Page 169 of Consume Me

“I’ll do my best.”

“Glad you’re back. You aged me,” Celine says.

“Loving the attention, huh, asshole?” Dane asks to lighten the mood.

“You bet.”

“You’re one strong fucker,” Hunter says, extending his hand. The gesture holds so much more—like he’s giving me his blessing to be with his sister. Not that I’d need it, but I am glad to have it. I shake his hand, and we nod at each other in understanding.

Kaden is so silent as he stares at me. “Tell me. I want to know.”

“Kaden, now is not the time,” Celine tries.

“It’s the perfect moment for this asshole to get it through his thick head that we’re a family, and in our group, we don’t ask—we’re just there for the other.”

“They were poisoning Grandmother. I killed her because I didn’t say or do a thing to prevent it.”

Kaden shakes his head. “I could fucking kill you, you idiot.”

“I almost died so...”

He strides to my side, his expression pulled tight. “I would have buried her personally for you if you had asked me to. Do you hear me? I care about you, and to see you drifting and suffering alone—that hurts the most.”

Something breaks from my chest, and I feel lighter. I never believed I could get absolution, yet my brother just gave it to me. I am too choked up even to form words, and as our eyes lock, potent emotions glisten in his as well. Nothing could break our bond. Knowing he has my back, just as I have his, fuels me with a deep sense of belonging. Right here and now, we set the credo for our lives. Together. No more secrets. No more demons to wrestle with alone.

“We’ll give you a moment,” Celine says, taking Mia’s hand and leading her out of the room.

When it’s just the two of us, he shuts his eyes for a moment.

“I love you, Blake. You’re my brother, an integral part of my family. I can’t do this without you. I am sorry I failed you as a friend and at everything else if you thought you had to do this alone…”

“Kaden, you were in so much pain, man. Adding mine to the mix would have only endangered us.”

“Yet, here we fucking are.”

“I survived, and I’m not going anywhere else.”

“You finally accept what Mia means to you?”

“I was the only idiot who didn’t want to accept facts.”

“No more secrets,” he says.

“No more secrets.”

He offers me a glass of water, and as I sip, I say, “Grandmother was still innocent. Even though she was distant and cold and didn’t give us what we needed, she didn’t deserve that betrayal. She was not evil—not like them.”

“She should have surrounded herself with people who loved her enough to be loyal to her. None of them were innocent, and betrayal has been a part of the Family legacy since the beginning. It will end with ours. Forgive yourself, Blake. I am sure Grandmother would have appreciated how strong you had to be to play everyone. She lived for that shit. And in war, there are casualties. She was aware of that too. Now I get why you basically antagonized her and gave her a reason to hate you. But in her position, she couldn’t afford to hate because it would have meant that she failed. She was the queen in a den of vipers. She must have done something right, though. Look at us, one more willing to sacrifice himself for the good of the others.”

“Your asshole of a father is still alive,” I say.

“And it’s a damn competition between us who will get to kill him. We stopped being innocent when we started to fight for survival. In times of war, you fight for peace. In time of peace, you ready yourself for war.”

When our friends return, Kaden makes room for Mia, who automatically places her hand in mine.

“So what happened?” I ask.

“The security team we had with us found the other location empty except for photos of us lined up and with a red X on them,” Hunter says, fixing his gaze on Bailey. “But one pic was different—Bailey’s had a big question mark.”

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