Page 33 of Mitchell
"Daruss is good at making sure I am. Well, now he is. He kinda sucked at it in the beginning." Jude sniffled. It was clear he was crying. "I missed you. And I was so worried."
"I'm sorry I made you worry." It was Mitchell's job as the older brother to worry about Jude. Not the other way around. "I missed you, too."
"Daruss said Terrell fucked you over."
That was putting it mildly. "Yeah. He trafficked me. But I'm safe now. And I plan on staying that way."
"Terrell's dead." It was news to Mitchell. But he wasn't exactly broken up about it.
"How?"
"Terrell…hurt me. Really bad. Daruss saved me. I'm fine." The last part, Jude said fast, as if doing so would make Mitchell not lose it. "One thing led to another and Daruss…solved the problem."
Saying it that way wouldn't stop anyone from knowing what Jude meant if they were listening in on the conversation. Mitchell doubted anyone was, but he guessed it paid to be cautious.
"Terrell hurt you?"
Jude sighed. "I knew you would home in on that one thing. Daruss took care of it, Mitch. And I promise, I'm happy and safe and all the things you wanted me to be by sending me to the Dragon Skulls."
Mitchell had never been gladder someone was dead in his life, and he'd never felt guiltier either. "I'm sorry, little brother."
"It's not your fault, so get that out of your head."
"It is, though." If he hadn't agreed to steal those stupid guns for Terrell, Jude wouldn't have gotten hurt. It made him a shit brother and an even shittier parent. Their father would have been so disappointed in him if he were still alive. "I'll be honest and say I'm not sure about Daruss. I'm reserving my judgement. But I'm glad he's taking care of you, since I failed so epically."
Jude groaned. "Everything about what you just said is painfully stupid, Mitch. Seriously."
Mitchell smiled. Leave it to Jude to be the one person who could give it to Mitchell straight without having to worry about retaliation. "How is it stupid?"
"Do you want me to go through the entire list of reasons or just the cliff notes?"
"Smartass." Mitchell chuckled.
"Well, you raised me, so thatisyour fault." Mitchell could practically see Jude roll his eyes.
"Give me the laundry list of reasons. I missed you so much. I'm willing to hear you tell me how wrong I am about something." Mitchell ached from it.
"I've waited my whole life for this." Jude laughed in an exaggerated evil way. "Well, first off, I don't know why you say you're reserving judgement on Daruss. You're the one who thought he was a safe space. That's why you sent me to him. And it turns out he's not only a safe space, but he's also one of the two people who make my world go round."
"Two people?" Who was the other person?
"Yeah." Jude sounded as if he took a deep breath, as if shoring up his courage. "So, it turns out shifters are real. Daruss can turn into a dragon. So can a lot of the Dragon Skulls. And they have this ability to tell when someone is their soul mate. Well, Daruss found his mate. Our mate. His name is Raylee, and he's…you'll like him. He's the sweetest person. Innocent and a much better person than Daruss and I."
It was another thing Mitchell felt guilty about. Jude implied he wasn't innocent anymore, and he was right. Living on the streets had stolen a lot from him, but Mitchell should have protected him from the harsh realities.
"So, what you're saying is you're in a relationship with two people?"
"Yeah. They chose me. Like fell in love and decided they wanted me too. And I…I wouldn't change any of it. You know, like all the crappy stuff that happened to us. And it's because it all led me to them." It might have been sappy, but it was so sweet.
"Be careful. You're going to give us both cavities." But Mitchell was grateful Jude found love. He couldn't have asked for more for his little brother.
Jude chuckled.
"Seriously though. I'm happy for you."
"Thanks. Now you can stop beating yourself up."
Fat chance of that, but Mitchell was done with his pity party. "Tell me more about paranormals and this mating thing."
