“Honestly,” Brenton said, leaning in with a grin that only meant trouble, “I can’t wait for all thenurturingand careyou’ll receive from Teddy when she finds out.”
Alastor’s head snapped to Brenton, and he narrowed his eyes. “You will not speak of this to my cousin.” Alastor’s words carried a thread of menace that didn’t quite land with the amusement brightening his eyes.
The others laughed, but I felt the quiet slip of his magic. The way his shadows trembled at the edges and pressed in close, loyal even in their exhaustion.
“All right, all right,” I said lightly, watching Alastor drag in a quiet, slow breath. “Let’s not get him too excited. You’re supposed to be resting.”
Javier shot me a grateful look over Alastor’s shoulder as he adjusted the pillows behind Alastor again.
Alastor turned his head toward me, his smile even bigger. “Tread carefully,” he said, voice heavy with fatigue and humor. “I know how much Brenton enjoys being your damsel. I’d hatefor him to think you’re now favoring me.” The mage punctuated it with a wink in Brenton’s direction, whose grimace was instant.
Laughter filtered through the air again as we continued to eat.
Teases and laughter spilled easily today. Everly was different. Softer. Even after the bruise I’d left on her arm this morning during combat training. She’d grinned through it, calling me ruthless, yet it somehow felt like friendship.
The thought caught me off guard. Good but unfamiliar. Like walking barefoot on warm grass after a lifetime of snow.
“You’re quiet,” Brenton whispered against my ear while his thumb traced gently across my knee.
“Just thinking,” I replied.
“Are you going back to the astral realm to train again?” Alastor asked when Brenton and I pushed our empty bowls to the side.
A flutter built behind my ribs. During the days Alastor recovered, Brenton and I often returned to the astral realm. Each visit felt easier, calmer. Somewhere between the lessons, I’d even come to look forward to speaking with Eiran.
“I actually want to test something out,” Brenton said, his attention bouncing from me to Alastor. “That is, if Eiran will allow it.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“When Zaicha tried to pull from your magic the other day, I felt her,” Brenton said, tone determined in a way I rarely heard from him. “The longer we held her off, the clearer it got. It’s like . . . I could feel the individual threads of her magic, like separate strands of rope. I feel the same when we train with Eiran.” He shifted his weight, a hint of restless energy humming through our bond. “I want to see if, while we’re training with Eiran, I can pull at those threads. Not to take what’s not mine,but if I can learn how it moves and how to pull at them, maybe I can use that against her.”
His words made me feel uneasy. I’d never felt what he described. Not with Zaicha or Eiran, whose familial bond tugged a little harder each time I saw him. Where Brenton sensed individual threads, I only felt a single, overwhelming presence.
Yet Brenton could feel it all. Could sense it in ways I couldn’t.
A small, traitorous part of me tightened at the thought. The rest of me marveled.
“That’s . . .” I swallowed, forcing down the hint of insecurity. “I think that’s smart.”
His head dipped lightly.
“If Eiran agrees, you should take the lead when we train,” I said. “I think he will. He seems to bend for me to make sure I’m comfortable around him.”
The words felt strange on my tongue. Too soft for someone who, only days ago, I’d learned was my father.Father.I still wasn’t used to thinking it. I’d spent my whole life without him, never once imagining my true father to be a god. A cold, distant god. But Eiran wasn’t cold. He was careful with me. Gentle in a way that almost made me uncomfortable. Not because it was unwelcome, but because I didn’t know what to do with it.
“It’s strange,” I murmured, before I could stop myself. “I’ve barely known Eiran a week, and somehow he doesn’t feel foreign or out of place.”
The words slipped out like they’d been waiting for a crack in my defenses. The moment hung in the air, and I let out a nervous laugh. Brenton squeezed my knee in quiet reassurance, not dragging the moment longer. I already felt too exposed.
“Family isn’t always the people who raised us,” Everly said, tilting her head in understanding. “Sometimes it’s the people who fit. Even if it’s unexpected.”
My chest eased enough to let me breathe through the knot in my throat.
Javier let out a low huff. “Yeah, I get that.” His gaze drifted somewhere far away, as if he were looking at a life that kept slipping away. “For a long time, Teddy and Elias were that for me. They were my family. Until I found out Elias was responsible for the death of my father and Teddy kept it from me.” His jaw hardened.
I sucked in a sharp breath, the sound too loud for the sudden quiet. My spine straightened, my hands curling at my knee. Through the bond that rippled from Brenton to me, his emotions swam through me, sharp and protective. He didn’t say anything, but the heat of his defensiveness pressed against my chest like a shield raised for Teddy and Elias.
Javier ran a hand through his hair. “I keep rebuilding and restructuring my family, and every time it feels like it crumbles. Alastor almost died.” He waved a hand toward Alastor, whose complexion paled. “I didn’t think you were coming back.”
