Chapter 10
”You and Dani, huh?”Terin asked.
A grunt escaped my lips as I swung the blade. ”What about Dani and me?”
Without missing a beat, Terin blocked my attack, metal clashing together. Using his sword as leverage, he pushed against mine.
I spun away, retreating a few steps.
He swiped a hand across his short, buzzed hair.
Once, when we were no older than twelve, Graeson had decided to shave my hair, making Terin and I even more indistinguishable from one another than usual. Never again would I cut my hair that short. I found I liked giving my partners something to tug—even if the soft waves often fell into my eyes.
”It”s a simple question, brother,” Terin said, his forehead slick with sweat.
Terin and I kept nothing from each other, which only made keeping this secret from him that much harder. But as much as I loved and trusted my brother, I promised Dani I wouldn”t tell him.
I couldn”t necessarily blame her for adding the rule to the list. If our mother came asking him questions about my courtship with Dani, he would spill the truth after only a little prodding on our mother”s part.
Neither Dani, nor I, could afford the risk.
So, despite how wrong it felt, I wouldn”t tell Terin the truth.
Was it hypocritical of me then to go searching for whatever truth he was keeping from me?
Perhaps.
Yet I searched anyway, for reaching for someone”s mind was like breathing air, instinctual and compulsory.
I dug beneath the fortress of his shields, finding the holes he had forgotten to fill. Once behind his walls, the task was easy. Because Terin, despite his long list of strengths, was predictable. He always buried the thoughts he didn”t wish me to know by trying to distract me with other images—childhood memories or other trivial things that happened in his day-to-day life. I pushed through the thoughts of what he ate that morning, of which dark-haired man currently piqued his interest. Then, finding the dark corner of his mind, I scoured the walls for the lock. Once found, all it took was one quick pull before it snapped. A rolling flood of concerns struck me.
Childhood friends.
Strange.
Mistake.
Mess up our dynamics.
I slammed the door shut with a groan. ”My business is my business, brother.”
”Then you should not dig for answers you do not wish to hear.” Terin struck, his sword coming down hard and fast. ”Dani is our oldest friend,” he spat.
I drove forward with equal force. ”What”s your point?” My hands tightened around the hilt.
”You”re going to mess this up,” Terin said, cementing his feet into the sand.
”I am not.”
We may have been evenly matched in physical strength, but I was quicker when it came to fighting and strategy. I could read my opponent”s mind and see their next move before they even made it.
Terin tried to block me out, but after an hour of training, he was growing tired, his mind weakening.
I pushed, and Terin”s face reddened as he held his ground. Swing after swing, the muscles in his arms began to shake. Soon, his sword was trembling in his hands.
But my brother wasn”t a quitter.
Neither was I, though.
”If you hurt her?—”
”I won”t,” I said, cutting him off.
Terin swung, and I pushed my sword and spun. He came barreling forward, barely catching himself before he hit the ground as I dipped out of the way.
Huffing, he raised his sword once again. ”I know how you can be.”
I narrowed my gaze. ”What is that supposed to mean?”
Terin”s mental shield cracked open, and a flurry of names fell down the thread connecting his mind to mine.
Marla.
Drisilia.
Marisil.
Selena.
Rosalina.
”Dani is not one of them,” I said through clenched teeth.
”Are you sure about that?”
”She”s different.”
”How? You brought her to the concert hall. How many other women have you paraded around there? How many other women did you have sitting in your lap as you whispered promises into their ears—promises you always break?”
”Dani and I are different.”
We weren”t in a real relationship, for starters. She would not fall for me, nor would I fall for her. There were no strings attached, no faulty promises or hopeful gazes. Dani knew my history. But more than that, she knew who I was.
We had a deal. It was that simple.
”I won”t hurt her, Ter.”
Still, Terin attacked.
I dodged, but Terin saw through it. He snatched my collar and forced me to the ground. My ears wrung as dust flew into the air.
”And what”s to say she won”t hurt you?”
I laughed, the sound like gravel. ”She won”t.”
Terin”s eyes flicked over my face. ”You don”t know that.”
”I do.”
”When the two of you break up?—”
”Who is to say we will?” I asked, even though I knew we would. The whole purpose of this fake courtship was that it was temporary. But Terin didn”t need to know that—he couldn”t.
”Look, I care about you both too much.” He took a deep breath, his hand loosening. When he looked down at me, pain dripped from his gaze. ”We”ve already lost one sister. I don”t want to lose another.”
Without thinking, my fist slammed into his jaw.
Terin rolled off me, palm caressing his cheek. ”Shit, Fynn. I didn’t?—”
”Don”t you bring our sister into this. This isn”t about her.”
His words had struck a chord.
Perhaps, it was because I did not wish to think about our sister right now. Or perhaps, it was because he thought so little of me that I would cause Dani to erase us from her life. Either way, I tried to tame the rage. I tried to let the sea of anger wash over me, for the tidal wave to subside, but I couldn”t.
”You”re right. I—” Terin swallowed, struggling for the right words.
We both knew there weren”t any. It might have been fifteen years since we last saw our sister, but we hadn”t forgotten her.
One day, however, we would get her back.
Even if it was the last thing I did.
I exhaled, long and hard. ”It”s fine.” I ran my fingers through my hair, pushing back the fallen strands.
”You”re serious about this then?” Terin asked.
I bit my cheek as I met my brother”s gaze and lied. ”Yes.”
In truth, it wasn”t a complete lie. I cared about Dani, so I was serious about doing whatever I could to make this arrangement work.
”Then you better not fuck it up,” Terin said and shoved back against the dirt.
”Come on, Ter,” I said, a smirk rising to the surface. ”Let”s be honest, I”m pretty good at fucking things.”
”By the gods, Fynn! She”s practically family.” Terin groaned, rubbing the palms of his hands over his head, his lip curling in disgust.
”Hey, I never said anything about her and I, but if you”re curious?—”
”Stop,” Terin said, shaking his head and standing, kicking dirt into my hair. ”You can never take anything seriously, can you?”
I shrugged, and Terin shook his head.
”If you do—if you have,” Terin gagged as he spoke, ”I don”t want to know any details.”
Even though Dani and I would never cross that boundary, I forced a coy smirk onto my face because that”s what my brother expected of me. How many mornings had I spent relaying details of my escapades with women to him? How many nights had I come home after climbing out of manors and houses after spending it with someone I probably shouldn”t have? If I acted as if Dani and I sleeping together wasn”t a possibility, he would know something was wrong.
Terin shifted on his feet, his gaze fixed on the ground. After a moment, he peered at me and asked so quietly I almost didn”t hear him, ”Have you?”
I scratched the back of my head as I looked toward the castle. ”We”re. . .taking things slow.”
Terin snorted. ”You? Taking things slow? I didn”t know that was even a possibility for you.”
I laughed, but it was short-lived because as his words hit me, I finally understood the consequence of this deal.
I would have to be celibate for the next several months.
I stared down at my hand.
Shit.