Until six months ago when we seduced the wrong chick. She’d used the sexual distraction to try to take advantage of me and my power, and she’d caused a lot of damage in the process.
Needless to say, my father had not approved of the outcome or Zeph’s inability to “properly protect me.”
And here we were.
“I need you to leave,” Zeph finally said, his hands balled into fists. “Now.”
“No.” What we needed to do was have this out once and for all. Six months of this bullshit was long enough. “What do you want me to do, Zeph? Apologize again? Promise you I’ll fix it? Because I’ve already done both of those things. What more can I do? You want me to suck your cock all night? Let you take me up the ass? Go seduce Aflora for us both? Find a human that fits nicely between us? Tell me what I need to do to fix this.”
“You can’t fucking fix it. You let me take the fall for your choice.”
“I told my father that I picked her and invited her into our bed. He blamed you for not vetting her. Which, yeah, is sort of your job as my Guardian.”
His gaze narrowed. “He denounced me in front of the fucking kingdom over a fuckup we both shared equal blame for.”
I flinched at the memory of my father’s cruelty. Because yeah, he’d been a major dick over the whole issue. Then turned around and told me to grow the fuck up. “We both suffered that day.”
“Yet you’ll still ascend, and I’ll remain here as a headmaster. And don’t tell me you’re going to change that. I don’t want any favors from you.”
“You’re my best friend, jackass. It’s not a favor. It’s a reality. No one can replace you as my Guardian. I refuse.”
His lips curled into a harsh grin. “Yeah, well, I can and will refuse the assignment.”
I matched his grin with one of my own. “You can try, Zeph. But we both know my word will be law.”
“Which makes you just like him,” he retorted. “You must be so proud.”
Fuck, I hated when Zeph took on the asshole act. “I’m not my father.”
“Then prove it and stop threatening to force others into positions they don’t want to be in.”
The bottle almost slipped from my fingers, his words hitting home. “You really don’t want to be my Guardian anymore.” Not a question, but a statement. “All because of one fucked-up experience?”
“It was more than a fucked-up experience, and you know it. We were reckless and stupid, and lives were lost in the process when that bitch borrowed your access to the source. How can you not feel guilty about that?”
My lips opened and then closed. Because I suddenly understood.
This wasn’t about punishing me but about punishing himself for a failure he felt responsible for.
“Those women died because of Dakota, not because of you or me.”
“You really are naïve if you believe that. It’s your duty to the Midnight Fae realm to protect that access, and you didn’t. Just as it was my duty to protect you from harm, and I failed when I let that bitch into your bed.” He pushed off his chair and rolled his neck. “I’m done for the night. It’s your turn to play babysitter. I’m going for a run.”
“Zeph—”
“No.” He cut me off with a thunderous expression. “I’m done, Kolstov. Absolutely and resolutely. It’s time for you to believe that and move on.” He pushed past me, heading toward the door and not once looking back or even asking me to leave. Instead, he left, his angry aura burning the air in his wake.
But for the first time in months, I knew why.
He wasn’t mad at me.
He was mad at himself.
No, he was mad at us. For all the damage we’d caused. And while I understood the guilt and responsibility for what had happened, I also knew dwelling on the past fixed nothing.
Instead, I’d learned from the experience.
I rarely fucked Midnight Fae before the event, and now, I never would.