Page 58 of Fragile Oath

“It wasn’tnotmy fault,” I protested, going for a sip of my drink only to find it empty.

“Well, if it’s your fault, it’s all of our fault.”

“Not yours,” I argued.

“Here.” Avani sat her surprisingly light squirrel on my lap and I found myself reluctantly petting it while she got up to pour us both another drink. “Don’t think I don’t know what they say about . . . Mac.” Her voice softened on his name, like it always did.

“Yes,” I shot her a look of mock-disappointment. “Damn you for falling in love.”

“Isn’t that what you’re beating yourself up over?” she asked, setting the drink next to me. She made no move to take Albert back, and I, in spite of myself, made no move to hand him over.

“Yes, well.” I took a hearty sip. “Mac loved you back. You weren’t just an idiot.”

She snorted.

“I was plenty of an idiot. But yes, he did,” she acknowledged, a sad smile pulling her lips downward. She blinked, and her expression cleared. “You think Lady Galina doesn’t love you?”

It was a sincere question, so I considered it as such, weighing all of the things I knew against each other without Gallagher’s championing or Gwyn’s ire to interfere.

“I don’t know what to think anymore,” I told her with more honesty than I had even given myself so far. “But I’m glad you’re here.”

Her smile was less sad this time, though it was tired. “Remember that when I force you to sleep on your own couch.”

“Is that why your trunks are in here?” I asked, nodding in the direction of her things positioned against the far wall.

She nodded. “They prepared the wrong room.”

The room she used to share with Mac, she meant.

“And I didn’t want to tell them, and I’d like to actually sleep tonight, which rules out Gwyn and her snoring.”

Of their own accord, my eyes drifted back to the balcony that led to the rooftop I shared with Galina. Then my mind took that further, crossing the familiar distance to her balcony, where someone had taken her against her will.

“I see,” Avani said thoughtfully. “You’re not going to sleep anyway, are you?”

I didn’t do her the disservice of lying.

She sighed, staring into the fire for several moments before turning her attention back to me. “If I stay with her and promise to be extra on my guard, will you promise to sleep?”

I tilted my head, raising both of my eyebrows in challenge.

“Will you promise not to interrogate her?”

Her emerald eyes widened in a picture of innocence. “I can’t help that people like to talk to me.”

“Avani,” I pushed.

“Ugh. Fine.” She got up and scooped Albert out of my lap, turning to the door. “Send my trunk in a moment.”

“Thank you,” I called after her.

She waved me off, and I slumped further into my chair, alone for the first time in I couldn’t recall how many days.

There was no clarity in that solitude, though. No magic answers waiting to be uncovered. Just the same weary thoughts running through my mind in an endless race against themselves and reason.

ChapterTwenty-Seven

GALINA

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