FORTY-FOUR
Freya
It had been thrilling watching Nolan tell his family to shove it after so many years of being treated as lesser. It had been more thrilling fucking him in the inn hallway, getting caught by Altair and Sky as Nolan had his hand around my throat.
Now, there were no more thrills and I was oddly comfortable with that. We’d relocated everyone out of Zemterra — much to Emmett’s relief — to one of the remote safe house locations Nolan had set up for himself. Here we would wait for things to settle and help Caspian readjust.
My poor mate wasn’t doing well.
He tossed and turned in his sleep after we’d worn him out, waking with dark circles under his eyes despite being incredibly well-fed. His gaze had zipped around frantically as we’d left the inn to portal out from somewhere less conspicuous. Shan had bundled him up in his arms and carried him in the end. We’d only gotten bits and pieces of detail from Shan, but they’d done horrible things to him. They’d made my sweet mate kill people.
A part of me regretted letting Grey go but Nolan promised he would have his assassins chasing the vampire down through all four realms. He was Harbour Assistance’s most wanted kill. Anyone who could prove they’d completed the task would get a big payday out of it. Ama and Clement were finding a new building for HQ as we hid out in the wilderness.
I also got a lot of pleasure out of imagining him living a life on the run – the life I’d lived for so many years.
“How are you feeling?” Oswald asked softly.
He was sitting beside me on the huge living room couch. We’d only been here a few hours, so my body hadn’t gotten the point of relaxing yet. I had been tensely staring at where Caspian curled on the opposite couch, held between Shan and Em, listening to Nolan talking on the phone.
“I’m worried about him.”
I switched our conversation to telepathy. It was better if Cas didn’t overhear, because he would try to be OK to prevent me from worrying. Trauma didn’t work like that. He would only be making it worse.
“We all are. Do you think he’ll recover?”
“Not completely. He’ll carry the guilt for the rest of his life. Some of the people he killed were guards, but others were innocent. He’s going to struggle with that.”
“And the mark on Shan’s neck?”
I peered at it, the jagged teeth scars peeking out from behind Shan’s draping hair. My angel mate had explained briefly what happened while Cas had been sleeping.“Shan will have to remind him every day how he isn’t angry at him for that.”
Pressing a kiss to Ozzy’s temple, I stood from the couch and wandered over to the other one. I dropped to my knees in front of Caspian, smoothing strands of hair back from his forehead. His gaze was vacant, but a glimmer of affection filled them when he saw me.
“Do you want to go sleep in the bedroom, loverboy?” I murmured. “It’ll be more comfortable than the couch.”
He shook his head. “No. It’s…” Cas trailed off.
My fingers stroked his jawline, waiting for him to finish.
“It’s dark in there. And small.”
Emmett and Shan’s free hands clenched into fists, the other ones gently touching Caspian. I tried to keep my expression relaxed, not wanting him to think I was mad at him when he was in this delicate state.
“We’ll have a different house in less than twenty-four hours,” Nolan said.
He was across the room, his phone in his hand and determination in his expression.
Caspian’s eyes widened and he sat up, which was the strongest reaction we’d seen from him since he’d woken up from his nightmare-plagued sleep. “No, you don’t have to cater to me.”
Nolan shook his head. “Of course I do. You need to be comfortable. I’ll find a place with lots of windows and huge rooms.”
His phone was in his hands, fingers typing rapidly. Caspian was mildly panicked. “I’m not the Omega. Freya, what do you want for our next house? Do you like this one? We can stay here?”
I laughed, placing my hand on his knee. Emmett was relieved, both hands on his mate as if Cas was liable to pass right back out onto the couch into the lethargic state he’d been in before. Shan chuckled. “You were the Omega in our past lifetime. Even if you weren’t, there’s no harm in us catering to you, love.”
Caspian’s panic faded, replaced by confusion. “Past lifetime? I thought you only had past memories with Freya?”
Shan blinked, visibly biting back a curse. Had he been planning on keeping more secrets? I raised an eyebrow. What a dick.
