AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You need to listen to me,” he begins with a growl.
Lords opens the door and walks a few steps into the room. “Mr. Dùbhghlas, out. You don’t belong here right now, and I don’t think Teddy’s in the right frame of mind to listen to what you have to say anyway.”
“I’m not,” I agree. “But you’ve never known how to pick your moments, have you, Princely? It’s still all you-you-you.”
Darwin’s glare carries at least as much anger and frustration as mine. Stew away, you traitorous fuck-wad.
He spins on his heel and strides out through the door Lords holds open for him. After closing the door, Lords takes the seat Darwin’s just vacated.
“Rough day,” Lords says gently.
Rough week. Rough month. Rough year. I glare at him.
“How can I help, Teddy?”
I raise my eyebrows at him. “Seriously, mate?”
“Seriously. I can see you’re upset. Talk to me.”
“Has nothing to do with Jade’s death.”
He holds his hands up. “That’s irrelevant to you now. Gabe’s been cleared. Whatever’s going on between you and Darwin, the charges against him aren’t your problem. Talk to me as a friend. Someone who cares about you and wants to help.”
Does he?
“I thought you wanted me to summon Jade’s spirit and cast apaternastto figure out whether Darwin’s the father?”
Lords nods his dark, slightly rumpled head. “I did that while you were gone. Earth-witches may be rare but you’re not the only one. Jade’s spirit wouldn’t speak, but we were able to confirm paternity.”
I twist my ring around some more while I digest that. Darwin was the father. Does he know? What a gut-punch that must have been. Does it even matter to me anymore?
It shouldn’t. But it does.
“I met you in the future,” I say. “Hasn’t been a great decade for you, either.”
“Tell me about it.”
I do. It all spills out of me. Everything I saw and heard and felt. All my confusion and pain and grief. The only thing I omit is Rachel. I need to talk to her before I let on to Lords that I know about them. If they even are a “them” in this Time.
By the end of my verbal hurl, I have tears in my eyes. But I feel slightly, strangely, lighter.
Lords sips from the coffee he’s had brought in by one of his crows while I’ve been talking. “I’m sorry, Teddy,” he says. “It really has been a rough time. For what it’s worth, I’m very proud of you.”
He is?
“Thanks, I think.”
“You’ve handled it with the strength and integrity that I and your other professors have come to expect out of you. Do you want my advice?”
“Are you going to give it to me whether I want it or not?”
His white teeth flash between his mustache and beard. “Yes.”
“Go on, mate. Get it over with.”
He smiles. “Your feelings are understandable, Teddy. Whether your anger’s worth the destruction of your relationship with Gabe and Darwin is something only you can decide. I suggest that you at least give Gabe a chance to tell you his side of the story, because I don’t believe it is what you think it is. But whether or not you’re ready to listen to him, you should give yourself some time to recover and get back on your feet before making any irrevocable decisions. You’ve had a lot thrown at you in a very short time. Regroup before regret.”
“Catchy,” I say.
