“It was something like ‘we’re working on Sheena’s self-defense skills. Make yourself useful and show her something to block.’” He takes a step toward her, arms outstretched. “Bestie, I apologize. It was a misunderstanding, a mistake.”
“You know, I’m new to the whole adult friend thing,” she says, considering him. “But whenever I imagined my future best friend, they were someone who’d watch my back, not attack my mind.”
The blonde’s face crumbles, but he doesn’t argue. When the shifter reaches for the djinn again, she takes a step back.
“Look, I just need a minute. This kind of thing may be normal to you two, but I just watched you die.” Her voice cracks. “I know this world is brutal and maybe I’m naive and useless, but surely there are better ways to teach me than whatever that was.”
She takes one last look at the training ground then strides off, her spine rigid.
“I’m such a fuck up.” The demon moans, his shoulders slumping as she leaves. “Everyone else already thought so. Now she does too.”
“It’s not just you she’s upset with. And she’s got a point,” the shifter says,scraping a hand over his face. “If you’d shown me that, I would have been freaked out at first, but I would’ve known pretty quickly it wasn’t real. Did she even know you could do that?”
The demon thinks for a moment, then shakes his head with a grimace. “I guess I never mentioned it. I just kind of assumed she knew.”
“Ciprian, I heard your conversation this morning. Callum told you to scare her and see what happened. You could have blamed it on him when she asked.”
“Yeah, sure, so you could tell him I’m a snitch the first chance you get? I already fucked up one relationship beyond repair today. I didn’t want to make it two instead,” he spits the words, then storms off.
I watch the shifter curse and kick a rock across the courtyard. It pings off something metal in the distance.
“I know you’re there,” he says, flaring his nostrils. “I can smell you, fae.”
Damnation. I hadn’t considered that.
I remove my glamour and shrug. “You can hardly blame me for my curiosity,” I murmur. “And you must admit the training grounds are an odd place to hold an expectation of privacy.”
My words earn a glare in response, but he hasn’t tried to take my head off yet, which is mildly surprising given his reputation.
“I assume you’ve got some opinions,” he says.
I raise my brow. While I have many thoughts about what I just witnessed, I’m shocked he’s asking what they are.This opening is too tempting to resist.
“Are you asking for my advice?”
“Get fucked,” he growls. “I don’t know why I even bothered?—”
“You’re all actually correct,” I say, before I can think better of it.
“We can’t all be right. What kind of candy-ass, fairy bullshit is that?” He takes a menacing step toward me, but I refuse to be cowed by his brutish intimidation tactics.
“I’m not avoiding your question. I’m saying you’re all correct. The djinn will need to toughen up if she has any hope of survival. As for the rest of you—you cannot simply treat her like you would each other. She’s missing a lifetime of background information. You’re going to have to communicate.”
“My specialty,” he groans, staring at the sky. I wonder which god he’s bringing his case to, or if he even bothers with the old ways.
“I would think a fated mate bond would make it easier.” I prod for details.
“Keep your mouth shut about that,” he snarls.
I nod. The look on his face is genuinely terrifying. I’ve pushed my luck far enough for today. I have no need to share theinformation right now anyway. Part of me is even rooting for them.
“The road ahead will be fraught,” I warn him. “If you want to keep her, you can never forget that.”
“Thanks for the advice,” he says, lowering his voice. “I’ll give you some as well: Sheena is taken. Remember that.”
His eyes flair golden, but he doesn’t attack. I smile at the familiarity of male posturing. It’s the same no matter what realm you’re in. Instead of responding to his threat, I dip my chin and return to my wing.
Gideon can have the last word for now.
