Page 86 of A Song of Air
Bryson let her friend take her hand. She let herself be pulled away from the small group. She felt their eyes against their back, felt them straining to hear a word, yet neither Malika nor Bryson spoke. Not until they were well out of earshot.
“Shit,” Malika cursed.
“Yeah,” Bryson agreed. “Shit.”
They stopped, facing one another. Malika ran a hand across her curls and looked to the sky. “Arlo is going to be so pissed.”
“Yeah.”
Malika dropped her gaze once again. She bit her lip, like she was chewing on her words before finally, “I am going to go with them.”
Bryson wanted to pretend to be surprised, but she couldn’t. She’d known. Of course she’d known that Malika would choose, not Bryson, not the Resistance, but her sister.
That burned.
Tears pricked behind Bryson’s eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “I knew you would want to.”
Unfortunately, Malika knew her well enough to interpret her tone. She reached forward, clasping Bryson’s hands in her own. “Come with us,” she urged. “I’ve known you for years, Bryson. I’ve known you’ve always wanted more than what Arlo has offered us. I’ve seen how it upsets you when he talks down about the Resistance. I might not know the full extent of your story, but I know you are not happy here and haven’t been in a long time.”
A lump formed deep in her throat. Had her best friend really known so much? Even if Bryson had never spoken the words, had everything she’d felt been laid bare for everyone to see? If so, then Malika had to know what kept her feet tethered to this camp.
“Arlo won’t be happy.”
Malika squeezed her hands. “I know he won’t be.”
“We owe him a debt.”
At this, Malika frowned. “A debt we have paid over and over again. Look, I know he saved us, but we have done so much for him since then. We’ve helped him save others. We helped him build his camp. Our debt is settled, and now it’s time to move on from this place, don’t you think? Unless—” She broke off, tilting her head slightly to the side. “Is this about Ev? Of course it is, isn’t it? You don’t want to leave him. You love him.”
Those words only seemed to burn Bryson’s insides so much more. She closed her eyes against the onslaught of them as the memories invaded once again. Of Weylyn, of his touch and his taste, his sharp scent, and the promises he whispered darkly into her ears.
Of her betrayal.
“Malika,” Bryson whispered. “There’s so much you don’t know.”
“Then tell me.”
Bryson opened her mouth and tried to form the words. She tried to tell her about how she’d betrayed Everette. Of the awful sin she’d committed. Of how she was going to break his heart.
Instead, she whispered, “Weylyn is my mate.”
Malika jerked back, eyes widening with barely concealed surprise. “The tall, rude, weird Fae?”
A sob lodged itself in Bryson’s chest at that description. So accurate and so painful. To think that her mate, the one Mana had chosen specifically for her, was hated and viewed that way by everyone he came into contact with.
“That’s the one.”
“Oh.Oh. I see.”
But she didn’t see. How could she when Bryson had kept it inside for days, fearing judgment, fearing everything.
“What does this mean for you and Ev?” Malika asked with great care.
Whatdidit mean for them?
Bryson knew the answer before she even opened her mouth to speak. It was high time she finally made a fucking decision. It was high time she stopped hiding behind everyone else and owned up to what she’d done. It was time she brought herself back to reality and faced the consequences.
“I need to go speak with Ev.”
