Splinter (The Machinists Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

his death, but when she had, she’d never spoken ill. Her honesty made him uneasy.
    “I don’t want to see you make the same mistake.”
    “I’m not contending with a splinter,” Jaxon said.
    “That’s not what destroyed my father. His downfall wasn’t circumstance—it was how he responded to it.”
    “Your father was the strongest man I’ve ever known.”
    “That’s where he failed,” Leira said. “He tried to shoulder the burden himself. Tried to turn himself into the manor and shelter us inside, but it was too much to bear. It wasn’t a coincidence that my father died the same night the manor was destroyed. They were too intertwined. One couldn’t exist without the other.”
    “The Family needs a strong leader.”
    “Strength comes from a strong foundation, Jaxon. You don’t have to be the walls and the roof, too.”
    Her words echoed something Graeme used to say. “ You’re only as strong as your support structure . ”
    But who had been Graeme’s support structure? Who held him up when he would have otherwise fallen? His Family? Me? If that were the case, then Jaxon had been a lousy pillar of support—he’d often used Graeme’s moments of council to question some of his deepest philosophies. Had he hoped for Jaxon to share in his burdens?
    “You want to play a larger part,” Jaxon said.
    Leira stopped and turned to face him. “I want to play a part, Jaxon. This is my Family, too.”
    He studied the conviction in her eyes. It stirred something inside him—her conviction was one of the things he treasured most about her, even if it could be frustrating. “I’m not trying to shut you out.”
    “I know.” Leira turned from him and walked into the sparse forest. She found a fallen tree, then sat down, and waited for him to join her.
    He stood there for a moment, feeling awkward. The way her eyes bore through him, into his soul, made him self-conscious. But the way he cherished it terrified him even more. Hesitantly, he made his way to the fallen tree and sat next to her.
    Leira slid closer until her leg touched his. “Will you tell me what happened back there?”
    Jaxon exhaled, his breath billowing into the air. “I don’t know,” he said honestly. “The anger came so fast. It’s just too much, and I got lost in it.”
    “What’s all too much?”
    Jaxon shot her an irritated look.
    “Don’t look at me like that,” she said. “Pulling words and feelings out of you is like pulling stars from the sky—damn near impossible and probably not worth the effort. The other half the time, your face is as hard as granite. So if you don’t tell me what’s going on, I have no way of knowing.”
    “I don’t try to be difficult,” Jaxon said.
    “I know. It just comes naturally.” Leira smirked and prodded him with an elbow. “So tell me. What happened with the call?”
    Jaxon drew a deep breath. “My Family is unhappy that I’m the interim grand mage for your Family. They want me to anoint another and return home.”
    Leira’s eyes fell from his, but her face remained placid. The news shouldn’t have come as a shock. She had been privy to his half of the conversation and should have come to the conclusion herself. “What will you do?”
    “What choice do I have?” Jaxon asked. “They’re my Family. I can’t leave them any more than you can leave yours.”
    “I see,” Leira said softly.
    “But that’s not the worst of it,” Jaxon said. “The Forum held a session without a McCollum delegate.”
    Leira looked up from the ground, meeting his eyes. “But—”
    “They’ve disbanded us, Leira. This Family no longer exists in the eyes of the Forum.”
    Leira stood, covering her gaping mouth with her hand. “They can’t! We… I… they can’t!”
    “It’s done.”
    Leira turned her back to him, her body tensing. She shook her head. “No.”
    “Leira—”
    She spun on him, cold fury in her eyes. “No. They have no authority to do this.”
    Jaxon raised an eyebrow.