* * * *
TYNE WAS GLAD THATMeyer didn’t try to stop him.He knew he was running, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care right now.He needed to take a step back, and he was ready to use Jarvis as an excuse to do just that.
He rushed into the castle, leaving Meyer behind.He felt slightly guilty, but at the same time, he didn’t know what to say.He knew what Meyer wanted to hear, but was Tyne ready to give him that?Was he ready to make himself vulnerable again and risk losing his heart a second time?
Meyer wasn’t Peyton.Tyne needed to remember that, and he needed to truly believe it.Hedidbelieve it, but sometimes, looking at Meyer reminded Tyne of everything he’d lost.He had to change that and think about what he’d gained, but it was harder than he’d expected.
It was easier to focus on work and on finding Carlyle, so that was what Tyne did.He found Jarvis in his office and thrust the packet of ingredients at him, relieved when Jarvis caught it easily.
“I’m really sorry you had to spend the night there,” Jarvis said.“Your mother called to tell me you were going to, and she didn’t give me a choice.Should I have pushed for you to return yesterday?”
“It’s fine.I knew it was all her, so don’t worry.I won’t hold it against you.”
Jarvis looked relieved and gestured at Tyne to sit on the couch in the corner.Tyne wanted to run back to his room and hide, but instead, he did as Jarvis had wordlessly asked.He flopped down and leaned back, tilting his face toward the ceiling as he took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry about all of this,” Jarvis repeated.
“You have nothing to be sorry about.We needed ingredients, and my mother always gets what she wants.In this case, she wanted to talk to me.”
“Did she?”
Tyne looked at Jarvis.“I didn’t have a choice.”
“I hope you told her that you weren’t going back.I have the suspicion that’s what she wanted to convince you of.”
“I didn’t even let her say it out loud.I’m never going back there.She said it was my home, but it hasn’t been in a long time, and I have no plans of making it home again.You’ll have to drag me kicking and screaming out of the castle if you ever want to kick me out.”
Jarvis leaned against the edge of his desk and grinned.“No one is planning on kicking you out.”
“Good because I’m not planning on going anywhere.”
Jarvis nodded.“And how did things go with Meyer?”
Tyne wasn’t about to blurt out that he and Meyer had spent the night together, but he wasn’t sure what to tell Jarvis.Apparently, his hesitation was enough to tell Jarvis that something was up.The man smiled softly, and Tyne waited for him to say something.
“We don’t know how the fight with Carlyle will end for us,” Jarvis said gently.“I’m sure that whatever happened in the past hurt you badly, but it wasn’t Meyer.”
“Everyone’s been telling me that.”
“Then maybe you should listen to us.Even better, listen to Meyer.He’s been trying to do right by you, but you’re making it hard, if not impossible.You haven’t even given him a chance.”
Tyne had, even though Jarvis didn’t know it.He’d given Meyer a chance, and Meyer was already worming his way back under Tyne’s skin.
He was nothing like Peyton, something for which Tyne was grateful.He’d thought it meant he would never fall for Meyer the way he had for Peyton, but he was starting to realize he’d been wrong.
He and Peyton had felt inevitable because they’d always known each other.It was almost as if they hadn’t had a choice.They’d fallen in love when they were teenagers, and Peyton had forged ahead.Everyone had expected them to be mage and shield so that was what they’d done.It was what they’d convinced themselves they wanted.Maybe if they’d been older when they’d met, if they’d had a chance to meet more people, they wouldn’t have ended up together.Tyne would never know for sure, but he didn’t have to know.All that was in the past.
The future was uncertain, though.It depended on what would happen with Carlyle, and while Tyne had always been focused on killing the mage, he had even more incentive to do so now.If he wanted to find out what kind of relationship he and Meyer could have, he’d have to defeat Carlyle.
He was ready for it.
Chapter Nine
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TYNE GLARED AT THEingredients spread out on his desk.He shouldn’t be doing this.He should be out there, looking for Carlyle and kicking his ass for everything he’d put them through.Protecting the castle and the people who lived there was important but not as important as killing Carlyle.
Tyne rubbed his face.He knew he was getting frustrated and that he needed a break.Getting angry wouldn’t help anyone, least of all himself.He was never a nice person when he was frustrated and feeling powerless, and he didn’t want to take it out on the people around him.They didn’t deserve it.
