Page 10 of Hate Me

I winced. “Cal was different. What he did that night… that massacre… it crossed some major lines.”

Cas ground his teeth and shoved a hand through his hair. Yeah, he didn’t like to talk about Caleb. He only did it for me, because he knew I needed to put it out there, to vent, to expel the poisonous thoughts and the pain when it rose up, instead of foolishly burying everything like I used to. He believed he could have helped Cal through it and that Cal had betrayed him in a way by not coming to him and then taking off and basically severing our brotherhood. And at a time when we’d all needed one another after the loss of Skylar and then me succumbing to addiction again.

“Sorry, it’s okay. I just needed to come here, I guess. Just to see this place again. To re-anchor myself, or something.”

“I understand. But let’s head home now. You need to stay on track with this final project of your final semester, then it’s graduation time. You’re so close, Bastian.”

I grinned. “Yeah.”

“Plus, your favored BLTs are on the menu for dinner tonight.”

“Well, then, don’t say another word, let’s get the hell out of here.”

He chuckled, and we headed out.

As we did, I forced myself not to look back at the house.

3

~Caspian~

I took another swig of my bourbon as I poured over the documentation from the intel packet Dante had gifted me.

It was an incredibly detailed account of everything Caleb had been up to for the last two years, since the day he’d stood out there on King Manor grounds and then walked away.

From me.

From us.

From the brotherhood.

His missionary era.

His angel of vengeance undertaking.

His rehabilitation facilities work.

Then Asher Monroe.

The son and heir apparent to Monroe Enterprises, along with the clandestine criminal empire that was their real source of power, affluence, and influence, the Infidels.

Asher headed the faction in the college town of Hexwood, he and his two long-time friends ruling the place with an iron fist and a whole lot of punishment and terror.

Until something had shifted.

A weapon in the form of Aurora Blackthorn had come into the picture and she’d provided Asher with what he’d wanted for a long time, the means to destroy his father and the empire he’d been forced to become a part of, something he’d long abhorred. Especially the human trafficking aspect in the form of their so-called dollhouses.

Given Caleb’s stance on that sort of thing, it was no surprise that once he’d learned of it, he’d involved himself in a bid to destroy those disgusting operations.

But this was more than that.

It hadn’t just been about that for him.

It had been about Asher.

He’d fallen for him.

The guy had come to him for punishment to purge all the dark out of him, something Caleb had schooled himself well on since he’d left.

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