15. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Tan

T o be honest, I wasn't sure what I'd expected him to say or how he could possibly explain not knowing how bad it was for the fae out there. But I certainly hadn't expected anything about a curse.

"Maybe I can take a look at the curse and figure out how to break it—"

"You can't." He growled it out, and I snapped my mouth shut and sat up straighter. "Sorry. That… wasn't aimed at you. But, Tan, you can't break it. I already know exactly how to break the curse."

I blinked. "Um, okay. So then… why haven't you?"

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Because it's an impossible task. There's nothing I can do about it." He stared at me, and I could see the pleading in his gaze. "I… I can't… I—"

"Shh." I gave his hand a squeeze. "You don't have to tell me right now, okay? This was enough. More than enough."

He closed his eyes and bowed his head as he exhaled loudly.

To my surprise—and probably Garrick's—Orangelica stood and moved closer to him, then she wiggled her way onto his lap, rubbing against him and purring. My heart melted for my Bonded. She was so sweet, trying to comfort the big, grumpy dragon.

I was afraid Garrick would get annoyed with her, but he surprised me too by hugging her to his chest and giving her lots of good scratches behind her ears—her favorite spot.

"Thank you, pretty kitty," he murmured a few minutes later, and I watched my Bonded do a little love-head-butt on his chin. It made me smile.

I glanced over at Roman, who still hadn't said anything, and the man shot me a smile that looked sort of fond. I sent him one back, then refocused on the man beside me.

"Do you want me to get you a glass of water or anything?"

He moved his gaze up to mine and shook his head. "No, thank you." He took a breath. "I talked to my board this morning and told them to revoke those awful laws. I stayed up last night to rewrite everything and ordered them to put my plan into place. Then I fired the Speaker of the Tower. He passed those laws behind my back."

"He took advantage of you and your trust. They all did," Roman said, finally joining us at the sitting area. He pulled an extra chair over and sat on the other side of the coffee table from us.

"We don't know if it was all of them, but we do know the Speaker was involved. We knew that before we even entered that room."

"You should've fired all of them."

"I'm giving them a chance, sort of."

I asked, "What does that mean?"

Garrick sighed. "I have a specialist gathering intel on all of the LPs. I'm hoping by the end of next week, we'll have all the evidence we need to either fire or keep them in office."

I nodded. "Good."

He gave me a nod back but looked completely haggard. I felt bad for him, but also… he'd been the one to neglect things, so… yeah.

But I didn't like him looking so upset, beaten down, and heartbroken. As always, I wanted to make him happy. But that wasn't possible right now. Plus, Orangelica seemed to have it in hand, so as difficult as it was to turn away from Garrick, I focused on the other man in the room. I needed to clear these things up for my own peace of mind.

I asked Roman, "Why didn't you tell him what was happening?"

He sucked in a breath. "I didn't realize how bad it'd gotten out there. I… don't spend much time in the city when I'm here. I travel a lot, and when I am home, I'm usually with His Majesty. Since he's stuck here, so am I."

"You had to have known."

He dipped his head in acquiescence. "I knew the fae were being discriminated against, yes. But, like I said, I didn't know the extent, and I had no idea that Garrick didn't know about these laws. I thought… he passed them himself."

I narrowed my eyes at him but didn't know what to say to that. Both of them were neglectful, and their actions had led to more harm than either of them knew. The fae had been suffering horribly for years because of them. Hell, my friend had been living on the streets for most of his life because of it. How many other people had been suffering because these two didn't do their jobs?

I liked both of them, I really did, but I wasn't about to forgive their actions simply because I enjoyed their company. They had a lot to make up for.

But maybe I could be a part of the solution and help the people of Sedoba. If they'd let me.

"Garrick's had a rough time, so it's not really his fault either. Neither of us knew the LPs and Speaker were so untrustworthy."

"Stop covering for me, Roman," Garrick said, still petting Orangelica but staring at me. "Roman tried to tell me years ago, but I was… in a dark place, and I wouldn't hear it. I kicked him out of my home and office for two months because I didn't want to deal with him or… anything. I can't blame him for not bringing it up again."

Roman said, "I didn't know Ralodove had gone behind your back. I thought you knew about the laws. I thought you passed them. He forged your signature, and I… didn't catch it. I'm sorry."

Garrick sighed. "It's no one's fault but my own. Roman has been off on a mission, only coming back when the assassins get bad."

I glanced between the two of them before landing on Roman. "You've been on a mission for twenty-five years?"

He looked unusually serious. "Yes."

I opened my mouth, then snapped it shut. "Does it have to do with the curse?"

Roman nodded. "Yes, partly."

"And can I assume the assassins are a part of this… story you guys haven't told me yet?" Seeing as I'd never heard of blood witches before helping the two of them, and yet, they were involved in both the curse and the assassination attempts, it seemed likely that the two things were related.

Garrick sucked in a breath but still answered, "Yes."

"Okay. I won't ask anything more, but I hope you know I'm here when you're ready to talk." It killed me not to demand answers, but I could see how much those answers pained Garrick—and Roman too—and I didn't want to add to that. I could be patient when I needed to.

Garrick sent me a soft look. "Thank you, little pretty."

I rolled my eyes. "You're welcome, Sir Dragon Breath."

He let out a snort and shook his head, then became Mr. Serious again. "I'm truly sorry for everything I've done, Tan. You have no idea how much. I… I'm going to do everything I can to fix my mistakes. I know that doesn't fix everything. There are people who've suffered, and I can't take that trauma away, but I can do better now and in the future."

I… believed every word. Like I'd said earlier, he'd never lied to me before, and I didn't think he was now.

I cleared my throat. "It's going to take a lot of time and work, but I… I believe you. I know you're going to help your people."

He stared at me for a long time before whispering, "Thank you for your trust."

I gave him a nod. "In the meantime, Remi, Bel, and I have been handing out personal shield charms, as well as heat charms, to help anyone living on the street. I'm sure we can figure out some other programs to help people too." When I realized I was inserting myself into his kingdom stuff, I quickly added, "I mean, if you want the help. Sorry, I didn't mean to overstep." I went to move my hand away, but Garrick didn't let me.

He held on tighter. "You're not overstepping. I'd love to hear your ideas. Anytime."

I sucked in a breath and gave him a nod.

His eyes softened, and he squeezed my hand one more time before releasing it and pulling Orangelica to his chest. He stood and walked over to his desk. When he sat behind it, I expected my Bonded to wriggle free and trot back over to me, but she just plopped in his lap and kept purring.

"I'm never getting my cat back, am I?" I asked Roman, wanting to lighten the tension in the room.

He grinned at me. "Likely not."

"Maybe I'll adopt him his own and do a switch-a-roo."

He chuckled. "Good luck with that."

Garrick got right to work, and I figured I should probably do the same. So, with a sigh, I stood to walk to my desk. Before I got two feet away, I turned back. "Hey, Roman?"

"Yeah?"

I glanced at Gar to make sure he wasn't paying attention to me, then leaned down and spoke in a whisper. "I'm going to find a way to help him with the curse. I know he doesn't want me to, but I'm going to anyway."

A slow smile spread across his face. "I don't doubt that you will."

"Will you help me?"

He put his fist over his heart and did a tiny head bow. "I will do anything to help my king and his agusha . Of course I'll help you."

I didn't know what an agusha was, but I figured he meant the curse or his kingdom or something like that, so I just smiled at him. "Thank you."

"My pleasure, Tan." He stood and headed for the door. "I'll be in my office." He left the room and presumably walked across the hall to his office.