Page 14 of Honorable Convictions
His head snapped back as if Mitchell had slapped him, and it was a sick reminder that once again, he’d let his temper get the best of him instead of trying to speak to his other half kindly. “I’m done with this conversation, Brooks.”
“The hell you are. We’re mates, dammit. That counts for something, and we’re not going to pretend otherwise. We have decisions to make. You want to accuse me of using you…fine. You’ll transfer to Seattle, and we’ll work our way to DC.”
“I didn’t make sure I had perfect scores so I could settle for a city on the other side of the continent. I earned DC. If you’d applied yourself, you would’ve gotten a better assignment instead of suddenly pretending that you want to be with me.”
“If I applied myself?” Mitchell asked tightly, nearly swaying with fatigue. It was incredulous that somehow Pierson thought he hadn’t worked hard. It was difficult to remember when he’d last gotten a decent night’s sleep. The lights were on so late, it wasn’t unusual for Clayland to bed down in the room with Darcie and Trista to get some rest.
“In the beginning, you were devoting too much energy to being everyone’s favorite buddy. If you’d started off by making sure your classwork got the bulk of your attention, you wouldn’t have barely qualified for Juris.”
“I exceeded past what fallen knights think is possible, Blondie. I didn’t get resurrected to automatically be a Juris Knight like you. I had to bust my ass to get my test scores high enough for the VKs to take me seriously.”
“Are you somehow blaming me for that?”
“Why does everything have to automatically be about you?” Mitchell sputtered. Nothing about this conversation was going the way he’d planned it in his head. For the first time since he met Pierson, there was a voice demanding that he use caution. What if Pierson was right, and they weren’t ready to do this together? Perhaps it’d be best for them both to lay a foundation of their own. Mitchell could earn DC and not have Pierson constantly throwing it in his face that they were only there on his merit.
“That’s the thing, Brooks. You’ve never cared about anything having to do with me. Wasn’t it nice of you to make sure you had friendly relationships with everyone else? And yet, you expect me to stand here and accept that from the start you’ve put your matebond above everything. That’s a load of shit, and you know it. There is nothing between us but animosity, and I’ll be damned if you’re going to make me feel bad because I’m not ready to announce to the world that Fate paired us.”
Mitchell was speechless at Pierson’s rant. Before they met, he’d already established friendships, and he didn’t prioritize them. It was Pierson who refused to speak to anyone unless he had to, and he was the one who always chose to sit alone while he ate. The others wanted to be cordial to him, but Pierson never gave them the opportunity. Every overture was batted away with a frosty look, or Pierson simply left the room. “You’re being impossible. I know you were sick and missed a couple of days of hanging out with us, but no one blamed you for it. Resurrection is difficult, and your body didn’t handle it well. There’s no shame in that, Blondie.”
“What in the world are you talking about now? I’m not ashamed of my illness. I couldn’t help it. Wade certainly didn’t think I was doing all I could to fight my symptoms, so you automatically assume he’s right? I was the weak one. I was the one who couldn’t handle it while the five of you could? You know what? I had more than one moment where I yearned to get along with you guys, but I’m glad now that I was smart enough to separate myself because you’re a bunch of judgmental assholes that were jealous of how I excelled.”
“I’m not jealous of you. You were gifted with an enviable brain. If you think about it, that was simply luck. Any one of us could’ve had the same thing, but for whatever reason, the spell that created you gave you the skill. If you’d worked harder in the gym, you would be a Venerable Knight right now. Maybe that’s why you’re pissed. You refused to spend extra time doing the physical shit, and it burns your ass that your mental aptitude alone didn’t qualify you for a position that would’ve made history. So what, you’re a Juris Knight? So am I. It can’t be that hard, right?”
Pierson’s eyes narrowed and his fists clenched, but Mitchell was beyond caring. Not only was Pierson being rude, he was acting as if he were somehow better than him. “You don’t think I tried to get better in the gym?”
“I applied myself, Blondie. I exceeded expectations and qualified for a job I wasn’t destined for. You know that. My scores barely got me the title.”
“That’s not possible. We’re resurrected for certain jobs, and the purpose of training is to sort out who is best at what. What you did was coast your way for several weeks. When you decided to get your act together, you got the job Fate intended for you.”
“You can’t be wrong about anything, can you?”
“Neither can you, Brooks, and I’m tired of arguing with you.”
“What’s your plan? You’re going to walk away and forget about me?”
“I have a memory that hasn’t allowed me to forget anything yet, but that doesn’t mean I want to spend a single moment thinking about you.”
“I don’t have any intention of thinking about you either,” Mitchell spat out, already knowing it was a lie but too furious to care. For the life of him, Mitchell couldn’t figure out why they were incapable of speaking without insults and hurtful accusations. It saddened him to watch his mate walk away, but that was exactly what Pierson did.
Pierson opened the door to the classroom but didn’t immediately leave. Instead, he stood there for a moment, then turned back. His glorious green eyes were spitting mad, and his jaw was tight. There was tension in every line of his body, and Mitchell was equally pissed off. “Have fun in Seattle,” Pierson taunted and seconds later, Mitchell was alone.
The last thing he’d planned was to fight with Pierson, but it seemed inevitable now. They were incompatible at this stage in their lives, and Mitchell wondered at the actions of Fate. If it wasn’t the right time, why were they resurrected together? And for the love of everything that mattered, why did they have to meet while his dick was in Trista’s mouth? There was an ache in Mitchell’s chest, but he had no choice but to give up on Pierson.
It was impossible to know what the future held or when he’d see Pierson again. They were assigned opposite coasts, and that made it unlikely they’d cross paths often in a courtroom. It was inescapable that they’d be together, though, and as angry as Mitchell was, he honestly wasn’t disappointed in his match.
For now, it was important that they achieve their personal goals. Mitchell was going to bust his ass again, so one day he’d sail through the doors of headquarters and force Pierson to eat his words about using him for a better city. Not caring how long it took, Mitchell was determined to earn it on his own merit so perhaps they’d swallow their pride. With his mouth firmed into a thin line, Mitchell left the classroom where he’d temporarily ended things with his mate. His belongings needed to be packed for Seattle, and Mitchell had plenty to prove.
Chapter 8
1908 AD
Washington, DC
Pierson sat at his desk and was unable to ignore the excited chatter beyond his door. The night before, one of the senior Juris Knights had thrown a large party at her lovely home not far from headquarters. According to what his coworkers were saying, the gathering had been wildly successful, and everyone had a blast. While Pierson had no way to dispute the event’s attainment of a sublime level, he could convincingly argue that not everyone gave it wonderful reviews. After all, he’d attended and had only stayed long enough to feel supremely awkward and out of place, then returned to his small condo.
Pierson’s resurrection illness had spanned three days, and he’d blamed his inability to connect with his fellow recruits on a variety of things. Part of it surely had to have been the time the others had to make worthwhile connections while he was puking into a bucket. The other factor was the antagonism between him and Mitchell, which had forced the new fallen knights to pick sides. Who else would they choose but the one they knew longer and more in depth?
If those two reasons failed him, he latched on to the frustration and anger that had burned inside him over his matebond issues. With so many strong emotions, Pierson had simply been incapable of moving past it to forge friendships. That logic had been so reasonable, but the past three years had proved them to be lies. Arriving at his new post, he’d been determined to make the most of the situation.
