Page 128 of A Fate of Ice and Lies
I tried to apologize but instead barked out a laugh that made their smiles widen.
“I vomited on you?” I asked Brenton, and at the same time, their door swung open.
Ryenne rushed inside and straight up to Elias, who she pointed a finger at while Elias looked back at her in question.
“The next time my best friend is hurt, and you rush off with her, you take me with you.” She waggled that fingerin his face.
He dipped his head down. “You’re right. I apologize. I wasn’t thinking and only wanted to get Teddy here to help her.”
Ryenne turned that pointed finger at Nate. “That’s how you apologize,” she told him.
Nate’s eyes widened in shock. “You’re right. I apologize?” he said, but it sounded more like a question.
“Anyone want to tell us what the hell’s going on?” Donnie asked. Pretty sure there was a hint of a growl in there.
When I stood from the couch, both Elias and Brenton followed. I dropped Brenton’s hand to hug Ryenne, needing her closeness. Or not really hers, but I wasn’t sure how to ask Elias to hold me.
“Leanora happened,” I told them. “I saw her magic around George. It turned into a sword that apparently only I can see, and when she attacked George, I jumped in the way, and she struck me instead.”
I shrugged when my friends gaped at me.
“You’re seeing invisible, magical shit?” Ryenne asked me.
“Guess so.”
“You took a hit that was meant for George?” Everly asked me, her eyes wide with shock.
I gave a hesitant shrug. “I didn’t know it was poisoned, but I knew she intended to kill him.”
Everly shook her head, taking tentative steps toward me. She was always confident and seemingly in control, so watching her chew her bottom lip was strange. Stuffing her hands in her pockets, she shook her head again.
“You hate us,” she whispered.
I found George’s eyes on me, his features something I couldn’t quite read.
“Maybe I don’t hate y’all after all,” I replied.
She simply nodded, her eyes steady as she studied my face.
Uncomfortable under her scrutiny, I turned to Ryenne and told everyone how Leanora’s magic seemed to dim before it disappeared. Elias and Everly drew the same conclusion I did, figuring her show of magic had weakened her. It made me wonder if she was testing her limits to see how far her magic took her while the fae questioned how they could weaken her further.
We talked for hours as George quietly made dinner for all of us. When Elias pulled out a chair at their dinner table for me, I patted the chair next to me for him to sit on. He did, angling those beautiful eyes toward me.
I think a part of me was still in shock about Leanora’s violent attack.And how Elias still came for me. Healed me.He’d respected my decisions. Maybe, just maybe, he still wanted me.
I wasn’t strong enough to resist.
I knew I’d fooled myself into believing I could live life without him. I wanted him desperately, but more, I wanted to be someone he could count on the way I’d always been able to count on him. I wanted to be worthy of this bond fate had bestowed upon us. I wanted to know I wouldn’t balk and hurt him again.
Because this man’s love, his loyalty, was life itself.
Chapter
Twenty-Three
TEDDY
While most daysour town tremored with stress, Colina Verde Community Food Bank was filled with easy chatter today.
