Page 56 of Cruel Crown

Gideon

The cafeteria was emptier than usual. Not that people kept to a schedule, but people were always around. It was…nice. I was used to being on my own since I was eighteen. This past month had been an experience.

Bastian sat next to me. I was getting used to the fucker, and I’d learned to sense his presence. He had a breakfast sandwich in one hand, and with his other, he sat a laptop on the table.

“You shouldn’t be anywhere near me right now. I vividly thought about killing you earlier today.”

He snorted and moved things on the computer, and a screen appeared.

“You hurt her and I will kill you.”

I was going to say he could try when I noticed what he was watching. She was a familiar face to me. I leaned forward when I saw the woman he was watching. She had grown since London.

This was now a woman; the person I had carried in my arms was a girl. Her hair looked fuller, slim body, but she no longer looked anorexic. She was tall, with shoulder-length hair, and when she turned in profile, her face was like I remembered it. Soulless except now older. She picked up three objects from a table, then faced a wall.

She had throwing knives in one palm. One by one, she threw them. Bas changed the feed, and then I could see more clearly, and I winced.

“She’s getting so good,” Bas said in awe.

I looked at him and at the feed again. The psycho bitch had thrown the knives at a male practice dummy. A direct line from the head down to the crotch, not missing her intended targets.

“Is she back in London?”

Bas didn’t even acknowledge me. “Nope, she’s in Stockholm.”

“Where’s everyone?” I asked, even though the only person I cared about was Daphne.

“Hunting.”

“Why didn’t you go?”

“Fuck that. We’re all going camping soon. I don’t want to be in the cold more than I have to. Besides, hunting with Damian is a fucking nightmare.”

I bet it was.

All of a sudden, Bastian’s head snapped up.

“Did you see that?”

I sat a little straighter, wondering what the fuck he was talking about.

“You’re going to have to explain yourself, mate. You fucking lost me.”

He shut down the computer.

“When we came in, Paco was here. Then while we talked, he got up and went to that table. Waited for a few minutes, then left. After he was gone, Sid got up and went over there.” He pointed to a table that was now vacant but hadn’t been when I walked in.

“They got done eating?” I said skeptically, mostly because I was confused as fuck.

“They’re conspiring.”

Shit. Paco wasn’t happy about Daphne offing his cousin and now wanted retribution.

“Where is she?”

“With her grandfather.”

“Repeat that?” I spat as I followed after him. She had a grandfather, and I didn’t know any of this shit? And I was back to wanting to murder Bastian for knowing something I didn’t.

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