Page 189 of Filthy Royal

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DAMIEN

“What the hells happened to you two?” Mid-chew, Maddox slid open the back door and peered out into the alley, crunching down on something purple that smelled a lot like atarshevegetable.

“We had an incident.” Damien threw off the cloak and nudged his brother—and snack—backward as he hustled a mud-covered Scarlett inside. He’d watched and waited to make sure there were no eyes—or recorders—in the vicinity of Andor Stormhart’s upscale vacation residence before making their approach.

“Another one?” The kid did incredulous well, but Damien saw the amusement lurking beneath.

“Shut it.” He wrapped his arm tighter around Scarlett, then dropped his supply pack onto a round crystal table smack in the center of the entranceway, which had probably cost more than his shuttle.

Scarlett giggled, a miracle in itself after the whole chasm mess and the guilt he knew she still harbored. Only then, she leaned further against him, as if even that small amount of laughter had taken everything out of her.

Damien bore her weight gladly. Although in a better place emotionally, she was still wiped out. He’d practically had to carry her the last several tunnel lengths, so he wanted her clean, her bruises covered with healing gel, and her tucked up in bed as soon as possible. “We need—”

“Gods, what happened?” Kadon barreled into the entranceway from somewhere out the back, his arms outstretched, his horrified gaze fixed on Scarlett.

Damien stepped in front of her, snarling, instinct taking hold before he’d even registered it.

Kadon skidded to a halt, his palms shooting up. “I’m just concerned for her.”

“She’s fine.” As Damien pulled her forward and tucked her back into his side, out of the corner of his eye, he caught Maddox choking back laughter. The kid wisely took another bite out of his food instead.

Scarlett mustered up the energy to elbow him.

Hells. That wasn’t how Damien had meant to play this meeting with their current host—the one offering them a safe hideout—but clearly, it was way too soon, and he was still way too raw to not react to Kadon Stormhart charging toward his female.

Though who was he kidding? Damien didn’t have much charm at the best of times. And the guy had coldcocked him while he was drugged, so he wasn’t sure they’d ever be best buds.

“Thanks, Kadon, but we’re okay. Totally unharmed.” Scarlett’s tone was warm, but she also wrapped an arm around Damien and squeezed, reminding him exactly where her loyalty lay.

He liked it a lot. “We just need a cleaning unit. Stat.”

They’d used cleaning tablets before leaving their aqueduct hideout, but they’d rolled around in mud, and that shit was everywhere. They required a serious, comprehensive purification unit to get to those hard-to-reach places. While it had been hot as hells at the time, there were some definite drawbacks.

Still… enthusiasm and stamina for the win. He and Scarlett would learn and refine their play as they went. They had all the time in the galaxy now.

“You sure you’re okay?” Stormhart didn’t exactly seem convinced, but he looked like he wanted to be, and Damien suspected they had an ally there.

“I really am fine. Better than I’ve been in a long time.” Thankfully, Scarlett truly sounded it, and Damien’s chest expanded wide.

Despite what happened with the hole in the ground and the guards, her tone and movements were lighter. As if getting filthy had somehow helped to purify her soul.

But she’d always been perfect to him, and the darker aspects of her gift didn’t change that at all. But he was just happy theirtalkhad had an impact. She seemed better, less haunted, and, most significantly, was no longer insisting that he send her back to Darvish so she could kill the monster and herself and that was a game changer.

However, he didn’t delude himself that it would be only smooth times ahead.

His female had a gift that was a definite danger to herself and others. They still had to confront Crex, Darvish, and this other mystery collaborator. Plus, get ahold of these incriminating vids and erase Scarlett’s part in the stolen funds before the Brotherhood caught wind of it and took out their fury on the wrong party.

But Scarlett was with him now and one hundred percent committed to fighting for their bond, no matter what obstacles they faced.

And that meant there was no battle they couldn’t win.

“What the fuck happened to you?” Luc crowded into the small entranceway right beside Stormhart.

Not again.

“We’re fine. I’m fine.” This time, Scarlett jumped in first.

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