Selwyn’s eyes narrow. “Let me see this book.”
If he is surprised about his brother having omega traits, he isn’t showing it. And his request is reasonable enough. And precisely why sticking as close to the truth as possible is always the best bet. Because, now I have a book to back up my claim. If I had been fabricating stories out of thin air, I’d have nothing.
I nod and head towards the bedchamber. I’ll just quietly slip in, grab the book and slip out.
Carefully, I open the door. Just wide enough to ease through. It swings softly shut behind me. Leaving me confronted with the sight of Llywelyn curled up impossibly small on the bed. He isn’t crying. He isn’t doing anything. He is just laying there on top of the covers, a tiny ball of misery.
I can’t bear it. I just can’t. I have seen many awful things in the line of duty, but this is by far the worst.
“Hey,” I say softly as I step towards him.
Silence.
“I’m sorry I stayed away last night. I thought you needed space.”
I step right up to the bed and brush golden hair away from his eyes. He blinks up at me. I watch as a tentative, flickering flame of hope ignites deep in his beautiful eyes.
Suddenly, he is moving and I’m instinctively stepping back. He falls to his knees on the floor and wraps his arms around my waist. He turns his face and presses his cheek against my stomach.
“I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. Please don’t cast me off. Please don’t leave me. I’ll do anything you want. Anything at all.”
His arms tighten around me desperately, and I can’t move at all. I can only see the top of his head and all of his choppy spun-sunlight hair.
He continues to babble, but my mind is no longer processing words. It is too busy filling up with pain and sorrow.
A noise has me snapping my head up. Selwyn is standing quietly in the open doorway. His eyes fixed on his kneeling, pleading brother.
Selwyn tears his gaze away from Llywelyn and glares at me with the most frightening look I have ever seen in my life. For a moment, it feels like my bowels are going to give up all hope, but miraculously they rally.
Selwyn draws in a sharp breath, more of a hiss than anything else.
“What have you done to my brother?”
Chapter twenty-six
Ishouldn’t be enjoying this. Llywelyn is curled up in my lap, with his arms around my neck and his face buried in my shoulder. He is much calmer now. In fact, he seems almost content. But I should not be relishing the warm weight of him.
There is something wrong with me. A good person would not be sitting here in this comfortable armchair, exulting in the feeling of being needed. Llywelyn is clinging to me like I’m the only buoy in a stormy sea, and I’m loving it. He belongs in my arms. I was born to take care of him. Right now, it feels like the rest of my life was merely a prelude to this, and now I’m taking up my destiny.
The soft rustle of a page turning disrupts my spinning thoughts. Selwyn is still calmly reading the book that Tae found. He doesn’t seem like he is about to disembowel me, a fact I’m eternally grateful for.
His savage temper faded quickly once I started babbling more fervent explanations at him, and his fury extinguished completely once I handed him the book. He is dangerous, but not unreasonable.
Right now, his brown eyes are focused on the page, but he seems almost serene. He could be reading for pleasure. Sitting across from his brother and enjoying a peaceful, companionable Sunday afternoon.
I bite back my wry snort. Sitting across from your brother while he curls up in a man’s lap, has to be a little disconcerting. But then again, for all the fey’s many flaws, homophobia doesn’t seem to beone of them. I’m not sure if they even have a word for it. It simply does not exist in their world.
I carefully reach out and pick up my cup of tea that is on the side table. It is a little tricky to get it to my lips with Llywelyn sitting on me, but I manage it.
I put the cup back and it clinks against the saucer. I don’t think I’ve ever drunk so much tea in my life since coming to the fey court. The fey are obsessed with it. Copious amounts of tea and zero homophobia. It is almost enough to make me like them.
Selwyn gently closes the book. He places it on the side and then turns to me with an unwavering stare.
I gulp and wait to hear my fate.
“It seems you have formed a mating bond with my brother.”
In my arms, Llywelyn doesn’t react. I guess he is still zoned out. I’m just happy he is calm now. So it’s fine. I can deal with this, and explain everything to him later.
