Page 17 of Clouded by Envy

Brenik was livid. How long had she been doing this? Was this her first time? He followed her until she approached a blond guy with a can of beer in his hand.

She had walked right up to him and taken a swig of his drink. “Do you want to go back to a room?”

The blond human licked the center of his lip. “You get straight to the point, don’t you?”

“Tonight, I do.” Bray’s voice sounded different that night and less optimistic than her usual tone.

Brenik hadn’t stayed to hear the rest. He flew back to his tree hole where he had to sit around and do nothing except sleep.

Later that night, Bray had attempted to sneak in, smelling of a mixture of odors he did not want to think about.

With a scowl, he had sat up. “Why did you do that?”

Startled, she turned to face him. “What?” Her voice sounded mournful, but Brenik hadn’t cared.

“You know what I mean,” he remembered firing back. “You went to that party and apparently screwed some guy.”

“I did. So what?” she replied, just as bitter. “It wasn’t worth it.”

“This is wrong, that we had to come here. You can go and do as you please, while the only thing I will ever be able to fuck is my own damn hand,” he had growled, beyond fed up.

“It didn’t help. It only made it worse,” she whispered.

“What do you mean?” Her defeated voice had stripped away his anger.

“I—I thought it would help me feel better and erase some of the pain of Ruth, but it didn’t.”

“But at least you can do anything you want.” He would have given everything to be anything other than himself at that moment.

“I know you are frustrated I can become human, but the thing is, I can’t be happy about it because I know how much you want it. If I could, I would give the gift to you, Brenik.”

She had moved to sit next to him on his hammock, and he wrapped an arm around her waist. “It may sound selfish, but can you not do it anymore—at least for a little while?”

“I don’t want to change forms, not after tonight. I promise we’ll get through this together and figure something out.” He had known she meant it, too.

The next morning, Brenik had drawn Bray a picture in a note, hinting that he would be back in a few weeks. He had flown off in the direction of the Stone of Desire to beg it to do something, so he didn’t have to feel like he did—to make it so his sister didn’t have to either.

He had pounded over and over on the Stone, but nothing had happened—it chose not to answer him. To try and make himself feel less, he would spend weeks in the forest by himself—completely alone.

Brenik shoved away the memory and attempted to erase it, as he gripped the portrait of himself with a tightened fist to the point where it might rip the material.

He reached the long gravel trail, knowing the cabins weren’t that much farther away. The grainy tan terrain pressed roughly into his feet, but he relished the ache. There would be time for shoes once he got inside.

Crunch,crunch,crunch—a powerful pound to the grainy earth sounded as something—someonedrew near.

Squinting his eyes against the bright sun to get a better view, Brenik focused intensely on the incoming person. Short black hair shaved close to the head, dark skin, blue running shorts stopping at mid-thigh—no shirt.

Standing his ground, Brenik wasn’t going to move around the guy. The man came to a halt as he approached closer, causing Brenik to stop in place. He couldn’t help but notice the perfectly chiseled chest that seemed to be sculpted from a Greek God itself, and the beads of sweat sprinkled across the guy’s forehead and shoulders.

“Are you all right?” the guy asked as he looked Brenik up and down, from his bare feet and back to his face.

“Yes,” Brenik responded with a quirked eyebrow.Why wouldn’t I be all right?

“O—kay. Well, you are walking around out here wearing no shoes on this rough surface. Not to mention, fancy slacks and a collared shirt.” He tapped the tip of his shoe toward Brenik’s big toe.

“Just walking back to my house.” Brenik pointed in the direction of where the cabins were located up ahead.

“You live out here?” the guy asked as he tossed his head back to glance over his shoulder.

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