I bark a laugh. “Wouldn’t take too long? Now that’s a ringing endorsement.”
“You’ll find I’m long in the ways that matter the most.”
“If you haven’t noticed, Franco, King Aspen is my mate.”
At that, the laughter is leeched from his expression. His voice comes out quiet, hesitant. “I have noticed, actually.”
Guilt drags my stomach as the air grows heavy between us. I could ignore it, I could laugh it off and change the subject. But Franco is right about one thing: he’s done far more for me than I’ve ever done for him. He deserves candor from me. Even so, I can’t stop the blush that warms my cheeks before I even say a word. “Franco, I know we had a moment before Aspen came to Selene Palace. Unless I imagined it, there was something between us. But…Aspen is…”
Words dry in my throat as I struggle to express my love for my mate without hurting Franco.
To my relief, his lips pull back into a smile, although it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “You don’t need to explain, Evelyn. You did not imagine what was, for a time at least, between us. Even now, I confess you give me a thrill. Much of what I say to create a rise out of you is said in jest, but only partially so. No part of me would deny you if you wanted me. But in matters of the heart, I knew you belonged to another long before I kissed you. I could taste it in the air around you. I still can.”
Tears prick my eyes. “I love him,” I whisper.
Somehow, his smile grows both wider and sadder at the same time. “I know you do. I hope to find a love like that myself someday.”
“Have you never loved anyone?” My breath hitches in my throat as I imagine with terror what would happen if he says he feels that way about me.Please, don’t say it…
His eyes grow distant as he averts his gaze. Finally, he says, “I’ve felt it. Tasted it from others. But experienced love myself? No, I don’t think so. When you can taste the emotions of others, it leaves a lot to be desired when your own feelings are lacking.”
My heart sinks at that. I never imagined such an unfortunate downside to being a psy vampire. “Well, I do hope you find that person who makes you feel that way. Better than that, in fact.”
“So do I. In the meantime, if you and the Stag King find yourselves on the outs, come to me for a revenge tryst.” He winks.
I shake my head with a chuckle. “Are we friends, then?”
“Yes, Evelyn. We’re friends. I didn’t risk my wings for you at your mother’s trial because I thought I stood a chance at winning you from Aspen. Same reason why I flew to the Briar House for you without question. I did it because we’re friends. I like you and I always will.”
I tilt my head. “Are you sure you don’t just like the violence that seems to trail in my wake?”
“Well, there’s that too,” he says. “And don’t think for a minute that this means I’ll stop baiting your mate. I can’t help it, nor will I give it up. He emits the most delicious emotion when it comes to you.” His expression turns wistful, as if savoring the memory of the last time he got under Aspen’s skin. “Speaking of violence, did you get what you were looking for? At the Briar House?”
I cross my arms over my chest to keep my mind from spinning down the wrong path. “Not exactly,” I say. “I thought my mission would make me feel better, but it didn’t. Perhaps if I’d been able to find and kill Mr. Duveau as well, it would have felt more meaningful.”
“Are you sure even that will make you feel better about losing your mother?”
I swallow the lump in my throat and replace it with fire. “It has to. We’re at war. I can’t have my grief distracting me.”
“Why is that?”
“Grief makes me weak.”
He furrows his brow. “I don’t think anything could make you weak. If you let it, I have a feeling it could make you stronger.”
His words tug at my heart, but I don’t let them pull me far. I can’t afford where they might take me if I do. Instead, I give a casual laugh and bat him playfully on the shoulder. “Since when are you one to get serious? Are you aiming to become some great fae philosopher next?”
He winces. “I don’t like the taste of your teasing at my expense. Remind me never to be serious with you again.”
“Agreed.”
Another wince. “Well, actually, I have one more thing to be serious about. It’s why I was sent to find you in the first place.”
“I thought Aspen was worried about me.”
“Oh, he was. Stalking around the palace like a caged bull for days. However, I think he would have let you frolic around the woods a while longer if it weren’t imperative that you return at once.”
Despite his casual demeanor, I can’t help but shiver with dread. “Why? What’s happened?”
