Relinquish(96)

Bastien shifts uncomfortably beside me. I look to him for help, and he shoves his hands deep into his pockets. “Turns out you and I are brothers. Funny that, huh?”

Eamon stares at him with open disbelief. He looks between Bastien and me, waiting for one of us to start laughing. When neither of us crack, he sinks back into his chair. “You’re my brother?” he repeats, as if needing to hear it out loud for it to be true.

“Yeah. I pretty much reacted the same way. Sucks, huh?” Bastien says, blowing out a breath.

“Yeah.” Eamon snorts. “Little bit.”

I close my eyes and think over how completely opposite these two guys are. Night and day. Fire and ice. Summer and winter. And yet, under Eamon’s overprotective nature and Bastien’s sarcastic swagger, both men love deeply and fully. Perhaps, in the ways the matter most, they aren’t so different after all.





Twenty-One



It feels weird watching Bastien and Eamon try to figure out how to be civil with each other, if for no other reason than to give this brother thing a shot. I know it won’t last, but it’s kind of nice for a change.

“Where are the others? Are they close by?” I ask, interrupting their hushed conversation. I know they were talking about me.

Eamon lifts his head and glances back at me. I sit propped up in bed, fighting against a yawn. The pillows are far too comfortable and the blanket warming and inviting.

“Kyan and the girls are here now, but more will be arriving soon. Carleon has gone into the villages to collect soldiers loyal to our cause. We’ll be ready to fight.”

“There isn’t enough time,” I whisper, fiddling with the edge of the sheet. “I’m to be married in two days.”

I half expect Eamon to rise in anger or throw something, but instead he simply lowers his head, as if he already knew. And then I realize he did.

“And until then? Where will you go?” Bastien questions Eamon, staring past him to the night sky. Already, the distant horizon has begun to lighten.

“We won’t be far. There’s an old series of mines under the woods that lead to the ocean. Kyan knows them well. We’ll use that as our base for now while we gather support.” Eamon slowly rises, obviously reluctant to leave, but he must with the coming dawn.

“Wait!” I stretch out a hand toward him. “Please, don’t go yet.”

I look to Bastien, pleading silently to understand my need to say good-bye. No one really knows what’ll happen during the next two days. The one thing I do know is that I need all the support and love I can get to face it.

Bastien’s lips press thin, but he nods and closes the door to his room behind him. Eamon rubs the back of his neck nervously as I rise from the bed and move toward him. I watch as his gaze flits down over my dress in the moonlight before he looks away. “I should get back. I’ve been gone longer than planned. Kyan will be worried.” His voice is raw with emotion. “I just needed to know that you’re safe.”

I reach for his hand and draw him near. I can feel his hesitation even as I wrap his arms about me and place my head upon his chest. Months of pain and loneliness rise up as tears gather in the corners of my eyes. This is what I needed. To simply be held.

“I’m sorry about before,” I whisper as my fingers trail across the black material of his shirt. I can feel muscle beneath it, tensing and releasing as he breathes.

He presses his cheek against my head, finally sealing me into his embrace. “I never meant to hurt you. I just… I didn’t know how to say good-bye.”

His hands splay across my back, warm and comforting. I press my face against his neck, smiling at the rapid pulse I find thrumming there. “I’ve missed you,” I whisper.

Eamon pulls back. His ice-blue eyes are tender as he smiles down at me. “Not as much as I’ve missed you.”

And I know that he means every word of it. Gone are the worry lines in his forehead and about his eyes. There is still reason to fear, but in this moment, he lets it all wash away. It’s sad that it took us coming to this point for him to finally realize there was nothing he could’ve done to prevent this. The gift of a seer is a curse and a blessing, depending on what you do with it.

I close my eyes as he reaches up to cup the back of my neck. He leans in and gently brushes his lips against mine, so softly I hardly know he is there. I lean up into him, unwilling to let him leave. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I crush my lips against his, rising onto my tiptoes to close the height distance.

Eamon’s hand upon my back flinches as I press into him, pushing him against the wall, molding to his lean frame. When I draw back, I can see a change in him. My Eamon is back. He smiles and clears his throat as I step back. “Wow.” He chuckles. “We should fight more often.”