Zane had figured out the guy was somewhat of a loose cannon.
Kelevra, Madden, Ledger, and even the Royal Consort.
“What do you mean you were already on your way?” Zane asked.
“You didn’t seriously think we wouldn’t worry when you vanished the way that you did?” Madden sounded surprised.
“He didn’t vanish,” Pavel said. “He got permission to skip two weeks of school.”
“Yeah,” Kelevra crossed his arms, “permission supposedly from me. Funnily enough, I don’t recall doing that. Isn’t that strange?”
“Totally.”
“I figured after you broadcastedthat,” Ledger shuddered, and Zane couldn’t tell if it was an act or a real reaction, “Lyra would try to retaliate somehow.”
“He came to me and explained the situation,” Kelevra caught his eye and held, “which is what you should have done from the very beginning.”
“Told you,” Pavel whispered in his ear, and Zane swatted him away.
“We followed her.” Kelevra shook his head at his sister, who was standing there silently pouting as they all talked around her. “Luckily, she led us straight here.”
“Way to keep this place a secret even from me, brother,” Ledger complained. “Not cool.”
“He was shot,” Rin frowned and stared at Pavel, bringing their attention to the other elephant in the room. “He also looked like Zane a moment ago. How…odd.”
“Careful, Consort,” Kelevra drawled. “I don’t like that look of interest in your eye.”
“You have a freakishly fast healy shapeshifting friend,” Rin pointed out. “That is arguably very interesting.”
Kelevra shook his head and sent his boyfriend a warning look, then clicked his tongue at them. “I’ve done this twin dance before,” he motioned at them, “so it’s gotten old. Switch back to your own form so I can decide if I have to hate you or Zane for the way my Consort is looking at you.”
“You’re so fucking dramatic,” Rin rolled his eyes.
Zane hadn’t even processed that Pavel still looked like him, especially since Ledger had known right away which one of them his brother was.
“You yelled my name, gorgeous,” Pavel reminded, able to read his train of thought. He shifted back to himself, the process like a rippling effect that might have been slightly horrific if Zane weren’t completely and utterly exhausted.
“Screamed it is more like,” Ledger corrected, grabbing one of the pillows off the couch in the living room area. He clutched it to his chest and wailed comically, “Pavel!”
“Does your brother have super healing too?” Zane leaned in and asked, loud enough for the annoying guy still chuckling at his stupid joke to hear.
“No,” he replied.
“Good.”
Pavel took his hand. “How about we not slice my brother open, gorgeous? Okay?”
“No promises.”
“This is ridiculous,” Lyra finally cut into the conversation. “You have no right to interfere in my affairs.”
“Correction,” Kelevra stated. “You had no right to try and manipulate or coerce one of my Retinue members. If I had known what was going on, I would have put a stop to it sooner. All this time, I incorrectly assumed Zane liked you since he never said anything to me about it. I had no idea you were the one coming onto him. Seriously, sister? Aren’t you ashamed of your behavior, even a little?’
“Why should I be?” She scoffed and jutted her chin out toward Zane. “It’s not like he’s all that important.”
Zane refused to let that hurt him.
Sting a little, maybe. But hurt?
