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I raised my eyebrows at his swift departure. “Wow. Talk about throwing you under the bus.”
“He wanted me to tell you about this whole thing before I went to Argentina,” Leo grumbled. “He didn’t think I should be hiding it from you.”
“Why did you?”
Leo huffed. “Can we sit down while we talk about this? It’s been a long fucking week.”
When we were settled on the sofa, Leo started talking. “I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t sure if we were going to find him. And if we did? Well, I didn’t know if he’d want to come back.”
I pulled a cushion onto my lap, hugging it to my chest. “Did you have to persuade him?”
“Not really. The instant he realised how much you were hurting, he was raring to get back here.”
“But he wouldn’t have come if you guys hadn’t tracked him down.” Even with what Seb had said, that was the point that was still sticking for me. I traced the pattern on the cushion, trying to focus on that so I wouldn’t break down. I’d done that in front of Leo far too many times recently. “I wasn’t enough for him to come back for.”
“I promise that this is definitely not you. It’s him. You don’t know the whole story, Matty.”
“And you do?” Tears welled in my eyes. “Sorry, it’s just…I can’t believe he told you but wouldn’t open up to me.”
“He didn’t,” Leo said bluntly. “It was Toby who filled me in on the flight over. Do you want me to tell you?”
I shook my head sharply. “No, I want to hear it from him.”
“Good. He should be the one to tell you.” Leo shuffled closer, laying his hand on my knee. “Look, I’m never going to be Sebastian’s biggest fan. Anyone who hurts you as deeply as he did is going to have to work for a long fucking time before I can look at them without wanting to punch them.”
I winced. “Please tell me you didn’t punch him.”
“Okay. I didn’t punch him.”
I poked a finger in his ribs. “Liar.”
“Didn’t help much,” he admitted begrudgingly. “He was already in such a state that it was like punching a puppy.”
“Sebastian was in a state?”
Leo blew out his cheeks. “That’s underselling it, really. We found him in an alley, drunk out of his mind, facing off with three shifters.”
I shot to my feet, the pillow falling to the floor. “What in the fudgesticks was he thinking?”
Leo drew me back down with a gentle tug on my hand. I hit the sofa with a huff.
“I think he was feeling like he had nothing to live for now that he’d given you up,” Leo said softly. “Matty, seriously. I thought you were heartbroken…but Sebastian? He was lost. We found him living in a hovel in some shitty town in the middle of nowhere. He looked like he hadn’t showered in days. And from what Toby said, he hadn’t fed in far longer.”
My stomach flipped. “Isn’t that dangerous for vampires?”
“Apparently, the stronger you are, the longer you can last. But I think even Sebastian was at his limits. I think he was refusing to drink blood that wasn’t yours.”
“Oh my god, does he need to feed?” I jumped up again, only to be yanked down by my brother again. “Leo, I can’t let him starve himself.”
“It’s okay, he’s fed,” Leo said gruffly, rubbing at the back of his neck. “I donated some of my blood and made him drink it.”
We both winced as a crashing noise came from the kitchen.
“Stop being so possessive,” Leo shouted. “If you’d seen the state of the bloke, you would’ve told me to do it yourself.”
There was a long pause before Ferry huffed. “Fine.”
I hid my smile. Leo was right, Ferry would most likely have suggested it if he’d been there. What I didn’t understand though, was why Leo had done it.
