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“I’m sorry, I…” I tried to swallow around the knot in my throat. “It’s how we’ve always run things. It’s not fair on either side to—”
“To what?Die?”
I sniffled as I nodded. “Well, yes…”
“It doesn’t matter what started the war, Rose,” Matéo scoffed while pushing the folders away. Some of the pages fluttered to the ground. “It won’t ever end. It’ll keep going on until the world fades out of existence. Even then, it’ll continue in the great beyond.”
“You can’t know that for sure.”
He growled. “Innocence will always pay for the sins of evildoers.”
“Matéo, that’s not true. We’re stronger than that. Discovering what caused this whole mess could help us stop it.”
He shook his head. “It never stops. Not even when you take your family away to the mountains to keep them safe. Nowhere is safe, Rose. Not even here.You’re not safe.”
I stared at him for a long time as my heart quivered in my chest.
And then it hit me.
He was feeling grief. That was why it hurt so much. That was why it felt like my chest was about to cave in, body about to be swallowed by the void of loss.
I extended my hand. “Hey, come here.”
“No.”
“You’re hurting. Let me help. Please?”
One tentative step forward led to two. Another step inspired him to pull away, but he didn’t retreat and he didn’t leave the room. After a few tense minutes, I exhaled slowly and crossed the gaping sea between us, taking his hand gently.
“Just breathe,” I whispered. “That’s it.”
The feeling was so much more intense in close proximity, but I bit through the discomfort. If I could do anything for Matéo, then I wanted it to be the healing comfort that my sisters always provided for me. I channeled them, harnessed the energy of bonds that couldn’t be broken by anything, that could never be replaced. And once his eyes stopped flaming with an ancient resentment, the black wolf returned, the charming and brooding mystery who I had met at the diner.
I nodded. “Just keep breathing. It’ll be okay.”
“It won’t be okay, Rose. We’re in trouble.”
“We’re safe here. I promise. Nothing can happen inside this inn. I swear to you.”
He frowned. “I’ve heard that before.”
“From who?”
“From my mother.”
Sunlight shifted over his features, darkening the circles under his eyes. I caressed his face, trying to keep him grounded in the present. It was fine if he couldn’t tell me where he went mentally as long as I could be the tether for him to get back to this inn, this conference room, this time.
Back to me.
“You wanted to know how I know,” he whispered, danger lurking around the edge of his words.
I nodded. “Yes.”
“It’s the oldest wolf family. It’s one that generations have nearly forgotten because…”
“Because?”
He licked his lips, throat clenching as he swallowed hard. “Because I’m the very last Beauchamp alive.”
