Page 16 of Enticing the Elf
“Dáithí told them you’d challenged him to set you a task that would prove your commitment to him and turn your situationship into a relationship,” Hagen continues, and my lunch threatens to make a reappearance. He what?
“Youwhat?” Ari exclaims. “Seriously?”
“Wait, Dáithí called it a situationship?” Brayan asks.
Hagen shakes his head. “No, that’s me paraphrasing.”
“Can we go back to the part where Eoin told Dáithí totest him?” Ari demands. “I don’t think we’re giving that enough attention.”
“Can we go back to the reason you’re all in my office?” As if it’s not bad enough that everyone knows Dáithí doesn’t want to be my boyfriend, now they’re all going to knowwhy.
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you!” Hagen throws up his hands in exasperation while Caolan pats his back reassuringly. Alistair tsks.
I eye my letter-opener.
“Anyway, Dáithí asked for help to come up with the task, and Noah figured Team Bro would be perfect for the job. But like Al said, you and I have been bros since way before Noah was even born, so we won’t do it unless you say it’s okay.” My ex-roommate and longtime friend looks at me expectantly. “It’s your call, Eoin.”
I rub my forehead and try not to let the despair and humiliation I’m feeling show. “Dáithí asked Noah for help testing me?”
Hagen nods. “Yeah.”
“And Noah asked you all to help?”
This time, they all nod.
“Great. Just… great.” I can’t think of anything else to say. I was so hopeful last night that this might actually be achancefor me. A last-ditch one, sure, and okay, I had to twist Dáithí’s arm to get him to agree, but it was better than him flat-out dumping me. This would give me an opportunity to convince him of my sincerity… not to mention give me more time with him, even if I failed.
Not that I planned to fail. I’ve been a soldier in the King’s Army for a long time, and we don’t consider failure to be an option. IknowI can happily commit to a successful long-term relationship with Dáithí. I love him, and I don’t want anything more than to spend my life with him. Passing any test designed to show that is completely possible.
Or at least, I thought it was. But I’m familiar with Hagen and his bros, with their wild plans and shenanigans. I’ve witnessed a lot of them and heard about more. If Dáithí wants them to help him plan this…
“He’s setting me up to fail.”
“Huh?”
I blink, then realize I said at least part of my inner monologue of despair out loud. Wonderful. Just a little more humiliation to add to the pile.
Everyone—including my team, who are somehow supposed to respect my leadership after this—is watching me, so I throw away the last few shreds of my pride and explain, “If Dáithí wants your help, he’s not serious about giving me this chance to prove myself. He’s humoring me—setting me up to fail so he can just end things like he wanted to and go on with his life.”
“Actually,” Andrew begins, but Ari interrupts.
“Dáithí wanted to end things? You challenged him to test you? What is going on, Eoin? When did all this happen? Does the king know?”
I’m starting to think my colleagues might be too involved in my personal life. “Why would the king know?” I ask incredulously. “I’m not going to let it affect my work.”
“As exemplary as that is, it doesn’t answer Ari’s other questions,” a very familiar voice says, and if I didn’t already know how disastrous it can be to mess with time, I’d be trying to create a spell to erase the last ten minutes of my life.
“Hello, Your Majesty,” Alistair greets cheerfully. “You’re looking good. How’s your honey doing? I’ve been meaning to call him.”
My hand actually twitches with the need to reach for my letter-opener. Alistair’s big, and he’s well-trained, but I’m a strong fighter myself, and I’ll have the advantage of surprise.
“Jared’s very well, thank you. He mentioned the other day that he hasn’t spoken to you for a while, so I’m sure he’d appreciate that call.” King Raðulfr is, as always, gracious, even when speaking to an insouciant hellhound. I square my shoulders and look toward the doorway, only to see that the situation is worse than I thought.
The king brought Brandt with him. Because clearly this mess needed another dragon.
“Your Majesty,” I interrupt. “We were just…” There’s no intelligent way to finish that sentence. “Was there something you needed?”
“We’re here for you,” Brandt declares gleefully, striking horror all the way to my bones.
