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Before Sariel could snap at him, I stepped between the brothers and cleared my throat. “I know you’re frustrated with the situation, but we’re just trying to help.”
His head rolled back, took a deep breath, then looked back at me. I knew he was praying for patience; any other time, that would have made me laugh.
Auren and I stared at one another for a long moment before he finally spoke.
“I’m not crazy, Aria.”
“I know that!”
It was the truth, but it felt like a lie. I didn’t think Auren hadactuallygone insane, but did I suspect that someone was fucking with his head? Absolutely. Between the weirdness of Ashe himself having talked about mate bonds like he didn’t have one and Auren talking to seemingly random things and people, something weird was going on.
Something told me that if I tried to figure out what was going on and he heard about it, that would be the end of our relationship, though.
“Do you? Because you’re acting like I’ve lost my mind. I appreciate your…concern, but I’m fine. My mate is—” He made an almost wounded sound that I somehow managed to understand. “But he’s mine, and we’re figuring it out.”
“We’ll leave it alone,” Sariel promised.
Auren straightened, nodding slowly. “Thank you.”
He hesitated for a moment. “I mean it. I—I love you guys.”
Sariel’s shock rocked through me as Auren hurried by us, looking more like a dog who’d been kicked a few times than the fearless Resistance Leader we’d come to know.
“What the hell was that?” he muttered.
I broke into hysterical giggles, bumping his shoulder with mine. “I told you!”
He shook his head as we watched his brother disappear around the corner, rubbing the back of his neck and looking adequately baffled.
We’re going to keep an eye on him, right?
The question sent me into another fit of hysterical giggles.
Of course, we are! I think he’d kill us both if we tried to get someone to help us figure out what crazy spell got put on him, though.
I watched his face sour at the realization.Marilyn could keep it quiet.
We weighed that idea together. I imagined that we looked plenty crazy ourselves, judging by the odd glances we were getting as people exited the cafeteria.
I think she’d let it slip to Kiyomasa, I said. He sighed at my assessment.But… I mean, heisan adult. Maybe we really should just let him work through whatever this is. He’s not an idiot, you know?
Then again, if he wasthatadamant about feeling the mate bond, he might be too blinded by the potential to recognize the danger—just like I’d been.
I rubbed my chest at the burst of pain that went through it, unsure if it was my own or Sariel’s, knowing that it didn’t really matter either way. Hell, maybe my trauma over what had happened with Barimuz was makingmethe unreasonable one. Was I creating a problem where there wasn’t one?
That old guy he was talking to thought it was funny, though,Sariel said.
I gave him an incredulous look.
What? He was laughing when he walked off!
He waswheezingbecause he was old and distressed!I argued, but he just laughed, shaking his head with enough certainty that I began to doubt what I’d seen.
Nah, pup, he was definitely laughing.
We ended up agreeing to disagree, walking into the cafeteria while mentally debating which of us was right. Food was always a solid distraction, though.
It wasn’t too much longer before our debrief, so we tabled our theories about Auren’s mental health to be debated later.
