Page 23 of Love & Heart Braking

I watched her. “There’s something unhinged in you.”

“More than one thing,” she replied. “Seriously, congrats. You have no idea how long I’ve waited for you two to wake the fuck up. It was like neither of you could see what was right in front of you.”

I couldn’t wait to replay that comment to her about Bain. “I didn’t realize how much of my angst lately was to do with loving him. I hate that he’s involved in this—I’m terrified. Yet he’s by my side, and that feels right too.”

“The bow,” Soleil said. “Did you check for it last night?”

“No. Devereaux came around and we talked.”

“Call it!”

I yelped and extended my hands, palm up and slightly clawed. Light burst out and a warm weight dropped into my hands. Joy seared through me, reeling back after a wondrous moment to reside in my heart. That felt so much better.

“It’s back.” I sighed in bliss.

“Guess Venus isn’t pissed with you anymore,” Soleil murmured, smiling.

Only because I’d stopped turning away from love like an idiot.

“Have you trained with the bow at all?”

I plucked the string. “Nope.”

“Okay, well, it’s not a harp, so stop doing that. We should take it somewhere private and give shooting a whirl. How many arrows do you have?”

“The arrows are my magic.”

“Right. So you’d need a love match to practice on.” She hummed. “Leave it with me. There’s no point leaving the bow in your wardrobe to gather dust though.”

That was exactly where I’d intended to leave it. The idea of learning more was pretty exciting. “I’ll think about it.”

“You do that, and I’ll pretend to let you have a say. So Devereaux. He’s in the alliance now for good?”

I blew out a breath, my stomach churning. “Yep. He said we’re in this together.”

“I’ll be your maid of honor, of course. Can you name your first child after me too?”

“Sure.”

“I’ll name my first Cerys.”

“Deal.”

I walked to the other computers and zapped them before I got too absorbed in Gossip O’clock and forgot. “Did you talk any more to Bain after the meeting?”

She scowled. “I asked him if he wanted to go for a drink to discuss business matters. He said no.”

“Really? Why?”

“He’s not drinking anymore.”

I whistled. “Whoa. I thought he had to drink to numb his senses.”

“I thought so, too, but when I asked about it, he just said that he’d taken the easy path until now, and he’d realized it was weak of him to do so.”

“You don’t think—and I realize this is a crazy, insane theory and totally out there—you don’t think he’s cleaning up his act for you?”

She paused, searching my face. “I have wondered sometimes if he…” She blinked and straightened. “It’s probably just another of his corruption rants. They’re so annoying to listen to.”

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