Page 17 of Enticing the Elf
“What Brandt means,” the king corrects, “is that Jared called to tell me what happened at lunch, and we thought we’d come and offer our support. If there’s anything you need from us while you’re proving yourself to Dáithí, you have only to ask. Do you need some time off?”
“No! I mean… no, thank you, Your Majesty.” How did this get so far out of my control? “You’re very kind, but this is basically the death knell for my hopes. Dáithí has asked Team Bro to develop the test. It’s clear he doesn’t want me to pass.”
Andrew leans forward. “Actually?—”
“It’s not like Dáithí to be mean-spirited like that,” Brandt says, frowning. “Petty, yes—we all love how petty he can be. Nobody devises harmless revenge like Dáithí.”
A murmur of agreement runs through the room. We’veallbeen on the receiving end of Dáithí’s petty vengeance at some stage or other, since none of us are smart enough to keep from pissing him off.
The king purses his lips. “Did you say before that he wanted to break up?”
I nod. “Yes. Last night, he said he knew I wanted more from him and he felt it would be better to end things between us.”
“Ohhhh.” The chorus of disappointed groans is balm for my bruised feelings.
“That’s when I… well, I guess I panicked, though it didn’t feel like it at the time. We argued about it for a while, and when he said he didn’t want a relationship with me because I’m not commitment material”—that still stings—“I challenged him to test me. I said he could devise any task he wanted, over any timeframe he wanted, and I’d prove that I was committed to him… us.” I wince. “I thought it would give me a chance to change his mind.”
“Ballsy,” Alistair says admiringly. “Tell me, are you happy with your current bros?”
“Recruit later,” Hagen tells him. “This doesn’t make sense. You think Dáithí wants us to help so we’ll, what, create a test that’s impossible to pass?”
I shrug. “Doesn’t he? Why else would he ask you?”
“Actu—”
“Noah asked us,” Caolan points out. “Maybe Dáithí doesn’t even know?”
“Nah.” Alistair shakes his head. “Noah wouldn’t have brought us in without checking it was okay.”
“Hagen’s right,” Ari points out. “You told Dáithí the test could take as long as he wanted, right? That’s what you meant by ‘any timeframe’?”
“Yeah.” I frown as I realize what he’s getting at.
“So why would he need them if he wanted something you could never pass? All he’d need to do is set up something—anything—with a long timeframe. Decades or even centuries. It could be super simple, and if he really believes you’re not commitment material, then he’d expect you to give up on it sooner or later anyway.”
Huh. That’s true. But… “Dáithí’s too soft-hearted to do something like that. He tried to break up because he knew I was so invested. He’d never string me along if he could give me a clean break.” I sink back into the gloom of knowing Dáithí doesn’t even want to try.
The sound of a throat being cleared brings my head back up. Andrew gives me a wry smile. “If I could have your attention for a moment, I may be able to shed some light on this.”
Alistair frowns. “What?—”
“Alistair, I swear, if I get interruptedone more time, I will rip your throat out and laugh from the joy of it.” He holds up one hand, letting his claws out. Vampires are deceptively creepy.
Alistair closes his mouth.
“Thank you. Now, as I was saying, Noah and Jared asked Dáithí if this should be a test you can pass… and he said yes.”
I blink, then blink again. My ears start to ring. “He said… yes?”
Andrew nods. “I specifically asked Noah about this while Alistair was calling the others. The test is to be a fair one, a genuine chance for you to prove yourself… or not.”
The grin that splits my face is so wide, my cheeks hurt. Around the office, there are cheers and back-slapping.
“Well,” Raðulfr says, smiling. “That’s more like it.”
“So, what’s the word?” Hagen asks. “Are we helping, or not?”
I don’t know how wild of a test “Team Bro” will come up with, but it’s hard to care. Dáithí wants me to have a chance at succeeding. Who cares what the test is? “Yes.”
