“What are you looking at?” Avery asked.
“That couple near the fountain is about to break up, I’m sure of it. I’ve got a spying spell on them, and the guy is dancing around the subject, but the woman is suspicious. She found something on his phone earlier while they were supposed to be on a hike together.”
Curiosity made Peri stand on his tiptoes to get a better look. Kian put a hand on his shoulder, forcing him back down. “Don’t. They’ll see you. Just listen.”
He opened his hand, and his spying spell got loud enough that Avery and Peri could overhear it. Avery came closer, eyes on the spell with avid curiosity.
“Someone needs to get Taron. He loves this kind of thing,” Kian murmured, then huffed as the man blurted out something he probably wished he hadn’t. The woman’s shriek echoed through the spell and the windows in response. “That was stupid.”
“I’ll say,” Peri agreed. It was probably a little rude to eavesdrop, but Peri couldn’t help being curious. It was a fairy thing.
Probably.
“I wantto reinforce the message that staff overworking themselves will no longer be ignored,” Ozen droned. Wash had lost interest in the conversation when he realized the meeting was about limiting overtime and preventing employee burnout. He got the feeling the message was for him specifically, and he didn’t care to hear it. His schedule worked out just fine for him.
His mind strayed to Peri, and he resisted the urge to grimace. Peri would definitely have something to say if he were here. He’d been actively trying to get him to leave work on time. Most nights he’d succeeded. Wash had a really hard time telling him no.
Taron’s phone beeped, drawing the attention of the room to him. He startled, having obviously not expected it, and gave his pocket a confused frown. “Sorry about that. Tony usuallyreminds me to silence it before meetings. I forgot to do it myself.”
Ozen didn’t seem too upset by the interruption, nodding once and continuing his presentation like the disruption hadn’t happened. No one blamed Taron for it, not even Wash. Taron had been way worse about interruptions before Tony showed up. He knew if Tony hadn’t been upstairs resting and had attended this meeting with Taron, he wouldn’t have forgotten. Tony was the Taron Keeper. Interruptions were expected when Tony wasn’t around.
Still ignoring Ozen, Wash watched as Taron fished his phone out of his pocket, his brow furrowing as he opened up the text thread. Since he’d insisted on sitting next to Wash, Wash could see it over his shoulder, and his attention narrowed in on Peri’s name when another message popped up.
Kian:Amazing drama just outside. You’re missing it.
Peri:He’s got a listening spell. You can hear everything.
Wash’s frown deepened.Since when had the three of them had their own text thread? And why did he feel like Kian and Taron would be a bad influence on his sweet boyfriend?
Taron tapped out a reply too quick for Wash to read, tucking his phone in his pocket again. When he stood, alarms went off in Wash’s head. He had no doubt if Taron went off to play with Kian and Peri, someone would get into trouble. His hand darted out automatically, gripping Taron’s arm tight enough to stall his movements.
“Where are you going?” he whispered.
Taron pointed toward the door, a look of innocence on his face. “Bathroom.”
He was lying. It didn’t matter that Wash would’ve believed him if he hadn’t seen that text thread. Taron was lying, and he was dragging Peri into his shenanigans. Wash needed to figure out a way to stop him.
Taron wriggled free, beaming at the room and excusing himself. Wash dug out his phone, intending to ask Peri what was going on, but a hand touched his arm and drew his attention.
“I’ll check on them,” Elijah murmured. “He won’t cause too much trouble when I’m around.”
For a moment, Wash was confused on how Elijah had figured out what was bothering him. He checked his mental shields, but they were solid like usual, and he didn’t feel the presence of his brother’s magic anywhere. But then he realized Elijah had been sitting on Taron’s other side. He’d read the messages as well. Wash hadn’t even noticed, too distracted by Taron who’d demanded Wash sit next to him and caused a fuss until he’d given in.
“I can go,” Wash tried, but Ozen noticed the interruption and cleared his throat, narrowing his eyes on them. Wash scowled. He couldn’t sneak out when the meeting was basically just about him.
Elijah patted his arm. “I’ve got it. See you after the meeting.”
And despite how much he didn’t want to involve his brother, he had no other choice but to nod in agreement. Hopefully Elijah was right, and he could keep Taron’s troublemaking tendencies to a minimum until Wash could whisk Peri away from his influence.
Twenty-Two
When he finally escaped Ozen’s meeting, having purposely avoided agreeing to anything when Ozen finally asked him to join in the conversation, he found his boyfriend in the lobby with Elijah, Taron, Kian, and several others. Including Tony who had finally come down and looked less exhausted than he had when Wash had seen him that morning. They were all hovered around a glowing spell in Kian’s hand, and even Elijah looked captivated as they listened to the voices shouting from it.
They all collectively gasped as Wash stepped up to join them, then leaned forward eagerly for more.
“Her sister?” Peri whispered to Kian. “Seriously?”
“That’s awful,” Taron added with a frown. “Cheating is bad enough. Why would you involve family?”