had too many connections. Any attempt to take her to court or put her in chains would only end up the other way around— with my ass in jail. Then she’d keep me behind bars until she felt ready to let me out. After Emma was dead, of course.
I wish I could say Elijah was her enemy, but my cousin loved my mother. One of the reasons Eli hadn’t done away with me already. He favored Queen Antonia, and her grace toward him was one of the few things keeping me alive.
Not to mention he liked how many people she had in her pocket, and wanted to exploit those connections.
Royal politics were a pain in the ass. Family issues were always much worse when the people you were related to had power.
It was raining the following night. After I got back from classes, I wandered through the Rec Room and spotted Theo, who looked quite surly in his usual study spot by the grand piano.
I felt obligated to talk to him. Emma had told the rest of us about his argument with Odette. Sleeping with Igor… that had to dig the knife in.
I sat next to him. “You got your wings twisted about something. It’s written all over your face.”
Theo scowled. “Gus is on my ass to be frank with Odette.”
“Then what’s the hold up?” I wasn’t the only one who was getting impatient with this dance they were doing with each other. It was annoying to watch.
“Uh, first of all, she’s with another guy,” Theo raged. “Secondly, it doesn’t matter how many times I tell her I love her, she just pushes me away, so what else do you have in mind?”
Gods, he was in a bitter mood. I went to combat his words, until a tap on my shoulder and a Scottish accent got my attention. “May I have a word with you?”
I clenched my teeth and turned around. Finlay was standing across from me. He seemed impatient.
I wanted to rip the bastard’s head off, but he did save my mate’s life. I was indebted to him. “Certainly.” I left Theo behind while Finlay took me to a deserted corner of the Rec Room.
I crossed my arms and gave a wide stance. “What do you need?”
Finlay took a deep breath. “I understand your feelings about Emma and I are… complicated.”
“Only a little.” The nerve of this shifter. What I’d pay to have a duel with him, one on one.
“Look.” Finlay’s tone was heavy. “You must be angry with me for stealing Emma away. In your eyes, it’s not fair. But in my perspective, what’s not fair is the way you treated her.”
“I’d advise you to watch what you say.” He was already trying my short patience— the leshane was pushing me to punch him in the face, to attack, to goad him into fighting me. I wrestled with the demon internally as I stared Finlay down.
“I will not. You can’t expect to keep Emma’s attention when you’re not here for her. I don’t know much about you, but from what I can gather, you’re very complicated. And relationships can only last so long when they’re too much to handle.”
“Do not lecture me about what goes on between me and my mate.” My arms were shaking as I lowered them to my sides. This guy was too much.
“She won’t be your mate for much longer if you keep up whatever charade you’ve got going on,” he hissed. “And it’ll be my gain.”
“Why do you care?” I snapped. “If Emma and I don’t work out, she’ll go running into your arms, just like you want. Why are you trying to warn me?”
His eyes darkened. “Because I know what it’s like to lose a mate. And no matter what Emma says, I know letting you go is going to hurt her. I don’t want her to suffer unless you two can’t work things out. I don’t want to see her get hurt… even if I’ll be more than happy to comfort her afterwards.”
I was surprised with Finlay. Emma wasn’t just some girl to him. He cared about her. Maybe loved her, even.
I had to respect him for that, as much as I hated him for it. He was willing to take care of Emma, and pick up the broken pieces of her heart that I had shattered.
It was really difficult to despise someone like that. And he’d lost his mate on top of it. I couldn’t imagine that loss. All I