot to bring a woman and my brother to discuss their indecent behavior, but this is better than the hallway.

“Why?” Jesse’s voice is fragile.

That’s all my brother says. For a minute, I think he is directing his question at me, but Janelle stops pacing and turns to face him.

“Let me heal your head.” She moves to touch him, but he steps out of reach. “Jesse.”

When she tries again, he doesn’t move away. Instead, he closes his eyes as healing energy moves from Janelle’s hands to his head. Two things have become clear to me: Janelle has more gifts than I know, and my brother knew about it and kept it a secret.

“You don’t understand,” she says in a whisper.

She leans her head against his, letting their foreheads touch and their eyes close. I look around the room, uncomfortable with the show of affection. I knew something was happening here, but never expected to witness it. I debate whether I should clear my throat.

His eyes open, but he doesn’t take a step back. “Make me,” he pleads.

“I didn’t pick him, Jesse, I don’t have a choice.”

His eyes narrow in anger. He finally steps back. Both his hands cup her face and lift it to meet his gaze. “Are they making you? They can’t do that. Brandon won’t let them.”

I raise my finger to interject that I, in fact, cannot intervene in the cultural practices of other royal houses.

Jesse keeps going. “I won’t let them. Don't allow yourself to be tied down to him. He doesn’t care for you. He sees you as a prize, a thing.”

A single tear rolls down Janelle’s cheek. Her expression tells me the sadness she feels isn’t for herself. It’s not for the truth behind Jesse’s words, but for him. The pain in his voice.

“There’s nothing that can be done. The Fates have made their choice.” Her voice is final.

She has accepted her fate, and pleads for him to do so as well.

“Were you ever going to tell me?”

Her eyes stay glued to the floor as she swipes her nose with the back of her hand. After a heartbeat, I understand she won’t answer him. She wasn’t planning on telling him. A look of further understanding crosses Jesse's eyes, and I watch as something in my brother breaks. Perhaps hope. Perhaps the idea that whatever he felt for this woman would never come to pass. A new icy determination behind his eyes builds a wall around him made of stone and ice.

He doesn’t say another word as he silently walks out of the room.

“Janelle,” I say.

Her red-ring eyes look up at mine. “Duty,” she says. I understand perhaps more than anyone else. “My father had it in his head that I would end up with you if the Fates didn’t give me a soulbond. I attended nearly ten ceremonies. They were planning to take action soon.” Her words snatch my attention back to her. “I asked the Fates to intervene. I bargained with them. Not even my father is strong enough to intervene with a soulbond match. Our people idolize the unions.”

“You really would rather end up with Ray?”

Not to say I would have ever accepted such an alliance, but Ray isn’t a good person. Besides representing a powerful family in the city of Ignis, he’s also known for his dirty business. I’m surprised Lord Duelo would have allowed this to pass. He has always chosen image over everything else. Ray, as the soul bound of his daughter, isn’t a good look, but it’s a strong match.

Her hard eyes narrow on me like I have asked the stupidest question possible. “No. The idea of Ray might hurt him but not kill him.” She clears her throat. “Perhaps it was Fate’s punishment for asking them to intervene.”

In my experience, fate has always been a blessing in disguise. I don’t tell Janelle this much. In time, we’ll all discover how much of a blessing or curse this is. I hope that, somehow, she will find her way back to Jesse. I hope they are both ready to pay the price.

CHAPTER 23

BIANCA

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