Cora huffed, “It’s probably her fault it all didn’t work right. You didn’t eat enough of the candy. She was the preferred babysitter your parents had for you.” She started this so young. Micah asked, “What about the Hunters? They were suspicious of me when they had no reason to be.” He was right.
She waved, “I left them a note but your super-secret special source ruined everything!” Oh my god. It had been her all along. All this time?! I asked, “Whose idea was this? You didn’t come up with it.” She jutted out her jaw and looked to the left. She replied, “It was my idea.”
I warned, “I know when you’re lying.” She sighed, “So, my aunt suggested it after I told her people thought we’d be mates. She helped it along since it was the mate bond.” I shouted, “BUT IT WASN’T!” She shrugged, “It could’ve been.”
Aiden laughed, “I swear there’s something in the water with these crazy women. That is the saying, yes?” I answered, “Yes.” Titus asked, “So, Witch spells. That’s all you used on him?” She waved, “No, once Haley was around less, I used Goblin magic too, and maybe something else. My Aunt had those details. Thank Aesir Haley wasn’t around when we started dating. She tried interfering enough.” Huh?
Eric growled, “That’s Princess Luna Haley to you.” I told him, “It’s not your fault. I can practically taste your guilt.” He reasoned, “I’m the reason she wasn’t in this realm.” I laughed, “You did have my mate though. So, you did save me. Plus, she wasn’t around as much once she started school. She came home almost every night and weekend, but she studied. She didn’t watch me as much then.”
Cora sneered, “She watched you all the time and put a charm on the playground. It’s why I had to convince your other babysitter to take you to a park further away. The Princess thought she was so smart, but I am smarter than everyone else.” I pointed out, “Yet you are in here.”
She cackled, “You literally never listened to Cassie. She tried to tell you time and time again I was after you, but you wouldn’t listen. Or have Coffee with me.” I yelled, “The spells were in the damn coffee.”
She clicked her tongue, “Took you long enough to figure out, didn’t it? I had to lead you there too. You wouldn’t have believed her if she hadn’t used her stupid Truth Seeking power on me. I had to avoid the Princess, but I never thought after all that time Cassie would try it.”
She grinned viciously, “After all, she let me get away with being in your bed naked.” No one stopped me when I lunged into her cell this time. I beat the ever loving shit out of her before several people yanked me off. I screamed, “LET ME GO! SHE MADE ME FAIL MY MATE!”
Alexander got in my face this time. He said, “You didn’t fail Cass. It makes more sense that magic made you blind to her, but even without it she seemed unassuming. I had her as a risk, but not like this. Not to you.”
I yelled, “How does that make it better? She was a danger to Cassie, and I did NOTHING!” Alexander argued, “That’s not true. You never were around her. You tolerated her, but you avoided her whenever you could. You moved schedules around if she caught onto yours. She played her games with Cass, and I don’t think we know all those.”
Cora mocked, “Of course you don’t. You think she wrote lying bitch across my forehead for fun? The amount of rumors I had going on before she and her obnoxious Fairy cousins shut them down were amazing. Even her Beta and Gamma got in on it. They were so OBNXOIUS! I had the realm doubting their own Duchess. I AM THE POWERFUL ONE HERE!”
Eric hit her so hard I heard her skull crack, and she went down. Uncle Bjourn took out his tools and scanned her. He said, “She’ll live.”Thor replied, “I know but you don’t want me here when you talk to her again. If she continues to talk about my pup that way Eric and I will argue about who rips her to pieces.” I snorted, “You seem like you’d win since you hit her.” He grinned, “It was both of us.” That made more sense.
I hung my head, “I let her down. All those times she…” I trailed off thinking about it. My dad grabbed me and hauled me out of the dungeons. Angus was trailing behind us. When we got up top no one said anything.
Angus said, “I, for one, am glad it was Witch, goblin, and various other bullshit. I thought you had terrible taste in women and Aesir saved you.”I whispered, “I exposed Cassie to someone dangerous.” Eric spoke from the shadows, “She was already exposed because of who I am. Should I not have had pups with my mate because of that?”
I asked, “What? No.” He said, “Then you can’t take the blame here. I got this Aaron.” My dad raised an eyebrow but gestured for him to take the floor. He called, “Get out here Marcus. I know you’re around.” Marcus faded in with whiskey and shot glasses.
Alexander conjured a table, and we all sat down. Angus and my dad did too. Marcus sighed, “I was kind of hoping you had this, and I wouldn’t be involved, Eric.” Eric shot him a look replying, “If I’m out here you’re with me. If Lucas was around, we’d have him here too.”
Eric slammed his whiskey and stared into my very soul. He said, “I was charmed, and my mate blames herself for not seeing it. When she hears about this she’s going to rant and rave about how she knew that girl was horrible. She told me that ALL the time when your Aunt Astrid told her you were dating.
Uncle Bjourn laughed from behind us. He sat down and nodded to Alexander and suddenly he had a drink too. Eric poured himself another one. Uncle Bjourn said, “Haley did have a bunch of colorful things to say about you dating Cora.” I figured that out myself. Uncle Bjorn pointed, “What he said before that was quite true.” I muttered, “I figured that out myself.”
Marcus said, “Then listen to him and me because if you think what you did was bad, mine was worse.” I frowned, “Huh?” He said, “You wouldn’t know that I nearly lost Torvi and my boys because I was charmed by Claudia. It took a long time for it to come out that I’d been charmed. Haley was fifteen when I met Claudia. No one knew I was charmed or that my dad had been charmed to forgive her. Haley didn’t accept her Fairy side, and that’s the Fairy’s fault.” I agreed with that.
He hung his head, “I nearly lost Torvi, literally. She almost died and then she left me. She walked right out of our home with our children who wanted nothing to do with me. I defended Claudia and didn’t believe her when she said that’s who tried to kill her. I actually thought she’d break our bond at one point and reject me.” I gasped.
He said, “I hurt her that badly and I didn’t defend her in the worst way. When it came out later I was charmed, I cried in relief. I felt like the world’s worst failure for getting tricked. Haley and Aiden explained to me I couldn’t have helped it. I went to therapy individually, and with Torvi, but it took along ass time for me to forgive myself. I only could because Torvi and my boys did. If she hadn’t then I would’ve given drinking myself to death a good shot.” Since Haley wouldn’t let him do that, he’d have had to try something else.
Eric said, “I’m sure Cassie told you, and maybe you remember when I fucked up with Haley.” I told him, “I remember things being tense in the realm, but I don’t remember it. I don’t think anyone told me when I was younger.”
He nodded, “Well, I was charmed too, and I hurt Haley over it. It felt like something else entirely took over me. Something I did not understand.” I snorted, “Well, I didn’t feel anything like that. I felt an obligation to be nice to her.” Eric stared me down.
Eventually he said, “You know full well if I’d ever thought you’d hurt my daughter, I’d pummel into the ground then my sons would be on you.”I took a drink and pointed out, “Yet you aren’t. I was hurting her.”
Alexander argued, “No, you weren’t. She was frustrated but you didn’t hurt her. She just wanted you to see it and you did. She used her Truth Seeking ability and you saw. You led the charge to throw Corursula in the dungeons.”
I pointed out, “She should’ve died then. We nearly lost Cass because I didn’t kill her.” Alexander replied, “Cassie had that situation handled before you found out about it. I would’ve gone to her. They weren’t trying to kill her either.” Visions of her getting shot hit me again.
I whispered, “She was shot because of me.” Eric said, “No, she was shot because a psychotic bitch decided to play God and thought my daughter was in her way. We are not responsible for the thoughts and actions of others. She got obsessed with you and that’s not your fault.”
Marcus chimed in, “He’s right. It’s so hard to fucking see, but Haley finally got me to see it how it was.” I asked, “How?” He answered, “She asked if it was her fault the three stooges fixated on her. I told her that in no way was it her fault. She pointed out the Claudia situation was the same and I wouldn’t blame her. So, project the situation onto your brother. Would you blame him? Or Alexander?” I answered easily, “No!”
Gunner yelled, “WE NEED A CONNERS DOWN HERE!” Alexander chuckled, “I might have linked Max. Oops.” He popped away and Eric groaned. He said, “I swear to god those pups just live to egg each other on and give me gray hair.” I laughed, “You’re proud of him.” He stood, “Damn straight. No one messes with my pups. That includes you and Micah. She kept you from my Princess.”
