Broken Promise (The Broken Ones Book 3) (9 page)

Bo frowned and glanced over at her.
"Thank you."

The barmaid smiled at him and then frowned
at the busy room. "If you want to know more come by before we open
tomorrow."

Aro grinned.

The light may of have been dim, but she was
pretty sure Bo actually blushed as he stuttered out that he would.

You're so cute.

Don't start, pup.

Chapter 9

Why?

Aro was jarred from sleep when Kei
jerked up in bed beside her. Holding in a groan, she kept her eyes closed and
tried to go back to sleep as he left.

She heard voices in the hall.

"She have a bad night?" She
couldn't hear Kei's response, and Bo continued, "She's been thinking of
her brothers a lot. It should pass."

His words brought them back into her
thoughts and she sighed. Kei and Garen reported the dock area not to be too
bad, though they didn't think she should ever go alone at night. However, in light
of what they'd heard about Captain Roan from Elaina, Bo decided they should
wait a few days for things to calm down.

She didn't want to wait. Now that she had
finally started trying to find out what happened to her brothers, doing so was
foremost on her mind.

Are you getting up?

She winced at the loudness of Kei's
voice in her head.
It's early still.

The sun rose a while ago. Get up.

Kei needed to get more sleep. Every day
he became more irritable and foul tempered. Grumbling in irritation, she crawled
out of bed and got dressed. At least her clothes were new and clean. Soft black
leather pants and a white fitted linen shirt made her feel like a new person.
Her underclothes were even comfortable.

She found the boys in the kitchen and
joined their search for something to eat. The West Wind didn't open until noon,
so they either ate breakfast at home or went out to eat from the market stalls.

Settling on bread with honey, she
watched Bo pace around the room, wondering why he was in such a state before
remembering his meeting with Elaina. "Stop worrying."

He paused and frowned over at her.
"I don't know what to say to her."

"Then let her do the talking. Tell
her she looks pretty. Girls like that."

"Should I bring something?"

Aro shrugged. She wasn't exactly an
expert on courting. "Just be yourself. You'll do fine."

"You're not coming?" The
rising panic in his voice made her laugh.

"That would rather defeat the
purpose."

"I'm taking a bath." Spinning
on his heel, he made a quick escape.

She grinned over at Kei. "Poor
Bo."

"Why are you encouraging
this?"

She tipped her head and looked at him in
confusion. He hadn't seemed bothered by the idea before. "He likes
her."

"We're leaving in the spring."

"I know. But that is months away
and he can come back. He deserves this, after everything we've been
through."

"Just because you can't have the
one you love doesn't mean you should push it on everyone else."

She stared at Kei in shock as he turned
and strode from the room, totally at a loss for words.

∞ ∞ ∞

Bo managed to leave the house at a
decent time, with some help and a lot of prodding from her. She and Garen
watched him from the sitting room window until he went out the gate. She hoped
things went well for him. If not, she'd still encourage him to try again. She
certainly knew how persistence paid off sometimes when it came to love. At
least the woman he fancied was human. He didn't have any of the issues that
stood between her and Prince. Mortality, race, station.

He'll do fine,
Garen said,
confusing her grimace for worry over Bo.

"I know."

I told him I am here, if he needs
support.

She grinned down at the wolf.
"Hopefully you know more about this sort of thing than I do. I'm afraid I
haven't been much help at all."

Garen padded over to a sunny patch on
the floor and flopped down.
You are there for him and you helped him get
ready. He'd likely have slit his throat trying to shave on his own.

"True," she agreed. "Have
you seen Kei?"

Not since this morning, however, I
believe he is up in his room.

"He's been acting strange lately,
don't you think? Anything I should know that I apparently don't?"

Garen snorted.
He is frustrated.
Being in a city is not easy for us, and though not even a month has passed, it
seems much longer. His thoughts and worries and yours do not match right now.

She bit her lip, but knew Garen spoke
the truth. Kei constantly thought of the Fey and his lack of a queen. She
thought of Prince and her brothers and just enjoyed not having to run and fight
for once. Or being hungry, or cold, or…

Something banged upstairs, startling her
out of her thoughts. "I'll go talk to him after I clean up Bo's mess."

Pausing at the hall, she turned back.
"How are you doing?"

Well enough. The glamor helps. I can go
out and don't feel trapped here. You needn't worry about me.

Smiling over at him, his words took some
of her worry away. "I'm sure it will feel like no time at all before we're
back running in the forest."

In the bathroom, she tidied up the mess
from shaving Bo. She then swept the kitchen since she'd also sat him down and
trimmed his hair. Once finished, Aro debated asking him how things were going,
but decided against disturbing him. He hadn't returned yet, and she took that
as a good sign.

Heading up the stairs to tackle the mess
of clothes Bo had strewn around his room while trying to find something to wear,
she heard another strange bang and quickened her step. What was Kei doing?

On the landing, she passed the door to
the empty first bedroom and slowed her steps down the narrow hall before
pausing in front of the next door. Kei had it closed, which wasn't normal.
Their rule was closed doors for privacy. Everyone needed alone time, but mostly
they only did it when changing clothes.

"Kei?"

He didn't answer. Placing her hands on
the door, she leaned her ear against it. Inside she could hear the soft steps
of his pacing and a repeated clicking sound.

She jerked back with a start. His claws?

"Kei! What's wrong?" She set
her hand on the latch and then paused, not wanting to barge in. Maybe he wanted
to be left alone. Yet she couldn't leave if he needed her. If his claws were
out, then he'd fallen into the fury. The biggest question was why.

"Kei? Answer me!" The clicking
stopped. "Can I come in?"

The door opened and she hesitated only a
moment before stepping inside. The room was in shambles, the bed askew, sheets
torn. Various items littered the floor. Claw marks slashed through the plaster
on the walls, cutting through scrawled writing.

She stared, trying to read the wild
script and failing with most of the words. Some she could read, and they were
enough to set her heart racing in worry.

Queen. Guardian. Consort. Time. Remade.
Royal. Fall. Rise. Death.

"Words," Kei whispered.
"Words in my head."

Turning to him, she wasn't surprised to
find him in a fury, red eyes, claws, and all. His hair was more wild than
usual, matching the look in his eyes.

"Kei," she whispered, taking a
step toward him.

He shook his head and turned away.
"Why?"

"What can I do?" She kept her
voice low, torn between watching him and looking at the walls. "Why didn't
you tell me they were getting bad again?"

His claws clicking, he laughed bitterly.
"What can you do," he mocked. He began to pace again. "Words.
Too many words," he whispered. "Nothing. You do nothing."

Fear chilled her skin as she took a slow
breath. "Tell me what to do. How can I help? I’m here, Kei. I’m
here."

A clawed fist tapped his chest angrily
as he turned to her. "You're not! Why?"

"I…I don't understand."

"You're not here. You don't see me.
Why? Why can't you keep it?"

She bit her lip, understanding he spoke
of their bindings. Though she'd managed to connect with him on a deeper level
that once when with the Were, she'd not been able to do so since. "I'm
trying. But I'm not Fey. It's hard for me–"

"Why? The words, the words!"
Turning away, he slashed at the closest wall with his claws. "You fight
it. You fight it all!"

Raising her hands, she took a step
closer to him. "Easy. I'm trying. I'll try harder. Let the fury go and
we'll talk. We can try again."

He shook his head wildly. "Why? You
don't care. About me. About the Fey–"

"That's not true," she
interrupted angrily. "I love you! You're my family, my best friend. I said
I'd help heal the Fey, and I will!"

"You don't believe! You don't see!
Prince and your brothers, they are all you care about. Why?" Chest
heaving, his voice quieted, pleading. "Why?"

Taking another step forward, she held
out her hands to him, trying to let her anger go and understand what he was
going through. What he was thinking. "I do care. I do!"

He shook his head vehemently. "You
don't plan, or train, or listen. You don't believe what I say. You don't…the
words. The words are true. Why don't you believe them?"

"I do… I will," she insisted.

Stopping suddenly, he stared at her for
a long moment. His eyes changed to orange and then yellow. His claws receded.

Letting out a deep breath, she felt
certain she'd finally gotten through to him.

"You don't," he said quietly.
His fist thumped against his chest. "I can feel it, and I don't…" He
shook his head, weariness crossing his face. "I can't do this to you."

She spun around as he raced past her and
out the bedroom door. Before she could react, the sound of him pounding down
the stairs reached her ears.

"Wait! Kei!" What had just
happened? As fast as she could, she ran out of the room and down the stairs.

Garen! Don't let Kei leave!

He met her in the hall, his head cocked
to one side.
He already did. What's wrong?

"Rot!" She stopped for a
moment and ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. "I don't know!
He was going on about words, and how I didn't believe him. Then he ran off. I
don't know," she ended quietly. It was her turn to ask why. Cursing again,
she sprinted for the door.
I'm going after him.

What do you want me to do?

I… I don't know,
she admitted.

A quick glance outside showed an open
gate, so she didn't pause to search for him around the house. That he'd left
their property caused a worried lump to form in her stomach.

Kei? Where are you going?

He didn't answer. She continued to run
down the short side street, pausing when she reached the corner, wondering
which way he'd gone.

Come back. We need to talk! Please, come
back.

She searched the crowd in each
direction, trying to find sight of him.

I need to run. I need to go. I'm sorry,
Aro.

She turned right and pushed her way
along the road, heading for the east gate, the closest gate out of the city.

Don't go. Don't leave me. You promised
you wouldn't!

He didn't answer.

You promised!
Panic stole her
breath away. She couldn't see him ahead of her.

"Kei!" Her scream caused many
to stop and stare. Finally, she stopped walking, her breath coming in quick
pants, tears welling in her eyes. "Kei!"

People brushed by her as she stood,
trembling and at a loss as to what to do. He'd left. The worst part was she
didn't completely understand why. No. The worst was she hadn't been able to
make him stay.

"Miss?"

When she didn't respond, a solid arm
wrapped around her, pulling her against a lean body. "Come. You shouldn't
be standing here."

Her mind in chaos, she let the stranger
guide her, turning her around and heading back the way she'd come.

"He left," she whispered,
still not believing it.

"Sometimes they do," the man
answered quietly.

She didn't understand his comment but
didn't bother replying. Her mind in a state of shock, it was all she could do
to put one foot in front of the other. Keeping her gaze lowered, she didn't
bother to see who had taken it upon themselves to guide her home. She didn't
want them to see her struggle to keep the tears away.

"Aro!"

Bo's voice did gain her attention.
Blinking furiously, when she did look up she found him almost to her side. His
look was thunderous, so she wasn't surprised when the stranger dropped his arm
from around her. Gently, he pressed his hand against her lower back, pushing
her into Bo's waiting arms.

“Your sister courts dangerous men. You
would do well to pay more attention to her.”