City of Spells (Into the Crooked Place #2) - Alexandra Christo Page 0,73

complicated, especially when they weren’t around anymore. She knew the pain of losing her parents, but the pain of never knowing them at all was different, and she couldn’t imagine the confusion Wesley must have felt knowing those missing parts of his life couldn’t be replaced.

“She said I was powerful enough to be in charge of my own future and that my magic was special.”

“And yet I knocked you out,” Tavia said. “Win for me.”

Wesley shot her a look that told her he’d very much like it if she never brought that up again.

“How are you feeling?” Tavia asked.

“Fine.”

“I sent you to sleep because you looked like you were about to lose control of your magic,” she said. “Are you in control now?”

“Yes,” he said.

“Promise?” Tavia held her palm out for a handshake.

Wesley didn’t take it, but he nodded. “I promise.”

Tavia eyed him with suspicion. “If I turn my back, you’re not going to shoot my best friend?”

“Why, did you forget to take my gun away?”

She hadn’t forgotten and Tavia knew that Wesley could surely already feel the cold absence of the bone gun against his hip.

“Can you forgive us?” Saxony’s amja asked. “Can you still fight by our side in this war?”

Wesley looked like he wasn’t too sure about the forgiveness part, but Tavia knew he’d never turn down a good fight.

“You’re fighting by my side,” Wesley said. “There’s a difference. This was always my battle against Ashwood and for my city.”

Typical Wesley. Tavia didn’t doubt that if he had his cuff links, he would have been polishing them haughtily right now.

“You will come back to us because of her influence,” Saxony’s amja said.

She looked at Tavia.

“You are sulfjgi. Just as I suspected.”

Tavia’s eyes widened and she jumped up from the bed, as far from Wesley as she could.

“Hang on a second,” she said.”Nobody is anybody’s soul mate.”

“You have the string of destiny between you. Magic and death, sorrow and joy, all of it perfectly aligned to bring you together. Creije was supposed to grow Malik’s heart and because of you, it did.”

Tavia looked over to Wesley with a snort. “I don’t think so,” she said. “I mean, for starters, his bow ties are woeful. He collects them and—”

“The girl who only owns black is questioning my fashion sense?” Wesley asked. “Now I know that I’ve hit rock bottom.”

“I’ll hit you with an actual rock if you don’t shut up.”

Tavia glared at him, but her focus shifted down to his lips and damn it if she didn’t stop thinking about that almost-kiss, she might hit herself with a rock too.

“You should be proud, not scared,” Saxony’s amja said. “Everything, from Vea’s death to your own mother’s death, was part of a design to bring you together.”

Now that pissed Tavia off.

She believed in a lot of things, but to suggest that her mother had died for Wesley’s future, or for anything other than Ashwood’s sick plan to perfect his mind magic, was an insult to her memory. And to make out like all the pain Tavia had gone through was for some guy to get his happy ending was an insult to all the hard graft she’d done to get to where she was and survive through everything she had.

She wasn’t just a string in someone else’s destiny.

If Saxony’s amja thought for one second—

“Don’t bring her mother into this,” Wesley said. “The Many Gods didn’t conspire to ruin Tavia’s life just so I’d fall in love with her. Nothing is that simple.”

Tavia’s breath caught on the word love.

Wesley had never said that to her before.

Did he mean it, or was it just an example to poke fun at what Saxony’s amja was saying? If he meant it, then why hadn’t he kissed her back in the tree house when he promised to always protect her?

“Love is a choice,” Saxony’s amja said. “You’re destined to simply impact. Two forces striking to create a wave of change.”

“Well, this wave isn’t going to have anyone else try to control her life,” Tavia said. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

“I think your Kin should have learned better about believing in destiny by now,” Wesley said. “We need to stop basing everything on fate and start using our heads.”

“I second that,” Saxony said, with a bitter glare. “The last time you put stock in destiny you took my brother and my mother from me.”

Her amja looked rightly chastened again.

“So what now?” Tavia asked.

“Now we get our fingers out of our asses and think of a real plan