Page 14 of Heart of the High King
Chapter 7
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Kendrick asked.
Aleksander opened his mouth to reply but Worth beat him to the punch. “How many times are you going to ask him that? I’ve got to sit here and listen to it, you know.”
“Actually, your office is next door, so you could just sit in there and work,” Aleksander told his brother.
“Which I do sometimes since Killian made me CFO of his company, but I can’t deal with any bit of solitude today.”
“Drink too much coffee again?” Kendrick asked.
“You know me—one too many cups and I’m barely able to focus on a damn thing.”
“Have a beer; it’ll take the edge off,” Brogan told him.
“It’s ten in the morning.”
“And?”
“Anyway, Worth’s right, Kendrick. You don’t need to keep asking me about your brother coming to visit. Your family is welcome anytime.”
“It seems weird to be inviting any of them after I applied for sanctuary, but Sullivan’s kept in touch with me through text. I appreciate that he’s tried hard to establish a friendship of sorts. I can’t say they feel like family despite our shared bloodlines.”
“I don’t know how you stay sane, Aleksander,” Worth muttered, then gave his attention to Kendrick. “Have you not figured it out yet? You’re here because it’s where you’re meant to be. For Fate’s sake, did you not waltz through the door and meet my gorgeous cousin?”
“Now he’s going to sit there with that goofy-ass smile on his face for the next fifteen minutes,” Brogan complained.
“Have you seen your face when Dra’Kaedan’s around? Be nice,” Worth chided.
“He kicked me out of his office. I frown when I think of him.”
Aleksander lifted a brow. “Dare I ask why?”
“All I did was suggest that he could take a break.”
“He’s fiery but not without reason. That makes no sense.”
“Aleksander, I love you. I truly do. I thank Fate to have such a brother, but sometimes your innocence at your age startles me. He wanted his mate to take a break so they could engage in gay sexual acts,” Worth said.
“We don’t know that he’s innocent,” Brogan argued. “There might be women in his past. He’s always been secretive as hell whenever the subject has come up, which I have to say, pisses me off. I’m his best friend. I should know everything about him.”
“The only person I wish to know everything about me is my mate,” Worth argued. “Whenever the hell he decides to waltz through the door as your Dra’Kaedan did.”
“So did our still gooey-eyed Kendrick,” Brogan responded. “I’m telling you Aleksander, yours is probably already planning her trip to D’Vaire.”
“How many beers have you had?”
“At ten in the morning? None. I’m not Worth; I know how to control my caffeine.”
Wondering if he was still sane, Aleksander turned back to Kendrick. “Duke Sullivan is coming tomorrow? How long is he staying?”
“Yes, we’ve gone over his travel arrangements a few times because it is nonsensical. He’s refusing to stay at the house and is going to rent a car. With Court Kestle being in Virginia, I did manage to talk him into taking Dérive, so Killian has a druid set to teleport him. From what he’s said, King Kestle and his family are adjusting slowly to the Council. I feel as if he might be mistrustful of sorcerers. I think he’s afraid he’ll get stranded somewhere strange or something. Our lives at Court Kestle were very isolated, and I wonder if they’ve kept to that and not ventured out much. He’s only willing to stay for a couple of days at most.”
“It is shocking to go from the quietness of isolation in the dragon courts of the Consilium to joining the lively Council full of sorcerers and elves along with many types of shifters. I wonder how well I would’ve done had I not come to D’Vaire,” Worth mused.
“D’Vaire’s an anomaly still in the Council world. Most people don’t share a home with anyone beyond their race unless they have family who’ve mated outside it,” Aleksander said. “We were certainly isolated before Dra’Kaedan charged in.”
“It’s a pity. I suppose I’m growing spoiled by the luxury of D’Vaire’s diversity despite its small size,” Kendrick remarked. “And I enjoy the challenge of trying to please all the different palates in the house while working with Noir.”
