Page 30

I sense him before I see him, but as soon as my eyes land on him, I feel myself grow faint.

He’s here. Across the room. And then his eyes catch mine.

Fucking Eissa.

Eissa glances around the room full of humans, looking just as regal as before, and my skin heats as I take him in. His sea-green hair is in a long, neat braid, his sheer tunic covering his body in a way most Vyastil aren’t covered, and how he carries himself is annoyingly regal. It’s like he thinks he’s better than everyone else.

He doesn’t acknowledge me, but I watch as he crosses the room and touches foreheads with Rathyn, a greeting I’ve grown used to with these monsters. Then he turns to Everest and offers a bow.

A helpless noise of protest dies in my throat.

I tell myself to stay back—to stay away—but I can’t. My feet carry me forward, right next to Dante, my gaze meeting Eissa’s. I can feel something shift between us as our eyes lock.

“Who is this?” Eissa asks in the tense silence. He uses his voice, but beside me, Dante interprets, and I feel like those words have stabbed me right in the chest.

Who am I?

“My brother,” Dante replies before I can lift my hands and demand that he acknowledge me.

Eissa blinks at me as if he’s never seen me before. For a second, it makes me feel like I dreamt it all, but I’m not that far gone.

He kissed me. He sucked my cock. He and I both felt things we had no business feeling.

And right now, he’s a fucking liar.

“May we speak in private?” Eissa says, cutting me out once more by not signing. Luckily, Dante’s still interpreting, but the fact that I can tell he’s doing it on purpose stings.

I take a breath, and then I feel a strange pressure in my head, and for a second, I swear the words, ‘Don’t, please,’ ring through my mind. But they’re gone before I can wonder if I imagined it all, just like Vegas.

I try to catch Eissa’s gaze, but he’s looking at my brother, and I know that it’s deliberate.

“Yes, come,” Dante tells him, looking concerned. “We can go into the bedroom.” He points to me. ‘You can come too, if you want to be nosy,’ he adds in sign.

Eissa glances at me, derision in his gaze, and I feel my cheeks flush. I hate that he can see how I feel. That I’m so transparent. I want him to think I don’t think of him, that he matters to me even less than I matter to him.

But I’ve always been shit at hiding my emotions.

Dante waves us all down the hallway to the guestroom, holding the door open as Eissa sweeps through first, and then I follow with Rathyn and Everest at my heels. Dante closes the door behind us all, and I lean against the shelf where Gia and Amara have a small collection of knickknacks collecting dust.

I fight the urge to sneeze as Dante positions himself so he can interpret effectively, though I have no plans to add my two cents to this conversation.

“Thank you for having me,” Eissa says, of course without signing for my benefit.

Ugh. Fuck him.

“It is an honor to be invited to a birthday party,” Eissa goes on as Dante signs his words.

I can’t help but slash my hands through the air angrily. ‘You weren’t invited.’

Eissa’s brows lift, and Dante looks startled, clearly unsure if he should repeat my words aloud. It’s probably better that he doesn’t. It’s clear after this, he’s going to want a conversation, and I don’t think I’ll be able to get away by deflecting back to him and Cielo this time.

‘Sorry. Never mind,’ I tell him, then sigh and fold my arms across my chest, trying to keep myself under control.

“I won’t keep you, as the celebration for the impending death is still ongoing…” Eissa says after he’s sure I’m done.

I can see Everest biting back a laugh, and the way Dante interprets this makes my lips twitch, but I swallow the laughter down.

“…but I have come to tell you that I have found a way around Dante’s service at the clinic. Permanently.”