Page 28 of Born Free

Sebastian’s eyes hover on the wall, refusing or unable to meet my gaze.

I feel like a damn mess. I never, ever expected to stand in a room with the two of them together again. I honestly thought Roman would rip Sebastian apart the moment they laid eyes on each other. Whatever this agreement was, Roman must have been truly desperate.

But being in this room?

It brings too many emotions to the surface.

I loved Sebastian. I will never deny it. The things I felt for him? Sebastian did horrible things in the name of love for me. But I did some questionable things for him, too. I’m not entirely innocent. I gave Sebastian my whole heart. He understands parts of me in a way no one else on this planet ever will.

But he betrayed me. He tried to control me. He treated me like I was an object and not an independent person capable of making her own decisions.

The things he broke inside of me may never heal.

The bridge between us has eroded, decayed, and tumbled into a cavern as deep as the ocean.

And Roman.

Roman.

I still have no idea how to define what I feel for Roman. It feels deep and mysterious and solid. And we still don’t know exactly what we are to each other.

And now we’re all three together in the same room.

I feel like I need to explain. I feel like I have to defend myself. I feel the need to throw myself between the two of them.

But I know I don’t owe anyone but myself anything.

“How did you find me?” I finally ask. Getting the words out feels nearly impossible. But I force them around the knots in my throat. I can’t dwell in my emotions, or they’re going to consume me whole.

Roman’s eyes darken as he looks back at Sebastian.

Sebastian’s eyes don’t leave the wall when he speaks. “I had Sigrid’s phone tapped. Any time she said your name, it came through to me.”

It’s my turn to let a curse slip.

Where does it end? First, I learned Sebastian had been tracking my location on my phone. Then he literally paid his bodyguard to follow me at all times. And now this? Two months after our relationship went down in flames?

I can’t find any words. Silently, I just shake my head.

“Sigrid was coordinating with Roman on your location,” Sebastian moves on when I don’t have anything to say to him. “Her gift never fails, but you kept… glitching out.”

“Every time you died,” Roman puts the truth together. He stands there, slightly between Sebastian and me, his arms folded over his chest. He kind of looks like a ticking bomb, just waiting to go off.

Sebastian nods. “You’d disappear for a few hours, then reappear hundreds of miles away. When I realized what was happening, when I considered where that asshole might be taking you…” He shakes his head, the rage building in him again. “I was closer. Roman and I struck a deal. I would get to you first and make sure they didn’t execute their plan. I’d keep you away from the king until Roman caught up.”

“And in exchange, I had to promise not to kill him,” Roman says resentfully. “Not yet.”

“We both deserve some closure,” Sebastian says darkly. His eyes slide from Roman over to me, and I should be relieved that I see regret in his eyes, but it’s too late.

I don’t need closure. I got it when I gave Sebastian his ring back, before I even found out he was poisoning the gifted and vampires of Chicago.

“Where were you?” I ask, ignoring all the details that make this emotionally complicated. “You said you were closer.”

“Rome,” he answers, his voice sounding slightly hoarse.

And something fractures a little more in my heart, which I didn’t think was possible.

It was one of the conversations we had, early in our relationship. We both said we wanted to travel to Rome, and we made a deal, that we’d go there together someday.

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