“Got each other's backs,” Antonio said, tight.Left it at that, as Declan turned back.
“As far as I’m concerned, you’ve given us your answer,” the pooka interrupted, no longer sounding playful or amused.“If you’re where you want to be, then this isn’t our problem.”
Ok.Maybe the pooka wasn’t so bad.For a fae.
“Would that it were that simple,” Nimai replied, sounding like a court-appointed attorney now.All false apologies and superiority.“If we’re honoringAntonio’sword, surely his previous promises also stand.He pledged himself to young Calloway.”
“Years ago,” Calloway added.
“There’s the greater impact of this to consider,” the brownie said as if the interruption hadn’t happened.“What sort of precedent does it set if we allow a bond to excuse oathbreaking?”
“Precedent?As I recall, the Council has recently set somefascinatingones regarding humans and oathbreakers.”Declan turned back to face the man, all mild and fae again.“Besides, Calloway promised to come for Antonio ‘soon,’ then waited nearly twenty years to attempt to keep his word.”
“I went to him as soon as I could,” Calloway protested.
“That so?”Antonio muttered so he wouldn’t scream.
Did Calloway know what they did to kids that kept ‘running away’ and claimed to see fairies?Had he ever even wondered what had happened to Antonio after, with no savior coming in through locked doors to spirit him away?
“Twenty years is not ‘soon’ for a human.Certainly not if the fae promising can cross worlds at will.”Declan’s rasp filled the room, level but somehow still threatening.“Calloway violated his oath first, through that abandonment.Antonio has no obligation to him.”
“Declan’s right,” the pooka said.“To a human, twenty years isn’t soon.It’s a betrayal.”
“Betrayal?Let’s not be dramatic.”The brownie’s superior smile didn’t help the wholewanting to screamthing.“Declan, it’s clear that we’ll have to bring this matter back to the Council.But, as a friend, what are you thinking?I know you’re a man of ambition.Don’t throw that away for an infatuation.You’ll never achieve a Council seat with a human at your side.”
“We can’t all make deals with pretty little qilin,” Declan’s own smile showed all those pointed teeth.“I’ve heard Kylan’s every inch the gentleman Everil wasn’t.You must be ecstatic.”
It was only then, with the mention of the kelpie, that Antonio recognized the brownie’s name.Nimai.Bo’d mentioned Everil’s first bond more than once.Always with loathing.Meeting the guy explained a lot.About Everil.And Declan’s hostility.
“I am,” Nimai confirmed, bright voice gone flat.“And I have my Council seat, a seat that I failed to achieve while distracted by my prior, ill-considered bond.Allow my past mistakes to be your education, Declan.”
“Your concerns are noted,” Declan said, somehow managing to sound utterly pleasant and deadly at the same time.“Both for my personal life and ambitions.I’ll take the advice under consideration.That said, I’m not prepared to break my bond with Antonio.Nor will he be going with an oathbreaker.”
“Same,” Antonio said.“Gave Declan my oath.My real oath, on my name.And I’m not breaking shit.”
“The human gets to pick and choose which oaths matter, does he?”Nimai asked.
“C’mon.If we take every kid’s love-struck proclamation as binding, I’d be married sixteen times over.”Wyte was grinning again.“And three of those to Declan.”
That brought a there-and-gone smile to Declan’s lips, some story that Antonio didn’t know.Yet.He was starting to hope that he’d still get a chance to hear it.
“Perhaps we should call a pause, less tempers flare unnecessarily,” Nimai said, setting a hand on Calloway’s shoulder.“But this matter remains open.”
“Very well.But, Nimai?I know the lengths you’re willing to go to protect someone and act in their best interest.”Declan looked only at the brownie now.“I’ve seen it.To prevent such a possibility here, understand my oath includes protection regardless of intent, for Antonio and those he considers his.Mental or physical.You know me better than to think I’m the sort to simply vanish for a century should an attachment of mine be harmed, old friend.Am I clear?”
Another story there.One Antonio was a lot less sure he wanted to hear.
“Of course.Who would doubt a sluagh's willingness to fall back on, shall we say, dramatic means?I believe you’ve made your opinion in this matter clear, Declan.The Council will consider your perspective.But the theft of another’s bond is a subject I take very seriously.And young Calloway has asserted that he isalsoa compatible match for Antonio.”
“It’s true,” Calloway said.“I felt it when leaving you some of your presents.”
The words hit Antonio like a falling fist.Or a cell door, slamming shut.Antonio rocked in place but didn’t bolt.Not because Declan had asked him to stay near, but because Declan was the only safety in this whole fucking world.
He’d sold the sluagh his soul, and Declan had replaced it with smoke and ink and flower petals.Weird as it seemed, Antonio was sort of okay with that.Okay with the bone-winged fae with the too-wide smile, whose nails had felt so right, dragging through his hair.Whose protective anger Antonio could feel, safety a promise he made again every time Antonio needed to hear it.
But Calloway?Calloway’s feelings tangled with his own?The wisp, tasting of… whatever he tasted of?His patronizing affection and his disregard.Antonio knew that wouldn’t change if they were tied together.Nothing easier to forget than a piece of yourself.And that’s what he’d become.A piece of Calloway.
His breath came short, and the metal of Declan’s bracelet pressed hard into his palm.
