Page 77 of Librarian

“And now she won’t want anything to do with me.”

“Possibly.” I tug him towards the light, but he’s dead weight. “Let’s get you inside. You can sleep this off.”

“I thought she was wearing his collar.”

I cock my head at that. “What? Oh, you mean Dakari’s necklace? I mean, yeah, I don’t think it’s a kinky thing, but good for them if it is, I guess?”

Our girl deserves all the love in the world. If they’re making things official, that means I’ve got the green light to go shopping. The others seem to have decided that her colours are silver-toned metals and blue gems. Wait. Maybe I won’t have to go shopping? My gram’s ring is blue.

Last time I proposed, she thought I was kidding. Maybe that was because I conjured something too flashy? I thought three carats was a good idea, but it probably was a bit cheesy. If I give her Gram’s, it’s meaningful and sentimental and all the things she secretly melts for. It’s perfect.

“Should’ve been my collar,” Leo slurs, dragging my mind away from where I last saw my future wife’s engagement ring. “But I had to feck it up.”

“She has enough neck to wear two if she wants them,” I point out, rolling my eyes. “But maybe hold off on that for a bit. I’m pretty sure she’d garrotte you with it if you gave it to her right now. For good reason.”

“Where’s the line?” he asks. “I want to respect her choices, but I’m this close to throwing myself at her feet every morning and begging her to let me back in. Which one am I supposed to do?”

He’s asking me?

“This is your mess.”

He pulls his arm away. “Yeah.”

Aww, fuck. “You’re pathetic.”

He lets out a deep, resigned sigh. “Yeah…”

“I lost a game because of you.” It seems a little petty, but that might end up being the last game I ever get to play now that the shit has hit the fan, and I lost because he dropped the brother bomb right before it started. “My stats tanked.”

His eyes drop to the ground. “I know. And you were benched for missing the last match.”

I wince. I’ve been keeping that quiet, not wanting Kyrith to worry about it. None of the others have said anything. It’s probably slipped their minds that I’m supposed to be training and going to games. I’ve snuck out with North once or twice topractice, but my focus is on my girl. It’s not fair to Coach or the team to pretend otherwise.

I shouldn’t be surprised Leo noticed. He’s always kept a close eye on magiball. Before I knew he was my brother, I assumed it was because he was a secret fan.

With an eye roll at my past self for being so oblivious, I reach over and draw him into a massive, crushing hug.

Instead of shoving me off and continuing his pity party in the rain like I expect him to, he just…breaks.

The ragged rise and fall of his shoulders is the only sign that he’s sobbing.

“It’s okay, you cry this out,” I tell him. “And then we’ll work on the plan.”

“Plan?” He lifts his head, and I shake mine at the confusion there.

“You’ve made a solid start, but you’ve got to put in a bit more work, no offence.”

Drunk-and-depressed Leo is definitely not Kyrith’s type. A lot of girls do have a soft spot for sad boys, but I just don’t see her being one of them.

He rubs his red eyes, pulling back. “Shite. The magister exam is tomorrow. I drank too much.”

“Really? I would never have guessed.” I pinch my brow. “Hold on a second.” The scraps for sobriety and curing a hangover are tucked into the back of my grimoire. I was saving them for Kyrith, but Pierce is taking care of her.

I hand Leo both. “There. You can sleep the last of it off while I figure out how you’re going to fix your relationship with Dakari.”

Leo scrunches his face up, and I take that opportunity to grab his arm and resume steering him out of the rain. “I don’t love Dakari.”

“If you want to prove to Kyrith that you’ve changed, you’re going to have to bury the hatchet.”