Page 48 of A Taste of Bliss

Simon leaves the living room and goes over to the kitchen table, where the jet lag tonic is sitting. He unscrews the lid, giving it a sniff and pouring some into a glass. He brings it to his lips.

“Stop!” Shaun yells, the word so forceful in my mind that I still for a second.

Simon, however, is frozen, the glass looking almost stuck to his lips. He doesn’t move a muscle but his eyes are wide, and they dart from Shaun to me and back.

Shaun rushes forward, plucking the glass out of Simon’s hands. “Sorry, um, you can move again.”

Simon all of a sudden stumbles forward, as if some invisible force was holding him upright. “Fuck, what was that?”

I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen Shaun’s command in action. Wolf shifters can sometimes command other fae, but usually only for small periods of time. Shaun told me his onlyworks when he’s feeling intense emotions—fear, for example. According to Simon’s bewildered look, he’s never seen it in action either.

Shaun glances over his shoulder at Evan, an exasperated look on his face. “Have you not explained to Simon the difference between fae doses and human doses? If he had drunk that, he would have been higher than a fucking kite.”

Evan is on his feet in less than a second. “Me?” he asks, genuinely confused. “What are you on about?”

“You’re his sponsor, or did you forget? You haven’t taught him about these types of potions?”

I make my way over to Simon, reaching out for the tonic, inspecting the label. “Is it not safe for humans?” I would never have guessed, though that’s probably pretty stupid of me to assume humans wouldn’t react differently to fae potions.

“I didn’t realize he was even drinking it. I’m not his fucking babysitter,” Evan says to Shaun, his voice getting a little louder and more irritated with each word.

“But youarehis sponsor,” Shaun replies. “This is exactly the type of thing you’re supposed to be teaching him.”

Evan rolls his eyes. “Maybe this is my teaching style—you know, learning by making mistakes.”

Shaun shakes his head, muttering something, before saying, “You need to be more careful.”

Evan shrugs. “Fine.” He turns to Simon. “Don’t drink tonics without looking up what the human dosage is, mate.”

“Great, thanks.” Simon rolls his eyes, but a soft twitch at the corners of his mouth shows he’s not really all that mad.

I might be, though. Waves of anger have started undulating through me at how cavalier Evan is being about Simon’s sponsorship. Simon’s safety is, as far as I’m concerned, all of our responsibilities. If Evan isn’t going to take this seriously, then I’ll see if Shaun will mentor Simon.

But I’ll bring it up later.

With the mention of Dead Hearts earlier and Evan shirking his responsibilities, I need to cool off. I need to get out, stretch my legs, and take my mind off things, hopefully with some really good food. “Let’s go find something to eat.”

“And a pint or two,” Benny adds.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

PISCES

SIX YEARS AGO

Simon keeps lookingat me with such concern in his eyes it makes me want to break down. It’s been two months, and this is the first time I’ve really gone out to do anything. Simon wouldn’t take no for an answer anymore. I understand his reasoning. Sometimes focusing on doing normal things is what one needs to let time heal everything.

But I’m too broken at this point. I can’t help but think I could have all the time in the world and it wouldn’t be enough to mend these wounds.

My cousin is probably the only person I could be around right now. Anyone else either blames me or pities me, and I can’t handle that.

So we went to the cinema, which sucked, but at least it gave me something to focus on, other than replaying the memory of the crash over and over again.

Now we sit at a cafe, waiting for our food, food I’m probably not going to eat.

My appetite is non-existent these days. She’s never going to eat again, so it feels like I shouldn’t enjoy food either.

Simon gives me a soft smile as we sip on our drinks. “Pisces, I know it doesn’t feel like it, but life will get better.”