Page 17 of Blood Brother Cursed

Elliott shook his head. “At best, I’ll be a cheap imitation. He does good things because he’s a good person.”

When she went to open her mouth, a hand tapped her knee. Astrid looked over at Phoenix, who was watching Elliott passively. He gave a barely perceptible shake of his head. Annoyed, she decided not to delve further. The guys weren’t together, but it was obvious that there was some sort of history between them. Or between their families.

Finally, Elliott looked over at Phoenix. “So, you invited me here for some kind of therapy or group discussion? Because if that’s the case, I have other things to do.”

“I invited you here because she has questions, and I think you are a much better source for answers.”

“You are trying to flatter me.”

Phoenix laughed. “When have I ever flattered anyone?”

This got a partial smile from Elliott. “That’s… a fair point. I don’t think you see any reason to flatter people. It’s a tool I’ve only recently learned to wield. And, if I’m being honest, I feel that I’ve undergone some real growth over the years – or perhaps it’s statistics – but it’s nice to know that there are some more cold, calculating shifters out there.”

“Call it a result of the curse.”

Elliott pursed his lips, but his expression gave Astrid the impression that he was actually feeling sorry for Phoenix. The two looked at each other for a while, then Elliott finally turned to her. “Now that you are situated, I suppose you and I have some things to discuss.”

Astrid gestured toward Phoenix. “The three of us.”

To her surprise, Phoenix stood up and dropped a lot of cash on the table. “I think this is the point where I can leave you two to talk. You have my number, Ms. Lynnox. If you want to contact me to learn more, I’ll try to work you into my schedule.” He turned to Elliott. “Good luck, Elliott.”

“I don’t need luck,” he sniffed.

Astrid reached out and grabbed Phoenix’s hand. “Wait. How did you know about Evander?”

Elliott turned to look at him, too. Phoenix pulled his hand away and closed his eyes. “I knew him.”

He didn’t wait to hear her response, not that it mattered much. It took her a while to recover. When she finally processed what he had said, it was too late to ask anything else. Astrid turned and looked at Elliott just as the waiter returned with the food.

The waiter looked at Phoenix’s retreating back. Astrid noticed that the hostess tried to stop him, but he simply brushed her off. The waiter then asked, “Is he coming back? Should I box up his food?”

Elliott looked at the extra plate of fish. “Yes, please.”

The waiter quickly disappeared.

Once they were alone, Astrid immediately started questioning the person who had remained. “Did you know?”

Elliott shrugged. “Two decades ago, I pretty much lived as a hermit at my brother’s house. I have nearly no knowledge of his life during that time, and even less of an idea about the world at large from back then.”

“You… were a hermit?”

“I preferred to just study science. It was only when Cooper brought home Alina that I started really taking an interest in the outside world.”

“Why?”

He looked away. “Personal reasons.”

Astrid could feel the hurt in his voice, so she decided to drop that topic. “So, what have you done since leaving?”

“Mostly researched people like you.”

“What do you mean people like me?” It was an honest question, and she surprisingly didn’t feel any offense at his words.

“People with abilities. It means you have dragon blood. And it means your brother probably had some abilities as well.”

“Yes. Yes, he did. We got it from my father’s side, and our abilities were similar.”

“You don’t mean that he could manipulate water.”

---