Truth
LIAM
“ I don’t imagine this will be comfortable for you, old friend,” I say as Kaspar parks parallel to the professor’s car. “You are not the most communicative soul with emotions, other than anger.”
The dragon gives me a sardonic look as he turns off the SUV. “Perhaps that has been because I was harboring so much resentment and fury within, that it was all I had room for.”
I nod, though, even with disagreement thrumming in my veins.
“Maybe, but you cannot continue to let it eat away at you now that we have the facts, Kas. When it was just us, I could live with your inability to heal because I am simply that old and powerful. Our new family cannot withstand that force running through the bond—even Morgana, who is not so young, will be affected.”
Sighing, he cracks his neck, staring into the night sky through the windshield. “I don’t know what possessed me to agree to this shit.”
“I do, but I can’t force you to come to terms with something you’ve been rejecting out of fear.
” I put my hand on the door handle, my expression serious as I look at his profile.
“I am completely open to you, my friend, and I believe the others will be as well if you can wrangle your darkness into healing. But you have to do it for you—not for me or anyone else. You know that.”
Kaspar grunts, and I know that means he’s done with our conversation.
Chuckling quietly, I open the door to the SUV and hop out, heading up the stairs to the front door.
It only takes a moment to enter the security info, and I head for the stairs to change as soon as I enter.
I want to see my new mates, but the club left me feeling dirty and covered in metaphorical ick.
I’d rather grab my spare clothes from the bedroom, then go find the others once I feel less… contaminated.
I hear footsteps behind me, and I’m surprised to see my friend following me, ostensibly to do the same thing I am. “You’re changing, too?”
“I was there far longer than you, Prince, and with even less reputable people.” He smirks, looking satisfied with himself for making my question seem silly.
Too bad I know better; he’s been uncomfortable with this sort of casualness at Morgana’s from the beginning.
Instead of correcting him, I just whip my clothes off and get new ones from the dresser.
Everyone brought emergency stuff here a bit ago, and that’s paying off now.
Our house is close; we could have gone there, I suppose, but I enjoy having things here.
Since we mated, I want to be as close to Morgana and Lucas as possible.
Since the bear has moved in, it makes staying here as much as possible even more attractive.
It’ll piss off Kas—or maybe before tonight it would—but he’ll get over it.
“Is it weird, being connected to those two?”
I blink, surprised yet again by his question.
“It’s different, but also, it’s kind of comforting.
There’s a low hum in the back of my consciousness that is them.
I don’t have to pay attention to it all the time, but when their emotions spike, it pushes to the front of my mind. Does that make sense?”
He nods, looking pensive as he tosses the dirty clothes in the basket in the corner. “I suppose so. I don’t know if that would be more or less annoying than their constant physical presence.”
“Less, Kas, because there’s this intense connection that fills the corners of your soul, sealing all the cracks and crevices.
I didn’t think I had anything like that, other than our slight disconnection over Angeline, but after the matings?
I could visualize where they made it whole.
” I shrug as I pull the shirt over my head, then walk to the mirror to adjust my top knot. “It’s quite powerful and satisfying.”
He frowns as he finishes changing, then heads into the en suite bathroom. “I imagine so if it feels as you’re describing. But then, you are prone to being a little… flowery, hmm?”
I do it for emotion, but this is just more of him pushing away his own emotions rather than confronting them—which won’t help anything if he doesn’t quit it.
I let him sit with his thoughts after that, and eventually, we both headed down to the kitchen.
The mess there tells me that the others have gotten snacks and things together for our little meeting, and they’re already out in the new HQ we protected.
“This should be interesting,” I muse as I pick up a squeezed lime.
“Hopefully, they aren’t too tipsy. We may have taken longer than we should have. ”
Kaspar snorts. “We needed privacy, Li.”
He’s right, but we also need everyone on point after the bargain so that we can redirect our plans for the week. “Agreed. Let’s head out there and get this over with. I don’t want this night to last forever; it’s been long enough as it is.”
“I said we’re good, Prince.” Kaspar gives me a frustrated expression, as he opens the back door. “This time, I meant it. You don’t have to sound as though I’ve been beating you to death.”
My grin is rueful as I pass him. “You haven’t, Kas, but this is a lot of emotion for my power set. You know how exhausting everything I’ve had to go through tonight is for us, and I’m not in Faerie to recharge as quickly as normal. I’ll need the garden tomorrow morning, for sure.”
“I’ll remind you if you forget,” he says as we walk to the door of the now protected patio structure and enter the security codes. “But I doubt it will come to that. You look wiped out now, Li.”
Before I can respond, the rest of our family sees us coming in, and Morgana pops off the couch to greet us.
She was sitting between Lucas and Slade with Ignatius scooted close in his chair.
The professor has upped his game recently, and I can tell how badly he wants to prove himself.
He shouldn’t worry about it; I know through our bond that my Salaadir wants to include him.
She’s only being reserved to make certain that he’s serious.
“Liam!” she says as she comes over to wrap her arms around me. It feels like home as we embrace and my energy reserves swell with her touch.
I didn’t think that would happen, but damn, it’s handy.
“I’m glad to be home, maschula .” Once she drops a light kiss on my lips, I let go so I can move to the couch to pull the other chair close to the polar bear. Placing my hand on his leg, I smile softly. “I’m glad to see you, too, cub.”
His face turns bright red, and he ducks his chin shyly, which is delightful. “You, too. We’ve been waiting on pins and needles to see if you killed one another.”
Iggy laughs, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “That was my theory, of course. Slade insisted that was not likely. You’ll have to let us know which one was correct.”
“Don’t be rude,” Morgana scolds as she drops back into her spot between the blonds. “Liam and the grump will tell us what we need to know when they feel ready. Pressuring them is not healthy.”
“It’s fine,” I say as I look up at them.
“We have not shared this pain, and it’s necessary for our relationships to bring you in.
Though, this revelation from the demoness puts a much different context on the situation.
It doesn’t change what happened as much as our feelings about it regarding one another. ”
Morgana frowns as Slade shivers. “That means the emotion changed in the room a lot, huh?”
The quiet musician nods. “Yes, I can feel the swell of them in their auras. It doesn’t hurt me; it’s just a wave of it hitting like the ocean when it’s roiling. Go on, Prince. I think it will be good for you both to get it out into the world beyond your personal shores.”
Kaspar finally joins us, pulling his chair close to mine as he sips the drink he poured.
“Look, it’s very simple. Angeline pursued me—we know now that was because of my family name and proximity.
She was beautiful, smart, and poor, but I didn’t care about the last part.
We dated for a long enough time to be decent at the time, then I proposed.
She hadn’t had the ring on her finger long when I noticed she was being very clingy; she always wanted to come to ‘work’ with me. ”
“Something that wasn’t standard, but since Kas and I have been friends for so many years…
I didn’t make noise about it when it didn’t cause an issue.
” Liam shrugs, looking uncomfortable. “There were times I had to send her away—ones I didn’t even mention to my friend because I didn’t want him to feel awkward.
But she showed up to meetings and gatherings that were not meant for those not within the clearance levels of non-palace advisors or senior military members. ”
Kaspar blinks, tilting his head. “She did? I didn’t know that.”
“Again, I figured that she just did not understand protocol for the royal palace, so I had aides educate her gently as she was escorted away. It was when you were occupied with other tasks, so you wouldn’t even have been present.
I figured she was gossiping with some of the palace staff to figure out where you might be during the day.
It got attributed to adolescent love, I suppose. ”
The dragon is scowling, putting together the pieces I’ve already assembled into a broader picture in my mind. “She was hoping to ingratiate herself to you when I wasn’t around to see it. Her treachery started long before I realized it, didn’t it?”
I press my lips together, then blow out a breath.
“I guess so. Truthfully, I didn’t see it as that back then, Kas.
I truly believed that she was just over-enthused about you and had poor training.
Most of the time, I assigned Fae in the Queen’s staff to work with her more, so she’d be ready for really important events.
My mother never complained, and I figured that was because your father and mine wanted to make sure your bride could attend court functions without being embarrassed. ”
“The old man was definitely pissed about my choice of intendeds, so you’re probably right.”
Iggy holds his hand up, waiting until I nod to speak. “What tipped you off that things had to end?”
“She tried to corner Li and kiss him during a royal ball,” my old friend spits in anger. “I walked up on it and it appeared that he was in charge of that scene, which led to a stand-off between us that lasted several years.”
“Years?” Morgana says on a wince. “Really? How did you do your job?”
I chuckle. “Very, very quietly, with a lot of pissy glaring, trust me.”
“I couldn’t give up my post,” Kaspar says with a shrug.
“I didn’t trust anyone to do my duty as well as me, but I also could barely stand to look at him.
So I stayed muted, did my job, and started flying off to mitigate my fury elsewhere.
That’s what I did when that fucking drake found me; I needed the space to process my shit in the best way I knew how, since that woman almost destroyed me. ”
Slade frowns, looking at the dragon mournfully.
“I’m very sorry that you were hurting so badly for so long, Kaspar.
You know, taking it out on everyone else was unacceptable, though, right?
I’m not the most aggressive one here, but I have to say that I will not be happy if you do that again, especially to Morgana.
She’s our mate; we can’t let you treat her like shit. ”
Lucas growls softly, his blue flashing as he nods. “Seconded.”
I give my scaly companion a firm look. “Third.”
“For fuck’s sake, you’re all dramatic,” he growls softly.
His eyes close for a moment as if he’s gathering his thoughts, and when they open, he looks less irritable.
“Look, I’m going to need time to get where you all want me to.
This damn demon shit might help that, but I’ve been fucked for centuries .
Patience will be appreciated, as well as your understanding.
But I am going to let this final nail in her coffin be the one that buries Angeline for good. Okay?”
We can’t ask for more than that—not really.
“Agreed, old friend,” I murmur as I look him in the eye.
The others seem less certain, but they also nod eventually.
“Dragon, heal thyself, and we’re square,” Morgana whispers as she joins me in holding the storm dragon’s gaze. “I swear, I will give you a chance to earn your place if you can do what you need to so desperately.”
How the fuck did Magnus screw up loving this woman? It’s fucking baffling, but I’m glad he did.