Had Liam been waiting on the beach this whole time? While Austin had been here, feasting and lounging?
“Is Liam who you wish to shield from your voice?” Tristan asked.
When Austin didn’t answer, Tristan cast him a cautious look.
Austin drew a knee to his chest, folding his arm around the limb. “I can’t always help the way my voice comes out. Liam will stay by my side no matter my mood, so he ends up getting hurt. I want him around, but I can’t stand that I make him feel like—well, like I told you earlier.” His voice came out gritty. “Like he needs to jump off a cliff because I’m upset about something.”
Tristan left the far edge of the couch and slid closer, stopping beside Austin’s folded knee.
Austin tensed, deciding whether to snap at him for getting closer, but the urge didn’t come. He folded forward, propping his cheek on his knee, and gazed sideways at Tristan. He could see his robe, a hint of lightly tanned skin where it parted across his chest. He didn’t bother raising his eyes to read Tristan’s expression.
“I sent him away,” Austin said. “He came back. And I…I don’t want to send him away again, even though I know I hurt him.”
“If he was stubborn enough to return against your wishes, then he must greatly desire to be by your side,” Tristan said calmly. “If your voice has hurt him in the past, then he is aware of your power and its effects. His decision to return was not made in ignorance.”
Tristan cupped Austin’s knee, fingertips tracing the line of his cheekbone in a fond gesture.
“Maybe not made in ignorance, but made with free will?” Austin asked. His voice dropped low, pain threading through every word. “I told you that I drove someone mad with my voice. I didn’t do it on purpose—I felt it happen, I drew on the power—but the effect went far beyond anything I meant to do… I have neverpurposefullyused this power on Liam, but I make him flinch and hurt him daily without meaning to. Who’s to say Ididn’t plant an obsession in his mind when I was too young to even feel that I’d done it?”
“You worry that his affection is disingenuous?”
“I’d hardly describe Liam asaffectionatein the first place,” Austin muttered. “He’s like a slow-moving cow! Slow to anger, slow to smile, slow to react to anything that doesn’t go his way, thinking he can makemeyield first.”
“He’s calm?”
“Stupidly so.”
“He thinks before he acts?”
“For far too long!”
“So he isn’t mad.”
Austin’s thoughts snagged. He lifted his head to meet Tristan’s eyes. “No, I mean, he…he came back fromAmerica. That’s the other side of the world. He was meant to go be with his family, but he said he wasn’t even living with them. He was staying with Tammy—who works for me—instead. And Iknowhe went to her so that he could get updates on me! That is clearly a sign of obsession. Right?”
“He’s been with you since you were a child?”
Austin nodded.
“Then I would consider his actions closer to care than obsession,” Tristan said steadily. “Worry and fondness for one he watched grow from child to adult?”
Austin stared blankly at Tristan. He blinked several times, then looked away towards the horizon where a red sun was rising. They’d been up all night.
“I’m tired,” Austin said, voice gritty again.
Tristan hummed. “Then we’ll retire. I’ll ensure the household remains quiet and doesn’t disturb your rest. And perhaps if you are pleased with me—though I seek no reward—I might make a request of you?”
At Austin’s narrowed-eyed look, Tristan tipped up his chin, offering the white of his throat.
“My brother would like to meet you.”
Austin reached, prodding that flare of delicate white with a fingertip. “The brother who runs the city?”
“I have only the one,” Tristan confirmed.
“I’ll think about it.”
Tristan’s hum vibrated against Austin’s fingertip.
