“I can’t say from me to you I feel that way because it’s numb where the love is, if it’s there.”
Plopping onto the bed, I take another gulp and shrug. “I didn’t say that you had to say anything.”
“I bloody well know you didn’t! I know you don’t think I’m like them or you wouldn’t let me anywhere near you. I’m not stupid.”
Pushing my hair off my face, I feel the weight of the liquor hit me. Honestly, despite the bottle I crawled into for a couple weeks while I worked through the exes, I’m a lightweight. It makes the rest of the family snicker, but I am. I’ve drunk more than I should, and I don’t foresee it stopping soon. I've gotta be more cautious. “I’m touchy about that.”
“Much like I don’t want to be a shadow of the former, I suppose.”
“You’re nothing of the kind.” I look him in the eye for a moment, but I lose my nerve.
He turns to me and says, “You know what killed me about Blondie?”
“The list is too long to guess, mate.”
“It was all a fucking lie. Not a word out of her mouth was true, even when it wouldn’t have hurt anything to be honest.” Shaking his head, he mutters, “It disgusts me to a level that you cannot understand that I started her on that path. I revved her up for clones, and when I pulled back, she latched onto the writer and on it went.”
No idea why this is suddenly about exes, but whatever.
I shrug. “Ain’t that the fucking truth. She played people like an orchestra to see us all dance to her tune.” Blinking, I feel a gigglerising, and as it’s not the time, nor do I want him to know that I’m a wee bit sloshed, I swallow it.
“She did something to me that wrecked me in a way that was worse than what Wilde did to Talia.”
I sigh and nod, rubbing my chest. “They did that to people. The exes and Wilde wrecked me in ways you can’t imagine. When I met Blade, I wasn’t sure I could be unbroken.”
Stopping his rant, he turns to the bed and looks at me. “I want—I want to help Talia heal you.” His expression changes, and he looks flustered, walking back to the bar.
Danger, danger… I don’t know if I should trust this.
Feeling very vulnerable and more than a little terrified, I whisper, “You do?”
He shrugs and mutters, “When you connected to me downstairs, after the minx read us the riot act, I felt so much pain in you. My first thought was that I wanted to help you heal.” Clearing his throat, he turns and strides over to the window. “And I really want to hurt Amanda. That bint’s been on my last nerve since that nonsense about bringing death, and her actions of late tell me she’s knee-deep in the shit that the bulldog and the gnome are planning against my minx.”
I can’t quite figure out how to respond to the first part, as it’s making my chest squishy, so I nod. “I think that the Wyrd Sisters are cackling over a metaphorical cauldron. It raises my hackles. I don’t trust them all together.”
“I’d sooner trust the writer with my woman shackled to a bed naked.”
My eyes widen, and everything within me crashes into each other. The imagery is familiar, but not with the woman he’s talking about. I’ve seen this, I’ve been through this, and it’s making me shake with fear. Anger rises as imagining either of the women in that place makes the demon inside me howl in rage. I remember the things the cat shared with me and count backwards.
“I would agree that would not be optimal.”
Way not to sound like a robot, Rafe. Great job.
“It seems like they’re drawing a line in the sand, though.”
Taurus raises his glass in a sardonic salute. “Now that I’m not holding back for the minx, I’m going to have a little toss with the three whores of Babylon. There are benefits to not giving a fuck about what people think about you.”
I nod, waiting to see where he’s going with this.
“I figure that you, me, the wife, and the goddess will have to be tight as hell in this. The party, for example, will be full of vultures circling. They’ll try to divide and conquer, so they can ruin it.” His brows furrow and he shrugs. “That’s for another day, though. I’ve digressed. Habit I’ve picked up from the tailed one, I think.”
Duh.
I look at the liquid in the glass in fascination. “I don’t think I’d be fond of anyone conquering either of you.”
“No one’s going to conquer any of us. They’re not important enough to even come close, much less win. But I’m going to have a really good time humiliating them every chance I get.”
“Bloody hot when you’re evil.” My eyes pop open, and I blink. “Okay, that’s enough of the drink for me. I forgot to mention that I get talkative when I drink.”
