Page 38 of Magpies & Mayhem
Elara ignored my question and took anotherlongsip of her drink, continuing to watch me as if I were so very interesting. I rolled my eyes and turned back to my desk to start the math from the beginning again. This wasn’t difficult, it was just… so hard to focus when all I wanted to do was daydream about the way Jordan smiled and wonder about what he was doing right now.
“UGH!”I dropped my face into my hands and pressed on my head. “This is theworst.” Elara’s ice rattled again as she set her cup down, but she didn’t respond. “I think I’m havingfeelingsfor him,” I grit out against my palms.
Elara tutted at me as she scooted her chair over to be within reach. “For… Jordan?” she asked, hesitation clear in her voice. When I nodded against my hands, she reached up to pat my hair with a familiarity that made my heart happy. Only my brothers and parents had ever done that with such confidence, and it made me grateful again for our friendship. “Would that be so bad?” she asked in a small voice. “To have feelings for Jordan?” she clarified, after hesitating again. “I don’t really know him that well, but Levi likes him. I’m sure he’s… Well, he seems like a lovely man,” she continued optimistically.
It made my heart sink. “Heislovely, and thatsucks,because now I’m having all of these obnoxious feelings that Idon’t want to have,because he’s immortal andI’m not,and because we wouldn’t be a good fit anyway. We can’t work, Elara.” The truth of those words felt raw and jagged as I formed them.
Elara let me stew in my thoughts for a long moment as she comfortingly stroked my hair with one hand, her chin propped heavily on the other. “Does he make you happy, though? When you’re with him? Happiness should count for something, I think. You deserve every happiness, Sidney.”
But what did happiness matter, in the end, when it couldn’t work, and one or both of you would just be left heartbroken and alone?
Chapter 25
Mymoodwasdecidedlyworse as the night wore on, and after Elara packed up and left with Levi, I headed back into the Boundlands. I wanted to head straight to Jordan’s office in the hope that he’d have returned by now, but since my apartment was on the way there, I stopped back in there one more time. With just a few days left until Elara’s wedding, I had a bone to pick with my brother.
It was just after midnight when I unlocked the front door and found him standing over the sink with a bowl of cheap noodles, sawdust still in his hair, like he’d been working late as I suspected.
“Hey Sid!” he said, around a mouth full of noodles.
“Hey,youabominable turd-muffin. Elara’s wedding is literally three days away and you haven’t given her mother an RSVP yet. What is wrong with you? I know you have Saturday night free.” I crossed my arms and leaned on my backpack against the door since I wasn’t staying. If I’d trusted him to not ignore my message, I could have just sent him a spectral for this, but Josh was squirrely and hard to pin down about his schedule sometimes. So here I was making a second pit stop at my house. I glared at him, irritated by his lack of social responsibility to my best friend, who had only ever extended exceedingly gracious kindness to him.
Josh completely ignored my attitude, unfazed as always. Why couldn’t I be as scary to my little brother as I was to everyone else in my life? “Where’s Huck?” he asked, looking around like I might have the dog-sized dragon stuffed in a pocket somewhere. “And what are you wearing?”
I glanced down at my outfit, distracted by his questions. “Huck’s with a friend. These are fireproof clothes,” I muttered.
“Cool! I want some,” he said as he stuffed more food in his face.
“Answer me, dork. You can’t justnot RSVPto an event like this. What is wrong with you?”
Josh frowned at me sulkily, and I cringed at how the sawdust rained down onto the kitchen floor and into his bowl as he shoveled more food into his mouth.Gross.“I wasn’t sure if I was bringing a plus-one or not.”
My expression turned scathing. “So, you can’t even let her know ifyou’re coming?Do you have any idea how much money these people are spending on this?” I tried to keep my voice down to an angry hiss instead of the banshee-screech I wanted to use, considering the hour.
“I’m sorry!” he said around his food. “I just didn’t know how to respond yet.”
“Well, it’s rude. I told her you were coming and to put you down for a plus-one.” I shifted my weight forward to rebalance my backpack and reached for the door handle.
“What?Who am I supposed to invite? Why would you do that?” He grabbed a paper towel to hold over his mouth, trying to keep from spraying food everywhere as he spoke.
“I don’tknow, Joshua, just bring whoever you want to. I don’t care. Bring a friend, or a date, or that guy you’ve been secretly crushing on for heaven knows how long. It’s going to be the biggest party you’ve ever seen.” From the plans I’d seen for the formal reception, my family had never experienced this kind of bash and likely never would again for as long as we lived. When I said Elara’s family was old-money wealthy, I meantold-money wealthy. “Just bring someone to enjoy it with.”
The panicked look in his eyes made my anger flare hot because only one situation could trigger that reaction regarding this. Ilovedmy baby brother, and I would burn the world down if anyone was mean to him aboutanything, ever,but especially about who he loved and what fulfilled him as a person. I took a deep breath and let it out. “Would you enjoy going to the wedding with him, Josh?”
His face visibly paled, and I had to restrain myself from tackling him in a bear hug or punching walls. “Our whole family will be there, Sidney. Everyone would know.”
One more deep breath, and then another for good measure. “Do you haveanyidea how apocalyptically I will destroy anyone who says a word to you or makes you uncomfortable about whomever you choose to be with in the future?”
“I don’t need you to—” He cut himself off when he glanced at my face, huffing a breath and seeming to take some small comfort in the vehemence written across my features, regardless of what he didn’t need. Of course he didn’tneedme, but I would be there for him anyway.
“I’m not trying to make you invite him,” I clarified. “Bring whoever you want. I’m just telling you to bring someone who makes you happy,” I said as Elara’s words ran through my head. Because if anyone deserved happiness, it was my baby brother. “Good job on the walls, by the way,” I finished, eyeing the primed scorch marks. I jerked the door open and headed back out into the night.
If I hadn’t felt so fidgety, I might have stopped by the bar too, maybe had a shot and poked around for more information about the Phantoms again. I was at loose ends and just wanted to be with Jordan and Huck though, so I went straight back in the hopes that he’d returned.
My heart swelled to find that Jordan sat waiting for me, looking down from the roof of his office while I stared up at him from the street below. He had one leg draped carelessly over the edge of the building and barked a self-deprecating laugh when I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. He’d left without me, the jerk.
“I could really use a cigarette,” he muttered just loud enough for it to reach my ears on the quiet street.
I frowned at that. “I’m not your mother.” I wasn’t a fan of the habit myself, but I hadn’t asked him to quit for my sake. I could see his wry grin from two stories up as he took in my response. “Where is my dragon?” I asked, and the grin promptly slid off his face.
