Page 84 of The Brotherhood

“What?” she asked, curiosity flickering in her eyes.

He angled his gaze at her, struggling to wrap his mind around it. “Something else you taught me,” he said, taking in every facet of her beauty—there was no better word for it. Not just in looks, but in essence. In the way she existed.

“What?” she wondered with sharp hope, unknowingly pulling him deeper into a revelation he was likely not ready for.

“I invested everything in breaking things down to its barest form so that something better could rise. That was Ever-Fallen. But I hadn’t looked past the healing. I never imagined what came after.”

She got up on her elbow, opening her entire being to him while listening.

He eyed her longer than he should have. “Youare the after.”

She gave a slow, confused smile.

“You’re proof that something more than survival can exist. That the world can be more than just scars and strength—it can be warmth, color, and… joyful mischief.” He lowered his head as the next realization waited to be declared. He returned his gaze to hers, locking them tight, needing her to feel this one. “A future where love is not a weakness. But… maybe a foundation.”

His mouth tugged at the dramatic amount of joy this put on her face.

She nodded with teary eyes. “A necessary foundation,” she whispered.

The sudden need to kiss her got cock-blocked by his first lesson she’d taught him. Everything he needed and wanted was unattainable. Scraps.

The War Room in his mind kicked into gear and challenged him.Are you sure it’s just scraps?He paused within himself and quickly expanded the view, studying the problem from every angle. He paused again at seeing it. It wasn’t just scraps. It was a place close enough to the table to watch and wait. And if he waited long enough, watched close enough—those scraps could become ingredients for a feast.

Beth reclined, back to staring at the ceiling with a contented smile. “You should know I’m not always all smiles and sunshine. I can make messes.”

He had to chuckle at what that might look like. “You mean besides commanding mountains into the bowels of the earth and causing celibate men to marry and hardened warriors to bow before you?”

Her distraught gasp was pure comedy as she eyed him like a Debbie downer even while knowing he was right.

“Tell me,” he urged, eager to hear what she considered a mess, sure it would further define her beauty. “What other messes have you made, Swamp Queen?”

She sat all the way up for this one, putting him at the edge of his seat. “So, there’s this thing called Bat-ties in the swamp, a way to solve civil disputes.”

“So you mentioned,” he remembered, already liking the direction. “Unless you tell me you participated in one, I’m not interested.”

“I did!” she shot out in shock.

“You,” he repeated. “Fought with another actual person,” he double checked, amused at her emphatic nods.

“I challenged her to a Bat-tie. And once you do, you can't take it back and they have to accept. And if they don’t they lose, like a forfeit.”

“Interesting,” he said. “I believe Ever-Fallen has a similar dispute regulation.” He gestured at her, expectantly. “Keep going. Who was thisshe?”

He should have known her little story would drag him through every hellish provocation, particularly a jealous rage that another man had what should have been his, according to his mind and body. Her obsession for her husband cut him like a blade of fury and hunger. It left him wondering what it might be like to share something so profound with another human. Something he’d never once imagined doing or was even possible, he realized. Not that he could remember.

“You look like you discovered something else I taught you,” she laughed.

“I have,” he said, honestly.

“What!” she demanded, thrilled.

“That I've been living in the wrong alternate reality.”

His phone rang and he pulled it out, looking at it.

That number.

“Who is it?” she asked, as he stared and debated.

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