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Murmurs start around the group.
Helene scoffs. “You would invite your mistress here to torment your pregnant wife? Brother, I’m so disappointed.”
Helene taking my side in this warms me.
Essos levels her with a glare. “If you think a single soul exists who I would pick over Daphne and our child, maybe you don’t know me as well as I thought.” He sounds hurt that she wouldn’t have faith in him to pick me.
I slide my hand into Essos’s and give it a squeeze, hoping that it conveys to everyone that I am with him in this and in all things. Essos gives me an appreciative smile before turning back to our family.
“How do we get her, then? Last I recall, your lovely wife sealed her mouth shut, and she was running scared with Posey,” Xavier points out, and he’s not wrong. In the weeks leading up to my wedding to Galen, Ellie tried to turn the screws to me. She kept pushing and insinuating that Essos would choose her, that she was the one he loved more. Joke was on her—I sealed her mouth shut when she tried to object.
“Posey undid that,” Tink supplies.
All eyes turn to him.
“And how do you know that?” Xavier demands.
“Because I’ve been at Posey’s house, working with her on her whole take-over-the-world operation.”
“And you didn’t want to lead with that?” Bria asks skeptically.
Essos smirks, eyeing Tink before looking at the redhead. “You didn’t think we left him out of our plans on purpose? He’s been our inside man.”
“It was just me you left out?” Bria gets to her feet.
“I didn’t want you here,” Dion admits, meeting her eyes.
It’s not hard to see the flash of hurt before she covers it up. I don’t know Bria that well, but it feels like whatever progress they had made has been undone. “Of course, not. You were too busy spreading more lies, I bet.”
“Where’s the lie, Bria? Please, enlighten us, because Finn and I didn’t seem to matter enough to you to warrant an explanation when we broke up.” Dion braces his hands on the table before standing up.
“The lie where you said I was cheating on you! And don’t play the victim here. You’re the one who took your assumptions as fact and ran with them. You decided to spin the narrative that worked best for you, Dion. If you wanted to cut me out of the relationship, you should have at least had the balls to say so to my face instead of telling Finn I was cheating on you.” Bria’s breathing becomes ragged as she yells.
“What did you expect me to think? You had a second apartment, you abruptly ended conversations when I walked into the room. I didn’t know what else to think! Don’t act like you fought for us. You shut down when presented with the evidence, and you. Walked. Away. So really, if anyone is spinning a narrative, it’s you. But that’s what cheaters do: they lie and manipulate situations for their own benefit.” Normally cool and collected Dion is turning purple with rage.
“Enough!” Finn shouts. “We can finish this argument later. Perhaps when all of our friends aren’t watching.”
“I don’t know. I’m sort of enjoying not being the center of an argument for once,” Galen says, tipping onto the back legs of his chair. I use a vine guard to give it a tug—not enough for him to fall, though he would have deserved that. No, just enough to be a slap on the wrist for enjoying the misery of my friends.
“Right,” Tink says awkwardly. “I, of course, came bearing gifts and information.”
“You’re just a regular Benedict Arnold,” Zara proclaims, finally joining us. She eyes Tink, taking in the look of him. She purses her full lips before flipping her braid over her shoulder and taking the chair closest to him.
“Yes, well, down to the nitty gritty. Posey’s trying to call Lairus to her side and get him to seek revenge for his son’s death and steal back the God Killer blade that has, well, had, his soul.”
“What if we kill two birds with one stone? Take out two of her allies at once?” I suggest.
Galen sits up straight, his brow furrowed as he listens to us talk this through.
“So, you’re proposing kidnapping your mistress and the father of the man you killed. Really, team, awesome plan.” Helene gives me a thumbs-up and a face that conveys she has no faith in us.
“I can take care of Ellie,” Essos assures everyone.
“I can get to Lairus,” Octavia announces, walking out to us and bringing everyone except the Fates into the fold.
I look around at this unlikely crew, wondering why I am cursed to have to work with two people I hate, but also so lucky to have so many people I respect and adore with us.
“Oh, good, we’re relying on the benevolence of former lovers, because that never backfires,” Xavier says dryly. He pushes a plate of fruit toward Cat, and she picks up a huge chunk of pineapple and levels him with a look as she takes a big bite. Xavier doesn’t look away from her, and I get the feeling that we’re all intruding.
