Page 64 of Twist of Fate

He didn’t.

The faint pull he’d felt since meeting Connal remained quiet beneath his ribs. Luke still didn’t understand the bond or what it expected from him, but he could no longer pretend it was something only Connal experienced.

The thought should have unsettled him more than it did.

Luke gave himself another moment before concern pushed through the warmth.

Gomez.

Carefully, he eased his hand from Connal’s chest and began untangling their legs. Connal’s arm loosened immediately, allowing him to sit up.

“Where are you going?” Connal said without opening his eyes.

Luke looked down at him. “Were you awake?”

“I am now.”

“That was a suspiciously fast answer.”

Connal opened his eyes. “You were leaving.”

“I’m checking on Gomez.”

Connal’s expression tightened briefly, but he did not reach for Luke or tell him to remain.

“Avaneel came shortly after dawn,” he said. “Gomez slept through the night. He woke demanding food and an explanation for why the flowers above his bed had begun singing.”

Luke paused. “The flowers really sing?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“They are pixie flowers.”

Apparently that explained everything.

Luke swung his feet to the floor. “I still need to see him.”

Connal pushed himself upright. “Then go.”

The easy answer caught Luke off guard. Yesterday, Connal would have insisted upon accompanying him—or simply declared that Luke wasn’t leaving at all.

Now he waited.

Luke crossed to the door and entered the corridor. The neighboring chamber stood open, allowing a flood of pixie voices to spill into the hall. He moved close enough to look inside.

Gomez sat propped in the middle of his mountain of pillows, holding court beneath the flowering tree. A tray rested across his lap while half a dozen pixies competed to offer him increasingly elaborate breakfast choices. Cosmo lounged in a chair beside the bed, watching the spectacle with open delight.

“And this one has what inside it?” Gomez asked.

“Honey, cream, and moonberries,” a pixie answered.

Gomez pressed one hand to his chest. “You understand me in ways no one else ever has.”

Avaneel noticed Luke at the door. She smiled and gave him a solemn nod, as if confirming that the situation remained under control.

Luke believed her.