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"He's not even trying to hear you out. He wasn't there to see how Theo poisoned your bond through his deception and lies. He wasn't there while Ushna held you in his arms on the council room floor. He didn't have to watch Nathan cut the poison out of your body, or listen to your screams while I tried to separate your soul from Theo's. They weren't there to hear how Theo refused to allow you to claim him. Four fucking years you were together, and he refused you, causing your soul to merge with his instead of entwining with it. You nearly died and he sits there across the table, vomiting words someone else has fed him, because he didn't have the balls to find out what happened. When did we betray him? They left us without a backward glance."
Silence fell over the room. I ignored Stan's and Jory's pained and confused stares. My breakfast was suddenly tasteless. Regardless, I ate to give them time to digest what Gregori had said. Theo's betrayal wasn't what I liked to think back on. I hated that it still hung over me like a dark cloud.
Taking a napkin and rubbing it over my mouth, I tried to find a place to start. "Ushna offered to be my guardian after The Breaking. No one knew what to expect since there'd never been any survivors."
I watched their faces. Jory stared off into space and Stan seemed to be attempting to put together a puzzle.
"Yet you lived." It was a statement, Stan talking more to himself than to me.
"Yes, because of Ushna. He was able to keep me alive, anchored to this world, and didn't allow me to fade," I replied.
Jory's gaze pulled back from the faraway look only to snort, "Right."
Everyone watched Jory. The animosity was so out of character. Jory was fun loving, always joking and laughing. This attitude was mean, almost cruel. Maybe he'd changed in our time apart but I didn't think so. Something niggled at me but I couldn't put my finger on it. I regarded my friend. He stared off into space again, his hands moving erratically. He rubbed his head, scratching at his chest, and then his hands were back on the table for a split second before he grasped his forehead again.
Prompted by a gut feeling, I leaned over and whispered into Ushna's ear, "Do you smell any strange magic on him?"
Ushna lifted his head slightly; his nostrils flared as he drew in air, slow and steady. His brow wrinkled a little then he got up and went around the table toward Jory. His nose worked through the air and snuffled openly.
Jory tracked Ushna's approach warily. "What?"
He didn't answer but walked up to Jory, taking deeper and deeper breaths.
Jory scraped his chair back from the table, but with two quick steps, Ushna had grasped his arm, inhaling the air around him acutely.
Panic laced Jory's features as he struggled to pull his arm free. "Let me go! What are you doing? I haven't done anything. Stop!"
Corey quickly stepped up and grabbed Jory's other arm, barking out orders that brought four more guards into the kitchen. Captains Juan and Michael came to my side while two warriors secured Stan, who seemed stunned, but he didn't fight the controlling grip placed on him.
Everyone watched Jory as he turned an ugly shade of red and he thrashed between Corey and Ushna. He was panicked but something else moved through him, barely perceptible.
"Jory!" I barked and used Alpha Bond for the second time within an hour.
Even though Jory couldn't move, Ushna and Corey didn't release him. Ushna aggressively sniffed Jory about the face, neck, and head.
"There is something here, very subtle. He's been wearing the magic a long time," Ushna said, looking over to Stan speculatively. "Gregori, do you think you can reveal the spell?"
"Tristan," Jory gazed at me with pleading eyes. He trembled, his face flushed, and sweating profusely. "Please."
Stan, who'd been quiet and observant, released a stuttering breath, his body twitched before surging forward toward Jory. He strained against the guards who held him securely. Jory's distress seemed to cause a