Huffing out a breath, I dropped my ass onto my bed. Jealousy. That was why I was so pissed right now. All my life, I'd been the hot guy among humans. I'd been the cool one people wanted to impress. I'd enjoyed "pretty privilege," as the internet called it, and losing thatsucked.
Because the truth was Torian Hunt and Aspen Fox were gorgeous. Oh, Wilder wasn't a bad-looking guy either. Hawke? His charms weren't in his looks. He was strong, with sharp features, and the guy knew how to keep his mouth shut. He was also amazing as a fighter, almost like he'd spent his entire life mastering the sword - or any other weapon he picked up.
But Torian? He was a monster! Nevaeh still didn't have her power, and nothing else could explain why. Everyone at the Winter Solstice had seen him rip it from her, and there was no doubt Torian had done it. Combined with his quick temper, there was only one thing thatdidmake sense.
He was a jevadu.
But Rain thought that was ok. Aspen needed her brother. He was a part of the court, whether I liked it or not, and the truth was I did like being a part of their group. When I spent time with them, two years didn't seem like a big difference in age.
Ok, so Rain was the youngest-feeling one, but most of that was her adjusting to all the fae shit around her. It wasn't like she was immature. Shecertainly wasn't a kid, since her eighteenth birthday was only a couple months away. And if I didn't have a problem with her being seventeen, then why did I keep dwelling on Torian's age? Not Hawke's, not Wilder's, but always Torian's?
I bent over my knees to scrub at my face when my door creaked open a crack. "Keir?" It was Wilder.
"Come in," I told him.
"Hawke sent me a text saying to check on you." He claimed the chair at the desk. "Why am I making sure you're ok?"
I pushed out a laugh. "Ok, Hawke's a good guy. I thought he'd just ditched me."
"Uh?" Yeah, the look on Wilder's face made it clear he had no clue what was going on.
"Torian came out of your room and immediately turned grumpy. I don't know what I did to set him off this time, but I was simply counting doors, making sure it was your room, not his spare, you know?"
A smile began to grow on Wilder's face. "He was looking for Hawke. You had Hawke. Torian was annoyed because he had to wait."
"Fucking dick," I muttered.
Wilder hummed like I might have a point. "He's Torian."
"Rumors are still going around about him."
And now my friend was smiling. "Yeah, I've heard. That's part of why he's pissed."
So I decided to finally put it out there. "Are they true?"
Wilder laughed once, but paused. His mouth opened, closed, and then opened again. The sound that came next was pure frustration. "Fucking promises!"
"What can't you talk about?" I asked. "At least give me that?"
"Any of our lives on Faerie." He rocked his head from side to side, showing that wasn't quite right. "No details. No incriminating evidence."
"Gotcha."
That was a very broad promise, but it sounded like it was strong one too. Someone with a lot of power had bound him to it, if not evenWildercould work around it. Then again, Wilder had said his promise was different, but if this was a part of it, what else had Torian, Aspen, and Hawke agreed to?
"How can I help?" I asked instead.
"Fuck," Wilder grumbled as he stood, crossed the room, and thendropped down onto my bed behind me. "I'd tell you, you know. I trust you."
"Torian doesn't," I countered.
He flapped a hand in the air, waving that off. "He doesn't trust anyone but Aspen."
"She trusts you, though."
He shrugged, staring up at the ceiling. "She does. Thankfully, she's not as bitter as her brother. He has his reasons, though."
A hint. Yeah, clearly Wilder was good at this, but I didn't want to push him too hard. I just really wanted to know one thing.
