Page 100 of Until the Stars Fall

“Talk,” he commanded, giving me a hard, albeit surprisingly sympathetic, look.

“I punched him, and now she’s mad at me,” I said into my glass before I took another drink.

Matthias swirled the amber liquid in his glass. “I hope you mean Brennan.” I confirmed it with a roll of my eyes. Who else would I have meant? “And the human is mad at you? Or the princess?”

“Who do you think?” I asked, instantly regretting my sour tone. He didn’t deserve for me to take my frustration out on him.

His mouth curved downward. “It’s hard to think at this hour.”

I let out a single, empty-sounding laugh. “Some commander you are.”

“Last I checked, I wasn’t in battle, Your Highness. I was in my bed.”

Mumbling an apology, I threw back the last bit of brandy.

“Another?” he asked, and I held the glass up to him without a word. As he poured me another drink, he continued his questioning. “What did he do to deserve it? How mad is she? Like stab-a-prince mad or silent-treatment mad?”

I took the drink from him and stared at it for a long time before I answered. “After he stormed out of dinner, he must have drowned himself in wine and sneaked into her rooms.”

“And? Is that it?”

“He kissed her,” I muttered dejectedly, and Matthias laughed lightly, finally settling into his chair.

“Jealousy isn’t a good look on you, friend.”

I glared at him. “I’m not jealous.”

He grinned and twisted his brow in that expression he always pulled out when he thought I was full of shit. “Spoken like a true jealous male.”

“Don’t make me throw this glass at you.”

He scoffed. “So why is she mad? Because you hit him?”

“Because I didn’t trust her.”

Matthias’s face pinched with confusion. “Trust her to do what? Does she know you’re jealous too?”

“I’m not jealous,” I started, but there was little point in arguing over that. “I guess my savior complex got me in trouble.”

“Ah, that. Makes sense.”

“But what was I supposed to do? Ignore her screams?”

“Apparently, yes,” he said, pursing his lips behind his glass and generally doing a piss-poor job of hiding his laughter.

I groaned and flung my hands into the air. “I need to fix this. And I need to keep him the hell away from her.” At that, Matthias’s brow quirked up, and I pointed my glass at him. “And not because I’m jealous. But if he pulls that little stunt again, he could put this whole alliance with Arenysen in jeopardy. Again.”

My friend shrugged. “So take her away.”

Distance could be good, but where?

Matthias leaned over, propping his arms on his knees. “I wasn’t planning to brief you until the morning, but since you so rudely assaulted my door and woke me up, we might as well discuss it now.”

“What’s happened? More attacks?”

“Not quite.”

Widening my eyes, I indicated for him to continue.

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