Page 81 of Vibing Unity

They apologized and seemed to sit with that information as we ate. I was on my fourth bacon deluxe when Ara tapped the table to snap me out of my thoughts.

“Prince Hudson is coming with his detail and using a glamour to look like Darby. Apparently, it wasn’t a question of where you were but tell him now,” she informed me.

I swore and patted my body. “Fuck, I don’t even know where my phone is. We didn’t want to take electronics just in case because too many of my phones have been fried and the last time it got replaced, my carrier was talking about not allowing the insurance and red flags.”

“Glad to hear you weren’t intentionally ignoring me, shorty,” Hudson said from behind me.

I tilted my head back and blinked up into his pretty, pretty eyes that were swirling with emotion. “No, I’m a jerk again. I’m sorry, beastie.”

He nodded and sat on the bench next to me that was really only meant for one person. The fairy next to him got the hint and stood with a chuckle, moving to the other table.

But Hudson didn’t scoot over.

“Let’s not start a fuss by breaking a table,” I drawled.

He chuffed and then moved over, stealing one of my fries in retaliation. Fuck, he was so adorable. Seriously.

He handed his card over to one of the Guardians on his detail and told them to get whatever they wanted, but he wanted food too.

“You don’t have to do that,” I grumbled. “We eat so much more than you and—”

“They’ll each only get two burgers or sandwiches with fries and a drink,” he told me, nodding when I couldn’t hide my shock. “They’re allverycareful with your mates. Our details are super easy according to Shael and Taeral and basically for show because no one is stupid enough to piss you off coming for us.”

“You didn’t hear it from me, but it’s totally true,” Ara agreed. “It’s like getting a bit of a vacation after doing something good. Or one newbie who just needs the distraction after being woken up and finding too many they knew died. And the commanders and majors warn all of them not to fuck up and embarrass fairies.”

I nodded that I heard her. “Still, you don’t have to spend your money to feed them and—”

“Tams, I’m rich too,” he chuckled. “Not rich like you, but I’m also an investor in your clothing company. I make money off of that which I didn’t need and basically feed my guards that way.”

“Thanks, beastie.” I offered him a burger which made him chuckle. “I’m sorry about what happened. I’ll do better.”

“You do amazing already, my mate,” he said gently. “I’m sorry I was such a bastard about it. I just—it’s hard. I know you try, but it’s hard to always watch you be hurt and have to recover—and then hearing you ignored the warning sign—I lost it. I’m sorry and—”

“Hudson, I’m not mad at all. You had every right to be, okay?”

He swallowed loudly and met my eyes. “Then why did you need a time out and not come find me?”

“That wasn’t about you or us having—everything just got too overwhelming and loud. I needed to just have some silence and think. Then, of course—”

“Neldor told us,” he cut in. “So you healed her and now killed Mario. Yeah, I’m going to be worried.”

“I’m fine.” I snorted when he clearly didn’t believe me. “I felt nothing. I probably need to be worried that I felt nothing, but it wasn’t numb. More like just fucking checking something off the damn list. So you know, add that to the list of why I’m fucked in the head.”

“You’re not any more than the rest of us,” he comforted.

But really lied through his teeth.

Really,reallylied through his teeth.

21

“You went off on your dad though,” he whispered after his food arrived and others sat around us.

“I’m pissed at the way he handled it,” I admitted. “And all of it explodes because we don’t have much time left together.” I hurried to wipe away a tear when I felt it fall. “It’s all really fucking complicated, and I have trouble just fighting some days, beastie.”

“I know. I know you do, and I think it’s amazing that you never stop fighting. Sometimes you just need to be reminded how much better things are or how far you’ve come.”

I nodded because I didn’t know what else there was to say. I sighed when I was done with the food in front of me. “I acted like a fucking child throwing a tantrum and storming out of there. I haven’t grown at all, beastie.”

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