Page 41 of Fragile Oath

“No. No one asks questions here. You share your story if and when you’re ready to.” Gallagher looked at me, and I looked away.

It was an odd sort of comfort, knowing that perhaps I wasn’t the only one who had left behind a life in Socair they would just as soon never think about again.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

“For what?” I asked, bafflement plain in my tone.

For staring? For coming after me?

He shook his head like he wasn’t sure of the answer either. “For not coming to you sooner. For not being someone you could trust. I was your friend, and I can’t help but feel like I failed you somewhere along the way.”

“It wasn’t that simple,” I told him, looking away. “And I’m certainly not the only one who kept secrets.”

He didn’t respond right away, and my stomach sank. It shouldn’t have mattered. One more casualty in the wake of Alexei’s destruction. One more divide I didn’t know how to bridge.

Then Gallagher sucked in a breath, nodding as though he had come to a decision.

“Well, if you aren’t ready to share your story, then I could start by sharing mine.”

My lips parted. “Why would you offer that to me, after everything?”

He gave me a small smile. “Because I care about you. Because you’re family, whether you like it or not. And honestly…because you’re going to need someone on your side. Especially once we catch up to Gwynnie.”

I swallowed hard, not only at the reminder of the person who most certainly hated me by now, but because I couldn’t truly consider Gallagher’s offer when I could never return it. At least not now, not when the words felt stuck in my throat, burdened by the weight of things I might never be able to say to anyone.

“You don’t have to live in the shadow of everything that’s happened,” he said in a voice so quiet it was nearly a whisper.

It didn’t feel true. My eyes wandered back to Davin as he accepted a bowl of stew from Sai, tipping his head in thanks. He felt further away than the small clearing accounted for.

“Some things can’t be undone,” I said darkly.

Gallagher tentatively stretched a hand out toward my wrist, which I belatedly realized had become uncovered when I lifted my spoon to my lips.

“And some things can,” he whispered.

My brow furrowed, my mind racing through the tiny, irrational suspicions I had considered these past few days. He met my gaze evenly, just the smallest raising of his brows indicating the challenge he was putting forth.

Would I let him take this first step toward trust?

I took a deep breath, considering. Wherever things stood between me and Davin, Gallagher had been nothing but a friend to me. So I placed my wrist in his waiting hand. I had no idea what to expect, but I knew that he would never intentionally cause me pain.

He nodded, looking around at the empty seats around us before he gently closed his fingers around the contusion. Heat covered my skin, and I gasped. It wasn’t uncomfortable, precisely. More like the soothing warmth of a sauna.

“What?” I asked.

The edges of his lips curled into an uncertain smile, and he pulled his hand away. I looked down at my wrist, shaking my head in disbelief.

The bruise was gone, and so was the pain.

“How?” I choked out. “It’s like something from avilastory.”

He furrowed his brow, and I searched my mind for a translation before shaking my head.

“Children’s tales about magic, like your faerie stories,” I finally landed on.

“You’re not too far off.” He chuckled. “Though this is more science than magic.”

I pieced that together in my mind.

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