Graely’s wild eyes darted toward the door. “She frightens me more than Vindrake. You wouldn’t believe what she attempted to do before I fought her off—I’m afraid to go to sleep.”
Charles laughed until there were tears in his eyes.
*****
“I need to go back to my father’s room and speak with him for a moment.”
“Go ahead,” said Alora. “I’ll wait here with Jireo.”
“I’ll return in a blink.” Kaevin slipped out the door, leaving them alone. The smile on Jireo’s face faded, and he turned his head away. An awkward silence descended over the hospital room. The slight tension she always felt around Jireo was now palpable, and her stomach knotted in response. She studied the balloon bouquet on the table by his bed, running her fingertip across the glittery letters that spelled ‘Get Well Soon’.
“You don’t like me, do you?” She spoke the question and cringed, waiting for the answer she knew was coming. He gave an audible sigh.
“I don’t want to like you. But you saved Arista’s life, and now you’ve saved mine.”
“So now you feel obligated to like me, but you still don’t?”
He nodded, flexing his jaw and keeping his eyes focused on the blank television screen.
“Why? What did I do? Is it because I haven’t promised to move to Laegenshire? Because I’ll move eventually; I know I have a duty.”
“I don’t wish you to come to Laegenshire at all. I simply wish everything to return to normal.”
“You don’t want a bearer to help in the fight against Vindrake?”
“No. I simply wish to have my best friend back. That’s all.”
“Oh.” The uncomfortable silence fell again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t plan it, you know.”
“I’m well aware you’re innocent. I realize you had no intention of stealing Kaevin from me, but that doesn’t change how much it hurts.” His voice was steady and emotionless, but she could read the pain on his face.
“But, what can I—”
“There’s nothing you can do. There’s nothing anyone can do. And I realize I’m a fool to be angry with you for something over which you have no control. But, I miss Kaevin.” He met her eyes for a moment before turning his head back. “Before you came along, we did everything together. Now, he does everything with you.”
“But that was bound to happen eventually, right? I mean, you know, you grow up and get married?”
“Eventually, yes. But in Tenavae, we don’t marry until we have at least twenty-one years. And Kaevin and I promised each other—we had a secret ceremony—to support and defend one another. That’s a lifetime promise.”
“A ceremony?”
“Yes. We had only six years when we did it, but you can still see my scar.” He stretched out his palm, indicating a tiny white line transecting all the others on his hand. “Though we were too young for the ceremony to be binding, we always treated each other as if we were truly bound… until he met you.” He looked like he’d swallowed some bitter medicine.
“Look, Jireo. I don’t want to squeeze you out of Kaevin’s life. I know you have a special friendship, and I’m not ready to get married or anything. I haven’t even finished high school yet, and I planned to go to college.”
“Unless they discover a way to remove the soulmate bond, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“Yes I can. I can make sure the two of you spend time together every day. I’ll be really honest with you. I need my alone time, and I’m kind of going crazy with Kaevin around me all the time. I really like him, or maybe I even love him, but I don’t want to spend every waking moment with him.”
He shrugged.
“Jireo, please look at
me.” When his gaze met hers, she saw tears glistening in his eyes. “I mean it. I’ll do everything I can to help. I don’t want to come between you. Besides, I figure if Kaevin’s my soulmate and you two are practically brothers, that kind of makes you my brother, right?”
“Great. One sister’s enough trouble, and now I have two.” The corner of his mouth twitched in a half-smile.
“So, we’re okay, then?”