Page 18 of Exile

“That’s good. Hopefully, the reason why you’re here won’t scare you away.”

I frowned and looked at him. Was he talking about Caspian?

He said the words so casually, but his voice had a hint of annoyance.

His laugh was dry. “Theresa told me who you are. And who Caspian is to you.”

“Right,” I breathed. “Word travels fast around here, huh?”

“It does in every tiny village with just about two hundred population.”

I took a deep breath. My chest was stinging when he mentioned Caspian, and I wondered what he was doing right now. All alone in his house by the water.

Henry leaned closer, watching me closely as I kept frowning. “Listen, Darwynn, I know you’re here to connect with your grandfather, but I think you should be careful.”

“Careful? Why?”

Henry studied me, his brow raising. “Because Caspian King isn’t just some grumpy guy who wants to be left alone. And he’s definitely not the hero Theresa says he is.”

He hadn’t said much, but I wanted him to shut up.

“He’s my grandfather. I’m just trying to get to know him because I never got the chance to.”

“And I think it’s best for you to just leave him alone and not dig deeper. He’s not worth it.”

God, was he always this obnoxious?

I tried to keep the anger that was rising inside of me hidden.

I wanted to ask him to leave me alone, to go and talk to other people, but I wasn’t brave enough. My nails dug into my thigh, and my annoyance grew.

“Not sure why you would even give him a chance. As much as I understood from what Theresa told me, he's never been around. He’s old and bitter.”

“And you’ll be sorry and hurt if you don’t get the fuck away from her.”

Chills ran down my whole body as Caspian’s raspy, deep voice sounded behind us. I turned my head to look at him and saw Henry’s posture stiffen out of the corner of my eye.

“Caz, old man, I didn’t—”

“Get away from her.”

Henry’s mouth opened, but no words came out. Caspian’s glare was sharp, and the weight of his presence seemed to fill the entire bar.

Nobody cared that he was here, though. Nobody but me.

When Henry finally left, letting out the heaviest, most dramatic sigh, I looked up at Caspian and smiled. “You didn’t have to do that,” I said, my voice quiet but steady.

He turned to me, his brown eyes locking onto mine. “Yes, I did.”

I bit my cheek, unable to hold back a grin. “You came. Why?”

Without giving me a response, he sat down on the stool Henry had been sitting on earlier, and without having to ask for one, a glass of whiskey was set in front of him.

I chewed on my bottom lip as I tried to understand why he was there. Why he had changed his mind. He had seemed pretty confident to me that he wouldn’t show up here tonight.

“If there’s one person I want you to stay away from in this village, it’s Henry. He’s a dick.”

Huh, wouldn’t have guessed.

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