keeping us secret from humans had already sailed. At least from the humans who mattered—the ones in power.
"Aren't you two a sight for sore eyes," Tyson said, jovially. A spark of joy at seeing my brother after so long unfurled inside of me, and I found myself moving forward to give him a hug.
"We really missed you," Tyson said, pulling away and clasping a hand on Justice's shoulder. "Let's get home and figure out what the fuck to do about the president."
"President Fuckface." It sounded like Justice muttered beneath her breath. No one here was going to disagree.
Tyson's step-through was still swirling strongly, so we filed through, leaving him to shut it down. That sort of magic was not something the fey had access to, most of us anyway, but Justice and the jeweled princesses did have a similar rainbow version.
I should have let her try it.
I had to get my shit together and stop acting like the worst stereotype of a fucking caveman around her. A huge part of me wanted to throw her over my shoulder, carry her to my “cave,” and keep her there, protected from the harsh realities of the world.
Only I knew I was years too late for that. Justice had been through more than I could understand. I might not know all the details, but I read between the lines, and there were dark demons in her past. Demons I wanted to fight until they were conquered.
Which of course, made it very hard for me to be of the mindset that this true mate journey was not the right path for me. These warring emotions were going to destroy me if I let them.
So for now … I’d just be patient, see what happened with the president … and deal with the rest once we didn’t have this emotional escalation from the drama in our lives.
That would be best for everyone.
Stratford looked exactly the same. To be expected when I’d only been gone for a month, but damn I had missed this place. Just being back near my house and the forest that spanned far into the distance, shading the back porch of our wood cabin, soothed my nature-loving soul. The first thing I wanted to do was spend hours among the familiar trees, but there was no time for that. My brothers and I were gathered in the council leader’s office, waiting for the email from the president.
"He said he has video evidence?" Braxton asked, sounding more pissed off than usual, and that was really saying something.
I nodded. "We’ll have to check the authenticity of it, but he indicated that he had more than enough to convince the humans of our existence." I dropped my head back, exhausted.
"I’ll check again and see if it’s arrived," Braxton said, returning to the computer.
This was the only computer in town, a special make that didn’t explode around the energy of supes. Tyson and Maximus didn’t move from where they were sprawled back on the broad-backed captain chairs by the window, sipping on whiskey.
Apparently, we had reached the stage of day drinking, and I honestly thought the timing was about right.
While we waited for Braxton to load the emails, I told them the rest of what happened in the month we were gone. Most of it was easy to convey in a few sentences … outside of today in Syria. That took a little more time.
"How did Justice handle it all?" Tyson asked, swirling the amber liquid in his crystal glass. "Grace has been worried about her. There's tragedy in Justice's past that she never speaks about and it's obvious that, at times … she's just not okay."
Grace saw what I did. The demons.
"She's tough," I finally said. "Tougher than I expected. Maybe it's the fact that she's such a smartass at times, prickly to the point of abrasive, that you miss her quiet inner strength. There’s no doubt she's been through a lot. A fucking lot. She made a few comments about men and the way they'd hurt her in the past to indicate that it wasn't always roses and sparkles in her life."
I shook my head, trying to force down my anger. There was nothing I could do to change her past, to ease her scars and demons. As much as I wished I could.
Mental battles were often the worst of all.
"You like her," Tyson said suddenly, and it jolted me out of my rage.