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“Why?” She whirled around, throwing her hands in the air. “Why don’t you like him?”
“Because of what he did to you, for one.”
“He repented, Braxton. He asked for forgiveness and I gave it to him. Why can’t you do the same?”
“Because I don’t trust him.”’
“Well, I have known him my entire life, and that is the only mistake he has ever made. He has been proving himself to me, doing everything he can to repair the tear he caused. He helped with the mission today, and tried to stop that Dragon from attacking our people.”
“He was going to kill Venom,” I argued, outraged. “If I wouldn’t have been there—”
“If you wouldn’t have been there, Venom wouldn’t have tried to attack in the first place.”
Her words left me cold. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Evie sighed, shaking her head. “It means that everything was well until the two of you engaged in that foolish Alpha rivalry you seem to have with each other. What is going on with the two of you?”
“He’s just—” I stopped myself, trying not to say what I wanted to say. “He is not sincere. He is only doing all of this because, because—”
“Because, what?”
“Because he wants you, Evie. Okay? He wants you, and somehow he knows I’m the one standing in his way. ”
“Oh my gods!” She held her head, disbelieving. “This cannot be true.”
“Evie, I—”
“You mean to tell me that you are going to kill each other because you are jealous of each other?”
“It’s not that simple. You think he’s your friend, Evie, but he isn’t. He wants you.”
Disappointment colored her features. “That might be the case, Braxton. But what makes you think I want him?”
Fuck.
“That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry.”
Cupping her mouth, she turned to the window, glancing beyond the night. “You know, I had pictured tonight differently. I thought we would come home victorious, happy to have rescued our own. I wanted to have a moment with you. Sit with you and talk. Tell you things that once I thought I couldn’t tell you, but that I realized you deserved to know. I wanted there to be nothing hiding between us anymore, because I love you like I never thought I would let myself love a man.”
My chest constricted with her words. “I know, I screwed up I—”
“I don’t think you do.” She turned around, glistening eyes focusing on me. “I don’t think you truly realize the weight your mistakes had today. Whatever lives inside you is a blessing and a curse, Braxton. And you need to understand that. This world is not like the one you grew up in. Magic, spells, and Dragons, are all part of our every day, not just something you can use when you need them, and ignore afterwards. They live in you, which means everything you do is influenced by them, and you in turn, influence them.”
She took a few steps closer, her gaze not leaving mine.
“The consequences of your actions are graver than any others’ because of who you are.”
“Evie—”
Her hand lifted, silently asking for me to let her finish.
“Today you thought of no one but yourself, Braxton. How you didn’t want to kill the sentry, how much you wanted to kill Raithian. How angry and jealous Lachlan makes you, and how much you just had to let him know. How desperately you wanted to protect that wild Dragon. Yet, you missed everything that happened in between. You didn’t think what Raithian’s powers could do to you, or those around you. You didn’t think what that confrontation of yours would do to the creatures that, as you have already learned, can feel your emotions as heightened as you feel theirs.”
“Baby, I didn’t do it on purpose. I just—”
“Did you even for one second stop to consider those we were trying to rescue?” She pointed to our hidden city. “How they felt, barely making it out of the Crimson Fortress. Or arriving at the woodlands, believing they were finally safe, just to see two of the warriors who were supposed to protect them, ready to kill each other? Don’t you think they have witnessed more than enough death already? Can you imagine how terrified they were after they closed their eyes to sleep peacefully, probably for the first time in years, only to awake in terror because a wild Dragon threatened to shock them all with lightning?”
Recognition fell on me like a bucket of cold water. She was right, and it killed me to realize just how bad I had screwed up today. I tried to come up with something grand to say, but only one thing echoed in my mind. “I am so sorry, Evie.”
