Torin raised his hands. “I will just...”
“Stay where you are, Torin,” I snapped. Then to Mal: “What is wrong with you?”
“He touched your shoulder.”
“He didn’t touch my shoulder!”
“I saw him...”
“He literally didn’t touch anything! He was standing there! Existing!”
What the fuck was going on?
“He was too close while existing!”
I stared at Mal, and then it hit me. He was jealous of Torin for standing near me and asking if I was okay. Whilehewas the one who’d been lying to me for half a decade.
The absolute audacity.
And the worst part? He looked kind of pathetic. Like a kicked puppy who knew he’d done something wrong but couldn’t help himself from doing another wrong thing on top of it. His jaw was clenched with that stubborn jealousy and his eyes were all wounded and possessive and...
No. Absolutely not. I was NOT going to find this endearing.Stay mad.
“Papa, look at my flowers!” Killian held them up, trying to diffuse whatever weird tension he could sense.
“Very nice, pup,” Mal said, not even glancing at them. He was too busy glaring at Torin.
“You didn’t even look!”
“What the h-e-l-l was that?” I demanded, stepping toward Mal. “He was being nice. Something you’ve apparently forgotten how to do.”
“I saw how he...”
“How he what? Stood near me? Asked if I was okay? Did his job?”
“He is always there. Always close to you when I am...”
“Lying to me? Keeping secrets for five years?”
Mal’s jaw clenched harder. “I did not lie.”
“You suspected I wasn’t human and said nothing. Forfive years. While they called our son a b-a-s-t-a-r-d because of my ‘human blood’ and the powers he couldn’t have inherited from either of us. You knew and you said nothing. We could’ve investigated before this, we could’ve been prepared.”
“I was not certain.”
“You suspected! That’s enough! You should’ve told me!”
Torin was backing away slowly, clearly wanting no part of this argument.
“This isn’t about Torin,” I said, my voice cracking slightly. “This is about you and me and the fact that you kept something huge from me. That’s what this is about.”
“Wen, please...”
“No. I need space. And you need to figure out your priorities. Because right now you’re mad at Torin for being nice whileyouare the one who lied to my face for five years.”
“That is not fair.”
“Life’s not fair. Come on, Killian.”
