Summon by Penelope Fletcher

tone.
“Someone must be honourable.”
    “You do a fine job.”
    Pain streaked across his noble features “Lochlann,”
he dragged in a breath then said in a rush, “I wronged Cael. Treated him
unfairly and I am terrified to admit the monster we saw was created because of
me.” Conall darted a guilty look my way to gauge my reaction. “Did you feel his
pain?”
    “I did.”
    Buried under putrid layers of loathing and anger
Cael’s soul was a tormented web of pain.
    “That was because of me. I ignored his suffering. I
let my hatred of our mother kill any sympathy for him. I withheld love from
someone I should have loved most in the world.”
    “It is a difficult situation. I understand your
need to protect Rae, even from kin. She will not turn from you because you
chose to disown him.” I hesitated. “But she will judge if you continue to
ignore what he is to you both. That much is plain.”
    “She will not talk to me.”
    I wrinkled my nose. “Give her time.”
    He shifted his shoulder under my grip as if my
touch made him uncomfortable. “My family is despised. My mother broke the
balance and turned my father into a murderer. The people think of Rae as wild
and disrespectful. My brother is a lunatic.” He chuckled without humour. “They
look at me as if I am infected. Waiting for the same weakness to emerge.”
    “Pay no heed to fools. Think of the ways I acted in
the last year. The mistakes I made.”
    Conall lifted an eyebrow, intrigued.
    Despite our candid friendship, he saw me as
unassailable instead of a male prone to lapses of judgement. No different from
the rest of my gender. He wasn’t alone in this idolized opinion. My fall from
grace in the eyes of my people was harder to bear because of this widespread
misconception.
    My nature was arrogant. The trait was difficult to
overcome and generally accepted by the Tribes as leadership. Devlin sank his
claws deep before his ability to uphold the values fairykind was created to
sustain were questioned. His egotism was mistaken for self-belief.
    Confidence
and arrogance, the line between them is fine indeed.
    “Family is family. You cannot change it. We shall
deal with Cael, and as for Rae…. The way I treated her in the beginning was
never going to endear her to me.” I rubbed my chest. “I didn’t make the
situation easier by voicing my annoyance so bluntly.”
    My hand pressed harder over my heart, and I gritted
my teeth.
    A distinct pang of irritation came from Daphne down
the blood tie. What causes it? Why is she
upset…? I froze and stopped rubbing.
    Sliding a look at Conall, I dropped my hand. His
expression didn’t reveal a suspicion anything was amiss. Not that he’d let me
see if he did believe something was wrong.
    I blocked the vampire from my mind. This is a taste of what little brother
experiences. It irritated me I wanted to seek her whereabouts and discover
what upset her. Discover and annihilate
it.
    Setting my discomfort aside, I picked up the thread
of conversation I’d dropped. “Instead of taking control I let things get out of
hand. Breandan forswore his oath because he was scared of my retaliation to his
claim on Rae. I’m ashamed to say he was right. I was desperate. I would
consider anything to secure my place as High Lord.”
    As Conall pondered this, my ears twitched hearing a
rustling in the leaves. I opened my senses, stifled a cluck of exasperation,
and flicked a look at Conall. He was unaware Rae climbed high in the boughs of
the tree above. This concerned me. He desperately needed rest. Had he not been
exhausted he would’ve heard her too.
    It was dangerous for my Warrior to be so disabled.
    Glamouring my palm to reflect light like a mirror,
a trick from childhood, I angled it up.
    Balanced by her knees either side of the branch,
Rae tucked her feet under, and leaned on her forearms to ease forward.
    She flapped her hand at something below then backed
up the way she came. I adjusted my palm and spotted a shifter