Page 33 of Cold Heir

It couldn’t be real.

“Bet you didn’t think you’d ever seethishandsome face again,” Felix said, leaning away to flash a huge grin at me.

Realizing my mouth had been agape since first laying eyes on them, I finally closed it.

“How are … how are any of you here? I don’t …”

After stammering another incoherent sentence, I shut up, staring at them through watery vision.

There was no way to describe what I felt. To have been filled with so much despair for having failed them, so much fear I’d never lookanyof them in the eyes again …

“I need to sit,” I breathed, bringing a laugh out of most of the room.

Finally starting to accept that I hadn’t dreamt them all, I glanced around again.

“To answer your question,” Liv chimed in, “We’re here because, well, things have changed a bit since you’ve been gone.”

Realizing I’d broken a sweat, I pushed a hand through my hair. “I’ll say.”

Shay placed a hand on my shoulder, and I peered up at her then,allof them. I’d never seen them looking healthier. There was color in their cheeks, cheeks that weren’t quite as hollow as I remembered. And there was a lightheartedness about them that I’d never seen. As if the weight of the world wasn’t quite as heavy on their shoulders.

“Silas and Julian have been helping us out quite a bit,” Jonesy chimed in then, answering my silent question.

“Food, resources,” Banks added, shifting his gaze toward both princes.

My heart raced and my inclination to protect those who’d been like siblings to me kicked into gear. I wondered how much they shared, wondered who else knew they’d been in communication with Ianites.ProminentIanites at that. If news got out and spread throughout our network, it could greatly compromise the work we did.

Hence the reason I, myself, didn’t expect to be accepted back into the fold by those with whom we once associated.

Liv—who hadn’t taken her eyes off me once—seemed to sense the shift in my mood.

“Why don’t we go somewhere and talk a sec,” she suggested, coaching me out of the seat I’d taken.

Following when she took my hand, I nodded. We only made it as far as the corridor before I stopped her.

“What’s going on?” The tone of my voice hinted at the anxiety that crept in unexpectedly.

Liv peered up through bangs that had grown out a bit since I’d last seen her.

“They reached out to us,” she shared. “When you went missing, they were desperate to find you, and Julian came across your com.”

My back fell against the wall, realizing how I could have endangered them by not double-checking that I had all my things before escaping that night.

“At first, we weresuperskeptical, as you can imagine. We took every precaution possible when we first agreed to meet them, including going to the site early so Banks and Shay could get in place to snipe them if it came down to it. Only, we didn’t need weapons. Eventually, their feelings for you showed through, which came as a shock,” she added with a chuckle. “Who knew bloodsuckers could have hearts, ya know?” she whispered.

A smile broke free despite still needing answers.

“But we kept communicating with them, kept seeing how hard they were searching for you and Levi, kept seeing it was all legit, and, I don’t know, we took a chance on them,” she concluded with a shrug.

“And that was it?” I asked, knowing how hardhearted we, as a team, had a tendency to be. For survival’s sake.

“Of course not,” she laughed. “We gave them a hard time for a while just likeyoudid, but Felix and I know a good heart when we see one, too. So, after a bit of a vetting process, we eventually decided they were on the up and up.” She hesitated to say more, but finally caved. “They’ve been a big help. After you were taken, things got kinda bad.”

She never would’ve intentionally made me feel guilty, but I did. Hearing that they suffered was no surprise, but I could only imagine the hardship they faced.

“I’m sorry. I should have been there. I should have done something sooner, and—”

“Cori, stop.”

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