“What do you mean, Kylan’s men? You’re Kylan’s men,” I said.
“Not in the slightest, big guy. I’m sure Freya’s husband will explain when you get to your room, but I don’t plan on repeating the whole thing right now.”
“He’s not my husband,” Freya snapped.
“That’s what he said,” Nolan said teasingly.
Who were they talking about? Caspian’s eyebrows were drawn together, also unsure, but neither of us asked. We may not know much, but we would pretend we weren’t in the dark in front of the enemy.
“If they’d died, I would have killed you,” Freya said to Nolan, her grip on Caspian’s wrist leaving little white marks on his skin.
“You threaten to kill me in every second sentence, love. I told you, it’s a turn on. Anyways, Caspian, continue. She’ll only listen if she hears it from you, although I’ve proven myself plenty trustworthy.”
“Um… OK,” Caspian said, watching how they interacted in confusion. I was confused too, because she didn’t act like a prisoner and he didn’t treat her like one, despite the bars between them. “Once I killed those guys, the shifter resisted my compulsion and avoided all my fae attacks, and took me into his custody. They brought me to Em and Ozzy, who they’d found before me, and now we’re here.”
“Why didn’t you come up with a better plan?” Freya asked bluntly.
She was smiling softly, though, the expression lighting up her face. It wasn’t one I’d seen often on her. Any photos we had she was disinterested, and my experiences with her in person had all been high-stress situations.
Cas pouted. “We were in the process. We didn’t think we were close enough to be detected, but we had to get that close so Ozzy could point us to which building it was. Not all of us can talk to him. Besides, Shan is the one who comes up with the smart plans.”
Part of me wanted to be offended.
But I remembered how poorly I’d done with the brain-heavy office work, and I couldn’t be. Plans were not my strong suit.
“I’ve given him a piece of my mind, don’t worry. He shouldn’t have gone off solo. Do you know what he did?” she asked. We shook our heads. I had a bad feeling, but no confirmation. She rolled her eyes. “The abridged version is he went to Jude’s house, massacred his guards, and Nolan brought him back here against his will, along with Jude’s head in a bag.”
Fuck. If we got out of here, we were still so fucking screwed, and it was a good thing we’d ditched our electronics. The Company was going to have Shan’s ass, and we would be guilty by association. Kylan would take Shan’s actions as an act of war, while already being pissed off about Freya being out of his grasp. “Did you kidnap her cousin, then?” I asked Nolan.
“No, I simply took advantage of a situation. Her cousin is safe and sound in my custody now,” Nolan said.
“Safe doesn’t sound accurate,” I said.
“Why does everyone say that? This building is extremely well-guarded at the moment.”
“And yet, some of your security doesn’t listen to orders.”
I shot a pointed look at Amabella, who shrugged. “The man who almost killed you was part of our temporary extended security. He’s not allowed in the building except for the basement garage level,” she said.
“How did Emmett almost die?” Freya asked.
“A dagger to the neck. Rest assured, his attacker died for his disobedience. I didn’t realize this one was also one of your men. Haven’t you barely met?”
Nolan perked up, sensing a thread to pick at. “You have a valid point, Ama. Freya has quite the collection of men under her thumb. What’s your relationship to this one?”
He strode over until he was way too close to me, grabbing my chin and tipping my head back and forth. I let him manhandle me with a frown, trying to hold back the surge of warmth when Caspian rumbled in irritation. Nolan’s pale green eyes lit up. “Ah. You belong to the incubus, so by default you also belong to her. It’s a damn shame. I’d been hoping to find at least one more bed partner out of this endeavour. So far, no one is entertaining me.”
“I won’t be the first,” I said, stepping back.
His feet didn’t follow me. While I knew he was objectively attractive, I wasn’t interested. Not at this point. He’d have to show me a lot more of his personality before I formed my opinions.
“I’ll have to convince someone else,” he chirped, grinning.
“Good luck with that.”
“With this lot, I’ll need it.”
Spinning on his heel, he turned to Freya with a grin. “I’ve shown you your extra presents, which were a pleasant surprise for both of us, but I believe we need to chat. Clem and Amabella, please make sure all three of our new residents are brought to their room without incident.”
