“You two look cozy.”
Jessiah.
Of fucking course.
I flipped my hair over my shoulder and twisted to face him. He had just bathed, his wet hair glistening under the flickering lights of the feast, and his massive white wings were on full display. Per usual.
“We were pretty cozy until about one second ago, thanks,” I spat.
His fake smile tightened slightly. “Well, don’t let me interrupt. Please, continue with whatever it was you two were discussing.”
Xavier downed his drink in two gulps and pushed to his feet. “Any other night, I might be entertained by this bickering, but I’m hungry. So if you’ll excuse me…”
He slipped past Jessiah, giving him a nod.
Then, to my dismay, Jessiah took the open seat. “You two seemed to be having an important conversation.”
“Don’t be jealous. We were just sharing secrets about you.”
He smiled, the rare expression exposing his annoyingly perfect teeth. “As if you’d ever be lucky enough to be privy to secrets about me.”
“I know plenty of things.”
“Really?” He leaned in, and though he was sitting at least a foot farther than Xavier had been, he felt ten times closer. “Do tell, please.”
“Well.” I turned toward him, mimicking his teasing flirt. “Since you asked so nicely, I suppose I’ll share. I know that you went to The Golden City today to do something very, very stupid.”
Jessiah’s smile instantly vanished. “Did Xavier tell you that?”
“Relax, hotshot.” I took another drink, watching him over the rim of my mug. “I can be very persuasive when it comes to getting information.”
“It’s not what you think.”
Annoyance flared hot in my veins. “It’s exactly what I think. And it’s dangerous as all hells.” I let my drink drop back down onto the bar. “Which is why Xavier came to me as your friend, hoping I could do something about it.”
“Unbelievable.” He shook his head, his lips turned down, as if he actually had a right to be upset at Xavier.
Goddess above, that pissed me off more than anything. Xavier cared enough about him to come to me instead of straight to Wolf and Huntyr so he wouldn’t get his ass chewed out. Healso cared enough to stop him before he did something idiotic and endangered his own life.
It was a courtesy I wouldn’t have shown in that situation. I could not give a shit about whether he got his ass chewed out. Honestly, that would fall somewhere close to the top of my list of satisfying situations to witness.
“Don’t get all pissy.” I waved a hand. “Xavier’s not an idiot, which is why he can see how dangerous your little plan is. Do you really think Wolf and Huntyr won’t find out that you went to see Nathan?”
He ran a hand through his light hair, his eyes darting around the crowd. “I thought I would have at least a little time before people started running their mouths.”
I raised a brow. “Well, good luck with that.” Standing, I took one more drink. Then I turned away from the bar. I didn’t know exactly where I was headed, but this crowd was suddenly feeling too dense for me.
“Hey!” Jessiah called after me. Two seconds later, he grabbed me by the arm and spun me around to face him. “Where do you think you’re going?”
I yanked my arm, but he held tight. “Anywhere but here. Thanks for your concern.”
“You can’t leave.”
“Excuse me?”
“I just mean—” He bowed his head and gave it a shake. Hells, if I didn’t know better, I’d think he was actually starting to lose his shit. “We need to talk about this.”
“What makes you think I want to talk about this? Withyou,of all people? Huntyr is my best friend. She’s the only person in this entire fucking kingdom who gives a shit about me, and you deliberately betrayed her today.”
