“I figured you’d be too busy getting wasted at some party to celebrate the holidays with your son. I’m sure there are plenty of council members who are wondering why you’re late to your daily ass-powdering session.”
“How dare you!” Cameron thundered. “Such insults against the Emperor are worthy of the death sentence!”
“Then cut my head off and save the Warden some trouble. You won’t.”
Cameron wrinkled his nose. “I can see why you wish to disentangle yourself from this girl, son. She’s horrible.”
“She definitely is.” But Charlie didn’t sound discouraged when he said the words. He actually sounded… proud. Almost like he was saying, That’s my Ava.
Psh. Yeah, right. Up yours, buddy. Not anymore.
Cameron turned his back to us. “I refuse to continue this conversation. It’s ruining my holiday. You two may do what you like, but don’t think I’ll allow either of you to walk away from this marriage without me having any say.”
“Cool, because talking is all you’re going to do,” I shot back. “Hurry up and leave already. You’re wasting my time.”
Cameron huffed, then swept his royal robe around him like some kind of big shot before stomping off. He ran away like a little bitch because he knew he couldn’t win an argument with me. Pathetic.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Charlie said quietly. “I can stand up for myself.”
The statement stung, because he did need help. Charlie was strong, but he couldn’t shield himself from the world all the time, especially not from the father that had all but disowned him. Protecting him had once been my job… and I still didn’t want to let that job go.
I’d never admit that to him, not even on my deathbed, so I said, “Yeah, well, I’ll always take a chance to piss on your dad’s day.”
“I guess.” He shrugged. “I don’t want to ruin your birthday, so I’ll just go.”
He turned to leave, but I snatched his wrist. “Wait.”
It was the most contact we’d had in weeks. It made me ache. My entire body grew weak for him. His skin touched mine, and a rush of something deep and forbidden flared within me.
I didn’t understand the connection, the fire that continued to blaze within my chest. Our bond was broken and my magic was gone, so I shouldn’t feel this way.
I let him go. “I wanted to thank you for my present. You didn’t have to do that.”
“I already had it made before everything… happened,” he confessed. “I didn’t see a reason not to give it to you, even if we’re… you know.”
“How did you build it? The design’s exquisite.”
“Mav helped me, along with a couple of Elvish technicians. I don’t know much about building things, and I’m not good at mechanics, but Mav had a lot of great ideas. I figured since he made those glasses for me that could read text out loud, he could help me with this. It was pretty awesome, hanging out with him as much as I did. Maverick’s pretty cool.”
“You were so busy this year. Training with your grandpa, running the mob, working with us to find the vampire key, planning our wedding. How did you find time for this?”
“I made time, because you deserved it. I had Kallie drop it off this morning. I hope that was okay.”
The hurt that had eaten away at me for days ebbed and flowed, lightening the tension so that somewhere, I could find a smile. “It was just fine.”
Charlie nodded, staying quiet. Oberi nudged his hand impatiently, and Charlie said, “Oberi says you have something to give me, but you don’t have to. I know things are different now.”
Dammit, Oberi. Why had he brought my present up? It was so cruel. I couldn’t give it to Charlie now.
But I couldn’t get out of it, either, not since Oberi brought it up. “It’s fine. I got you something too, a while back. It’s in our— your— quarters. I left it there before I moved out. If it’s all right, I’d like to give it to you.”
I had been happy to let it hide forever, unfound, until Charlie had given me my present this morning. He might as well have it. These were merely Christmas gifts we’d previously picked out during a time when we thought we would have forever. Exchanging them didn’t mean much. They were only things.
Charlie nodded slowly. “I guess that would be all right.”
We headed in the direction of his room, Oberi the only bridge in the distance between us. This was weird. There was an awkward tension that had settled between him and I that was wider than the ocean, and it made the air hard to breathe. I wanted to flee from the area screaming, but at the same time, something drew me in, telling me to stay.
When we got back to his quarters, I rummaged through the drawers of what used to be my desk until I found a Christmas present, wrapped weeks ago. “Here you go.”
