Breaker (Ondine Quartet Book 4) (46 page)

“By sheer luck,” Tristan pointed out.

Ancelin’s eyes narrowed. “Whatever is going on between you two needs to stop now.”

Okay. Enough bullshit. “Your Majesty, I am not related to you in any way, shape, or form, nor am I one of your subjects. You don’t get to tell me what I can and cannot do in my life.”

“I can when it concerns the future of my people! And for the last Irisavie, you’re showing a remarkable disregard toward Rhian’s —“

“Enough!” Tristan snapped, fire sparking in his eyes. “What do you know about duty? Do you know what it feels like to have your brother’s blood dripping down your arm? To know you did what your own father was too much of a coward to do?”

Ancelin didn’t move, but something flashed through his granite eyes as if he flinched inwardly from Tristan’s words.
 

“I have more than paid my dues to this kingdom, to this war, and to you.” Tristan leaned in.

Ancelin stared at his son, the room’s lighting deepening the harsh lines bracketing his grim mouth.

The king suddenly looked old.

“Some roles are not meant to be free, Tristan.”

His words reminded me of Patrice.

We accept what we’ve been given.

“Then what the hell are we fighting for?” I asked quietly.

“I always knew you’d never forgive me for what I did to Eric.” Tristan stepped back. “Even though you needed me to do it. But I have had enough. Enough manipulation and guilt. Get out of my sight.”

“No —”

Dax grabbed his father’s arm. Ancelin startled.

“Let’s go,” Dax said firmly.

The king stared at Dax for a long moment. Then he shrugged out of his son’s hold and straightened. With one last meaningful look at me, he and Dax left.

Tension rolled off Tristan in powerful waves. His shoulders shook slightly from the effort to rein it in.

It took every ounce of control to keep panic from overwhelming me.

This was not the way I wanted him to find out.

“Tristan —“

“No.” His jaw was so tight, the word barely made it out. “How many times have you lied to me, Kendra?”
 

“I didn’t lie to you! I just didn’t say anything because—“

“A lie of omission is still a lie.”

“I wanted to protect you.”

“From what? My father? My brother? They’re my family, Kendra! You worked with him to find a way to send me back, away from Haverleau. Away from…”

He ran a hand through his hair and took a breath. “Please. Help me understand.”

I swallowed. “If you found out what I was planning to do with Ian, you’d either try to convince me not to do it or you’d insist on coming with me.”

He stared at me, but remained silent.

I took a deep breath. “I was resigning as Governor, Tristan. I was walking away from my sworn duty and I didn’t want to leave Haverleau vulnerable to the Council. Patrice was the only one strong enough to fulfill the position without Original Magic protesting, but I didn’t trust her. So—“

“You sent me away so I wouldn’t know where you’d gone and could remain on the Council.”

I took a tentative step forward. “I didn’t tell you about Dax because it really was just a mistake. There was no maliciousness behind his intent and I didn’t what you to get hurt.”

He exhaled. “Well, it didn’t quite work.”

I wanted to sink into the floor.
 

“I don’t understand why.” He spread his arms. “What was so horrible you couldn’t tell me? Talk to me?”

“Because I knew —“

“No, you don’t know!” His eyes blazed. “How can you know when we haven’t talked about it? It’s just an excuse you always use!”

Anger started to swirl. “It wasn’t an excuse. I was doing what I thought was right —“

“And did you ever think that if you’d talked to me I might’ve understood? That I might have agreed to stay on the Council? Instead you concocted a plan with my father behind my back, lied to my face, and kicked me out of Haverleau. All so you could leave —”

“Hey.” Julian strode into the room, his eyes sharp. “What’s going on?”

Great. I struggled to get my racing pulse under control. “It’s okay, LeVeq —“

Julian edged his shoulder between me and Tristan.

Tristan’s eyes hadn’t left mine. “Why?”

“Get out of her face,” Julian said.

“Stay out of it.”

“Oh no, Your Highness.” Julian crossed his arms. “See, I had a sparring date with sweet iris here, and I won’t be able to knock her on her ass if you already do it for me.”

I tried to push Julian aside, but he wouldn’t budge. Irritated, I spoke to Tristan over his shoulder.

“I was trying to protect you.” I willed him to understand. “I didn’t want you to get hurt over something I could handle myself.”

“Are you kidding me?” The tension dropped from Julian’s shoulders and he gave an exasperated sigh. “That’s what you’re getting mad at her about?”

Tristan’s mouth tightened. “This has nothing to do with you.”

Foreboding trickled down my spine. “Julian —“

“That kiss really is not worth all this energy.” Julian waved his hand. “Believe me, it was nothing and those were extreme circumstances.”
 

Tristan’s face went blank.

An ugly silence blanketed the room.

If there was anything I could’ve done to go back ten seconds in time and prevent the glacial hurt that slid across his face, I would’ve done it.

I would’ve re-lived hundreds of days in the GrandView, hundreds more under Ian’s pipe.

Everything faded, shrinking and disappearing until the world was nothing more than the dull roar of blood pounding against my ears and the sharp pain cleaving open my chest.
 

I couldn’t breathe.

Tristan looked at me as if I were a stranger and what reflected in his face was something I’d seen a lot recently.
 

But I didn’t expect to see it from him.

Distrust.

“Shit.” Julian exhaled, the sound roughly sawing through the silence. “Unless of course you were talking about something else.”

“Shut up, LeVeq,” I whispered, my gaze locked on Tristan.

“I’m…” Julian actually cut himself off. “Okay. I’m leaving.”

No one stopped him.

We continued to stare at each other.

My mouth was dry. I swallowed.

“It wasn’t like that, Tristan.” I managed to get the words past cold lips. “It was…it was part of the Shadow’s sick game. I had to do it to make him stop beating him. He was going to kill him.”

He didn’t move.

I tried again. “I don’t feel that way about —“

“It’s not about the kiss and you know it,” he said quietly.

I did know.

It was simply another lie I’d told myself. Maybe I really couldn’t stop.

The royal mask slipped over his face. “Were you ever going to tell me?”

I’d only wanted to protect him and I’d hurt him so very much.

“Yes. I just needed time.”

But the doubt was there in my voice.

Tristan inhaled sharply, then turned and walked away.

I gripped my towel hard and resisted the urge to run after him.

The beginnings of a headache pounded against my temple. I rubbed my forehead, wishing more than anything that I could take back the past fifteen minutes.

No, scratch that. I wanted a re-do of the past month, the past year.

Maybe then I’d get it right.

A movement came from the door. Brigette leaned against the doorway with her hands in her pockets.

“Hey.” She shifted slightly. “You have a moment?”

Her overly bright, fake voice meant she’d overheard my exchange with Tristan.

“What are you doing here?” My voice sounded like ground glass.

“We should talk.”

That was the last thing I wanted to do.

I turned my back to her and slowly gathered my things.
 

The weight of her gaze grew heavier. Silence expanded and sharpened.

I sighed. “Now’s not a very good—“
 

“It’s important.”

The catch in her voice made me turn. “What is it?”

Her eyes were too wide, her mouth set in a grim line.

“I saw something.”

TWENTY-NINE

The crowd wasn’t as big tonight. Or maybe the bar wasn’t as popular as it once was.

Brigette leaned back, bright eyes taking in the cool blue and silver hues of Silk.

The last time I was here, I’d questioned Gilroy about an Aquidae trafficking ring and the entire conversation had been a gigantic test of who would blink first.

Now, I felt like this entire night was some kind of cosmic joke.

“You brought a baby to a bar.”

“His first underage sneak in. I’m so proud.”

Nathaniel slept peacefully in Brigette’s arms, completely oblivious to the roar of music and people. Humans cast a few side-eyes our way, but no one had called child services.

Yet.

“I went to a lot of concerts while I was pregnant,” Brigette explained. “The vibrations soothe him.”

“But bringing him —“

She shook her head. “It would’ve been more dangerous to leave him behind. I don’t go anywhere without my son, Kendra.”

Being surrounded by the Warrior Prince, the
sondaleur
, and two chevaliers was probably the safest place in the world for her right now.

“Maybe you can leave him in one of the back rooms.”

“With whom?” She shook her head. “No, in the vision I’m sitting out here with Nathaniel and you.”

And altering it would risk changing the course of the outcome. The other elements of her vision were already in place.
 

Tristan sat at the bar, absentmindedly holding a glass of scotch. His
pedaillon
glinted amber under the lights and the way his shirt and jeans clung to his body had attracted the attention of several women.

Alert dark eyes scanned the bar. The coiled, barely leashed energy contained in his frame immediately cast him as something beyond human.

Elementals would immediately mark him as a selkie.

Human women only saw a mysterious guy with a compelling aura of power and strength.

A faint smile danced across his handsome face as he spoke with a petite blonde. She was the third woman who’d approached him and was now the third one turned away. She headed back to her group of friends and I caught a glimpse of her expression.

I wasn’t sure how he was turning them down, but while she looked slightly disappointed, she didn’t look upset.

Tristan caught my gaze. His smile faded, face hardening into a royal mask he usually reserved for others, not for me.

Ignoring the twinge of hurt, I looked around for the two other members of our party. Blaise and Ethan sat in another booth, on the opposite side of the bar.
 

They wore identical scowls that discouraged anyone from approaching them.
 

Our last clairvoyant had finally seen something and it was a vision of me with an untrained ondine, a seven-month-old baby, and three people currently pissed off at me in a chic bar in Lyondale.

The Universe was laughing at me. I was certain of it.

Brigette took another sip of water. When we’d first arrived, she’d been tense, high strung.

But as the evening progressed, she’d slowly relaxed and now even looked as if she might be enjoying herself.

I, on the other hand, grew tenser with each passing minute. I had no idea why we were here and the anxious anticipation was killing me.

The back of my neck prickled. “Will this help me against the Shadow?”

Brigette sighed. “I told you, Kendra. I can’t tell you that. All I know is my magic wouldn’t show me something unless it was important in some way.”

“You really didn’t see anything else?”

“Nope. Just us at this bar. Tonight.” She paused. “Don’t worry, Kendra. I’ll give you what you need.”

I nodded.
 

She glanced down at Nathaniel’s content, sleeping face. “You know when I first met you, I thought you looked so much like your mother.”

I toyed with my glass. “Yeah?”

“But now I think you look more like your father. Something about the way you smile.”

My chest momentarily felt lighter.

“I’ve seen her before.” Brigette craned her neck and frowned. “Isn’t she a friend of yours?”

A familiar blonde weaved through the crowd with two Redavi ondines.

Oh, for crying out loud.

Tristan began to move, then caught my eye. I shook my head slightly.
 

He gave a brief nod then moved toward the opposite end of the bar, closer to the main entrance. He was already taking out his phone and I felt a moment’s pity for the gardinel receiving a verbal ass-kicking by the Warrior Prince.

“I’ll be back,” I muttered.

“We’re not going anywhere.” Brigette caressed her son’s cheek.

I pushed my way through the undulating crowd toward the trio huddled near the bar.

They were trying way too hard to adopt a disinterested older look while simultaneously checking out the guys on the floor.
 

It made for an odd combination. They looked like they had twitchy eyes.

“What are you doing here?”
 

Cara and Jaime stared at me as if I’d grown a second head.

Amber covered up her shock with a painfully fake smile. “Um…hi. What’s up?”

“I need to talk to you.”

Her overly bright expression faltered. “Well, um, it’s just I came with —“

“I need to talk to her,” I said to Cara and Jaime.

My urgency must’ve been pretty clear because the color drained from their faces and they immediately scurried away.

Amber sighed. “You really need to work on your tact.”

“What are you doing here?”

She mumbled something under her breath. The blaring music completely swallowed her words.

“What?”

She looked slightly uncomfortable. “It’s my birthday.”

Oh. I vaguely remembered her asking me to celebrate with her and felt a twinge of guilt that I hadn’t bothered to respond.

“I thought you were fighting with them.”

Amber had been in the process of breaking a long-held binding arrangement with Dylan, the heir to the Rosamund family.