Page 60 of These Deadly Dreams

“What are you making?”

Cade’s voice makes my heart stop. I turn around and take in his appearance. His skin is closer to his normal shade, and while there are still dark circles under his eyes, it’s not as bad. He’s also standing straight and not leaning on anything. The last bit of worry I had for him disappears.

Kai flings a piece of spaghetti at Cade and it lands with a soft, wet slap across his nose and cheek. “Spaghetti!”

Cade stares at Kai for a moment, blinking, before he pulls the pasta strand from his face. “And did you make it, or Ellis? If I eat this will I die?”

“I helped him,” I say, walking over to him and popping my mouth open. He drops the pasta on my tongue. “See?” He smiles and wraps his arms around me. I sigh as I collapse against him. “You’re okay?” I ask, unable to stop myself from making sure.

“I’m feeling much better. After I eat some food, I’ll be back to normal.” He squeezes me tighter. “Thank you for listening to Kai and coming back here.” Kai snorts, and Cade pulls away to look at me with a raised brow. “You didn’t listen to him?”

My cheeks heat and I duck my head, looking at his chest instead. “Not exactly.”

“Ahh, so he had to compel you, huh? And he’s still alive?” Cade smirks at me and I narrow my eyes at him.

“Barely.” Kai comes up behind me and pulls Cade into his arms, sandwiching me between them. “I’m glad you’re back safe,” he mumbles.

I can’t see them with my face smushed against Cade’s chest, but his heart thumps harder under my cheek, and his chest raises as he sucks in a breath. Wiggling myself so I can look up at them fails. Kai presses closer to Cade and squeezes me tighter between them. I let my imagination run wild as two hard lengths press against me, one in front and one in back. Guess there are worse places to be stuck.

A loud grumble—louder for me with my ear closer to Cade’s stomach—breaks them apart. Kai chuckles. “Let’s get you some food.”

I let Kai serve us the spaghetti. He looks so proud while he’s doing it, and I realize for him, it's a way of providing for us that he’s not typically able to do. Cade and Sterling have always made sure I have food, but for Kai, it's the opposite. It’s me making sure he’s fed. I make a mental note that once all of this is over, to help Kai learn to cook. Maybe we can take cooking classes somewhere as a date option.

My spaghetti disappears from my plate at an alarming rate. I’m so desperate to hear what Cade has to say, I just want to get this whole eating thing out of the way. Cade eats almost as fast as I do, but he ends up getting thirds. Kai watches us with amusement, well mostly me. Cade twirls his around his fork like a gentleman, while I slurp mine like a toddler. I can’t help it, though. Gracie and I used to eat our spaghetti like this on purpose to annoy our mom.

When Cade’s finally had enough, we relocate to the living room. Cade sits on the couch and reaches for the book he bought me sitting on the coffee table. “Have you started this yet?” he asks, leafing through it.

“Finished it,” I say, plopping down next to him. “Kai hooked me up so I can read the rest on my phone.”

He smirks at me, setting the book down. “Did you take any notes?”

“Maybe,” I reply coyly.

The levity in the room drops away as Cade sighs and sits back. “So,” he begins, threading his fingers through mine. “I wasn’t able to get in the building, but Drew did. He returned home to rest, but he’s going to map out the layout for us, as well as note the guard rotation for the inside.”

“Why do I feel like there is a ‘but’ coming,” Kai mutters, running his hand through his hair.

“Because there is,” Cade sighs. “I got through the ward around the property, and luckily it was the only one. The guard rotation is pretty simple, and the doors to get into the property are not warded, just locked, which is easy enough to get through.”

“Where’s the ‘but?’” I ask, trying to not hold my breath.

“But,” he looks at me, his violet eyes appearing heavy. “I can’t do it by myself. Getting myself and Drew through the ward is what drained me. After, I had to let him go on inside by himself. When it was time to get back through the wards, I could barely manage it.”

“So, we need another mage that we trust to help us get inside the wards and back out.” Kai’s brows draw down as he thinks through this. “Someone we trust with Ellis’s life.”

“There aren’t many I’d trust,” Cade says. “So many of the powerful mages work for Kennedy. I wouldn’t trust a single one of them.”

“Is there someone who works for him who is being forced, like you? Maybe they would be willing to help,” I offer.

Cade shakes his head. “None of them would risk it. There’s too much at stake for them—their family, their lives.”

Silence falls heavily through the room as we all contemplate this situation. Not going in isn’t an option. I’m getting Sterling back, no matter what. In this situation, I’m probably not very useful. I don’t know many magicals. All the ones I do know are from Thomas’s company. Connor is the only mage I know outside of the Kennedy Corporation.

I gasp. “Connor!”

Kai and Cade look at me expectantly.

“Connor is a mage,” I explain. “He owns the gym Allie and I trained at.”

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