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“No,” Brayden replied. He watched me in a way that could only be described as affectionate, and his face was slightly pink. “It doesn’t work exactly like that. We help you because wewantto help you.”
That was reassuring, at least a little.
“What about Mr. Weaver?”
“You should really call him Uncle Caleb.” Brayden sighed, lowering his arms back to the floor. “Same thing with Uncle Gregory. I think it’d make them happy.”
I’d thought about it… really, I did. Especially while working with Dr. Stephens and Damen so closely lately, it sometimes felt weird to be so formal.
I looked away, pushing myself the rest of the way out of Brayden’s lap. “But… He has adoctorate.” The excuse felt flimsy, even to me. “He’s worked hard to earn that and—”
“If that’s your reason, you’ll need to start calling Uncle Caleb ‘doctor’ too.” Brayden didn’t sound fooled at all. “He has a Doctorate in History—his focus was the middle ages and European renaissance.”
“But…” I said again, but for an entirely different reason this time. “Everyone calls him ‘mister’…”
Brayden shrugged. “That’s because he doesn’t care about that stuff. He’s extremely laid back once you get to know him. He was thepopularone.”
I bit my lip, thinking about the ghost I’d been associating with thus far.
Laid back? I couldn’t imagine it. Even as a spirit he was one angry rant away from a heart attack.
Regardless, I wasn’t sure I could just talk to either of them and call them ‘Uncle.’ They might laugh at me.
“He was the first in the family to go to a non-fae university,” Brayden continued. I glanced at him in surprise, and he nodded. “It inspired Uncle Gregory to branch out too. But Uncle Caleb left for a reason—he was looking for something.”
I could hear my own sharp breath. “Do you think if we called him here, he’d—”
“Don’t!” Brayden was no longer relaxed and held his hand up. “He might like you, but not that much.”
“He doesn’t like me.” Therefore, there was nothing to lose.
“Oh, he does.” Brayden was quick to reassure me. “But he’s probably not going to talk to you about it yet.”
What in the world was he talking about—Mr. Weaver didn’t like me at all. Before, there was aslightchance we might have come to an understanding, but then I’d accidentally trapped him in a room with Ms. Protean for two weeks, and so…
I hadn’t had the courage to face him yet. It was at my insistence—after I sheepishly admitted to Bryce what I’d done, and he laughed at me—that my oldest brother went and freed the ghost. I hadn’t heard anything from the spirit since.
Still, hewasa ghost. Maybe he would be magically compelled to be nice once I asked him a direct question.
I sighed, twisting my fingers into my skirt. “Shouldn’t hehaveto answer me if I asked him outright?”
Brayden threw his head back andlaughed. “That’d make things so much easier.”
I watched him and heat rose to my face in embarrassment. Finally, he began to quiet down. “I’m sorry.” He pushed his curls back from his face. “I didn’t realize…” He cleared his throat, shuffling nervously before he answered. “Sorry, you said before… but I didn’t know you believed wehadto listen to you.”
My skin burned and I looked at the books he’d brought for me. It seemed I was in more desperate need of education than I’d thought.
“Outside of a spirit, who has to physicallygowhere you command them, no one elsehasto obey your orders.” Brayden swiped a tear from his eye. “Where in the world would you get that idea?”
But Damen had said—
“Ah, I get it—Damen must have said something stupid, because that’s what he expects of his own constituents, even though he doesn’t really enforce that either.” Brayden slapped his thigh. His green eyes sparkled in mirth as his lips quirked. “I listen to you because I like you, I’m supporting your efforts, and I want to help you out. I just don’t understand… Do you honestly believe you’ve been telling Bryce what to do this whole time?”
My skin warmed as my fingers curled into fists. Well, yeah—
“I would pay good money to seethat,” Brayden said, lips twitching once more. “Bryce doesn’t listen toanyone. Bryce is doing what hewantsto do, and because he thinks you’re adorable.”
My breath caught as these horrible lies permeated the air.
