Seeming to be convinced that they were going to keep their mouths shut, Grey turned and staggered to Clay. The larger man wrapped an arm around Grey’s shoulders, supporting most of his weight as they walked toward the car. He thought he heard Grey mumble something under his breath about never doing a book signing again.
“I thought you gave a very nice talk,” Clay murmured in the softest voice he’d ever heard the man use. Lucien couldn’t see Grey’s expression, but the exhausted Soul Weaver patted Clay a couple of times on the chest.
Lucien glanced over at Calder to find the Water Weaver watching him. His expression quickly turned into a scowl, and he stomped off after Clay and Grey. Lucien threw his hands up. He nearly told the man to fuck off yet again, but the words died in his throat. He was not going to piss off the Soul Weaver any further.
He just needed to get home, get a shower, and preferably stay the hell away from Calder for a few hours. If he was lucky, days.
Chapter Two
Calder braced both hands against the cool bathroom tile as the hot water hammered on his neck and shoulders. Muscles ached and burned everywhere. Bruises covered him, and they weren’t only from the book festival fight. The past couple of months had been one fight after another. He was learning his powers in the middle of a war. As soon as one bruise healed, two more replaced it.
He sucked in a deep breath through his nose, held it, and released it again between his teeth, pushing it out until there was nothing left in his lungs. Slowly, tension washed down his body with the water, and he found he could finally unclench his jaw.
Fucking Lucien.
Five minutes into each other’s presence and they were snapping and biting out words through clenched teeth. The Fire Weaver was driving him crazy. Everything out of his mouth was cruel, snarky, or simply critical. He had no idea what he’d done to rub the man the wrong way, but it was as if his very existence was an insult to him.
Never in his life had he dealt with something like this. He got along with everyone. All his friends regarded him as calm and even-tempered.
But then, Lucien had the unique gift of bringing out the very worst in him. Calder spit out comments that he’d never dreamed of uttering in the past. He could let Lucien’s criticism and snide remarks go. Hell, sometimes he instigated things just so Lucien didn’t have the chance to cut him down first.
Calder straightened and wiped away the drops of water clinging to his eyelashes. It hadn’t started out this way. His first few days at the Weavers house, Lucien had been kind and friendly. Of course, at that time, they’d all been worried about Grey’s condition and if he was ever going to have his sight again.
Yet almost the second Grey could see, the rude comments had begun. They’d been small at first, but Calder hadn’t been able to let them go. He shot right back at Lucien, refusing to show that he had any kind of fear of the powerful Weaver.
From then on, they couldn’t be left in the same room together. More than once, their Weaver brothers had been forced to separate them as they shouted across the dinner table. He shuddered to think what would happen if they actually came to blows—or worse, used their powers on each other.
Calder growled. What the hell was he going to do? They were probably making the others miserable, too. Should he move out? No, that wasn’t an option. The Weavers house was the only safe place for them right now. Alone in the world, he was too vulnerable to attack.
Besides, he loved it here. After being on the move for such a long time, this place felt like home. Why would he ever want to lose that? These men were his brothers—well, all except for Lucien.
When it came to Lucien, everything was a twisted mess inside of his chest. There was no hiding from the fact that he was insanely attracted to the man. Tall with broad shoulders and a beautiful, chiseled face, Lucien was gorgeous beyond words. And with everyone else in the house, he was easygoing and playful. He didn’t have a critical word for anyone. Except for maybe Clay on occasion, but the Earth Weaver simply had to give him a warning look and Lucien would drop it.
Why did he have to be so beautiful and exude such raw power and charisma? Why did he have to like everyone else and look askance at him? Not that it mattered. They weren’t meant to be soulmates, and Calder was left alone wallowing in pain and need. It was easier to snap and snipe at him.