“Is that much privacy really necessary?” Everly looked right at Rowan, whose eyes glowed with his white magic.
“Yes.” Rowan scowled. “And it won’t happen again. Quinn goes where she pleases. You have the Architect’s word.”
“Who you almost rebelled against.” Everly poked at Rowan with a fork.
The big mage grimaced but didn’t deny it.
“Quinn didn’t ask to leave.” Everly beat her fork to punctuate her words. “She said she didn’t know what came over her. It was all just an exciting rush. What if he was using mind magic?” Everly stage-whispered. “The Architect’s a mentalist. He can control our thoughts.”
I blushed. He’d used powers all right, but I think I’d been just as responsible for that sex haze.
“I know what a mentalist is,” Rowan said before I could figure out how to phrase our unique dynamic. “The Architect has a code that he lives by.”
“That doesn’t seem to apply to Quinn.” Everly hit the table.
All of us went quiet at that.
Brit sighed. “I saw you have’n breakfast with a light-blue-haired lad weeks ago. I shoulda intervened. If I’d even walked to your table, I coulda warned you ‘Xan’ was the Architect. He brought me into his ranks personally.” She let out an annoyed breath. “He wore his own training uniform and was eating with the rest of us bumpkins.” Brit frowned. “If it wasn’t for the situation, I’d be impressed. Leadership doesn’t usually mingle, but they should.”
She pulled on her moss-green pixie cut. “Hell, we went against him and outed your gender, and he did shit all.” Brit grimaced. “But you are young, powerful, and fertile. You’re just like my sister.” She gestured toward my abdomen. “Anyone who touches you will feel power. They’ll want that power and the next generation of it.” Brit scowled. “Men’ll sink their magic into you and latch on like leeches.”
A single tremor ran through Cayden’s body while Rowan flinched, and the color drained out of his face. My lower back burned, but not from Xan or Rowan. Not all tethers were bad, I hoped.
Without meaning to, I reached under the table and found Rowan’s hand and squeezed it. I still desperately wanted to understand why he tethered me, but as far as I could tell, the big elemental mage hadn’t done anything with that tether except save me a few times.
“My pa was blessed with four girls.” Brit’s gaze unfocused. “My youngest sister got her bloods at eleven, and that bastard raped her and tethered her like it was his God-given right.”
My stomach twisted, and my blood boiled.
“I slit his throat in his sleep.” Brit slid a finger across her throat. “And I’ll slit any man’s just the same if he even thinks about touching what ain’t his.”
Brit’s story was horrendous, but the way she told it made me want to stand up and cheer like I was back at the pit fight. The men around me shifted uncomfortably. Cayden clutched his wrist while Rowan’s chest rose and fell.
I didn’t understand Cayden’s reaction, but a small part of me hoped Brit’s story scared Rowan shitless. He’d connected us for life, even before I’d come out as a woman if my guess was right. I wasn’t sure if that made it better or worse.
“You did the right thing.” I reached across the table, focusing on what mattered now, and took Brit’s hands. “It’s the only way to break a tether, but I wish you and your sister hadn’t had to go through that.”
“Brit.” Tears welled in Everly’s eyes.
Brit pulled her hands out of mine and put them up in the air. “I don’t talk ‘bout this shit, because I ain’t looking for sympathy.”
I bit back a smile, and Everly nodded, though her eyes still shone with tears.
“My pa’s a dead bastard. My first pit fight gave me a life I didn’t know I had. My sisters are happy now, with the Tates.”
Brit turned her attention back to me. “You do whatever you need to feel safe, Quinn. If you trust ‘Xan’, then we trust ‘em. But”—she looked around the table—“he could be God for all the fucks I give. It’s your back I have. All of us do.” Her gaze landed on Rowan. “Even loyal-enforcer boy here who looks ready to throw up his meal.”
Brit slid Rowan her tankard. “We’re not rebels, but realists. With great power comes great responsibility.”
“No!” I exclaimed. “There’s no way you know that quote.”
Brit snatched Everly’s cider and took a sip before making a face. “That’s so sweet. Anyway, Q-girl, once again, I have no idea what you’re saying. I’m holding the Architect to higher standards; that’s my point.”
I bit my lips together.
“But we’d love to understand the quote,” Everly said, giving me an encouraging nod.
I took a deep breath and studied my friends. Only a few people knew my past. I’d told Winston and XanRa: the duo of power. Cayden had seen my birth certificate and held me as I cried about my dad. He had to know, even though I never told him. As for Rowan, I had no idea what he’d figured out, but he probably had a guess.
