Maybe Fate: A Novel (New Adult Paranormal Romance) (30 page)

“
You're
welcome.” Reaching over, he eagerly took a big chug of from
his cup.

It
was strange, thinking about how typical this felt. How only
recently, I'd been terrified of Ethlyn, what he could—or
would—do to me.

For
a long minute, I studied him, expecting him to explain himself. When
he seemed content to just sit in silence and drain his cocoa, I
cleared my throat. “So, uh, why did you want to talk to me?”

The
twaelin slid forward, hunching in close so he could whisper to me.
“Becky confided something to me last night, something that's
been burning a hole in my mind ever since.”

“
Um,”
I said, a bit stunned.
Talk
about dramatic.
“Alright,
what did she say?” I hoped it hadn't been a confession of
love.

His
eyes fixed on me, steady. “She said she thought you and
Nethiun were dating.”

Hot
chocolate spilled everywhere, soaking the table. In my shock, I'd
knocked my cup over sideways.
A
confession of love, but not about him and her.

Ethlyn
made a sharp, dejected sound, hurrying to catch the cup. Sitting
there, I watched the brown liquid drip down to the floor, my body
frozen. “I—she said what?”

“
You
wasted so much of this...” Grunting, he pulled some napkins
off of a nearby table, mopping up the mess diligently. “She
said she was sure you and him were together. I told her she was
crazy, which, by the way, she didn't take so well. But she has to be
joking, right? There's no way you'd do something so reckless as
getting close to Nethiun.”

Reaching
up, I covered my mouth and looked away.

“
Gale?
Gale, tell me she's wrong.”

I
stared at the floor next.

“
Gale,”
he growled softly. His hand reached out, touching my forearm. That
was enough to make me jerk away, our eyes meeting with wildly
different expressions; mine was guilt, his was surprised anger.
“No,” he said. “No, you're kidding. Tell me you
and him aren't...”

I
just shook my head, knowing that lying was pointless. “It's
none of your business what he and I—”

“
It
is!” His fist came down on the table, making it shake with his
force. It was a hard, violent sound, and it drew the blatant eye of
students who had already been watching us covertly. “Gale, how
can you be so stupid?”

“
Excuse
me?”

“
Nethiun!
He's a monster, don't you get that?”

I
felt
my eyebrows lowering to the point of skin-tightening discomfort.
“How is he any more of a monster than you are?”

“
Him
and I are not the same,” he snapped. Slowly, he sat back in
his chair, hands folding on the table like he was getting control of
himself. “Gale, why don't you listen to my advice, to
Valenforth's advice?”

“
So
he told you about that day in the park.”

“
Of
course he did, and I'm glad he talked to you. I thought that would
have given you some understanding of your position.”

I
smoothed my face, tilting my chin down an inch. “I'm sorry,
'my position' you said?”

Again,
he reached out for me. This time, I pulled my hands off the table
before he even got close. Through my haze of irritation, I spotted
the flicker of paint on Ethlyn's face.

What
is that about?

“
Gale,”
he started carefully, “you're not thinking about this right.
I'm not telling you to avoid Nethiun because he's a twaelin like me,
but because he's at the whims of his Mistress.”

“
And
you're at the whim of your Corpse King,” I replied flatly.

“
Yes,
but we want to keep you safe from whatever Nethiun's Mistress wants
with you.”

“
Do
you?” I asked, staring him straight in his rich yellow orbs.
“You don't know what anyone wants with me still, right?”

“
I—well,
no, but—”

“
Then,”
I whispered, grabbing my backpack. “Don't claim things you
can't be sure of.”

“
Gale,
wait.” That time, I couldn't pull away before he had my wrist.
His touch was firm, it held my like iron. “Listen to me. I
want to—to protect you.”

Tilting
my head, I felt my hair tickle my neck. “Protect me from what,
Nethiun?”

“
Yes,
exactly!”

“
He
told me something very similar,” I said, and suddenly, my
brain began to click a suspicion together. It was a frightening
assumption, and my lips parted as the idea crossed my mind.

Staring
down at Ethlyn's hand on me, how he held me tight, the way he was
professing his desire to keep me safe...
Oh,
no, please don't tell me he—no, it can't be.

I
made a tight fist, tugging gently at my arm; he didn't let go.
“Ethlyn, I'm starting to freak out a little here. I need you
to—to tell me that
I'm
crazy, because I just had a thought.”

His
fine eyebrows crawled up, that mouth a puckered line. “What
are you talking about?”

Swallowing,
my pulse thumping insanely fast, I tried to look him in the eye
again.

I
couldn't, not anymore.

“
Do
you... oh, God.” I lowered my voice to a bare hush. “Do
you
like
me, the way you're freaking out over me and Nethiun, I...”

He
let me go, leaving marks on my skin that soon turned pink as blood
returned. “If I say yes, what will you do?”

Oh,
shit shit shit shit.

Moving
like I was stuck in honey, I tugged my bag over my shoulder and
stood. I couldn't look away from him, as if I expected him to do
something rash. “Ethlyn, no. No, you can't feel that way about
me.”

“
Why
not?” he hissed, pouting like a child being denied a toy. “You
don't get to decide how I feel.”

“
You're...
you're not even...”

“
What?”
His mouth twisted into a disgusted sneer. “'Human'? Is that
what you were about to say?”

Shaking
my head in a daze, I tried to find the words, the
right
words, to smooth everything over. To return it to normal, to god
damn normal.

Everything
had been normal until then, again, hadn't it? “No, I was going
to say you aren't listening to me. You can't feel that way about me
because I don't... I don't feel like that about you.”

That
stopped him, a stoic look taking over so quickly it surprised me.
“So, you can love someone like Nethiun, who is so far away
from being human it's astounding, but not someone like me, who's at
least trying?”

What
does that mean... trying to be human?

“
I
never said I
love
him, Ethlyn. But what are you talking about, how can you be 'more'
human than him?”

He
leaned back in his chair, eyeing me with that same emotionless face.
“How do you think I bought you that cocoa?”

I
hadn't considered that, but now that he pointed it out, I stared at
the empty cups on the table.
Last
night, Nethiun couldn't even buy me a dollar priced snack. How DID
he get us drinks?

Before
I could ask further, he dug into his pocket and pulled out a wallet.
Peeling it open, he showed me the money inside. “I've got
cash, I'm going to this college, and I even have a real ID. That's
how I'm more human than he is. Gale, I can pass as a human, I can do
all of it.”

I
opened my mouth, but no words came.

Ethlyn
buried the wallet away, a frail smile spreading over his face. “See?
I want to help you, to keep you safe. To
be
with you. And I'd be a better fit, I—”

“
No.”
It was a simple word, but it was all I had.

“
No?”
he asked, blinking

I
let my eyes wander to his, taking in his unease, his anxiety.
He
is far more human, isn't he? Why is that?
“That's
not what I'm using, some sort of weird humanity gauge. You don't get
to decide who's better for me, Ethlyn. You just don't. Whatever I
feel for Nethiun, it isn't your business.”

The
twaelin sat there, saying nothing.

Hoisting
my backpack, I turned partially away, ready to escape the awkward
situation. “I'm sorry you feel the way you do about me,
Ethlyn. You hardly know me, and I don't get why you'd like someone
like me at all, but... I don't feel that way about you. I'm sorry
for that.”

Hanging
his head, he glared off to the side at nothing. His voice was soft,
cracking. I realized it sounded like he might break down, and almost
panicked. “I'm sorry, too. I don't... I'm just sorry.”

I
didn't know what else to do. My feet made the choice for me.

Turning,
I walked away, my mood drowned in the most discomfort I could ever
imagine.

I'd
never had to turn someone down, and I didn't want to face that
feeling ever again.

Nethiun

I'd
never, as far as I could ever, ever remember, wanted anything more
than I wanted Gale Everette.

When
I'd tasted her lips, her sweet anxiety, her exquisite exhilaration
as I carried her over the ocean... it still wasn't enough.

After
that moment, cradling her in the wild onyx skies that screamed
around us, promised us rain but never gave it, I couldn't get her
out of my head.