A Matter of Truth (Fate, #3)

Will points his knife at his father. “I’m just saying, if her own son—an Emotional, no less—says it’s a good idea, maybe you ought to just do it already.”


Cameron pours himself another cup of coffee. “I believe we were talking about surfing, not my love life.” He realizes his slip of a word with a massive groan, and Will and I are relentless with our teasing.

Once we’ve calmed down, I say to Will, “I have to admit that I’m surprised that you’re okay with all of this.”

He angles his eye roll toward Jonah, as if to say, can you believe her? “I’m not a total boor. Besides, won’t it be fun to see how Callie reacts to it?”

At Callie’s name, Jonah’s eyebrows lift. I try not to giggle. “Maybe you two ought to go get some ice cream, too.”

A true miracle happens: Will Dane turns bright red. Now I have to resist the urge to cackle outright.

“What’s this?” Cameron asks gleefully, no doubt thrilled at the idea of his son taking an interest in anybody who is not Becca.

“Yes, Will,” I say innocently, “what is this?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea of what you’re talking about,” he tells me coolly. But he’s attacking his French toast like there’s no tomorrow, so I know he’s all riled up. “That girl is insufferable. She’s practically a princess.”

Amazingly, Jonah’s eyebrows lift even higher as he turns to me. There’s a question in his eyes—apparently, Kellan never shared this information with him.

I pop a piece of syrup-soaked toast in my mouth and mumble, “Yep.”

He turns back toward Will, the corners of his lips tugging upward.

Will glares at me. I smile serenely in return. It’s Cameron’s turn to laugh. But then Will’s phone rings, and the moment is broken.

He chooses to silence it rather than answer.

I chew on my lip, deciding how best to approach what I’m about to suggest. It’s something I’ve been considering a lot lately, especially now that Cora’s back in town. I eventually just say it. “I can fix this, you know.”

“Fix what, hen?” Cameron asks quietly.

“I can call in a favor.” My voice is steady and sure when I address Will, but I reach under the table for Jonah’s hand. Gods, I hope this doesn’t backfire on me. “I can send a Shaman to Glasgow and I can fix this for you.”

Will simply stares at me.

“Technically, we’re not supposed to meddle in these sorts of circumstances,” I continue, “but I will do it for you.” I take a deep breath. “Cora will do it for me. She’ll go to Glasgow and heal Becca. She’ll—all the damage from the accident will be healed. Or at least most it. A lot of time has passed, so. . .” I swallow. “I mean, she can’t bring back the baby or Grant, but Becca shouldn’t be a problem.”

I love that Jonah squeezes my hand. He doesn’t have the slightest clue what’s going on right now, but he’s showing me he’ll support me in this.

“Meaning . . .?” Will’s voice is so low I barely heart it.

But mine is steady. Confident. Loving. “Meaning you can finally have the closure you so desperately deserve.”

Cameron puts a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Is this true, hen?”

“I haven’t talked to Cora about it yet, but I’m fairly confident she’ll do this for me.”

Will leans back in his chair, rocking it back on two legs, eyes on the ceiling for a long moment. Just when I think he’s going to tell me to go to hell, the chair drops to the ground.

“Okay,” he tells me.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” he says.





Today is, without a doubt, one of the best days I’ve had in a long time, and the funny thing is, I have nothing of real significance to show for it. I haven’t gone anywhere exciting, didn’t experience anything new, didn’t even do something as sublimely romantic as watch the sun go down. I simply spend it with Jonah, talking. After breakfast, Cameron and Will give us some space, so we sit in the living room and talk. We’re completely honest with one another, finally opening up about things that should’ve been conveyed a long time ago. Granted, neither of us reopens the can of worms that was my affair with his brother, but everything else is fair game. I lay myself bare about work, family, and the strain of two Connections. And then, to my surprise, he admits he’d also been breaking apart due to work and the Connections, yet held back from telling me because he knew I was struggling under the strain of my own nightmares.