Page 190 of A Fate of Blood and Magic
I rolled my eyes. As if that’d actually hurt him.
“Yes, for real.”
“Do I get any details before I meet her?” I asked. “Her name? How you met? Anything?”
His smirk grew into a grin. “No.”
I frowned.
When he held out his arms, I went in for a hug. It was one of his good ones too, where he added a quick squeeze at the end. He tousled the top of my hair, and I pushed him away.
“Give me a name,” I shouted to his retreating back.
Without looking back, he said, “No.”
With Elias’s arms on my shoulder, we headed back to the house. Brenton held the door open for us, and inside, the smell of pizza greeted me. Although Nate had started working at the pizzeria, and everyone swore it tasted better, my stomach turned at the thought of eating it, so I went to the kitchen to make a sandwich. When Elias realized what I was doing, he kicked me out of the kitchen with instructions to talk to Brenton.
Brenton sat in his usual spot on our couch, so I took a seat next to him. I wound my hand around his arm and leaned my head on his shoulder, waiting for him to rest his head on mine. When he did, I started talking.
“Etienne said he felt better after we did our spell,” I said slowly. “He said the pain he usually has and the heaviness he feels that makes it hard to think or speak were gone. This, along with the medicine he’s taking, should help. It may not cure him entirely, but it’ll help.”
He patted my leg and left his hand on my knee.
“I told both of them not to contact you again.”
He stiffened and when he lifted his head, I turned to look at him.
“I meant what I said. You’re done with them,” I said. “Etienne’s getting the medical attention he needs. If Alastor and I need to repeat the spell, we will. The scholars will figure out how to replicate his medicine. So he’s no longer your concern. Even Etienne agrees. They’re done hurting you.”
We sat in silence for long seconds, and I watched each emotion that crossed his features. Mainly all I saw was the deep-rooted anguish I didn’t know how to pull out.
“A long time ago, I learned how to ignore the pain caused by Finley choosing him.” Brenton said each word slowly as if he weighed each one before he spoke them. “I even convinced myself I was happy for her. Seeing her again, spending time with her again . . .” He rubbed his chest. “It makes it hurt all over again because I remember the many reasons I love her. She was my best friend before we knew we were mates. And even when we found out, we were too young to understand what it meant. She’s still that girl who I fell in love with, and I thought that if I helped her and saw her happy with him, it’d be enough, and I’d be able to move past it and ignore it again. I don’t know if I can ignore it.”
I sighed, reaching for the hand he kept on my knee. “I’m probably going to make you angry, but I’m going to say it anyway. You keep thinking you’re not good enough for her when it’s the other way around. She’s not good enough for you, Brent. If she was, she wouldn’t have used your feelings for her to exploit you. She would’ve been the one looking for a cure or solution to what’s happening with Etienne instead of relying on you. She?—”
“That’s not fair, Teddy.”
My laugh came out dry and humorless. “What’s not fair is her letting you stay with them so you can sense a seizure before it happens. What’s not fair is you taking care of Etienne during today’s meeting as if he were yours to take care of.”
“He’s a good male.”
“I’m not arguing that,” I said. Because after today, I did believe he was a good male. I just didn’t understand how Finley somehow got two good males to fall for her. “I’m arguing that Finley isn’t good. She may be a good person. I don’t know her well enough to know, but she’s not good for you. She doesn’t—she doesn’t look out for you, Brent, and then she expects you to look out for her. I remember what she said to you before the coronation. Am I wrong in saying she expects you to have her best interests at heart while she doesn’t do the same for you?”
“She has an intended.” The words came out so low, I barely heard them.
“She chose an intended and has no right to expect anything from you,” I said.
“It’s not that easy for me,” he said.
“I know it’s not.” I squeezed his hand. “Tell me what to do to help you because short of sending her to the bottom of the ocean, I don’t know.”
He turned his hand over to hold mine. “I can’t see her. I can’t keep helping him. I have to be done with them.”
“Okay, so sending her to the bottom of the ocean isn’t completely off the table?”
He bumped his leg against mine.
“Why don’t you stay with us for a couple of nights?” I asked. “We can work on some plans for the orphanage and go by and see the kiddos. I’d love to get something on paper so we can work on the kids going home with families.”
