Chapter 73

Anton grimaces as Jesse leads him outside, already knowing where this is going.

“Jess,” he sighs, his hands sunk deep in his pockets.

“Nope,” Jesse says, turning when he gets to the balustrade and peering over Anton’s shoulder to make sure the girls are busy in the room and not listening. “Tony, what the fuck is going on with you and June?”

Anton sighs, shaking his head. “I haven’t touched her, Jess.”

“No shit, Tony,” Jesse says, leaning towards him with a frown. “You don’t have hands. But I’m serious – do you – do you sleep in her bed with her?”

Anton clenches his jaw for a moment, neither confirming nor denying it. Jesse balks, stepping forward towards his friend, his hands clenching.

“She’s fucking eighteen, Tony!”

“I know, Jesse,” Anton says, stepping forward into the challenge. “No need to remind me of that, considering I remembered her birthday when the rest of you forgot!”

Jesse snaps his jaw shut and glares hard, even as guilt races through him. Because Ariel did mention that in the hours after Tony’s death, in sobbing hiccups, murmuring about how sweet and good he could be. And even though Jesse knows that Tony is a good guy…

God, it’s his baby fucking cousin –

“You’re going to back off, Tony,” Jesse snarls, pointing a finger at Anton’s chest and stabbing into the starlight there.

“Well, where the hell do you want me to sleep!?”

“On the floor!” Jesse nearly shouts. “Or the sofa! Or floating in the god damn air, I don’t care! She’s just a kid – I can’t believe you’re making a move on her, Tony!”

“Hey,” Anton snaps, shaking his head hard. “I have never, ever crossed a line with Juniper –“

“Is that going to be your excuse!?” Jesse hisses. “When Dominic Sinclair finds out that you’ve been sleeping with his daughter for weeks? When Rafe finds out you’re into his little sister!?”

“Oh my god,” Anton growls, turning away from Jesse and rubbing his hands bruskly down the length of his face, shaking his head. Because obviously, he’s thought about all of this – all of this.

And, obviously, he’s pushed any guilt he has away from it. Because the idea, now, of sleeping anywhere else? Bullshit. Impossible.

“You’re making this…like, way dirtier than it actually is, Jesse,” Anton snaps, glaring over his shoulder at his friend.

“So, what, you’re just her protector?” Jesse snarls, gesturing into the room with one broad hand. “Her Goddess-sent white knight!? Sleeping in her bed just in case something wicked crawls out from beneath it so you can be there to save her!? Fuck off, Tony, you’re not fooling me! I see the way you look at her! That’s my baby cousin – she’s just a kid!”

“She’s not a kid,” Anton snaps, looking away over the balustrade, guilt rolling through him.

“She’s five years younger than you!”

Four and three quarters, Anton’s wolf growls. But Anton doesn’t say it, because he knows the more precise calculation doesn’t change anything.

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Anton murmurs, angry and guilty at once. “I’m fucking dead, Jess, so the point is moot.”

“It so fucking is not,” Jesse growls, storming over to Anton, making his friend look at him. “If Juniper’s whole life depends on whether or not that pretty boy Prince guy marries her? And you’re here in her room, making her laugh, curling up with her at night!? Do you seriously think you’re doing her any favors, making her fall in love with you!?”

“She’s not in love with me,” Anton grumbles, looking away.

“But she would be, if you had anything to say about it!” Jesse nearly shouts.

Anton looks out into the distance, unable to say anything in return.

“You’re being a fucking jackass, Tony,” Jesse snaps. “I can’t – of all people, I didn’t think it’d be you that did something like this. Ariel is going to kill you when she finds out.”

Anton snaps his eyes back to Jesse’s, angry even if he knows that Jesse’s right. “Don’t bring Ariel into this.”

“Did you know she kept the scars?” Jesse says, holding up his hands flat so Anton can see his palms. “The ones Gibson gave her, the day you died? Ella healed her, and Ariel begged her to keep the scars, so she’d have something to remember you –“

Anton’s heart sinks dead in his chest when Jesse says this, and he turns away, covering his face with his hands. “Stop.”

“And this is seriously how you repay her!? By messing with her sister’s heart and putting her life at risk!?”

“I said stop!” Anton shouts, ripping his hands away from his face and turning to glare, hard, at Jesse. “It’s not…it’s not fucking like that, Jess!”

“Then tell me, Tony,” Jesse says, advancing on his friend, his hands balled into fists, ready to hit if there were anything to punch. “What the fuck is it?”

Anton stares at Jesse for a long, long moment, his mouth and shoulders trembling. And then he breaks, groaning and striding away to collapse onto the little daybed, his head buried in his hands.

Jesse straightens up as he stares at the ghost, his heart leaping into his throat.

Because suddenly he realizes…precisely what it is.

“Oh, Tony,” Jesse sighs. Slowly he walks to his friend’s side, and sits, leaning as close as he can. “All right. Tell me everything.”

“What are they…fighting about?” Laila murmurs, looking out onto the terrace with concern. “And why’d it get all quiet? Did they kill each other?”

“Who knows,” I murmur with a shrug, trying to play it cool even as my wolf turns in anxious circles. Because I have a feeling that this is about me, but I have no idea what they could be fighting about, or why.

“Well, if they fight,” Midnight says, running her hands appreciatively over some dish cloths. “My Jesse will certainly win. He is much taller with better muscles.”

“Kind of an unfair fight, don’t you think?” I say, raising an eyebrow at her. “Considering that Jesse – you know – has a body? Also he’s not much taller. In fact, I don’t even think he’s taller -”

“Even if ghost boy had a body,” Midnight says, smug, putting the towels away in a duffle bag and reaching for some scented dish soap. “Jesse would still win. And he’s handsomer.”

I balk at her. “He so is not.”

“He is,” Midnight says, flashing her teeth at me a bit. “It’s just a fact, rat. You don’t have to get all mad about it.”

“That is ridiculous,” I hiss, leaning forward towards her. “Anton’s face is way –“

“Now now, ladies,” Laila murmurs in a demure teacher voice, glaring mildly at both of us. “No one needs to fight over which of the boys is better looking. They’re both very handsome.”

I grumble a little, my cheeks flushing, and then reach for a very small DVD player with the screen built in – the same model that I remember my sister buying for her mate at Midwinter. “Here, Mids,” I say, leaning hard into being kind to avoid my temptation to snap at her more. “Let me show you how this works.”

“Is that a telly-vision?” Laila gasps, delighted. “Oh, Midnight, you’re going to love this. You’re going to learn so much about the sea.”

I laugh, nodding and beginning to show them both how it works.

When the boys come in a little later, looking very somber but oddly united, Jesse waves a hand at me, beckoning me closer.

“Oh no,” I say, grimacing as I get up. “Are you my cousin today, or my big brother?”

He smirks. “Just get over here, you menace.”

I laugh and move to my cousins, side, glancing up at Anton as he passes me. He gives me a soft smile but looks quite lost in his thoughts as I step out onto the terrace with my cousin.

“What the hell did you do to my handmaid?” I ask, frowning up at Jesse as he looks out into the darkness. “He used to be funny. You’d better not have broken him.”

“Nah he’s fine,” Jesse sighs, glancing down at me. “Can you conjure me up a whiskey, June? I could…seriously use a drink.”

“Jess, it’s like, ten o’clock in the morning.”

“Whatever,” he says, laughing a little. “It’s always dark here. It’s always whiskey o’clock when it’s dark.”

“Done and done,” I say with a happy sigh, conjuring up two glasses.

He flinches a bit, looking at me with interest as I pick one up and take a sip. But then he does the same, shaking his head and downing the whole glass at once. “I’m not used to you being old enough to drink.”

“You’re not that much older than me, Jess,” I say quietly, not really liking that he’s trying to keep me a baby. I mean, I know that I’m young but…part of the reason why Blythe was so appealing, I think, was because he didn’t treat me like a little girl like everyone else does.

“I remember when you were born, Junie,” Jesse sighs, shaking his head at me. “Mark was always small, but you were the first one I remember being…new. And you were so tiny, and so pretty.”

His eyes start to mist.