Page 11 of Taming the Beast (Fairy Tales of New York)

“Apparently.”

“How?” she said, a bit dazed. “What? I mean, why?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” said Zelda, looking pensive as she twiddled her straw. “He called me a couple of days ago. He said he wanted to talk.”

Seb, the man who resolutely didn’t do talking, wanted to talk? What on earth was going on? Mercy blinked. “Is he ill?”

Zel shook her head. “He didn’t seem to be when I saw him.”

And, wham, there was another shock to her system. “You saw him?”

“Of course,” said Zel. “I’ve spent half my life trying to get him to talk. He says he wants to talk? I’m not going to pass up the chance.”

“When?” said Mercy.

“Yesterday. I went round to the house.”

“What did he say?”

Zelda frowned into the middle distance as if trying to remember. “He didn’t say all that much, actually. There was lots of hair tugging. Lots of teeth gritting. Lots of jaw tightening. But once he’d got over his discomfort he muttered some stuff about responsibilities and guilt – in relation to the two of us – and then said he’d like to try and work it t

hrough.” She shrugged. “At least I think that was the gist of it. He wasn’t the most coherent I’ve heard him, to be honest.”

Mercy sat back, reeling. “My God,” she said because that was all her stupefied brain could manage.

Zel nodded. “I know. I was pretty astonished too.”

“Do you think he means it?” asked Dawn.

“He seemed to. And why would he say it if he doesn’t?”

“He wouldn’t,” said Mercy.

“No.” Zel paused. Frowned. “He blames himself for the accident. That’s sad. I never fully understood that, probably because he wouldn’t ever talk about it. But it explains a lot.”

It did. And Mercy had known, although she’d never said anything. Initially, in the days following her and Seb’s one night stand, she hadn’t wanted to rock Zel’s recovery. Then she hadn’t wanted to have to explain the circumstances in which she’d guessed. But perhaps she should have done, she thought as another wave of guilt washed over her. Perhaps she would have saved Zel a whole lot of heartache.

“So how do you feel?” asked Faith.

“Honestly?” said Zelda. “A bit wary. I don’t want to get too excited in case he changes his mind but I can’t seem to help it. It’s what I’ve wanted for so long. You all know that. And now it’s finally within my reach.”

“Did he say why he’d had a change of heart?” Mercy asked.

Zelda shook her head. “No.”

Dawn picked up her drink. “Maybe what you said to him the night of Zel’s party did make an impression, Mercy, despite what you thought.”

“Maybe,” she said doubtfully, trying to keep a lid on the hope that was welling up inside her at the thought that perhaps she hadn’t failed after all. That perhaps she had actually managed to fix things. “But it could have been anything. An epiphany. A blow to the head. Anything.”

“Pretty coincidental timing, though, you must admit,” said Dawn.

“I guess,” said Mercy.

“I think it was because of you,” said Zelda. “Because what I said to him that evening certainly didn’t seem to make an impression. But even if it wasn’t, thank you anyway for sticking up for me and being so loyal.”

“You’re welcome.”

“There was one thing I was curious about, though…”

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