Chapter Twenty-Five
Radley stood in his room a few hours later. He should have been sleeping and resting, but he was too wired up to close his eyes. That was how he found himself pacing back and forth in his room, his mind on the glittering fae in her own rooms and the look in her eyes when he’d said he’d broken the rules. He’d wanted her to deny it, to say they could try, but she’d accepted it so easily.
She believed there was no hope for her, despite risking it all in a race notorious for killing its competitors.
He couldn’t stand for her to feel so trapped. Someone as beautiful as her should never be caged, should never have her wings clipped.
Not knowing what else to do, Radley pulled out his cell phone and dialed the one person that could help him.
“Hello?” she answered on the third ring.
“I didn’t wake you, did I?” Radley asked, realizing how late it was and that he shouldn’t have called his mother at this time. “I’m sorry. I can call back in the morning.”
“Nonsense, son,” she argued. “You can call me at any time. I wasn’t sleeping anyways.” She paused. “Is everything okay? I know the race is in a few days.”
“No,” Radley sighed. “No, it’s not okay.” He sat down on a chair and dropped his head into his hand even as he held the phone to his ear. “Mom, I’m in trouble.”
Her soft chuckle was his answer. “I thought you might be, son.”
He scowled even though she couldn’t see it. “It’s not funny. This is a serious problem.”
“It’s a little funny,” she argued. “You walk around all gruff thinking you’re impervious to a good woman. If you weren’t my son, I’d think you an idiot.”
“Wow. Thanks, Mother,” he deadpanned, before sighing. “But you’re right. Despite that, it’ll never work. It can’t.”
“And why is that?” she asked curiously. “What makes you think there’s no chance at all?”
“I’m a wolf.”
“So?”
“Not only is she a fae, but she’s a Snapdragon. Even if she wanted to, her father would never allow it.”
His mother was silent for a moment before she spoke again. When she did, her voice was soft. “It seems to me, son, that Cricket Snapdragon doesn’t let anyone tell her how to live. If she thinks there’s even a chance to be with you, and she wants that, she’d fight tooth and nail for you.”
Or tooth and wings, Radley thought to himself. She’d looked like she’d accepted that they couldn’t be together, but perhaps, she was only respecting what he wanted, or thought she was. After all, he’d been the one to say they couldn’t be together. Not her. She was fighting for her right not to marry. Would she fight the same for him?
“I can hear you thinking mighty hard,” his mother said on the other side of the phone.
“What do I do, Mom?” he groaned. “How do I handle this?”
“First, you go win that race and give that woman the chance to choose her own destiny,” she said logically.
Fear had his stomach clenching. “And what if I’m not the destiny she chooses?”
“Then you smile, congratulate her, and remain her friend, son. I raised you well and you’ll do the right thing, but I have a feeling things will work out as they should.”
“You’ve seen something?” Radley asked, perking up, but as usual, his mother avoided the question.
“Just stay alive and take care of her, would ya? She’s a good person.”
“I know that.”
“Good. Then act like it,” his mother answered. “I should get some sleep, and you should too. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I love you, son.”
“Love you, too,” he replied and waited for her to hang up. Once she did, he tossed his phone on the table and dropped his head into his hands completely.
There was no easy answer for this situation. If Cricket were to choose him, she’d have to give up so much to be with a wolf. Would her father disown her? Would he cut her off completely? Worse, would he force her away and cage her, forbid her from ever seeing him again? None of that seemed farfetched for the likes of Graeme Snapdragon. He wasn’t the same as Cricket was. He was cold and brutal. He was selfish. He’d never allow it unless they held something over him, unless Cricket openly chose him.
And if Cricket didn’t choose him, then the point was moot regardless. The best he could do was to help her win the race, give her that freedom, and if she looked to him in that freedom, he had his answer.
If she didn’t? Then he would remain her friend.
He’d do whatever she wanted as long as her brightness was in his life.