Free West of Want (Hearts of the Anemoi) by Laura Kaye

toe.
    Shaking her head, she gingerly prodded the skin above the toenail. The flow of blood already slowed. “I’ve never understood why something so small hurts so bad. Seems like a design flaw to me.” She gave him a shy smile.
    Zeph met her gaze, held it. “I don’t see a single, solitary flaw.”
    Blushing, she ducked her head.
    He rose, and helped her up. She limped into the bathroom. Wary, he followed her to the doorway, the steam hanging thick in the air, way warmer than what was comfortable for him.
    She grabbed a tissue and blotted the blood from her toe, then reached into the stall. Hissing, she yanked her hand back without turning the water off. “Damn. How did that get so hot?” She sucked her fingers into her mouth.
    In an instant, suspicion morphed into certainty. Zephyros’s soul filled with a roiling desire for vengeance against Eurus, who clearly was toying with Ella. No one had this much bad luck all at once. Except after meeting his brother. Then one’s chance of misfortune skyrocketed, especially if Eurus was in a mood. And when wasn’t he?
    Gods, this was his fault. He’d lingered, he’d stayed, he’d healed her. And now Eurus knew about Ella, probably suspected Zeph cared for her, which put the beautiful woman before him between a rock and a hard place, between the East and the West. His brother enjoyed nothing more than taking away the things Zeph cared about. One by one. Slowly but surely.
    With family like that, who needed enemies?
    “I need to ask you something, Ella.” Even to himself, Zeph’s voice sounded deep, strained.
    Her narrowed gaze cut to his. “Okay.”
    “When he left, did you feel a gust of wind?”
    Her brow slashed downward, wary. “Well, yeah, but—”
    “Damn it. He marked you.” Why did he have to know his brother so well?
    She folded her arms around herself. “Marked? Meaning?”
    Zeph sucked in the cool air of the hallway, then stepped into the steamy room. “My brother’s calling card is unluckiness. I know how that sounds, but he, well—”
    She tilted her head. “He’s like you.”
    “No!”
    Ella gasped and retreated one step, another. “I only meant—”
    Zeph rushed to her, rubbed her shoulders. Dropped his forehead against hers. “I’m sorry. I know what you meant. It’s just, I am many things, and far from perfect. But where my brother takes pleasure in others’ pain, finds amusement in causing chaos, I prize life, Ella. I value goodness.” He let out a long breath, aching for her to recognize the goodness in him.
    For a long moment, she held his stare. She spoke quietly, carefully. “I can tell, Zephyros. You are a good person. I can almost feel it coming out of you, the way you care, the way you bear the weight of responsibility.” She shook her head. “I don’t even know if that’s the right way to say it, but I…I like the way I feel when I’m around you. It’s just”—she clenched her eyes shut and shuddered—“your brother…your brother totally creeped me out.” She opened her eyes and shrugged. “Sorry.”
    Her words wrapped around his heart, made it pump harder, or maybe that was the clinging heat in the room. He wanted to reward her assessment of Eurus by telling her she was a good judge of character, but that would mean praising what she’d said about him, too. As much as he needed the affirmation she’d voiced, he found it hard to accept about himself. So, he kissed her forehead, allowed his lips to linger. An electrical charge rippled from his lips down his body.
    “Don’t be sorry. And thank you,” he finally said in a shaky voice. Finding it harder and harder to breathe in the heated air, Zeph flicked on the exhaust fan and reached into the stall to shut off the shower. Scalding water streamed over his arm. He hissed, cranking the nozzle with his injured hand, and the shower cut off. His stomach flirted with nausea. Good thing it was just an extremity.
    Frowning, Ella leaned around him and gasped at the