He shrugged, but his eyes stayed fixed somewhere out past the tree line. “It’s been a long time. I’ve mostly made peace with it.” After a moment, he drew in a long breath. “There was this girl. Elf. Beautiful. Fun. We fell in love, but she was tied to the High Family, and I’m, well, not.”
Beth’s heart dipped, already guessing where this was going as she walked to the fence.
“When Gael found out,” Bryn went on, “he strongly encouraged me to walk away.”
She stared at him, stunned. “Hewhat?”
Another shrug. “She was sweet. Said she didn’t want to go against her family. By the time Elara and Aryon knew anything, the decision had already been made.”
Beth’s jaw clenched. If she could kick Gael in the teeth, she’d do it right now. “I’m so sorry, Bryn,” she said softly, reaching out and resting a hand on his arm. She gave it a gentle squeeze. “That’s not hard to believe, but still awful.”
“It’s alright,” he said, slapping the fence rail with both hands like he was shaking it off. “Anyway, I wanted to see if you felt like going to Hallow Falls this Sunday?”
She smiled, but the invitation surprised her. They weren’t close. Friendly, sure, but not Sunday-adventure close, and it nudged at her, like a note slightly out of tune. “I’d love to, but I’m working all day. Sorry.”
“Of course. I’ll bring you back some blackberry honey.”
Weird. “Sure. Um, thank you.”
And then, as if summoned by her irritation and the sound of his name being tossed around by unworthy peasants, Gael appeared. He stepped around the edge of the lane, all cold marble and effortless disdain.
Bryn saw him, and Beth saw everything change. His shoulders tensed, his smile thinned, and the warmth flickered out of his eyes. “I should go,” Bryn said flatly, already pushing off the fence.
Beth barely had time to respond before he walked off, steps a little too clipped, posture a little too proud.
Gael stopped where Bryn had been, watching the elf’s retreating back with all the warmth of a glacier. “Do you know him?” he asked, voice low and perfectly unreadable.
Beth wiped her already clean hands off on her shorts, looked up at him, and someone help her, he was still hot. Unfairly so. That face shouldn’t be legal, that body should come with a warning, and she despised herself for noticing it. “I know a lotof people,” she said coolly. “Not that it should be a concern of yours.”
“You might want to be careful,” he said in a clipped tone.
She raised an eyebrow. “Oh, you know me. Just a human, arguably even lower than him. There’s nothing to worry about.”
His jaw worked once, twice. His expression said he knewexactlywhat she was referring to. “There are always multiple sides to a story,” he said tightly.
“And yours would be the right one, I assume.”
“It’s of no consequence. You’ve already chosen the villain.”
They locked eyes, the silence between them pulling tight. Then his gaze drifted to the garden around them, taking in the unruly, lush, joyous wild beauty she’d carved out with her own hands. “You tend to this?”
“I do.”
He swallowed, as if the act of speaking was a burden. “It’s beautiful.”
“You don’t have to compliment me if it physically hurts you.”
He nodded once, curt. “Have a great day, Beth.”
“You too, Gael.”
And as she watched him march away, spine straight, silver-blond hair woven into those tresses that marked rank among elves like a crown made of entitlement, Beth realized there really wasn’t a limit to how many times you could thinkTake that, bitchabout someone.
Chapter 3
MABON ~ FALL EQUINOX
Gael loved Mabon.
