Page 15 of A Song of Air
Had Everett been Fae, their sessions likely would have lasted hours. For a moment, she entertained the idea of fucking a Fae. What would it be like? Would it leave her mind blown, her body sated, her thoughts quiet?
For an even crazier moment, she entertained the idea of fucking a mate. It was rumored that there was nothing better in the world. But Bryson had long ago swept those notions away and settled with what she had.
She was happy with Ev.
She didn’t need anything else.
Bryson shrugged his hold off and kept walking, picking up speed. He had to rush to keep up with her, and she could already hear his heartbeat accelerating from the exertion.
She could almost feel his frown. “Bryce... What’s wrong?”
“How long have you known?” she asked suddenly.
“Known what?”
“How long have you known about the Resistance? About Dana and the West Isles?”
That energy expanded through her body, and she expelled it with a gush of wind that ruffled the creaking branches of the trees.
His answer was slow and cautious. “For... weeks.”
She stopped, whirling to face him. She heard his feet stumble on the ground. “And you didn’t think to tell me?”
Beneath that rage, there was also hurt. Unlike with Malika, she and Ev shared secrets with one another. He knew about her past, about her parents and her sister. Her family had been loyal to the Seelie crown. He would have known what the news of the Resistance would have meant to her and the memory of her family.
And he’d kept it from her.
“Bryson,” he chastised. “You know I can’t discuss the workings of the camp with you. Arlo would—”
“Well, you aren’tfuckingArlo, are you?” she snapped.
He gave pause at her crude tone. She could almost feel his shock like a tangible thing. He didn’t choose his next words carefully, but matched her tone with annoyance of his own. “What does it matter if I tell you or not, Bryce? What difference would it make?”
She reeled back on her heels. “What do you mean what difference would it make?”
He scoffed. “It’s not like you’re a part of that damn Resistance. You’re a part ofus.Of our community. Aren’t you?”
There was a note of accusation in his voice that made anxiety rise in her chest. Arlo had demanded her story when he’d pulled her from that wagon all those years ago. He’d pulled her aside and asked, said he needed to know. Over the years, his presence and fatherly affections made her feel like he was eclipsing the memories of her family. She’d fought like hell to keep them alive, and Arlo had noticed it seemed to tear her loyalties in different directions.
That blasted question made her feel that way. She owed Arlo. She owed this community. If she even whispered that she admired the Resistance, she would be shunned. Cast out.
“I am,” she gritted out. “But that’s not the point.”
“No?” He sounded amused. “Then what’s the point, Bryson Varik?”
She gritted her teeth, hating when he used her full name. Like she was a petulant child that needed scolding. For fuck’s sake, she was older than him.
“The point is trust. I tell you everything, and you don’t tell me anything!”
In the distance, a bird chirped and flew away.
“Bryson...” He stepped closer, and she wanted to flinch away when his hands came down gently on her arms, but she kept very still. “If I don’t tell you things, it’s only because I know they’ll hurt you. You can lie to everyone else, but I know that you’re still worked up about your family. I know you still feel a sense of loyalty to them, and telling you about the Resistance sooner would have only confused you.”
“I’m strong,” she argued.
He patted her arms, his voice condescending as he replied, “Sure you are. But you would have gained nothing from knowing sooner. But you knownow,so why are you so angry?”
Whywasshe so angry? She gave pause to mull the question over in her mind. Sure, even if he had told her the truth sooner, there would have been nothing she could have done about it, exceptbrood.But like she said, it wasn’t even about that.
