Page 38 of Izzy
Ulises sucked in a breath. "That's not true. And anyway, he's your mate, I won't come between you."
"Shit." Todd hopped off the island. He eyed Seryn as he passed them to get to Ulises. "I'm sorry. Please don't fire me. Or kill me. Or whatever. I don’t mean to cause problems. They just sort of happen to me. I can fix it with Ulises right now if you let me."
Izzy had known from the first moment he'd seen Ulises again after breaking it off that it wasn't over between them. The reason he knew it was because the tears made his chest hurt. He wanted to take Ulises into his arms and hold him but he didn't have the right. Not after hurting him.
Mitchell snorted. "No one is going to fire you. Or kill you."
Todd stopped. "But Seryn said—"
"No one will. And why is that, boy?"
Seryn sighed. "Because Daddy said so."
"And…"
"Because it's wrong to kill family, with a few exceptions."
"Do any of those exceptions apply to Todd?"
"No." Izzy had never seen Seryn roll his eyes before but he did at Mitchell. And then he met Todd's gaze. "What are you making for breakfast?"
"Biscuits and gravy. And cinnamon rolls for later. They're for you." Todd directed that last part toward Ulises. And then he turned to meet Izzy's gaze. "You like them too, right?"
"It's a favorite." Izzy smiled, trying to show his appreciation. But his mind was splintering into two camps. One made him want to run as fast and as far away as possible. And the other knew he had two boys to take care of.
Todd nodded. And then closed the distance to Ulises. "Will you stay for breakfast? Let me make something for you."
Ulises shook his head. "I had breakfast at Easton and Gavin's house. I better get back to work."
Todd called after Ulises, but it didn't do any good.
Still, it was seeing them together, for a brief moment, that made Izzy realize he wasn't going anywhere. It didn’t’ matter that Ulises was sick or that Todd had a knack for finding trouble Or that Izzy feared losing them.
Chapter Seventeen
Ulises could summon fire without much effort. He would also boil water with just a thought. And he could raise the temperature in the room. So pretty much anything fire- or heat-related came easier to him than other things. Simple things like creating a dome caused him issues.
"You're not getting the wording right." Seryn sat in front of him with his legs crossed. He was so close their knees almost touched. "Did you study the book I gave you?"
"Every night. When I can focus."
"Why can't you focus?"
Ulises sighed and opened his eyes, meeting Seryn's gaze. He couldn't get the words out before his chin wobbled. "I don't know why I'm crying over that jerk. He's a shallow asshole who needs therapy even more than I do."
"So this is about Izzy?" Seryn was such a calm presence. His voice was little more than a whisper. Sometimes their magic lessons felt like therapy because more times than not they talked about stuff that had nothing to do with magic, like his failure at relationships.
Ulises nodded. "I'm sorry. I'm wasting your time. Again."
"It's not a waste of time, Ulises." Seryn took his hand in between his. "Maybe you haven't noticed but each time you talk about what's on your mind, the magic comes easier for you. And even if it didn't, I can listen."
His biggest issue was it had been two weeks, and he still hadn't gotten Izzy out of his mind or Todd for that matter.
"Okay, well then, here's the issue." Ulises wiped his eyes and took a deep breath. "I feel like a failure."
One thread was all it would take to unravel him, and he'd be in a million pieces.
"You're not a failure."
