Page 88 of Haunted Hearts

“About where your head is with everything.” My fingers make quick work of the first two braids. But as I work on the third one, extra hair begins to fall in my way. “This must be difficult for you to learn that the warlock is using your family home. That must affect you somehow.”

Theo doesn’t answer right away. His silence stretches as I finish the three braids on the right side of his head. He rises to turn in his seat, straddling the back of the chair, so I can get to his other side without leaving my seat. The silence stretches. I know him well enough that I know he’s not ignoring me. We’re well past that now.

Theo is a thinker. Anover-thinker. Every question, every move, every decision is mulled over until it’s been looked at from every damn angle there is.

I have no doubt in my mind that Theo probably didn’t fall straight to sleep like the rest of us last night. He most likely stewed, planned, bemoaned, and questioned everything discussed from the previous day. All those thoughts probably followed him into the shower where they doubled, hell, even tripled. He needs a moment to collect, reflect, and to be able to regurgitate the most problematic of issues that he’s trying to solve. Hopefully, talking things out will help him.

“That house that Fulton is staying at… I-I had some good times there when I was a child.” Theo’s mouth twitches as if he wants to smile. It never comes. “To know that my father used that location to plan horrible things and knowing Fulton is concocting some scheme in it… all of those memories are sullied.”

I don’t say anything as I continue to braid his hair. When I’m done with the three braids on the other side, I run my fingers through the rest of his wet hair before murmuring in his ear to stay there. I get up and when I return, I have a small towel in tow. Gently, I dry his hair while Theo sits quietly, staring off into space.

“That house is also protected by powerful wards, not unlike the ones that surround this place.” Theo adds after a minute. “Besides the fact that Fulton may have warped those wards with Death Magic, making it harder for us to get to him, we don’t know if your powers will be nearly as strong in that realm as they are in this one. Will you be able to do what needs to be done today in Everlast? Or will your power not be as effective? Then there’s the fact that we need to watch your output, since it affects the Realm of the Living. It’s a balancing act we’ll have to learn on the fly, but I worry how much damage this realm will take while we figure it out.”

He pauses as he tilts his head for me to get better access to drying his other side. While he talks, I notice the tension in his shoulders is beginning to ease.

“On a different note, I’ve been thinking about our conversation with Brock,” he frowns. “Telling him about our people was… disconcerting. On one hand I wanted to boost how great they are. They are, after all, my people, and we have come so far. But we’ve come this far because we’ve destroyed so much. It sickened me to talk about the Fae and our culture.”

He shakes his head slowly.

“I have no pride, no love, no respect for the people I was born to represent, protect, and rule over. I am feeling strangely bereft.”

I hum as I think about this. The very foundation of his teachings, his upbringing, all of that has been destroyed. When has he had the time to come to terms with this? Theo is having to face the fact head on that his people are on the wrong side of history. A history he could have been a part of if he hadn’t been exiled and joined the Brotherhood.

That’s a lot to absorb.

“Remember, most of your people don’t realize what they’ve been a part of. The Fae have been in this realm so long that no one who came from a different one would still be around. Give them the benefit of the doubt, Theo. There are evil ones, but there are good people too.”

Theo sighs but otherwise falls silent.

I let him sort through whatever else he’s been mulling, knowing there’s more. There’s always more. I don’t think he’s ever just stopped to relax a day in his life.

“I’m also worried that Fulton might be atEverlast when we show up today. He may be staying at the house, but what if he comes to the temple to conduct his work? What if he meets the Elders there? If Fulton is in Everlast, are we prepared to fight him?”

A dark and twisted hunger flares to life in the middle of my chest. My mouth dries and my hands shake hard just once.

Am I prepared to fight Fulton? I don’t know. But I’d love to take a stab at it. I want him to be at Everlast today. Revenge for what he did to me spurs on that desire. The need to see him suffer has been growing daily since we’ve been here in the Realm of the Dead.

Rather than worry Theo by telling him any of this, I approach his concern from a different angle.

“Brock mentioned that eventually Fulton would run out of any magic he had taken from me. If he used the power that he stole from me to infuse it into the wards, he wouldn’t have Death Magic to harm us. I’ll be able to end him quickly… quickly-ish.” I amend.

Theo sighs heavily. “What if the souls he’s been stealing have been keeping his stash of Death Magic full?”

I finish drying his hair, I push it to the side and kiss his neck. “Then I’ll be there to counteract anything he throws at us.”

Theo freezes. His sharp inhale makes me cringe. I expect him to object. To warn me away from the danger. Instead, he exhales a long breath as the fight leaves his body.

“You’ll be our biggest weapon against him.” He swallows. “To know you’re powerful enough to stop any danger that comes your way… it’s comforting. But to know dangerwillcome for you, I loathe that.”

He looks up and our eyes meet. I can see how hard it is for him to admit this. But I can also see the adoration and acceptance in his gaze. It causes my heart to swell.

“We’ve planned as best we can for any, and every, thing,” I point out solemnly. “And what we haven’t planned for, well, we’ll stay cautious and vigilant.”

Theo grabs my hand as I move to step away. He kisses the inside of my wrist softly just as the door to the bedroom opens and Kwil steps out.

“My biggest fear in all of this is if something happens to you,” Theo declares. “My plan failed last time, and now we’re dead. Another failure like that cannot happen. Not to you, my queen.”

I chuckle, “To be fair, I did force Kwil to come after the three of you which derailed your plan.”

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