half of him covered up by a blanket, concealing his missing leg.
Stefan had propped Ethan’s prosthetic against the side of the wall. I sat on the edge of Ethan’s bed. His hair was falling into his eyes— I stroked it back before giving a sigh.
I knew too many damn secrets. And one of these days, it was gonna come back and bite me in the ass.
Bad.
Chapter Eleven
Ethan
I didn’t remember a damn thing about the festival, or the events afterward. Though I knew by the pounding headache I had the next morning it had been a disaster.
I also knew I’d made a mockery of myself, because Stefan had informed me how roaring drunk I’d gotten, and how Emma had to drag me home before I, the prince of fools, embarrassed the crown and insulted the monarchy by getting piss drunk in public.
I was such a fool. I wasn’t sure what Emma thought of it— I hadn’t talked to her since it had all happened. I hoped to the gods she didn’t think less of me.
We had a big hockey game that day we couldn’t afford to lose. I was still nursing my hangover— Stefan came in and handed me a potion as I got my stuff around.
“You look like shit,” he commented.
I chugged the potion. My hangover ebbed, but it didn’t go away completely. “I’d rather not speak of last night.”
Stefan gave a sarcastic sound. “Nor would I. Because as much as I love you, it’s not in that way, and I’ve seen you in your boxers one too many times, my friend.”
“You insinuate something’s happened between us when it never has,” I growled. Both Stefan and I were as straight as boards.
Stefan wiggled his eyebrows. “The ladies like it that way.”
“Have you been telling sorceresses we’ve fooled around in an attempt to pick up women?”
“Perhaps before I met Delmare.”
“I hate you.”
“Hey, to the females of our species, two dicks are better than one. The girls today are freaks, man. Emma might enjoy a few fables of your own.”
“You’re asking to get kicked in the teeth.”
“Might happen.” Stefan’s eyebrows raised. “Team C is looking pretty feisty this morning.”
Arcanea University had four different hockey teams, separated into groups labeled Teams A, B, C, and D. Our team was Team A, and had the best players, but C was catching up to us in the rankings. Right now, we were neck and neck for the head spot. Team B was so close behind both teams that their win against D last week put them in second place.
My team was behind due to several lost games. We had to win today if we stood a chance of making the playoffs at the end of the semester.
We started the walk to the rink. Before the grand staircase we saw Delmare, Kiara, and Alexei. All of them were dressed in their Faction colors with shirts that said Arcanea University, waving flags that had the Team A symbol on it; a crest of a wolf fighting a dragon.
Emma was there. Gods, I was embarrassed. I could feel my cheeks heat as I laid eyes on her.
“Hi,” I breathed. My words choked up in my mouth as I lost what I was going to say.
“Hey,” she replied. “Are you feeling better?”
“I’m fine,” I rushed to say. “I apologize that I got so carried away last night. It should’ve never happened.”
“It’s no big deal.” She waved her hand. “Everyone gets drunk at one point or another.”
“Emma, I’m serious.” I took her hands in mine. “I want to make it up to you. After the game.”
Her smile warmed, and she said, “Okay. After the game.”
I dug in my hockey bag. “Anyway. I know you’ll be in the stands, so... wear my jersey?”
I took out one of my hockey jerseys and handed it to her. This was the first time Emma would ever see me play— she was always practicing whenever I was on the ice. And I wanted the world to know she was mine.
Emma ran her fingers along the stitching of my last name on the back of the jersey. “I will.”
She slipped it on over her sweater. The jersey was huge on her— looked more like a dress— but gods, she was adorable in it.
“Let’s hurry up, eh?” Stefan said. “Before Lucien has our hides for being late.”
We hurried to the rink, which was filling up with spectators. There were two people missing from the group— Odette and Theo.
Emma caught my curious look, and said, “I’m not sure