Page 63 of Veil of Night & Flames

“And you didn’t think to mention it to her?” Chase snaps.

“I did not wish to assume,” Adric says, casually leaning against my desk. “And, brother, in candor—I rather hoped it was you. The bond between us has been the deadest thing I carry. Tonight was the first time it has flickered to life in an age. I would be a hypocrite to pretend I’m sorry it has come back to life.”

The room goes very still.

“You’re not sorry,” Chase repeats.

“I’m not.”

“You’re not sorry that you used the woman I love as a conduit.”

“I did not use her. I made love to my betrothed.” His voice is mild, as if he’s chatting at a cocktail party.

Honestly, I don’t know what to make of either of them. But I fervently hope they don’t kill each other, if for no other reason than that Tia would force us to get another room. Two immortal beings dying between our beds would leave gallons of bad mojo.

Chase turns to me, and I stiffen against whatever words he’s about to throw at me. But before he can manage a single one, Adric speaks again.

“And as long as we are being honest, brother, the entire encounter was not unwelcome to me.”

“You really have lost your mind.”

“Hardly. I’ve spent millennia upon millennia cut off from the only other piece of myself that ever existed. But with this bond rising between us, I was not alone in my own skin. I liked it. I am not going to pretend otherwise to spare your feelings.”

“I’m going to put you through that wall,” Chase says, his voice low and hard.

“If you must.”

“Stop it.” I’m between them before I have a plan, one hand flat on each chest. “Stop it. Both of you. Sit down.”

Neither of them sits, of course.

But Chase steps back—one small step. Apparently, that’s the most he’s willing to give me, and I take it.

“You felt it,” I say softly. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that could happen.”

“Cora—”

“Let me say this.” I take his hand. “I hate that you got hurt. But I’m not going to stand here and tell you I wish I hadn’t been with him. I told you I wanted him. You know he’s part of my life now, because that’s the price I paid for you, and you said you could live with it, and that means you have to live with the messy parts, too.” I draw a breath. “I’m sorry it landed in your body, but I already told you I’m not sorry for being with him.”

He looks at me for a long time.

Then he says, “Okay.” His voice is rough. “You’re right. I asked you to be honest. You’re being honest. I don’t get to ask for that and then ask you to soften it.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m still going to be very, very angry for a while.”

“That’s fair.” I pause a beat, then turn to Adric. “And you.”

“Yes, Beloved.”

“Wipe that look off your face.”

“Which look?”

“That look. The ‘I love my new sex toy and will play with it often’ look. Wipe it off.”

“But I am charmed by my new toy,” he says, casting a glance toward Chase. “Aren’t you?”