His grin faded as his face paled.
“You okay?” I gripped his elbow.
“Yeah, sure,” he said, pointing at an empty chair not far from us. “Can you bring me that chair?”
I dragged over two wooden chairs, helping him sit while I took the second chair right in front of him.
“Finish your round.” He lifted his chin when I didn’t move.
“You know this is just a setback, right?” I asked. “You’ll be back to normal in no time.”
“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
Without saying anything, Elias brought us two glasses of water and kissed my head. He and Donnie made a show of not looking at each other before Elias headed back to our group.
My lungs squeezed at Donnie’s crestfallen expression.
“You two are acting like lovestruck teenagers,” I said.
From a distance, I heard Elias’s laugh.
“His mom died because of me,” Donnie said.
Although our bond was missing, I swore I felt Elias stiffen. Around us, several patrons turned their attention to us.
Damn fae and their super hearing.
I jerked, narrowing my eyes at him. “That’s not true.”
I felt Brenton’s familiar magic rise around us in an invisible shield just as Elias stepped to my side. With his hand on my shoulder, he stared back at Donnie.
“Your mother died to save my life,” Donnie said, still a little breathless.
“My mother didn’t die to save you,” Elias said, his tone serious. “She died to save herself.”
I gasped, and he turned his beautiful eyes to me.
“Tell me I’m wrong,” he said.
“I just hadn’t thought of it like that.”
He leaned down to kiss my head. “It’s all I’ve thought about,” he whispered in my ear. Then to Donnie, he said, “Get on with your game so Teddy and I can annihilate you and Cierra.”
Donnie laughed hard enough that it brought on an onslaught of coughs, but when he finished, Elias grinned.
“If you die again, Teddy and I have nothing left to bargain over.” His voice was light and joking.
Donnie laughed again while I smacked Elias’s hard stomach.
“Elias.”
He lifted a brow.“Mo elma?”
“Do you miss your magic?” Donnie asked.
I rubbed the center of my chest, and just as I’d done for Elias when I’d seen him do that same motion, he took my hand to kiss my wrist.
“We’d miss you more,” Elias said.
