“Fries, cake, and bubbles,” I say, making a mental note. “Got it.”
We both know it’s not that simple, but for a moment, it almost is.
There go the cheese eaters.
A Tale of Two Clones
RAFE
Ifollow him in silence down the hallway to a guest room.
Neither of us is pleased at getting sent off after the disaster with Blade, and it shows. Tension is screaming from every pore, and you could cut the quiet with a knife. It’s not surprising to watch him go straight for the small bar by the window—I guess in a house this big, you put amenities in every room.
Why not? It’s how Hex has ours set up, so it’s not so hoity-toity.
Our guest rooms don’t all have bottles of scotch valued at two bennies apiece, but that’s how he lives. He has a batch set aside at the distillery only for him. That’d be vintage Taurus for sure.
“Neat?”
“Hell yes,” I reply.
I drop onto the bed, noting that this room has a more masculine feel to it. Sitting back against the headboard, I tuck my knees up to my chest, keeping everything inside me placid. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do here, given that the cat made her intention to let my wife go clear to me before the blindnesscame up. She’d decided yesterday that having this love was too dangerous to her heart, and she couldn’t risk losing everything for both of us by letting it continue.
Has something changed?
The cat didn’t stop Blade from sending me off with him, though, nor did she say anything about it to my wife before we left. I don’t know what she’s playing at, and every time I try to dip in and see what she’s thinking; she gives me a mighty push back where I belong. I guess it’s up to me to figure out why I’m here on my own.
Taurus pours two hefty glasses and strides over, handing me one. He doesn’t sit down. Instead, he pushes back and lounges against the wall nearby. He’s still dressed only in those silk pajama bottoms, and it’s tough to focus on what we’re doing with him over there looking like the leading man in a romance novel: troubled, but powerful and handsome. He takes a sip of his scotch, waiting for a moment before he speaks in a low tone. “Do you know what the loudest sound is, mate?”
Sipping my drink, I look up at him for a moment and then stare into the glass. “Silence.”
He chuckles, and I look up again for a minute. Feeling uncomfortable, I reach up and pull the tie from my hair, letting it loose so the pressure on my skull will ease and ward off the massive migraine that I feel coming.
“Right.” His dark sapphire eyes roam over me as he sips again. “He who sees clearest is?”
Oh, for fuck’s sake. What is he, the bloody Riddler?
“The blind man.” I slide my knees down, stretching out on the bed. If we’re going to approach it like this, we’ll be here all damned day and I’ll get a cramp. Propping my chin in my hand, I set the glass in front of me, waiting for whatever little game he has in store next.
“Here, it’d be the blind woman, mate.”
I arch a brow at the grin that ghosts over his lips.
Where is he going with this? Can’t either of these two pull the trigger and be done with it? Why is it always a production?
“The goddess knows you love her. She believes it; it’s a fact to her now.”
I bite my tongue, struggling not to shoot back. I don’t know how she didn’t before, given I told her so and showed it every way that I could. And I’m honestly not sure I trust her ‘knowing’ now, either. I’ve been in this situation before; it doesnotend well for me or my primary mate.
“She knows because she knows how much she loves you. It wasn’t you she didn’t trust; she didn’t trust herself. The pain of losing you forever and the possibility of being permanently blinded—it brought that all home for her. You warmed her heart and brought her to life again.”
I’m unsure what this has to do with him and me. Blade and I had our chat prior to coming to get the cat to heal her. We’re not perfect yet, but we’re back to being bonded, and I know it will only continue to grow.
Okay, I hope that will happen because I sure as hell don’t want to do this day again.
The cat may not survive losing my wife, if she lets her into the inner sanctum and it blows up. “I feel it from her now. It took some time, but I know she feels my love now.”
That’s what I’ve got. No more, no less. I don’t want to have this conversation with anyone again.
