Page 45 of Twist of Fate

“Wait. Is this the guy from the airport?”

Connal looked at Luke. “You told him about me?”

“No.”

“You didn’t have to,” Gomez said. “You got weird in your texts.” He pointed at Connal. “Tall. Broody. Looks like he could ruin your life. I knew it.”

Luke closed his eyes briefly. “You guessed.”

“Accurately.” Gomez looked between them again. “And now you’re both in a sparkly castle. Did he scoop you? This feels like a scoop situation.”

Connal did not understand most of those words, but he understood the suspicion in Gomez’s expression. The human was injured, stranded in an unfamiliar place, and still prepared to challenge anyone he believed had harmed Luke.

His manner was irritating. His loyalty was not.

“He is here because you required him,” Zer said.

Luke turned toward him. “What?”

“You stated you could not remain without him.”

“That did not mean go kidnap him!”

Zer’s expression remained unchanged. “The problem has been resolved.”

Connal understood his brother’s reasoning. Luke had identified the obstacle preventing him from remaining in the Unseelie, and Zer had removed it. Before meeting Luke, Connal would have considered that efficient.

Now he saw the flaw. Zer had solved the problem without allowing either human a choice.

Gomez raised one hand from the bed. “I would like the official record to show that the alleged problem has two broken legs and was not consulted.”

Luke crouched beside him and checked the supports holding his casts in place. “You could have hurt him.”

“I took care not to worsen his injuries,” Zer said.

“That is not the point,” Connal told him.

Zer looked at him.

Connal glanced at Gomez again. This was the human Luke considered his brother—the family he refused to abandon. Whatever inconvenience his arrival created, Gomez’s safety mattered because he mattered to Luke.

“We will have a healer examine him,” Connal said.

Gomez narrowed his eyes. “What kind of healer?”

Before Connal could answer, Avaneel poked her head out from beneath Zer’s long hair. “I will fetch one.”

Gomez’s mouth fell open. “Oh. My. God. You’re…you’re…tiny. And you have pretty wings! And wow!”

Avaneel flew free and floated in front of Gomez. “I am a pixie.”

“You’re magnificent!”

She preened beneath the praise, then glanced at Zer. “I like this human.”

“Avaneel,” Connal said, “bring a healer and tell Cosmo that Zer has returned with Gomez.”

She spun once around Gomez’s head, drawing a delighted laugh from him, then vanished through the doorway.