Eventually though, I pull myself away and crawl out of the nest. It’s been a crazy few hours since he nearly died and then we bonded and the sex was… intense. Poor guy is tuckered out and I need some toast.
I slip on one of Finn’s shirts, since my clothes are all caked in his blood—something that makes me want to puke—and I head out, planning to find Brogan and see if he’ll have breakfast with me, even though it’s probably well into the afternoon.
I feel… a little awkward about finding the other two since they no doubt have a pretty good idea what Finn and I have been up to. They haven’t come looking for me and neither of them have checked on Finn in hours, so I’m pretty sure they know exactly what we were doing.
I hope so, anyway. I don’t know why I’m getting all shy about the thought of explaining it to them, but it feels a little like I’ve put Finn at the top of the mate pile, even though he’s the one that I’ve spent the least time with. I just hope that they don’t feel like that too.
Scrunching my eyes up against the sunshine, I stumble slightly at the contrast from the dim light inside.
And of course, that’s the moment I bump into Soren. I catch my foot awkwardly and nearly sprawl into a heap on the ground, only avoiding falling onto my face thanks to his firm arm grabbing me around the waist, hauling me upright.
“You all right, sunshine?”
I look up at him, conscious that I’m wearing Finn’s shirt and no underwear and that my hair is currently a bird’s nest.
“How's our dragon doing?”
I can’t help the loopy smile that breaks out across my face. “He’s good. He’s sleeping.”
“Well, good.”
“I, uh, need a shower.” I really, really need a shower. “And some toast. But after, I’ve been thinking that I could… help a little with the soul problem here in the garden.”
He straightens, looking at me with that icy stare and I guess we’re back to him glaring at me like an asshole.
“Soul problem?” he repeats, his tone flat and emotionless.
“Yeah, you have, like, a million souls downstairs and it’s clearly drawing a load of soul-eaters here. I mean, Finn nearly died, Soren.” My throat goes all tight at my last words but Soren doesn’t soften, instead he looks vaguely murderous.
“I know, sunshine, I was there.”
“So I was thinking, I’m a destiny weaver, right? And I could help while you have a problem with yours… or while she’s away or until she comes back, right?” I wait for him to acknowledge at least part of what I’m saying, but he continues to glare at me.
“Anyway, I could help get them on their way. And since I’ll be spending time here anyway, now that I’ve bonded with Finn and even after we find Wren, I—”
“No,” he says.
“Uh, no?” I’m pretty sure I misheard because it’s a great idea. It makes sense and clearly having all of those souls hanging around is putting everyone here in danger.
“What do you mean, no?”
“No, sunshine. It’s one word, even you should be able to understand what I mean by it.”
Oooohno, he did not just insinuate that I’m stupid. Mate or not, I will kick his ass. Before I can respond, or pull my foot back to provide a swift boot up the butt, he turns on his heel and storms off, leaving me reeling.
I’m still sputtering to myself, wide-eyed and pretty dangmadwhen Brogan appears, grinning widely.
“Well, you look like your day got a lot better after we left.” His eyes scan me from head to toe, resting on my bare legs before he turns his attention to my face where his expression falls. “Babe, what’s up?”
“Soren,” I spit. “Pretty sure he just implied I’m stupid AND he refused to listen to my suggestions, even though I think I can help and could stop things from being such a mess around here.”
He pulls me into a hug and rubs my shoulders before pulling back again to look me in the eye.
“Okay, I’m going to need you to explain all that a little slower for me. Have you eaten? We’ll get some food in you while you explain and then you can get a shower and we can deal with whatever it is, okay?”
I nod, unsure if it’s the new bond or the whole Finn nearly dying thing, but I’m feeling pretty raw and there’s a chance I might burst into tears at any moment, which Brogan seems to recognize. Just like he somehow knows that I need food and then a shower, in that order. The guy has sisters, he must recognize a red alert, woman on the edge, when he sees one.
As he leads me back to his place, I take a deep breath. I mean, it’s logical. I’m a destiny weaver, the souls need to meet their destiny, so the two go hand in hand. Maybe it’s because things are so dang difficult with our search for Wren, but at least this way I can do something and feel like I’m doingsomething when we’re not actively out searching for her. We spent days going through that list of her customers and came back with zilch so excuse me if I want to try something that might not leave me feeling like a total failure.
