Page 52 of The Dragon's Warlock

17

Gideon

Gideon hated each day more than the next. His life felt empty, and he contemplated leaving his house and heading to Ireland. He took another swig from the bottle. He wasn’t even using a glass. The expensive liquor was wasted on him. He couldn’t even get drunk to drown his sorrows.

But his mind was a mess. It was too late. He’d stayed back and helped Kirin clean up the lab. Diem had left with her sister. Family—something he didn’t have but wished he did. Now he sat in his large house and did nothing—not much different from before she came into his life.

Everything was shallower without her. The sun was dimmer. Even his magic seemed to be weaker. That should have worried him, but he couldn’t muster up the energy to care.

More and more memories had flooded back over the past week. There would be a time when he would have to call Kirin and tell him about everything he’d done, even if he hadn’t had control of himself.

He glanced to the side. His phone was turned off. Kirin had called a bunch of times. Gideon hadn’t answered. Diem was at Kia’s house, and if he talked to Kirin, he would ask about his angel—the one he was desperately trying to stay away from.

He wasn’t good enough. Nothing could erase Diem’s scream as her sister was changed. Because I let my guard down and let her get kidnapped.

He just needed to leave—to go somewhere and focus on his magic and figure out a way to make amends with all the people he’d wronged. The list was large and would take him years to get through.

Instead, he glanced at his desk at the picture of Diem that Ethno had sent to him. It was of them at the waterfall, her small red bikini barely covering her body. She was laughing at something he’d said. Damn. He missed the sound of her laugh and the touch of her hands.

He heard the door to his house open. It wasn’t locked. But he couldn’t hear any footsteps, so it had to be a shifter—either one coming for revenge or Kirin. He hoped it was one coming for revenge. Maybe a fight would bring back some feelings in his life. He rubbed his hand over his heart.

Kirin walked into his study and glared at him. The dragon was pissed off. He walked across the study and sat in the leather chair across from Gideon’s desk and raised an eyebrow at the bottle of scotch. “Why do you even waste money on that shit?”

Gideon shrugged, grabbed the bottle, and took another swig. At least he could feel the burn of the liquid as it went down his throat. That was the only thing he could feel.

“Do you barge into people's homes uninvited often?”

“Only when they are being an idiot,” Kirin shot back.

“I’m not getting into this with you, so unless you want to talk about the council or sports, the door is open for you to leave.”

“Why are warlocks such assholes?”

“And dragons are any better?” Gideon downed the last of the liquor and threw the bottle in the trash. It was his last one. He’d gone through three, and he didn’t feel any different. “What do you want, Kirin?”

Kirin shook his head and let out a sigh. “Here’s the thing. I knew Talia was my mate the second we touched. Yes, I thought about bringing her in because you asked. But the more I knew my mate, the more I knew I would do anything to protect her, even if that meant going against you.”

“Right there is the reason I don’t deserve Diem.”

“Yes, I wanted to kill you more than I wanted to take my next breath. But everything that happened during that time is on Kael, not you. Talia doesn’t hold it against you. Neither do Lucy and Nyx. What they will kill you for is hurting Diem.”

“Is she still at Kia’s house?” Gideon asked.

“Everything is a mess. Kayda’s struggling with her dragon. Lucy is working night and day to try to figure out how to calm the dragon down. And now there is Arrow.”

“What’s wrong with Arrow?”

“Lucy and I think Kayda is his mate. Alida had told him a few months back that he would be finding his mate soon and not to fight the pull. Arrow refuses to believe Kayda is his mate. He’s told me the story of how his mate died, but Gideon, how many wolves have stayed sane after their mate died?”

None. Most wolf shifters turn mad when their one true mate dies.

“He loved her,” Gideon said.

“Just because he loved her didn’t mean she was his true mate. You’re more than a thousand years old. Over that time, did you ever love someone? You don’t need to answer. I see the look in your eyes. It tells me enough. But did that feeling even come close to how you feel about Diem?”

“You know, I wasn’t answering your calls for a reason. Who knew you would turn into a therapist? How the great fall.”

“You think I like talking about this emotional shit? No, I don’t, but you seemed to be hardheaded. There’s a woman who is sad, thinking you don’t like her, because you have your own head so far up your ass that you can’t see what is right in front of you.”

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