As if the universe had a twisted sense of humor - even more so than I originally thought - his wheel got caught on a particularly sharp rock. He murmured something unintelligible beneath his breath, desperately attempting to maneuver his chair over this obstacle.
"Let me-" I took an automatic step forward, arms extended to push him further, but he leveled me with a glare. It hardened his features. Instead of the angelic prince I once thought him to be, he looked dangerous. Every inch the Nightmare Prince I had originally imagined.
"I got it!" he snapped. Though his tone wasn't belligerent, it wasn't kind. In those three words, I could hear years of pent-up anger and aggression. Not directed at me - I knew innately that he would never harm me - but at the world. At the injustice. At the unfairness of being stuck in a chair while the rest of us were able to run and walk and dance. I could see it all clearly.
Devlin stepped up behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder. He quirked a brow, glancing from me to Dair. At his unasked question, I nodded for him to go on ahead. He hesitated, only a moment, before kissing my cheek and following Killian and Lupe further up the path.
The overprotective fools leaned against a tree, far enough away where they weren't in hearing distance but close enough to jump to my rescue, if the need arose.
As if I would need them to rescue me. They were sorely mistaken if they thought I was the damsel in this story. Hell, in Killian's case, I had saved him more often than not.
Shaking my head, I focused back on Dair who was still struggling to move his chair. It might've been the mate bond speaking, but I knew he needed me. To talk to him. To comfort him. To do whatever the hell it was mates did.
"I don't think you're lesser, Dair," I said hesitantly. My fingers thrummed against each other, desperate for something to do. I never knew I would be the type to twiddle my thumbs, but there I was. Twiddling my damn thumbs.
Feeling ridiculous, I grabbed my dagger out of my waistband and spun it between my fingers.
Much better.
"What can I do?" Dair murmured bitterly, self-loathing evident in his voice. "I can't protect you like the others. I'm not as smart as Lupe. I don't have history with you like Devlin. I'm not awkwardly adorable like Killian."
I snorted, endeared at hearing Dair call my Incubus Prince awkwardly adorable.
He smiled softly at me before his smile faded. "I just..." With a growl, he shoved at the wheels once more.
"Dair..." Tentatively, I crouched down beside him. I didn't know quite what to say nor how to comfort him. In my past relationships, I never focused on feelings. That wasn't to say that I didn't have that, because I did, but I never needed to talk about my emotions.
But Dair wasn't Devlin or S, and I cared about him just as much. Different types of relationships required different efforts.
"Look..."
"Z!" T poked his head out of the doorway, ignoring the growl from Lupe. And myself, if I was being honest. There I was trying to be all serious and romantic and shit, and my ex's brother had to go and ruin it.
Snapping my teeth at him, I shouted, "What?"
"You have a visitor!"
I frowned, sifting through the people I knew in my life who could possibly be visiting me in the middle of fucking nowhere. Frankly, I wasn't the most "friendly" person. The list was small.
"I don't have any friends!" I retorted back. Bash, leaning against the fence of the old school, snorted out a laugh, and I gave him my finger.
"Go ahead," Dair said tiredly to me, nodding towards the house. Warily. Still, he flashed me a smile, though it did not reach his eyes.
"Dair..." I murmured, hating his attitude. There was probably some profound saying that could be used to help him, something about changing his outlook on life, but I couldn't articulate it without sounding like an imbecile. Instead, I settled for awkwardly patting him on the shoulder.
He blanched, and I internally groaned.
Fucking shit. I sucked at this whole mate thing.
My thought process was interrupted by a willowy man appearing in the doorway. Lupe snarled, claws extending, and Devlin's eyes burned a brilliant violet. Even Bash raised his hands, an incantation on his lips.
The man was short, smaller than even me, with a shock of dark hair and tanned skin. He wore wire-framed glasses that slid down his nose and skin tight jeans.
His eyes slid over the men without sticking before focusing on me. He nodded his head once in what I supposed was a nod of solidarity. Even so, my throat clogged tight with emotion.
"Come," he said briskly. "I made tea."
When no one seemed inclined to move, he grabbed a dagger out of his waistband and tossed it in the air. It flew, hitting a tree trunk inches from Killian's head. The Incubus stared wide-eyed at the protruding dagger before whipping his head to face the tiny little man and then focusing back on the dagger once more. He turned his helpless eyes onto me.
I shrugged.
"The man said he made tea."
Ignoring Dair's protest that he didn't need my help, I lifted the chair over the rock and wheeled him the short distance to the tiny house.
"HH," I murmured, instantly wrapping my arms around the smaller man. He stiffened imperceptibly, and I immediately pulled back. "Sorry."
"HH?" Killian asked, a red eyebrow raising. "Diego's...?"
He didn't need to finish his sentence.
Diego's mate.
Who no doubt felt the exact moment Diego died. Had felt the life bleed from his one true love.
Heart tightening and stomach plummeting, I walked inside the sparsely furnished room. Aside from a sleeping bag in
