“I’m not,” he replied with a smirk. “But I’m pragmatic. That was the fastest way to avoid the barrage of commentary I saw coming.” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “And the most enjoyable.”
Beth shook her head and plopped onto the grass to untie her shoes.
“Aww,” Elara gushed. “All these years, and I’ve never seen you kiss a dude.”
“She still hasn’t,” Emma said dryly. “She’s kissing an elf.”
“True,” Elara agreed, turning to face Gael. “And for the record? Neither Aryon nor I ever believed your so-called casual questioning over the years.”
Gael chuckled and lowered himself to the grass beside her, and Beth instinctively scooted closer, nestling beneath his arm like it was the most natural thing in the world. Itshould’vefelt strange, and the grounded, practical part of her was definitely stunned by how giddy she was, like some love-struck teen.
But she’d misjudged him. Thoroughly and with conviction. Mostly out of sheer stubbornness–okay, maybe a dash of sour grapes, too. It had been easier and safer to paint him as rude and self-important than to admit she’d wanted him to notice her, and didn’t believe he ever would. Then came Litha. Then Bryn. And building a case against Gael had become the perfect excuse notto look too closely at herself. Thinking that if she hadn’t sat down and talked with Elara, she might’ve missed the real version of Gael was terrifying.
So, no more second-guessing. She was going to enjoy the rest of the day with him and her friends.
Speaking of friends... “Emma,” she called. “I’m supposed to ask you who’d win in a fight, you or Aryon or Elara.”
Emma turned her head slowly toward Gael, lifting an eyebrow. “You didn’t.”
“Indeed, I didn’t,” Gael said innocently. “I told her to ask you.”
Beth started glancing from one to the other, more curious now. “Did you guys actually fight?”
“In a way,” Emma replied with a sigh in her voice. “It was summer. We were all at Tansy’s. It was late, and the question came up.”
At this point, Elara looked like she was trying not to crack up, Emma was checking her nails way too often, and Gael was casually playing with a strand of her hair, playing it cool.
“I said I could beat Aryon,” Emma continued. “He said I couldn’t.”
“And?”
Emma pulled a blade of grass and twirled it in her fingers. “Turns out, I can’t.”
“You lost?” Beth was genuinely shocked. “You’re a vampire.”
“By force, I could’ve taken him.”
“But?”
“But he used magic,” Elara jumped in. “And our Baby Bat didn’t stand a chance.”
“What kind of magic?”
Emma huffed. “The forbidden kind. Both in the Fae world and by the government. He got into my head, started playing with my emotions, and planted some sad memories. Then helayered an illusion over all of it, made me think I was inIt’s a Wonderful Life.”
“The movie?”
“The movie.” Emma looked put out. “I started bawling, he tied my wrists with telekinesis, and that was it.”
That was... not what she’d expect, ever. She’d spent years around Aryon and Elara, and somehow never quite grasped how terrifyingly powerful they really were—probably because they always came off like helpful siblings, not someone who could flatten a city block with a thought. “You guys can really do all that?” she asked, turning to Gael.
He gestured to Elara. “She can, and Aryon. Val and I can manage it with humans or some not particularly strong magik.”
“But you could do it to me.”
“Yes,” he admitted. “But it’s highly illegal, and even if it weren’t, I’d never use it on you.”
She knew that. But the fact that he could and wouldn’t, made it dangerously hot. Gael wasn’t just powerful, he was good down to his roots, which only made her wonder what kind of magic hewoulduse on her. Because all of his power did open the door to very interesting speculation.
