Page 67 of A Fate of Blood and Magic (Fated #2)

I lifted my hands and whooped when my second throw landed in the center. The excited shout hung over the quiet crowd, drawing unwanted attention toward me.

“Not quite.” Donnie chuckled.

I crossed my arms, trying to ignore the judgment I felt from everyone watching me, but I was a queen to a kingdom deep in turmoil that my own kind had brought to them. Was it right for me to find joy in the small moments?

“That’s crap,” I mumbled.

His grin faded as his face paled.

“You okay?” I gripped his elbow.

“Yeah, sure,” he said, pointing at an empty chair not far from us. “Can you bring me that chair?”

I dragged over two wooden chairs, helping him sit while I took the second chair right in front of him.

“Finish your round.” He lifted his chin when I didn’t move.

“You know this is just a setback, right?” I asked. “You’ll be back to normal in no time.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

Without saying anything, Elias brought us two glasses of water and kissed my head. He and Donnie made a show of not looking at each other before Elias headed back to our group.

My lungs squeezed at Donnie’s crestfallen expression.

“You two are acting like lovestruck teenagers,” I said.

From a distance, I heard Elias’s laugh.

“His mom died because of me,” Donnie said.

Although our bond was missing, I swore I felt Elias stiffen. Around us, several patrons turned their attention to us.

Damn fae and their super hearing.

I jerked, narrowing my eyes at him. “That’s not true. ”

I felt Brenton’s familiar magic rise around us in an invisible shield just as Elias stepped to my side. With his hand on my shoulder, he stared back at Donnie.

“Your mother died to save my life,” Donnie said, still a little breathless.

“My mother didn’t die to save you,” Elias said, his tone serious. “She died to save herself.”

I gasped, and he turned his beautiful eyes to me.

“Tell me I’m wrong,” he said.

“I just hadn’t thought of it like that.”

He leaned down to kiss my head. “It’s all I’ve thought about,” he whispered in my ear. Then to Donnie, he said, “Get on with your game so Teddy and I can annihilate you and Cierra.”

Donnie laughed hard enough that it brought on an onslaught of coughs, but when he finished, Elias grinned.

“If you die again, Teddy and I have nothing left to bargain over.” His voice was light and joking.

Donnie laughed again while I smacked Elias’s hard stomach.

“Elias.”

He lifted a brow. “Mo elma?”

“Do you miss your magic?” Donnie asked.

I rubbed the center of my chest, and just as I’d done for Elias when I’d seen him do that same motion, he took my hand to kiss my wrist.

“We’d miss you more,” Elias said.

I nodded, my eyes filling with all we’d lost, everything we’d yet to lose, and what we’d gained.

Elias had lost the most, and I saw the many ways in which not having his magic affected him. It was as if a visceral part of him was missing .

Tapping his foot on the wooden floor, he shook his head.

“You were there with me.” He swallowed hard.

“You didn’t leave my side until what I thought was the end.

That was enough, Ted. I wasn’t alone. I had my best friend with me, holding my hand.

It was enough.” His words came out quietly, but his eyes stayed trained on mine.

I leaned forward and took his clenched hand. “It wasn’t enough for me.”

I was taken aback when his eyes welled with tears, and a single drop fell down his cheek.

“Donnie—”

“I was angry with both of you that night in the woods, and despite everything that’s happened, I still don’t think what you did was right,” Donnie told Elias, wiping away another tear that fell.

He sniffled before he squared his shoulders.

After a few blinks, his eyes cleared. “After the way I treated y’all.

. .I left in the middle of your wedding night because I was still so angry. ”

I wiped at my own tears, the hurt that I’d felt at his sudden disappearance hitting me again. It’d gutted me when I realized Donnie had left the wedding. Surrounded by so much laughter and love, I still felt that gaping hole created by his sudden disappearance.

“I don’t know if you were right. If I’m the cause of all this hate humans have for us and the reason they attacked.

It feels like I am, but I honestly don’t know,” Elias said, his throat bobbing.

“I don’t know if I should’ve done things differently.

I did what I thought was best for my people and my family, and I must now live with the guilt of losing three hundred and sixty-two people, both human and fae, young and old.

It is your right to leave Niev if you choose, but I’d like you to finish your plans for the rehabilitation program and train George and our guards in your ways.

I’d like to try your methods on prisoners before we resort to death.

I can’t promise you my instincts won’t take over should someone come after my family, but I can try.

I’d like you and George to lead these efforts, but that choice is yours. ”

With a shaky breath, Donnie extended his hand for a handshake that Elias clasped. “I can do that.”

But change would take time. Time to enact and time for people to acclimate to. My only hope was that these pointless deaths would cease as things changed.

“We haven’t decided on what to do with those who attacked us,” Elias continued.

“We’ve been waiting for you to be well enough to attend a meeting so we can discuss it openly before I bring it to our council.

” He leaned his elbows on his knees. “Which is a whole other situation I need to discuss. Who my father chose for his council doesn’t suit me.

Since I accepted my crown, I’ve given this much thought.

If you both accept, I’d like you and Alastor to be Teddy’s and my head advisers.

Together, you’d choose thirteen individuals to take part in the council, and anything the council decides either needs to be approved or rejected by both of you. ”

If Donnie and Alastor accepted the roles, rather than hold another informal meeting with our friends, we’d have our head advisers call forth a formal council meeting to discuss the matter.

“What if we can’t come to an agreement?” Donnie asked. “I know Alastor, George, and Everly want the prisoners killed. Even if every council member agrees to their death, what happens if I don’t?”

Elias pressed his tongue to the inside of his cheek.

“You don’t need to choose George or Everly to sit on your council.

While I trust them, I’m not sure that having both would be beneficial, as they share similar views.

If you accept the position, it’d be up to you to select who to work with, but I believe having people with varying opinions opens us up to what I hope will be a positive change.

Teddy and I may sit in on council meetings, and should the council not reach an agreement, Teddy and I will decide. ”

Donnie shook his head. “If we can’t agree, and you’re the deciding factor, there’s no need to ask me to be your adviser.”

“I know I’m stubborn and set in my ways, Donnie,” Elias said, a small smile on his face. “You’re just as inflexible. Surely you see that?”

Donnie huffed, but I saw the smile he tried to hide. “Maybe I am. My grandma raised me to believe in a god who forgives us if we repent and change. Killing someone prevents that forgiveness from ever happening.”

Elias nodded in understanding. “It’s hard to go back on something you hold fundamentally true, but I believe we need a change.

That’s why we need you and Alastor as our head advisers.

If I wanted my own opinion repeated to me, I’d keep the council I now have.

Or I’d place George or Everly as my adviser.

I’ve considered Brenton. He’s more . . .

empathetic than the rest of us. But in the end, if I want two opposing views that I’ll respect and listen to, you and Alastor are my best options.

The point isn’t for us all to agree but to work together to better everyone’s future.

And with the shifter fae wanting to help in the human realm and wanting unrestricted access to Niev, we need that change. ”

“Are you still considering allowing open access?” I asked, startled by his words.

“Yes.” He turned to me, his violet eyes steady.

“I’ve spent years killing fae and creatures that I hate, all to protect my people.

Javier said that if we do that, we’re not fighting for the people we love.

He’s right.” Elias tugged at the hem of his shirt.

“If the shifters are willing to aid the humans after everything, then I’m willing to give them open access to the resources we have in abundance.

These bombings and killings have created more distrust among our kinds, but I can’t continue killing or living in fear over what may never happen.

We’ll be vigilant, and we’ll come up with punishments suitable for the crimes committed.

I don’t yet know what that punishment will be for the people responsible for so many innocent deaths, but I’m choosing to trust the process. ”

I leaned down to take Elias’s hand. I wasn’t sure how I felt about trusting humans or granting open access to our kingdom, but I trusted Elias. I trusted Donnie and Alastor too.

Without warning, Elias rose, his canines pulled down and his eyes black as he rushed toward the edge of the invisible barrier Brenton had erected. His snarl echoed in the tavern, and I found myself drawing closer to Donnie when Elias raced toward George and Hayden.

A hush fell over the patrons, confusion and worry crossing each of their features as they looked at one another with distrust. A scream rang from outside the tavern, and a chill ran down my spine.

While George hurried outside with Everly and other warriors and members of the human patrol force, Hayden stayed at Elias’s side.

Although every part of me wanted to curl into myself and hide, I forced myself to join them. Donnie took my elbow and led me to them while my heart battered in my chest.

Brenton drew around us with Evander and Cierra joining as well, while I did my best to quiet my racing thoughts. But was it happening again ?

“Hayden, I need you to bend space and take Teddy and our younglings home,” Elias said. “They don’t need to see this.”

Before Hayden bowed, I noted the gray pallor of his skin.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

Despite the black in Elias’s eyes, neither anger nor fear shone behind them. No, this was something different, something mournful.

I ran my hand over my throat. “What happened, Elias?”

“Someone gutted and strung up three humans just outside the tavern.” His voice was low and tremored around each word.

“Pietro is out there with George, trying to get them down before anyone else sees them.” Running a hand across his face, he snapped his attention toward the girls. “I don’t want them to see this.”

“I’ll take them to your home now,” Hayden said.

“Could you take Ryenne and Nate with you?” Donnie asked.

I opened my mouth to ask him to go with them, but his glare stopped me.

“I’m staying,” Donnie said.

“So am I,” I told Elias.

Elias drew in a deep breath that he held in his chest for long seconds. “Promise me you won’t go outside.” Although his attention spanned the tavern, he cradled my cheek against his palm.

“I won’t,” I said. “Be careful.”

“I’ll start questioning the patrons,” Donnie offered.

Already moving toward the exit, Elias said, “That would be wise. See if any truth-tellers can question them with you.”

But Kieren had already told us how people could learn to lie without detection. What other option was there ?

Cierra walked with Donnie while Hayden took my friends and the girls home.

And me, I waited. Waited and waited and waited for an answer. A culprit. Someone we could pin this on. Some way to make this realm safe again.

I waited, hope dying in my chest with every hour that passed by without an answer.