Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) - By Paula Flumerfelt Page 0,119

to his feet. Mathieu needed space, air, room to think. “Please excuse me.” That was the last thing he said before rushing into the house, getting away from the expectant stares of those around him.

Chapter

Seventeen

Mathieu had curled up in his bed to think as soon as he had left the group, but now his mind was blank. The shock of being in charge was keeping his mind from getting far into a train of thought. But it was more than that, he was pretty sure. It was the look of betrayal and disbelief that had flashed across Solomon’s face when Josette had said his name. In truth, it hurt that the blond thought so poorly of him. I should have expected nothing less, he told himself.

Hot breath tickled the back of his neck and an arm snaked around his waist, fingers drumming on his stomach. “Why are you so sad, Mathieu?” Jo snuggled between his shoulder blades sweetly. He was like a little kid.

Sighing softly, he shook his head. “It’s fine, Jo. It’s getting pretty late,” he hadn’t realized just how late until Jo had brought him back to something like reality, “so we should sleep. It’ll give things time to settle down.”

“Okay. Night-night.”

Mathieu couldn’t help but smile to himself as Jo wiggled until he was comfortable. The brunet was too adorable, always eager to please; like a puppy. And Jo had big doe eyes that made him look clueless half the time. And if Mathieu was honest with himself, he was glad to have Jo around. Because Solomon had taken to avoiding their room, Jo had moved in with him, filling the hole in his life that the blond had left with childlike charm and excitement.

As it were, Mathieu had done some research into Jo. Amongst the extensive collection of books Nathan’s house had, there were a few about The Darkness. According to the books, when someone who had high concentrations of dark qualities in their hearts, such as doubts, anger, and angst, entered the Realm of Darkness, that person may not be able to control what becomes of those emotions. In a few rare instances, the qualities are released to take their own form, and can pass into the Realm of the Living. It seemed Mathieu had so much pent up that he’d made another person.

He hadn’t ever dealt with his issues about his family, and those insecurities had formed into Jo. But at the core of him was Mathieu’s belief that there was something worth living for beyond this moment. It gave the brunet a sweet, if shy, demeanor. He was well liked by the others in the house, especially Kiev. But as a result of being made from within the darkness, there was the other side of innocent Jo. Sometimes, he changed. His eyes weren’t so like a doe’s, his body language becoming hard and dangerous. The first time it’d happened, he’d been watching Mathieu and Avanon doing a quick spar in the yard. The moment that it seemed as if Avanon would win, Jo was between the two of them, his unnatural fangs bared at her, and nails clawed. It was a physical transformation as much as a psychological one.

It had terrified Avanon, but as soon as Mathieu was a safe distance from the female, Jo had relaxed back to his normal, sweet self. He had apologized profusely, unable to explain why it had happened. Darcia, who had been nearby, guessed that it had something to do with Jo and Mathieu having been one person at some point: Jo was essentially protecting himself. Whatever the reason, Mathieu felt safe with the young brunet at his back, there to watch it and occasionally cuddle up next to it. As he thought that, Jo let out a little puff of air and made a content sound of the sleeping. Niveus gave off a soft purr from her spot by Mathieu’s head.

As happy as he was, Mathieu still felt like something was wrong. It was like his family was with him, but an integral piece of it was missing. And he knew what it was: Solomon. Mathieu sighed softly, sad that the last time he’d had a chance to say something to the blond, he’d yelled at him. He was never going to fix things like this. Even if he could kiss, touch, or love the other, he wanted things to go back to how they were, as friends. But that didn’t seem likely to happen. He pulled