Page 82 of A Fate of Blood and Magic (Fated #2)

“Come on.” Aidas held his hand to Victoria, who only nestled herself closer to Elias. “Javi may not have let you make him into a princess, but I know someone who would.” He sent an exaggerated look at Kieren, who glared back at his friend .

Victoria jumped out of Elias’s lap, and taking Kieren’s hand, she asked, “Will you really let us turn you into a princess?”

Kieren replied in his mind, something I didn’t hear, but it made Victoria cheer. Juanita skipped behind Aidas, who led them to the hallway.

Jasmine blinked, her eyes glistening with tears she held back. She pursed her lips the way I’d seen Javier do when he fought his emotions.

“I don’t want Javier to move back,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Even if he wanted to, I don’t want him moving back.”

Elias slipped off the couch to kneel in front of her. He rubbed his hands over her arms.

“Did something happen with Javier?” he asked.

“He said he isn’t moving back, which is fine because I don’t want him to.”

I bit the inside of my cheek hard enough to taste blood. “People move away when they’re older,” I said, keeping my tone soft. “It happens to everyone. Even you’ll move away one day?—”

“Not any time soon,” Elias grumbled.

“No, not any time soon, but one day, all of you, including the babies in my tummy, will move away,” I said, leaning forward. “It’s a normal and healthy life event, and although we miss Javier very much, we’re also proud of him for thinking of his future and joining the military school.”

She sniffled, and when her brown eyes clashed with mine, I saw the tears that rose and rose. “After Mom died, he promised he’d never leave us. He said—” She shook her head, that defiant look making her features harden.

“He hasn’t left you, Jazz,” I said.

“This—only seeing you once a month—won’t last forever,” Elias added. “In six months, he’ll get two weekends a month of leave, and after a year, he won’t be required to live at the school. Even if he chooses to live in the dorms, he’ll have more free time to visit with you.”

She edged her head up, unrelenting in her need to be angry with her big brother. It wasn’t fair to him when he’d done everything he could to take care of them and had gone beyond what even Donnie had done for Ryenne.

“Javier loves you, Jazz,” I said, my tone gentle but matter-of-fact. “You not seeing him every day doesn’t change that. He loves you so, so much, and there’s absolutely nothing in this world he wouldn’t do for you.”

“No amount of time apart will ever change that,” Elias said.

“Do you promise?” It came out as a whispered hope, one she was frightened wouldn’t come true.

I pressed my palm to my chest. “I swear it.” Because despite whatever life threw their way, Javier would always love his sisters. Nothing could warp that.

She chewed on the bottom of her lip before she nodded. With that, she followed the girls to their playroom.

I heaved out a heavy sigh when Elias sat down beside me. He twined his fingers with mine while we peered up at Alastor expectantly.

“I wanted to give you this,” Alastor said, pulling the living book we’d studied together from his inner pocket of magic.

“Don’t do any magic until your babe is better, but I thought you’d like to read it.

The book hasn’t given me anything on how to locate the orb, but it did disclose a spell I could perform that could possibly help Javi come to terms with his emotional turmoil.

” Alastor ran his long fingers over his chin.

“I should’ve asked you before I told Javier about it, but he’s so torn up about everything that I offered on impulse. ”

Elias ran his hand over my arm when my heart started to race. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “Whatever it is, it’s okay.”

Brenton shifted on my other side, pressing his thigh against mine in support.

“What’s the spell?” I asked, speaking each word slowly while I tried to calm my galloping heart.

“There’s a spell I can cast that will allow me to see your memories, including the emotions,” he explained.

“I can pull the emotions associated with the events of the night his father died and give them to him. He’d feel what you felt as if he were experiencing it through your eyes.

I could pull other memories related to his father’s death. ”

“I—” I ran a hand over my chest only to place it on my stomach. Would seeing my fear and pain terrify him more? I couldn’t deny him those emotions if they could help him, though. “Whatever you need. Whatever he needs. Do you think it would help him?”

“I don’t know that it’ll help,” Alastor said.

His normally calm demeanor slipped when he stood to pace.

“I don’t want to hurt you or your babes by saying this, but the youngling is not only heartbroken over his father but also over you two.

If he had access to yours and Elias’s emotions, he might gain insight into the strength of the soul-bound mate’s instincts to protect his mate at all costs. ”

I blinked back the threatening tears, hating this. It didn’t matter that I’d never meant to hurt him when it was exactly what I’d done.

I loved him—his heart and kindness and easy nature. I loved how he looked after the girls and teased them. I loved the relationship we’d built. I just . . . I loved him dearly and missed him just as much.

“He’s confused because he still cares very much for both of you, but he feels betrayed, and it’s hurting him immensely.

If what you both told him is true, then I think it would help him to see that Elias didn’t murder his father, but acted because he feared for his mate’s life.

The spell will allow me to absorb his emotions and his thought processes.

I can do the same with you, Teddy. I think if he can see it wasn’t premeditated, if he can feel Elias’s remorse .

. . I honestly don’t know, but maybe it will help him find some solace.

Some. ..peace. I know you miss him, Ted, and I know you’re hurting over hurting him, and I don’t know if him seeing these memories will help rebuild the bond you had.

But it might provide a space from which he can start to heal. ”

Nodding, I wiped away my tears. “I’ll do whatever you think might help him. I don’t expect him to forgive me.” I paused when my throat thickened. “I don’t expect him to want me back in his life. I want him to be okay. That’s all I want.”

If he could find healing or solace in this mess Elias and I had created, it’d be worth it.

“Will this harm the babes?” Elias asked.

“Elias,” I warned.

“I have to ask, mo elma. ” Remorse shone in his pale violet eyes. “Don’t be upset with me for having to ask. I know you’ll still do it, but I’d rather we do it with Leah present in case something happens.”

With my shoulders sagging, I lifted my hand to catch another tear. I sniffled, wrapping my arms around myself to ward off the chill that leached in my bones.

“I don’t think?— ”

“It won’t harm the babes,” Alastor said, interrupting Brenton.

“Neither of you has to do anything. If Brenton will allow it, I can use his blood, which is bonded to Teddy. Teddy’s bond to Elias will join all of you.

You won’t have to relive the memories, and it shouldn’t take more than a few beats. ”

“Okay,” Brenton said.

“Okay,” Elias and I repeated.

“I’ll have to rummage through your memories,” Alastor said. “I promise not to look at any memory that isn’t relevant to this.”

“Take whatever you need,” I told him. “I trust you.”

I didn’t care if he took every single one of my memories and offered them to Javier.

This—the possibility of him finding any sort of peace over how he lost his father—was a far greater gift than I could imagine.

Alastor could strip me bare, offer every one of my sins and mistakes to him, and I wouldn’t balk as long as it helped him.

He was a good kid. A great young man who deserved far better than what life had given him. I couldn’t change the past. I couldn’t offer him a better future. But I hoped this would help him forge his own way to something better for himself.