Page 60 of Bargains with Benefits
“Please, keep searching,” he said.
“They used their wind on you to draw yours out?”
I didn’t return to searching the papers, and he kept talking, holding my gaze. “They sent their wind at me at every opportunity, hoping mine would rise to defend me. I guess I was neverreally in danger from it.” He paused. “But it made for an unpleasant association with my magic.” He laughed without mirth. “It also led to my wind acting out in odd ways as I aged.”
My hands were on his arms, squeezing in reassurance the same way his wind had. His wind swept along my cheek, clearing away more tears I didn’t realize had fallen. This information made me cherish his wind’s attention even more.
“Unfortunately, their methods worked. One day, my wind sprang forth and pushed them both away in a display they’ve not forgotten. I’m stronger than the two combined, and they credit themselves for that.”
It made me sick to my stomach. “I’m sorry they did that to you.”
He shrugged. “I just want you to know that anything Darius says about my parents is probably true.”
“I’m not trying to build a relationship with your parents,” I said pointedly. “I’m trying to build one with you.”
His smile was small. His wind pushed our hands together, wrapping around where they joined. “As we sat at the table, I was thinking of everything I wanted to tell you—to make sure you knew. It all fled my mind.”
“I assure you, we have time. You can tell me when the thoughts return.”
He gestured back to the desk. “Let’s keep looking.” He opened a few drawers and rifled through each.
“I think I found something.” He handed me a piece of paper that looked well-aged. It had been folded and refolded many times. The paper was thin with wear. Unfortunately, I knew who it was from before I read the contents. The handwriting was as familiar to me as my own. This was a letter from Mom.
28
Vincent
My brow furrowed as I passed the letter to Luna. This was everything I’d feared. I hadn’t read the entire thing but I’d seen the words we were searching for: bargain, donations, half-fae education. I tried not to hold my breath as her eyes roamed the page. Tears welled in her eyes, and even my wind hesitated to wipe them away. How could this be where the story ended? Darius had seemed so genuine in there. He disliked me for everything he thought my family to be. How could he be the same? Eloise, too, in a terrifying sort of way.
She passed the letter back to me. “You should read it. I don’t think it says what you think it does.” Her voice was soft and a little wobbly. I was sure that must mean exactly what I thought it did, but I’d take her word for it. We could cause a scene on the way out if we needed to.
I started reading, and my heart broke with each sentence I processed. Luna was right. This was not what I’d thought itwas. My eyes locked with hers, and tears streamed down her face.
“He’s been donating to the education of half-fae since you were born?” I asked. “Your mom used that as blackmail for him to stay away?”
This was…well, I didn’t know about worse, but I knew it was more complicated.
“How could she have done that to me? She knew what his dismissal did to me.” Luna pushed her silver strands back and tried swiping tears from her cheeks, but they kept coming. My wind drifted to her cheeks, letting the tears fall but drying them before they dripped onto her blouse. She laughed at the gesture even as her face remained pained.
“I don’t think we get to know that for sure, but based on what Darius said, we can guess.”
Luna nodded. “Protecting me from the fae is one thing, but actively blackmailing my father to stay away from me is another.”
I agreed, but I also knew what Luna’s mom meant to her. Luna needed to formulate her own opinions on this before I weighed in. It would be even more difficult since her mother was gone. She couldn’t answer for what she’d done, though the blackmail was clear as day in this letter. Darius had wanted to spend time with Luna. He had wanted to be in her life. Luna’s mom had not only said no, but she’d also ensured that if Darius ever approached Luna, his family would be punished.
Sponsoring half-fae education was a heated debate now. The new Norden Point had changed all the rules since she was of two courts herself. It would have been much worse when this letter was written almost twenty years ago. The previous Norden Point had had strict rules about fae education. I wasn’t familiar enough with the penalties of the Norden Court, but I could easily imagine that this knowledge in the hands of the prior Norden Point would have been cause for exile.
My wind caressed Luna’s skin. I realized I wanted to do the same. I wanted to be there for her while she processed so much information in so short a letter. Reaching for her, I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, squeezing. All I wanted to do was reassure her. Families were messy, and this would be painful to process. As much as her mom had blackmailed Darius, he had still gone along with it. The Pierce position in the Norden Court had been more important to him than his daughter. There was no good news in this letter. She sagged into my arms, and I let her collapse against me, wrapping my arms around her completely.
“This is such a mess,” she said.
I nodded as my head rested on her hair, and I tucked her in even closer as if that could keep her safe from the feelings assaulting her now.
A knock on the door to the study reminded me we were still in Pierce House. Darius and Eloise were still out there. Did Luna want to speak to them about this now? She’d been overwhelmed by the idea that they had tried to see her before. They had done so much to ensure she’d be welcome in Pierce House if she ever came. This letter complicated those assertions.
“Come in,” Luna called. Her voice was muffled as she spoke into my chest, her face pressed against it. I released her, but she didn’t let me go. She stayed right where she was as Darius and Eloise entered the room.
“We wanted to check on you,” Darius said, his gaze not missing much as he skimmed the room. It was apparent we’d disrupted most things on the desk. We hadn’t returned any papers we’d pulled from the drawers.
