Queen of Ruin(Book three of the Immortals Series)
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT THE BALCONY

The shrill noise of Tessa's drunken cackle ricocheted through the second floor like a stray bullet that hit him right in the head as Teddy straightened his tie in the foyer mirror. The little monster he created was making him crazy, and he rolled his eyes at the sound of her voice.

Too frustrated to work his fingers, he clenched his jaw and ripped the fabric from his neck. "Fuck!"

The old Viking appeared behind him and motioned by bending his fingers. The tension building between the twins was at the boiling point, and he hoped a distraction might bring them back to baseline. "Turn around; I got this." As Teddy trumpeted his cheeks and blew out the breath of annoyance from his lungs, Haldir made the finishing touches on his bowtie. "You have fun tonight; I can handle your sister."

Her downward spiral drove the wedge further and further between them as Teddy did his best to keep her under control. The sadness in her heart never left her, only now, she didn't know why. When he locked the old her away, the empty chasm left behind filled itself with manic outbursts, alcohol, and enough sexual partners to fill a phone book.

His whole body trembled with anxiety every moment of his life now, and he wished the chain around his neck would stay in and watch movies with him as she used to instead of dragging him to another party he didn't want to attend. "We should go away somewhere. Maybe a deserted island out in the middle of the ocean."

Haldir smiled and slapped his fingers against Teddy's cheek with a chuckle huffing out through his nose. "That would never work; she would replace a way to entertain herself at a funeral."

Watching him fiddle with his hair, Haldir crossed his arms and rubbed his fingers on his chin, then shrugged as he thought of a solution to his stress. "Maybe you should go on a little vacation without Tess and me. Go travel Europe or something."

As lovely as that sounded, the guilt of what he did wouldn't allow him a break, so he glanced at Haldir's reflection and smirked. "I'd be a nervous wreck. What kind of fun would that be?"

"You already are a nervous wreck." Haldir walked to the staircase and yelled up into the hall. "Come on, Tess. All the ladies are waiting."

He stood by and watched as the arrogant aura descended the stairs one step ahead of her as Tessa glided down the steps in her sleek black stilettos. When she reached the bottom, Haldir took her hand and ushered her to the door.

The pang of jealousy in Teddy was more potent than it had ever been. He had always been the one to keep her in line, but it seemed that only Haldir kept her attention these days.

As they made their way across the park to the Order, she clung to Haldir's arm like a life jacket, causing Teddy to clench his jaw. It was like she purposely searched his mind for the easiest ways to annoy him, and he was about at his limit with her behavior.

When they got inside, Haldir gave Tessa's hand to Teddy. "Dance her for a few minutes. I need to go check in."

Pulling her into his arms, Teddy moved back and forth on the dance floor. "Do you think you can behave yourself tonight, please?"

Her eyes rolled away from him, and her head shook as the first button popped on the too-tight corset that held in her patience. "Probably not. You should probably stay home from now on. Frankly, I don't want you here anyway. I'm tired of you ruining all my fun."

Leaning down into her face, Teddy continued pushing her buttons and turning up the heat of her ire. "And I'm tired of watching you act like an ass; it's embarrassing."

The anger rose through her arms and shoulders as she searched the floor for Haldir and tried to replace a means of escape. "That's funny; I'm not the least bit embarrassed. I think you're the one with a fucking problem, Teddy."

The heat rose between the two powder kegs as Teddy's voice got increasingly louder. "Well, you should be. You drink yourself silly every night, and now you're throwing yourself at Haldir like a goddamn whore. Daddy would be so ashamed of the way you've been carrying on."

Pushing herself away from Teddy, she pointed her finger at him as she warned him not to continue. "Don't you fucking start with me, asshole. Despite what you think, you're not my father, my keeper, or my white goddamn knight. If you don't like how I act, you can go straight to hell."

"Hey! No, come on. Let's go cool off outside." Haldir's hand wrapped around her arm, and he pulled her away from the hot whirlwind they were creating.

Pointing her finger at Teddy as Haldir dragged her towards the balcony, she narrowed her eyes at her brother. "Stay out of my fucking way! I've had enough of you to last me a lifetime!"

The ringing in Teddy's ears turned into a steady pounding, and he wiped his hand across his mouth as he sulked to the bar. A colossal patch of warmth met his back as Billy sat beside him and motioned to the barkeep. "Whiskey." Teddy sipped back his drink and licked it off his lips. "Not now, please."

The giant hands wrapped around Billy's glass as he gave the only advice he could think of. "I'm not here to say I told you so; I see no reason to kick you while your down. You need a break from her."

He scrunched up his face as the pain between his eyes became unbearable. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't rub away the regret. "Yeah, that's what Haldir said. It seems like I'm just ruining their good fucking time anyway." "Teddy." The curly white beard floated on the side of Billy's face as he smirked and shook his head at his ridiculous statement. "Trust me, neither one of them is enjoying what's happening any more than you are. The three of you are, well, I guess you could say you were made to suffer. One of you has to be the one to break the cycle. Your sister is a lost cause, I'm afraid, and Haldir is sworn to be her guardian. That leaves you, my boy."

He brought his glass to his lips, and a hot breath of his own blew up into his face when he scoffed. "So, what? I just walk away from my sister?"

His tongue slid across his lips as he cleared the whiskey, and he nodded as he looked at Teddy's reflection. "She knows you've done something to her mind. If she goes off the rails, I mean really loses her shit, not even you will stop her. So, yes, I think you might need a vacation before she blows and kills us all."

Digging through her purse as she stomped to the balcony, Tessa pulled a pack of Marlboro's from it then put one in her mouth. Backing herself against the wall, her hands vibrated with anger as she searched for a lighter.

"I got it." A tiny flame appeared and lit her cigarette, then Haldir snapped it shut and stuffed it in his pocket. "You need to take it easy on him, Tess."

Staring at the spot in the corner where she and Rafik huddled together, a wailing sob escaped before she could even understand what was happening. Her shaking fingertips rubbed her forehead as Tessa admitted everything. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm so angry and sad, and every time I look at Teddy, it just makes it worse. What did he do to me?"

As she sniffed back her tears, her eyes snapped back to the corner against her will, and the knocking in the back of her mind grew louder. "Where is he, Haldir? Why hasn't he came back for me?"

Haldir took her cigarette and threw it off the balcony, then pulled her tight against his chest. Every night it was the same questions, and he tried his hardest to be honest as he kissed the side of her head. "You didn't do anything wrong. He would be with you if he could, Tess."

Wrapped up in the last bit of comfort that she had left in her life, Tessa sought out her mate as she closed her eyes and pressed her lips to Haldir's. Before he could even break her hold on him, Teddy's livid voice shouted through the streets of Savannah as he berated Haldir. "You dirty motherfucker."

Pushing her behind him as her brother inched closer and the blue glow rose from his pores, Haldir shook his head because he knew what he walked in on must have been shocking. "It isn't what it looks like, so dial it the fuck back." "Fuck you." Hissing like a snake through his teeth, Teddy pointed at Haldir and hammered the nail in the coffin of their little hodge-podge family. "That's what the fuck happened, isn't it? You turned her against me. No wonder you want to send me away so goddamn bad."

From behind Haldir, Tessa nearly hurdled over his shoulder as she lashed out at her brother. "It's your fucking fault, Teddy. You ruin everything. I hate you."

The expression on Teddy's face fell from his indignant sneer to a quivering frown as her words shot straight through him and ripped out what was left of his heart.

Haldir held out his palm to Teddy and spoke calmly as he struggled to keep her back. "She doesn't mean it, Teddy. She doesn't know what she's saying. That's not your sister."

"Yes, I fucking do mean it." Spitting insults over Haldir's shoulder, she hoped at least one of them would land, but every single one of them found their way and stabbed Teddy. The pain fell from his lashes in fat drops as he put up his hands. "I'm done with you both. I quit; you can have her."