Page 39 of Devon

Devon didn’t hesitate to open the door and walk in.Ryan scrambled to go after him, not wanting to leave Devon alone with Nic even though Nic was tied up.

Tamlin hadn’t been lying.Nic was on his back on the bed, his bare chest decorated with an array of gauze and bandages.One of his feet was tied to the bed, but he had enough space to move.He sat up when he saw Devon, and Ryan had to resist the urge to growl at him.

“Devon?”Nic asked as if he couldn’t quite believe that Devon was there.

Devon gave him a tremulous smile.“Hey.How are you doing?”

“I’m alive, which is more than I hoped for when I attacked Parrish.How are you?”

“I’m fine.Not even a scratch.”

Nic glanced at Ryan and quickly nodded at him before turning his attention back to Devon.“What are you doing here?”

Devon shuffled his feet.“I guess I just wanted to talk to you.I want to know what happened.”

“You’re not the first person to ask me that.”

“Will you tell me?”

Nic sighed and flopped back against his pillow.“There’s nothing much to say.Parrish sent me to work in town in the hopes that I’d be able to find someone who lived in the village and befriend them.I was excited when you came in.It was clear that you were lonely, and I was going to use that to get more information about the village.”

Ryan stepped closer to Devon and gently rubbed his back.He’d expected that kind of answer, but even though he didn’t care, he knew that Devon did.

“So you never really wanted to be my friend?”Devon asked.“And it’s why you kept asking questions about the village.”

“Parrish doesn’t like to be told no.I told him everything you told me.I guess it was lucky that you didn’t say anything about the shield.”

“That’s because I didn’t know about it.”Devon swallowed.“I thought you were my friend.”

Nic shrugged.“I wanted to be after a while.I like you.That’s why I came to the village to warn you about the attack.I didn’t want you to get hurt.I knew that Parrish would be pissed if he found out, but you were more important.”

Ryan wasn’t sure he could believe that, but he wasn’t the one who had to believe it.He didn’t like it, but Devon truly cared about Nic.If the two of them could get over this and become friends again, Devon would be happy.

And that was all Ryan wanted.If that meant he had to deal with Nic for the rest of his life, he would.Devon was the person who mattered here.

And Ryan would give him anything he asked for.

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