Chapter 29 #2
The ice melted, dousing all Sean’s anger into a useless puddle. “Don’t cry. Please don’t cry.”
Sobbing, she shoved her face into his shoulder, seeking comfort, so he drew her against him. His hand soothed down her back as the rain soaked them both. “Is this you? You make it rain?”
She nodded. “This has always happened with my family. A curse from long ago.”
He forced some levity into his voice. “Then please stop crying. I’m cold.”
As he’d hoped, she sniffled and lifted her head. A quick swipe of his thumbs erased her tears, though they still clung to her eyelashes.
The clouds disappeared, and afternoon sunlight danced across her face, igniting the rich green of her bloodshot eyes.
The magic between them curled tight around his anger and broke it in half. His mouth touched hers without any say so from him. Her power coiled through his body, treating all the damage from training—as well as the slice in his arm. When the healing turned to pain, Sean withdrew.
Bel fisted his wet shirt. “I’m sorry you’re upset. I wish we could trust him. I wish I didn’t have to consider that he might turn into a murderous traitor. But David needed to be leashed, Sean. He hasn’t shown us how much power he has. He hides it.”
He did hide it, but thanks to this new connection, Sean now understood that he didn’t do it for nefarious purposes.
David wasn’t concealing his true power so he could unleash it against them later.
He hid it to ease people’s fear, to make himself less threatening, to protect himself, because he knew if people learned the extent of his abilities, their current distrust would escalate to venomous antipathy.
How had Sean only just realized that the details of David’s life, the minutiae of his personality were no longer mysteries?
It was like a door had been opened between them, and Sean peered inside what he thought would be a cobweb-laden haunted house only to find understated yet elegant splendor instead.
“The Council has decided I’m good to go to Viterra,” he said. “Bowenn told me before training today. I refused because I knew how much you didn’t want me to.”
“Sean—”
“But I’m going to go,” he said. “You’ve made it abundantly clear that you have poor judgment and no respect for my wishes.”
“I did this for you,” she said again, her voice shaking.
“How can I trust you after this, Bel?”
“I—I just want what is best for you.”
Lies. “I need time,” he said.
Bel swallowed. “Alright. I can give you time.”
Extricating himself from her grasp took no effort. She let him go, expression closed, her fists slowly clenching as he backed away and left her behind. Back at the Tree, Sean took a detour to the infirmary. The place was large, with cots made of wood and canvas separated by folding room dividers.
Cole looked up from his patient when Sean approached, lifting his chin in greeting. His concentration returned to the gash in the girl’s leg. Beside him, one of the spaes explained how he should draw forth the magic. Her pearlescent skin caught the light like seashells.
Cole’s hand rested over the bleeding wound, and after a few moments, he lifted it to reveal healed skin. A satisfied smile unfurled over his face, widening when the spae squeaked in joy.
Staring down at his cousin’s skill, at the proof he was flourishing in this world when Sean could barely keep his legs beneath him, an unexpected pang of jealousy coursed through him. Cole had been dragged into this world against his will, but he’d found himself a niche. A place to fit in.
Meanwhile, Sean still couldn’t shake the feeling he didn’t belong.
Cole’s patient bowed to Sean, thanked her healers, then slipped away.
The spae turned her attention to Sean and dipped her head. “Ashanta. ’Tis an honor. I am called Estel.”
He suppressed the twitch of annoyance at the nickname and smiled. “The honor is mine. Do you mind if I steal Cole a moment?”
“Not at all.” Her assessing gaze fell onto his cousin. “Your friend is talented. He will do great things once he’s mastered the Light.”
Sean raised an eyebrow at Cole, who shrugged. “Turns out it’s not that hard. Is something wrong?”
Chuckling darkly, Sean motioned him to follow. After Cole washed his hands, they made their way to Aunt Blaire’s empty quarters.
“Where’s your mom?” Sean asked.
Cole beelined for the cookery. “She’s always out and about. She has about a million friends she’s been catching up with.”
He plopped into a chair at the dining table. “You’ll never believe what I found out today.”
“Oh?” Cole reached for this and that, throwing together a lunch for both himself and Sean.
Throughout Sean’s explanation, Cole’s eyebrows drew closer together and his brown eyes darkened. He abandoned the food and gawked at Sean.
“What—what does this mean?” he asked when Sean finished.
Every scrap of patience inside him pulled tight as Sean rubbed his face. “I don’t know. She said it will merge us. One soul. Two bodies. One life. One death.”
Cole plunked into a chair across from him. “That’s not possible, is it?”
Sean’s hands clenched on the table, and he stared at them. “Do you think I have any idea what is and isn’t possible in this place?”
Several blinks later, Cole drew a quick breath. “So David Berkeley…is your soulmate?”
He scowled. “That makes it sound like I’m in love with him.”
A hint of humor sparked in his cousin’s eyes. “Maybe you are and you just don’t know.”
The fleeting thought had crossed Sean’s mind when he’d been fighting Cathaire, but it didn’t make sense. What Isobel had done didn’t make them love each other. It made them blur into one.
Sean laced his fingers, squeezing past the point of pain. “He’s going to be in my mind. His personality. His mannerisms. That stupid fucking way he stares at people like he’s a statue with no thoughts or feelings.”
The silence was broken by Cole’s deep, unsteady breath. He said nothing, but what exactly was Sean expecting him to say?
“His last breath will be mine,” Sean said. “Do you have any idea what that means? I live and die with David Berkeley.”
Swallowing hurt, but the acrid taste in his mouth was worse.
Cole’s sigh punctured the stillness. “Then—and I say this with all the irony in the world—it’s a good thing he’s really bad at dying.”
A snort ripped its way through Sean’s nose. “Wow.”
He gave an unapologetic shrug. “I mean, he’s a dick, and I kind of hate him, but if you’re going to be bound to someone irreversibly, isn’t it best that it’s someone who can talk his way out of anything with a smirk and a bit of snark?”
Gaze dropping to his clasped hands, Sean said, “I have to read this prophecy thing.”
“I read it, Sean. Reading it is not going to change anything. It doesn’t even make sense.”
“Does it say I’m going to save the world?”
“It calls you a savior. It doesn’t say from what.”
He stood, pushing back so quickly that his chair scraped against the wood floor. “I have to go. Need to think.”
Cole nodded. “I’ll be here when you’re ready.”
Sean paused on his way out. “Will you keep this to yourself for now?”
“Of course,” Cole said, as if it was already understood. “Your secrets are my secrets. You know that.”