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“So you risked us, then,” Niko spat out in a tight, angry tone I’d never heard from him before. “You risked her.” He jerked his head in my direction.
Dread crushed down on me. Niko was the one who was always so understanding. So compassionate. Of all of them, I’d felt sure he would be the one to give Roan the benefit of the doubt.
But he was shaking so hard, I could see his hair quivering.
“Nature knew you had a secret,” he said, his voice shaking too. “Something you weren’t sharing. But I trusted you. I never thought you’d hide something that could hurt us. Hurt Gwyneira. But you cared more about your secrets and yourself than you did about keeping her safe, and even now, you… you’re still…” His eyes raked up and down Roan like he’d suddenly realized he never knew the man at all.
“He’s still what?” Clay prompted sharply.
Niko shook his head, watching Roan with such distrust it broke my heart. “I don’t know.”
Dex’s jaw muscles jumped beneath the scruff on his light brown cheeks. “So what was today?”
Roan swallowed hard. “I lost control again.”
The twins shifted their weight, clearly uncomfortable at the revelation. With aching disgust in his eyes, Niko looked away.
“I notice we are not dead, though,” Casimir pointed out. “A few injuries notwithstanding.” His chin twitched toward the gashes on his chest as if they were hardly worth mentioning.
“You controlled it,” Ozias added, his deep voice measured.
Roan’s head shook. “I didn’t. It just…”
Byron spoke up for the first time. “Then the demon chose not to kill us.” When no one responded, he continued. “And if that is the case, then it would stand to reason that it has gained some measure of control since what happened with your family, would it not?”
Roan didn’t respond.
“The stygiaterros are protective by nature,” Byron continued. “Fiercely possessive and aggressive too. Many demons are. Yet when faced with those who would keep it from Gwyneira, the demon exerted precisely the amount of force necessary to disable our group without mortally wounding anyone.” He glanced at Dex and the rest. “I do not know whether it is trustworthy. And I do not know what passed between the demon and Gwyneira in the time she was gone. But I will note it is Roan standing here before us, not a demon, and that he is admitting to horrors in his past that anyone would wish to hide.”
“He still put her in danger,” Niko insisted, and it was like a knife in my heart to hear that furious tone coming from him. “And he’s not the only one hiding things.”
His eyes landed on Ozias.
My blood went cold. “This isn’t about?—”
A choked sound left Niko as he spun toward me in alarm.
“Take a moment, Niko,” Dex cautioned. “Don’t?—”
“You were keeping secrets from us too?” Niko demanded of me, ignoring Dex and looking at me with so much hurt in his eyes, I wanted to cry. “You’re our treluria and you?—”
“Don’t you turn this on her,” Roan snapped, a snarl in his voice like maybe the demon wasn’t entirely asleep after all.
Clay scoffed. “Yeah? How about you stay out of it, since you’re so good at keeping your damn mouth shut about?—”
“Enough!” Ozias roared.
In a surge of magic, his bones and skin warped, dark fur rushing out to cover his body, and suddenly the beastly form of my mate stood before us, fangs bared and a growl rumbling from his throat.
No one moved.
A shudder rolled through Ozias as his fur vanished and he became his Erenlian form once again. “Not all of us had homes before this, boy.” Cold fury showed in his eyes as he glared at Niko. “And this?” He gestured sharply to the group at large. “This is why.”
Without another word, he stalked away.
Silence fell. Uncomfortable looks passed between Clay and Lars, while Byron regarded the ground as if it might hold answers to this mess. Roan stared after Ozias, motionless, and Casimir said nothing, watching him. Pain in his eyes, Dex looked around at the others, and I wondered if he could see even better than I did all the cracks that had just been torn in the foundations of their friendships.
I searched for something to say. Anything to make it better. “Niko, I?—”
