Fear.
Moira and I exchanged a look. “Caelan?” I stepped forward and reached out to him.
Rachel knocked my hand away. “Don’t touch him,” she snapped. “He didn’t want you. He doesn’t want you.”
As difficult as it was to ignore Rachel, I watched Caelan. “If there’s something wrong, you can come to me, Caelan. I don’t know where it all went wrong but?—”
“Don’t listen to her,” Rachel urged Caelan. “You know she only wants you for your power.”
I snorted and pointed to the still spinning crown atop my head. “Very sorry, but did you miss the glowing thing I’m wearing? I have all the power I never wanted and then some.”
“She’ll take and take and you’ll never get her claws out of you,” Rachel said, every word she spoke a venomous barb.
Moira stepped forward. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
I had no idea who she was talking to, but the question was pertinent for both of them.
Rachel opened her mouth.
“Not you,” Moira snapped. “You.” She pointed to Caelan. “Evie has done nothing but love you. Yes, you’ve had stupid fights, but nothing worth…this.” Her voice broke. “You are ruining everything. And once you do, once Evie finally steps away and decides you are no longer worth it, you willneverget her back.”
She shook her head. “Think about this before you permanently topple the bridge you’ve spent so long building.”
Caelan’s nostrils flared. He took a hesitant step forward, but Rachel reached out for him, stopping him in his tracks. “He doesn’t want her back,” Rachel snapped.
Caelan opened his mouth again, but right before he spoke, his eyes hardened. “I don’t want to see you again,” he said quietly. “You can still have your shop, but as far as I’m concerned, you no longer fall under my jurisdiction. If you need assistance or protection, you will need to ask your parents.”
Moira sucked in a sharp breath. “You ass.”
Anger burned in the back of my throat, but I resisted the urge to spew poisonous words. He was doing a wonderful job fucking this up all on his own. I didn’t need to add fuel to the fire.
“Fine by me,” I said instead.
A blonde woman walked up behind Caelan and Rachel, her eyes wary. When she saw my face, her lips thinned. “Evie,” she acknowledged.
“Simone.” I nodded. “We were just leaving.”
She held up a hand. “A moment, please.”
When I frowned, a pleading emotion appeared in her eyes. And though she said nothing, I hesitated, then gave her a short nod. Relief filled her face. I held no grudge against Simone and usually called her a friend. She couldn’t help getting caught up in whatever this was.
Whatever I had done to Caelan, I couldn’t guess. Or if I hadn’t done anything and only been usurped by a woman who had something more than me, it still wasn’t Simone’s fault.
Simone’s eyes fell on Rachel, and hatred flared inside the light depths, surprising me with its intensity. “If you’d give us a moment,” she said.
Rachel opened her mouth to undoubtedly argue, but Simone bared her teeth. “Leave us,” she snarled.
Rachel blinked and took a step back, her fingers sliding from their proprietary grasp on Caelan’s arm. With a furious glare atme and Moira, Rachel hurried away, far enough to prevent her from overhearing Simone’s next words.
Caelan’s eyes tracked every step Rachel took until Simone yanked his attention away by digging her nails into his arm and whispering something into his ear.
His jaw tightened, but he tore his gaze away.
Simone sighed and closed her eyes for a brief moment. When she opened them, her eyes snagged on my crown. “It’s true then.”
Something like sorrow flashed over her face, there and gone in a heartbeat. “Congratulations are in order, it seems.” A thin smile. Then, “Or condolences, maybe.”
Moira laughed. “She took me by surprise, too. We haven’t discussed what she gave up.”
