Chapter 13 Callum
CALLUM
I worked on the vineyard like it was the home I grew up in.
It gave me a purpose, gave me something to do to pass the time, kept me occupied as I waited for Lily to come back to me. It meant the world to me that she’d come to me to tell me she still loved me. She could have kept that to herself and continued to ignore me, but she gave me hope.
And I needed that hope to keep going.
Otherwise, I would just buy some sleeping pills from the apothecary…and pass on. Without Lily, there was nothing for me here. At least in the Realm of Caelum, I could be reunited with my boys. Or men, I should say.
I was in the barn when someone stopped by.
“Made your first batch yet?” Hawk stepped into the room and mounted his boot on an empty wine barrel. He gave it a gentle push and watched it roll slightly before it came to a stop. “Guess that’s a no.”
I stared at him for several seconds, unable to believe that her brother had come to visit—and he didn’t seem angry.
He’d shared that violent and chaotic journey with Lily, saw things he wished he didn’t have to see again.
Even though he was younger, I expected him to be protective and loyal toward her.
“I had to clean and prepare the equipment first. Figure out how it all works before I attempt my first harvest.” I cleaned the dirt from my hands with a rag then walked over to him, suddenly aware that I was shirtless in front of her brother.
“Need a hand?”
“I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”
“Know anything about wine?”
“No.” I was figuring it out as I went. The first time I’d ever drunk it was with Lily. She loved it, so perhaps I could make a bottle for her.
“Well, my sister drinks it like water, so she’d be a good tester.”
Anytime I thought about her, which was nearly every minute of every day, I was broken and whole at the same time.
Hawk stood there awkwardly by the barn door, looking over the valley awhile before he looked at me again. “You doing okay?”
I couldn’t share the truth, wouldn’t dump my heartache on someone who couldn’t possibly understand it. The only one who knew what it was like to lose a soul mate was Lily. “No.”
Hawk stared at me like he expected me to say more.
But I had nothing else to say. These last four hundred years, I’d been miserable, with the exception of the time I spent with Lily, but those moments were few and far between. Our domestic bliss felt like it had lasted a second before it was shattered with my betrayal.
Hawk clearly didn’t know how to react to that, so he didn’t say anything for a while. “She’s been in rough shape. We went sailing and caught some fish and fried them up in her kitchen. But even then, every moment we weren’t engaging, she had this look on her face…like she was sick.”
Probably how my face looked right now. “She told you what I did?” I found it hard to believe she didn’t, but Hawk was young and far more immature, so I expected him to react with full volatility.
“Dad did.”
“And do you have any desire to talk to me?” I came closer to him by the door then took a seat on one of the empty wine barrels.
Hawk didn’t say anything to that for a while. “I kinda hate you for what you did, but I also know you love my sister, so…”
I gave a slight nod in gratitude. People questioned my character, but they never questioned the way I cared for Lily, and I was grateful for that.
“Just thought you should know that Viper is here, and he’s sniffing around.”
The only way Viper would have known was if Talon had told him, and that stung a bit.
I kept a straight face and pretended like those words didn’t faze me at all.
When I’d said Viper deserved her if she ever reciprocated his feelings, I meant it.
He’d been loyal to her from the start. Seemed like the kind of guy that would always appreciate what he had if he was lucky enough to have her.
Hawk continued to watch me. “Not sure if I should have told you that or not.”
“It doesn’t bother me.”
“It doesn’t?” he asked in mild surprise.
I shook my head. “I’d never stand in her way if she wanted him instead of me—not after what I did.”
“It’s strange. You fought for her tooth and nail throughout the war, but now that it’s over, you don’t have much fight left in you.”
I’d been staring out at the vineyard that I had to take care of on my own, but I turned my gaze back to him instead.
“She knows how I feel about her. I don’t need to remind her.
And Viper can try his best to slander my name, but I don’t think he’ll be successful.
Even if she can’t forgive me, she wouldn’t run off with him. Not for a while…at least.”
A few days later, Talon came by.
He used to detest me every time he looked at me, and it was the first time I wasn’t pleased to see him.
He examined the line of barrels that had been placed on the shelves. “You put these here yourself?”
“Yes.”
He tried to test the weight of one but could barely get it to move. “You aren’t a god anymore, but damn, you’re still strong.”
I walked past him. “Did you need something, Talon?”
He stopped when he heard the coldness in my tone. “Do I need something?”
“I have a lot of work to do today.” I turned to him, wearing my shirt because the Rothschilds stopped by at random times and I didn’t want to be indecent. I stared him down, feeling resentment toward him when I should only feel gratitude.
Talon stared me down and slowly read the temperature of the room. “Is there a problem, Callum?”
I turned away and ignored the question, going to the crate of bottles that I’d made in my first run. They were corked without a parchment label tied around them because I hadn’t gotten that far in the process. I grabbed one by the neck and extended it to him. “Give that to Lily for me.”
He eyed the bottle but didn’t take it. “I feel animosity between us. Be a man and tell me why.”
I wasn’t easily angered and I didn’t possess a temper, but I did feel my nostrils flare out of my control. But I bit back the retort I never released, calmed myself before I lashed out at the only person who seemed invested in me besides Lily. “Why is Viper here?”
The suspicion in his features started to fade away when he understood the accusation I’d just cast. He swallowed before the hardness in his eyes faded. “I informed him that you and Lily weren’t…talking.”
He admitted it straight to my face, and while I felt betrayed because I’d thought we had some type of relationship, I respected him for being straightforward about it.
But I still felt the swirls of rage inside me.
“Why?” I did my best to keep my voice controlled, to keep out the venomous acid that burned my tongue.
He slowly crossed his arms over his chest, in regular attire now that the kingdom seemed safe.
He looked like an ordinary man, but he still had the aura of someone in command.
Someone who was respectable and calculating and protective.
“I offered him dragons in exchange for what he did for Lily, but he wanted her instead. I reminded him that she’s not a sheep that can be traded for milk.
That she’s not a woman who can be sold as a bride.
So instead, he wanted to know if something ever divided your relationship…
so he could make his advance. I shared your estrangement—but now my end of the deal is done. I owe him nothing else.”
I understood the predicament Talon was in, but I still didn’t like it.
“If it helps, Lily told me—”
“I’m not threatened or intimidated by him. He can do his best to wear Lily down, but I know her heart belongs to me. Even if she cut ties with me, she would never open her heart or her legs to someone else so quickly.”
“Then why are you upset?”
“Because I’m upset with you, not her or him. Viper is free to pursue any woman he wants, and Lily is free to spend time with anyone she wishes. But I thought you and I had formed a bond.”
His eyes darted away momentarily, like he was uncomfortable by what I said.
Whenever he had deep conversations with his kids, he stared at them with intense, unblinking eyes, but with me, he couldn’t look at me straight.
He finally took a breath and looked at me again.
“We do have a bond, Callum. But like I said, it’s separate from your relationship with my daughter. ”
“You still prefer him to me?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“I know. I’m asking you.”
He stared at me for a long time as he tried to think of the right answer to give. He eventually broke eye contact and looked at the fields for a while before he eventually returned to the conversation. “I prefer the man she loves—and that’s you.”