Tamsin squeaked and looked away.He hadn’t expected it, and he didn’t want to make Nic uncomfortable.They weren’t at that stage of their relationship just yet.
“Sorry,” Nic mumbled.“I forgot to grab clothes.”
“It’s fine.Everything’s fine.”
Nic snorted softly.“It sure doesn’t sound like everything’s fine.”
Tamsin heard him open the drawers of the dresser and riffle through them.He didn’t turn to look, not until he felt a light tap on his shoulder.When he glanced at Nic, Nic gave him a sheepish smile and shrugged.
“You know you’re my mate, right?You can look if you want.”
“I’d never want to make you uncomfortable.”
“I’m not.”
“And you might not want me to look.”
Nic stared at Tamsin for a moment.The corners of his lips curled into a small smile, and Tamsin forgot how to breathe.
“You can look,” Nic said.“I have no idea what we’re doing, but it doesn’t change the bond that’s between us, unfortunately.”
He moved away to grab the tray, and Tamsin watched him move.They needed to talk about a lot of things, including their bond, but it would be easier if they had something to offer to Rowan and Clay.“I haven’t told anyone you’re my mate yet because I have a few questions for you first,” he said.
“I’ll answer any question you have as best as I can.”
“I’d like to talk about Parrish.”
The little smile that had been playing on Nic’s lips vanished.“What do you want to know?”
“Everything you can tell me.We need to find a way to defeat him.Him and his Kudlaks have been poking at the shields around the village, trying to find a weak spot so they can come in.”
“He’ll find one eventually.”
“That’s what we’re hoping to avoid.”
“You can’t avoid Parrish.When he wants something, he gets it, and he’s wanted to kill Rowan since he found out he was alive.”
“Things are different now.I know that he killed entire clans, but none of us wants that to happen again.We just need a little help to defeat him.”
Nic looked down at his food.“I promise I’d tell you if I knew.I already told Devon everything, though.Parrish is a monster, even to people who support him.He won’t hesitate to kill anyone standing in his way.Unfortunately for you, right now, that’s the village and the clan.They matter to Rowan, which means that Parrish is going to take them away from him.”
Tamsin had known that, but hearing it from someone who knew Parrish better than he did made everything worse.That didn’t mean he was giving up, though.
No one was.
* * * *
NIC WASN’T SURPRISEDthat Tamsin was asking about Parrish.It made sense for the clan leaders to want to know what Parrish was up to.Nic desperately wished he had more to say, but he knew as much about Parrish as anyone else did.The man didn’t trust anyone, not even the people he worked with.Besides, it wasn’t like Nic had actually workedwithhim.He’d workedforhim, and he’d done so because he’d been terrified of what Parrish would do if he didn’t.The two of them hadn’t planned what had happened with Devon.Parrish had called Nic, had given him an order, and had expected him to obey.
Nic hadn’t had a choice.He hadn’t had the opportunity to ask questions, and even if he had, he doubted he’d have asked them.Parrish wouldn’t have taken that well, and everyone wanted to keep on Parrish’s good side, including Nic.Bad things happened when Parrish was angry with you.
He was probably furious with Nic right now.
Nic wished he could redeem himself and somehow help, but there was nothing he could think of that the Krsniks didn’t already know.Hell, they probably knew more about Parrish than he did.He’d grown up with Parrish, but it hadn’t been a normal childhood.It wasn’t like Parrish was a loving parent or anything like that.
Nic wanted to deserve to be with Tamsin.He wanted to help and make it so that they could be together, but he didn’t see a way to do that.He didn’t deserveanyof this.That much, he was sure of.
Tamsin should stay as far away from him as possible, but for some reason, he seemed to have decided he wouldn’t do that.Nic knew it was partially because of the bond, but he wondered if there was more to it.Surely the bond wasn’t strong enough to get Tamsin to spend time with someone he was supposed to hate?
