“Oh, I know. It’s just not something I want to talk to her about.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “One problem at a time. We’ll focus on Elana, see what we can find out about her history, while you work on your idea to contact Ophelia again. But I want defense mechanisms in place. And this time, I come with you. Because I don’t trust that woman near you or Claire.”
I grinned. “Spoken like a protective little brother.”
“By, like, eighteen months,” he retorted. “And someone has to keep your wits about you. Going into her mind like that without even asking for backup.” He shook his head. “If I hadn’t been so busy kicking that fae out of your head, I’d have kicked your ass for being so stupid.”
“Aww, I love you, too,” I drawled, tugging him into a hug.
He returned the embrace, squeezing once before letting me go. “Don’t do that again.”
I smirked. “We both know I can’t agree to that.”
“Stubborn prick,” Cyrus grumbled, then held up his hand. “Yeah, yeah—pot, meet kettle. Picking up human terms.” He shook his head. “Tell Claire I’ll be back soon.”
He misted without another word, leaving me chuckling in the hallway.
Half brothers, we might be, but he was also my best friend.
And I meant what I said. I loved him. Just as I knew he loved me.
I couldn’t think of anyone better to have my back.
Stay safe, I thought at him. Not that he needed it. Cyrus was probably the strongest of all of us, something he already knew. Although, I bet Claire would one day give him a decent challenge. And wouldn’t that be a sight to behold?
With that fantasy in mind, I returned to her and sat in the chair near the foot of the bed to guard her dreams.
Vox
This was bullshit.
Claire and everyone else had wandered off to one of the bonfires to ring in the solstice with spritemead and sparkling pixielings, while I was stuck here being grilled by my parents. Again.
“You’ve had your fun,” my mother was saying with a tempered kindness as if I were a faeling all over again. She handed me a prayer orb, reminding me how Claire had “desecrated” the sacred objects without even realizing it. “It’s time to come back to reality, Vox. Pray to the elements for forgiveness and move on from the Halfling. She has no place in our family.”
Apparently, she’d given up on the idea that Claire might help restore our family name.
Shocking.
“I’m bonded with her, Mother,” I reminded her for the thousandth time. “We’re already committed on the third level. We won’t be breaking it. Can I go now?”
“By the Four Winds,” my father barked, sending a violent breeze through the sitting room. “I don’t care what level of bond you have with the girl; it’s foolish and she needs to be removed.” He took a blue gem from his pocket and showed it to me. “This will call the guard, and they will escort Claire from the kingdom. All I have to do is break it. Do you really want to force my hand?”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. “You really want to test the wrath of the Spirit King and the Water Prince?” Cyrus had returned this morning after spending three days in Water Kingdom. The wariness in his expression told me he’d endured similar dealings with his parents. Well, maybe not too similar. His father at least liked Claire, from what I understood.
My father gave me a grim stare. “We only recently had some of our political privileges reinstated, and your bond with the Halfling is threatening those arrangements.”
“What privileges?” I asked, his claims being news to me.
“If the Halfling has befuddled your loyalties, then she needs to be dealt with,” he added, ignoring me as he always did.
“She’s befuddled nothing,” I snapped, my words stirring a breeze that caused the items hanging from the Christmas tree in the corner to jingle. “I love her, Father. I realize that’s an odd concept for you, but that’s how I feel. We will move to the fourth level, with or without your approval.”
Distant thunder sounded as my father’s black eyes glimmered. “After tonight, I forbid you to see her again.”
“And here we go,” I drawled, irritated beyond measure. “Do my words not even reach your ears?”
“She’s half-human, right?” he interjected, again acting as though I didn’t have a voice. Which maybe I didn’t. “That means you’ll only have to wait a short time before she succumbs to her mortal weakness and you can take a new mate.”
“Never happening,” I countered.