Page 82 of Dominion

The smile broke on his face, his eyes sparkling underneath the moonlight, and the small nod was all we needed to know that he cared more about her well-being than some fucking house.“Duly noted. Now, come on. We really need to get inside. I don’t want us to stand out here for longer than necessary.”

Feeling as if the weight fell off of my shoulders when Skylar took my hand in hers, walking back toward the car, I was sure that things would be good again. They had to be.

I hadno idea what to expect of this place, but it for sure wasn’t a gothic-looking manor that has definitely seen better days.

The tall arches on the windows reminded me of buildings in Europe, and the dark red doors at the entrance felt as if they would lead us to a completely different dimension once we stepped through. The cold November wind kept bashing into us, and I forgot how cold it could get in this part of the country.

Even during the summer when we first came to Winworth, the wind relentlessly hitting the town, I couldn’t imagine living here during the deep winter, when the first snow fell and the days became shorter.

“This was Morass Asylum,” Skylar murmured, staring at the building in front of us while Hunter and Casimir spoke in hushed voices. “But there was a massive fire in?—”

“Nineteen eighty-nine,” Casimir added, stopping right next to us. “You can’t see it from here, but one wing of this building is still in pretty bad shape.”

“You didn’t try to fix it?” I asked, looking at him. “It’s an impressive building.”

“I didn’t plan on staying here for longer than necessary. Besides, once our business here is done, I have no plans of ever returning to Winworth.” Just like us. “This building belonged to my father, but I have no sentimental feelings toward it. The onlyreason why we’re here is because everyone in this shithole thinks that the mansion belongs to some rich fuck from LA.”

“I mean…” Skylar smirked. “It kinda does belong to some rich fuck. He just isn’t from LA.”

Casimir narrowed his eyes at her, but he couldn’t hide the tiny smile playing on his lips. These two had a long way to go, but I knew that I would have been lost if it wasn’t for my brother. Family had a tendency to piss us off, to make us want to commit homicide, but we still loved them. They were still our support system when we needed them the most.

Sebastian stayed behind when we came to Winworth, and for once, he didn’t try to argue and come along. I had no idea what I would’ve done if he had even thought of joining this little circus. I’m glad we didn’t have to have yet another argument where he would’ve, no doubt, tried to tell me that he wasn’t a child anymore, and I would tell him that in my eyes, he would always be a child.

He would always be the only innocent thing in my life, and the further away I could keep him from this entire mess, the better it was.

“Are we planning on going inside, or should I resign my fate to getting my balls completely frozen in this weather?” Hunter asked, standing closer to the stairs leading toward the entrance. “I mean, you guys can stay, but I’m not about to become Olaf.”

“Olaf?” I asked.

“Frozen.” Skylar chuckled, looking up at my confused face. “Frozen?” she asked again, and when I still showed no recognition of that name, she frowned. “Please tell me you have watchedFrozen.”

“Was I supposed to?” I asked carefully, ignoring the snickering coming from Casimir who started walking ahead of us.

“Asher Crowell!” she exclaimed, and I knew I was in trouble. “How is it possible that you have never watchedFrozen? Seriously?”

“Moonshine,” I drawled. “I was too busy plotting all the ways of how I was going to destroy your family. Movies and TV Shows weren’t exactly on top of my list of priorities.”

Her smile fell with that admission, and I immediately wanted to take those words back. I didn’t want us to keep going in circles, reminding each other of all the bad things that had happened.

“Sorry, darling,” I murmured, lifting her hand to my lips, and pressing them softly to her skin. “I didn’t mean for it to sound like that.”

“No.” She shook her head, smiling softly. “I sometimes forget that while neither of us had a perfect life, your childhood was destroyed a long time before mine was. But I’ll tell you something.” She grinned, going up on her tiptoes and putting her lips right on top of mine. “We will have the rest of our lives to watch all the movies and TV shows you didn’t have a chance to watch. And all those Christmases, birthdays and all the other holidays that were stolen from you—we will do them all.”

My heart constricted painfully, this unfamiliar feeling of hope coursing through my body. I had no idea what to do with it. I was taught not to trust it. Neal made me believe that hope was just a tool fools used because they had no plans and no purpose in their life.

But standing here with Skylar, in the entryway of a house that looked as if it belonged in a horror movie, I had hope. I believed in it, and I believed Dylan would be here as well.

“Deal,” I rasped, sealing my lips over hers, drinking in the little gasp of surprise that escaped from her. I could get drunk on the taste of her, on the way her hands dragged over my body, wrapping themselves behind my neck. I could get high just fromthe fact that I knew she loved me, that I had finally found my person. I never expected to find two, but we still had to get Dylan back. We still had work to do, and I didn’t want to think about the negative things that were still waiting for us.

I let my mind get lost in the feel of her body against mine, in the dreams that were almost tangible. Something vibrated against my hip, and I pulled myself away from her, looking between our bodies. “Is that your phone?” I asked, looking into her hooded eyes. “Sky?” I smirked, asking again when she remained unresponsive.

“Ah.” She blinked a couple of times, her hands dragging over my chest, driving me crazy, and leaving me cold when she took a step back. “Yeah.” She frowned. “But there’s only a handful of people who have this number.”

My entire body froze, and it had nothing to do with the fucked-up weather, but with the fact that we both knew what this could be.

“Let’s go inside,” I said just as she reached for her pocket. I pleaded with my eyes to wait until we were safely inside the house. “Come on.”

I wrapped my hand around hers, both of us crossing the few feet between us and the main door that was still open. The moment we stepped inside, Casimir’s eyes fell on us and the little smile that he still had on his face from the previous interaction completely disappeared.

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