Page 71 of Dominion

But holding my head above water meant that we would once and for all get done with this shit. I was ready to start living my life without anything else holding me back, and if it meant not having Dylan with us, so be it.

“I have news,” Casimir suddenly said, stopping all the conversation in the room. Cillian observed him with carefuleyes, Sebastian looked at me, while Skylar looked anywhere but at me.

We all knew that Casimir was working on pinning down Belladonna’s location and with that, Judah’s location, but the unspoken truth was that he wanted to find Dylan. He didn’t comment on what happened, he didn’t gloat, he didn’t say shit about him. He gave me a pat on the back after we came back and shook his head as if he too was sad that it didn’t work out.

Dylan wasn’t our Dylan anymore, but it was hard separating the person we loved from the person who went into the enemy’s camp to work against us. I had no idea what his plan was or why he did it this way. He didn’t give us an explanation, other than those bullshit words that made no sense. He didn’t share what was bothering him, and maybe if he had, we wouldn’t be in this situation.

So yeah, I knew Casimir was looking for him as well. Maybe not for the exact same reasons as we would be, but he was looking nonetheless, and a part of me hoped he would never find him.

A part of me hoped that Dylan didn’t actually go back to Judah, that he managed to escape the country and that he was somewhere on the beach in Spain, sipping a margarita, and pretending that none of this had happened. But knowing him, this little fantasy of mine was just that—a fantasy. Knowing him, he was already deep inside the mess Judah was creating, and it hurt me so much more, because I knew what he’d done to him.

I was trying to remember that you couldn’t save a person who didn’t want to be saved. You could try, you could give them your love, acceptance, peace, but you couldn’t save them if they weren’t ready to accept the help. And Dylan—Dylan wasn’t ready to accept the fact that he was with us now. That he belonged with us.

Perhaps I would never be able to understand how his brain worked, because I didn’t live his life. I was never in his shoes and I never had to go through the terrors he experienced, but I was still so angry at him. Hell, I actually didn’t know if I would strangle him or hug him if I had a chance to see him again.

“What’s the news?” Skylar asked, surprising me. Judging by the looks from Casimir’s men sitting around the room, she surprised them as well.

Hunter walked inside the room just as she dropped the question, carrying a bottle of beer in his right hand and that stupid smirk I would like to wipe on his face. “The news is?—”

“Hunter,” Casimir stopped him, pinning him down with a look that would’ve scared most people. But this motherfucker, I swear to God, just continued walking and laughing as he took the seat on the sofa.

“Chill, Cas. I’m not gonna spoil the surprise.”

“What surprise?” I asked this time, my eyes volleying between Casimir and Hunter. I hated being kept in the dark, and what’s worse, I hated when people thought I wouldn’t be able to handle things just because I wasn’t the same age as they were. “I thought we agreed we would share news as they come.”

“We did,” Casimir gritted out. “Hold your horses, Ash. I’m not withholding anything. I was about to get to the point before Hunter so graciously interrupted the whole speech.”

“Hey,” the fucker in question called out, chugging his beer. “I was just trying to help.”

“Can you just shut up?” Skylar looked at him, her face full of fury. “I get it. Everything is dandy and funny in your world, or at least you’re pretending for it to be. To be frank, Hunter, I don’t give a flying fuck if it is or isn’t. I just want you to shut the fuck up so that he,” she pointed at Casimir, “can actually tell us what the news is so that I can go back to my room and pretend that none of this exists. Capisce?”

The room fell quiet, all of our faces showing different levels of surprise, but Hunter looked almost comical with his gaping mouth and wide eyes.

“Casimir,” she turned toward him, “get on with it already. We don’t have the whole day.”

Somebody chuckled, but I didn’t quite catch who. The only person I was focused on was Skylar and the anger so evident on her face and in every single word.

“As I was saying,” Casimir started, still staring at her as if he was seeing her for the first time. There weren’t a lot of things that could make him speechless or, well, shocked, but this did. “We know where Belladonna is hiding.” He just dropped it into the air.

If Skylar’s outburst shocked us, his admission cemented us all to our spots.

Skylar sat down on the floor, her lower lip trembling, because we all knew what this meant—Judah and Dylan.

We already knew that Judah was working with her, and if Dylan was there... “I’m going with you,” I said without thinking, garnering the attention of everyone around me.

Everyone but Skylar. Her eyes were focused on a spot on the floor, unmoving, barely breathing.

“Ash—” Casimir started, but I cut him off.

“I’m going, Cas. End of discussion.”

“It’s gonna be dangerous, kid,” Hunter piped in, his voice cold. “Very dangerous.”

“That’s okay.” I shrugged, looking at Skylar. Her eyes flashed with pain and fear, but before she could say anything, before she could try and stop me from going, I said, “I’ll be safe.”

And I would be.

I had to go, because if Dylan was there... If Dylan was there, then it was my chance to convince him to come back home. To come back to us.

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