Page 39 of Crave Me

Instead of moving to climb alongside me, he said, “Elijah doesn’t know you’re out. And I made sure of it when I killed those three guards. They’re not checking on you because the plan is to leave you to rot. You’re basically a ghost. At least for a little while. It has to be you and only you, Bastian.”

“What? No. No fucking way.”

“It won’t matter soon anyway. You’ll get out of range of the jammer, Cas will be able to track you, and then he’ll move in with a fucking army and pull me out too. It’s just for a couple more hours. I can handle it.”

“Caleb, what I walked in on—”

He grasped my shoulder. “Things aren’t always as they seem. Trust me.”

“I can’t leave you behind. I can’t.”

“You don’t and we’re both done for.” He squeezed my shoulder. “Please. I need you to do this.”

“Fuck.” My voice cracked with pain. “Caleb.”

Shouts sounded and the mansion doors flew open. “Hurry,” he said, coming to me and helping to haul me up the twelve-foot-high fence. I grunted and managed to grasp the top and a final push from him had me clearing it. I landed with a roll, then came up, panting just from that slight exertion.

I walked to him, the fence between us, and reached for his hand.

He grimaced and stepped back. “Go. Now, Bastian. Any second now and they’ll see you. Disappear into the trees.”

I cursed, then struggled forward until I reached the tree line and forced myself through, using the vegetation as camouflage.

I turned back from my hidden position and looked over at Cal to see a half a dozen of Elijah’s guys descending on him. He managed to fire off two shots, killing one with a head shot, then wounding another with a bullet through the side. But then the gun was ripped from his grasp. He was slammed against the fence over and over, then knocked out cold by a brutal knee to the face.

A familiar shithead came into view, pushing his guys aside.

That spiky salt-and-pepper hair, those dead eyes just like Jett’s.

Elijah Bane himself.

He was shirtless, just wearing a pair of cotton pajama pants.

He crouched down beside Caleb and stroked his hair in a creepily erotic way.

“My pet’s been a very bad boy.” He leaned in and kissed his cheek, then rose to his feet, telling his guys, “Get him set up in the banquet hall, the girls will be here soon.”

In the next moment, they were dragging him away, Elijah following, completely focused on Caleb.

Fucking shit.

The urge to burst from the trees and go to him was overwhelming.

But it was also stupid.

I was in no shape to take down a small army, and it would just end up getting me caught again too with no way to send out for help.

No, I had to keep going, moving the two miles away from the property, and then Cas would register the signal, and everything would be okay.

Then I’d come back for him with Cas and an army at my back.

And we’d fucking destroy every single one of them and bury that motherfucker, Elijah Bane, once and for all.

10

~Dante Mancini~

I watched Matteo gradually become more lucid as he continued sipping at the espresso I’d brought him.

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