22. Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lumen
“I can explain,” Slate urges. “Just let me in.”
I don’t know what he’s done, but it’s something bad enough to make Lexia upset. They finally completed the bond today, the last thing I was expecting was for them to argue already. What possibly could have happened?
“Go check on her,” I tell Vesperon.
“Do not let him in,” he warns.
“I know that!” I snap. “Just make sure she’s okay.”
He narrows his dark eyes on me, then walks to the bedroom.
I turn my attention back to Slate, whose eyes are pleading. Whatever he did, he knows it was wrong. He feels bad about it. He doesn’t look angry. He knows he fucked up. That doesn’t make it okay. I can’t let him in just because he’s remorseful. At the end of the day, I am loyal to only one person and that person is Lexia.
“What did you do?” I ask, loud enough he can hear me.
“Open the door,” he says, pointing to the handle.
“Tell me what you did.”
“Let me in and I’ll tell you.”
I sigh heavily, staring down at the handle. I flick the lock open and pull the door. Slate steps forward, but I hold my hand up.
“No,” I state. He frowns, and I push against his chest so he’ll step back. I go with him, closing the door behind me. “If she doesn’t want you inside, you don’t go inside.”
He purses his lips, shaking his head. His hands go to his hair, and he tugs on the longer strands on top, muttering to himself.
“What did you do?” I ask again, still remaining calm, even though my heart is beating a mile a minute. This is the last thing we need right now. We have plans to leave in a few days. Everything is finally in order to move forward. We were in a good place. Why did he fuck it up?
Ves and I felt the mate bond snap into place when they mated. We didn’t speak of it, but I saw Ves’s flinch the moment I felt that same snapping sensation in my chest. I’d expected anger from Vesperon, but he’s acted as if nothing was wrong all day. In fact, it seemed like he was trying to be nice to Slate. Okay, maybe not necessarily nice, but he wasn’t being a jerk to him like he had been. He went to indifference, and that’s better than picking arguments like he was. Doesn’t Slate care about that? About any of this? If Lexia is this upset, Vesperon will never forgive him. And that hurts me. Because we are mates now too. My heart is torn.
“I messed up,” he finally says, sagging against the wall of the house.
“I can see that,” I say. “Be specific.”
He rolls his head toward me, his eyes sadder now than they were before.
“Lexia, she—she saw me with someone.”
My eyes widen. “A female?”
“No,” he snaps, his face scrunching up. “I wouldn’t do that.”
“Then who?”
He grimaces, keeping his eyes on me. “A shadow.”
“Say that again,” I demand, stepping to him.
There’s no possible way he just said what I think he said.
He doesn’t back away from me, even though I know my fury can be felt. I feel it on my skin. I can hear the zapping of the electricity.
“A shadow,” he says again.
That’s what I thought he said…
I take a deep breath through my nose and let it out slowly through my lips. I think very carefully about what I want to say and how I am going to say it. The last thing I want to do is make matters worse.
“Considering I was with him, I’m going to assume that shadow was not Vesperon,” I say as calmly as I can.
“No,” he says in a small voice.
“Then who?” I grit out.
“I don’t know his name.”
“Then why ?” I bark, my hands clenching into fists.
He buries his face in his hands. “It’s… complicated.”
“Complicated is going to turn deadly if you don’t give me some kind of explanation before Vesperon gets out here. If Lexia tells him what you just told me? You’re done.”
He growls, sliding down the wall into a crouched position. His elbows rest on his knees, and he tugs on his hair. He’s muttering to himself again. My heart is pounding as I wait for an answer. I’m so angry, I’m surprised I haven’t combusted. How dare he risk all we have?
“Slate—”
“They took her father!” he shouts.
“Excuse me?” I shift closer to him.
He looks up. “The shadows took Lexia’s father. A couple of weeks ago. They came to me and said if I didn’t give them the journal, they’d kill him.”
I glance at the house, then back at him. “Did you—”
“No!” he barks.
“So, her father is dead?”
“As of five minutes ago he wasn’t, but he probably is now!”
A whoosh of air leaves me. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I had a plan.”
“A lousy one, obviously.”
“Thanks, Captain Obvious.”
I take a seat beside him, working through what he’s told me. Had he only admitted this to us from the beginning, we wouldn’t be here now. I’m pissed at him for not telling us about this, but I can see why he did what he did. Things haven’t been easy for him, so I can see why he would keep this from us. Trust didn’t come easily for him and us.
“Is this why you’ve been distant?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“It had nothing to do with becoming our mate?”
“No, of course not. Well, maybe a little, but hardly. I was trying to figure this out.”
“You know how ridiculous that sounds when you have three mates you are bound to by the universe, yeah?”
“Yes,” he growls. “I get it, okay? I know I messed up. I said it already, and you continuously bringing it up isn’t helping. How do I fix this?”
The sliding door whooshes open, and I get to my feet.
“How is she?” I ask Vesperon, keeping myself between him and Slate. I have no idea what Vesperon will try to do.
He looks over my shoulder at Slate. I can’t tell by his face if she told him or not.
“Asleep.”
“Did she tell you what happened?” I ask.
Ves keeps his gaze on Slate.
“No,” he answers simply.
Okay, that’s good. Kind of. Maybe not. I can’t tell yet.
I turn to face Slate. “I think it’s best you leave.”
“What? Why? I thought—”
“Just for tonight, at least. Let her calm down.”
“He told you what happened?” Ves asks from behind me. I hold my hand up to quiet him.
“Come back in the morning, Slate. Better yet, maybe tomorrow evening.”
“But we’re leaving the day after,” he says, the pain evident on his face. He’s worried about being left out of this. He should have thought of that before keeping this from us…
“Which is why you should give her as much time as possible to process this. We need you.”
Slate’s mouth opens as if he is going to say something, but he snaps it shut. He nods once and gets up to walk away. I watch as he disappears into the night, and hope like hell that he returns tomorrow. I also hope I can convince Vesperon and Lexia to forgive him for this, because if I can’t, we’re screwed.