Page 8 of Crave Me

I looked at his hands on me and he abruptly stepped back. “Sorry, I was just—”

“I get it. It’s fine.”

He arched an eyebrow. “It is?”

“You helped me with tracking Jett. You pulled me out of that nightmare earlier. We’re good.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.” Not only because I was past the incident at the fight club years ago and the leak of that sex tape, but also because I didn’t view him as a threat anymore. He’d continually proven himself an ally, casting off the shackles of enemy. Moreover, I was stronger and more skilled than before, I didn’t doubt that my abilities now eclipsed his. He couldn’t hurt me. Once I was healed anyway.

And then there was Bastian’s stake in it.

I’d seen him struggling with the way things were between him and his brother. He wanted to rebuild their relationship, to forgive him, but he was also wary about doing so. I didn’t think it was just coming from his own reservations either—Caspian was a major factor for him, the way he regarded Damien as irredeemable.

The thing was, after everything we’d all done, the lines we’d crossed, the atrocities we’d committed in the name of justice and protecting ourselves, I couldn’t stand the idea of redemption being off the table when somebody was trying to mend their ways, to get back on track.

“Appreciate it, Bluebell,” he said, flashing me a genuine smile.

I pushed off the railing. “I need to talk to Caspian.”

“Last I saw, he was in the kitchen, yelling on the phone while scarfing down a Pop Tart. Guess that’s passing for breakfast with all this shit going on right now.”

“Does that shit include you being here?”

The corner of his mouth turned up. “Probably.”

“He thinks you’re a target too?”

He grinned. “Damn, you’re good. Yeah, that’s exactly it. On account of me being Seb’s brother, and because of me playing Jett and all that.”

I nodding, taking it in.

Then I turned to head downstairs.

I stopped when I noticed he wasn’t following after me. “Aren’t you coming?”

“Can’t. One of the conditions of being here is keeping my distance from King.”

Jeez. While I obviously understood where Caspian was coming from in regard to Damien, this kind of animosity right now really wasn’t going to help things.

As I turned to go, Damien called out, “Seb is a fighter, Skylar. He always has been.”

I smiled. “Thank you. For that and also for saving my ass back at that gas station.”

He winked. “No worries.”

With that, he headed back down the corridor and I made my way downstairs.

Frustratingly slowly.

Urgency was building with my every step, the need to get to Caspian and Caleb, to see them, to hold them, taking me over. The need to find out exactly where we were at regarding bringing Bastian back to us too.

I finally made it to the kitchen, hearing Caspian’s raised voice in the distance.

I started and peered through to see him actually out on the patio, waving a half-eaten Pop Tart around wildly as he paced erratically while talking on the phone.

Actually, shouted was more like it.

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