Page 67 of Bound
Chapter 24
Gage
I climb out of the SUV without looking at the others. Tanner and Ruin are two steps ahead, Caine and Horan a few paces behind. But I don’t need to see their faces to read the confusion in their bodies.
The anger.
I fucked up. In ways that could have been a fucking repeat to twenty years ago. I could have hurt them. Lock Lake could have been torched.
Amoret could be—
I shut the thought off before it can go farther.
She was fine when we left. Albeit, more withdrawn than I have ever seen her.
What was Ruin thinking, letting her in the path of my fire?
We have supe tranq guns in the armory for a reason. That should have been their course of action, not a hundred pound waif of a girl.
Who fucking tore my world in two.
As much as I have craved Amoret for the last few days, touching her, holding her against me as her lips locked with mine …
I run a hand through my hair, drawing up short at the disheveled juncture of my braid.
She tastes as good as she smells. And though the kiss had been chaste, I now crave her mouth against mine as much as I crave the oblivion of Black Dream.
And I need to put this whole cursed fucking day behind me with a re-up of smoke, but I can’t yet.
“Body was found down there,” T says, pointing one long arm toward the sand dunes visible past a rickety white fence that gleams under the light of Caine’s magick.
I start up the shifting slope and a strong hand grabs my arm. Wincing, I peer over my shoulder.
Ruin appraises me as the others continue on ahead. “You good?”
My eyes track over the still pink patch of skin on his arm. “Are you?”
He follows my line of sight and pulls away with a grunt. “I fed before we left. I’m fine,” he growls. “But I need to know you can do this. That you can still work this case … Be a part of this team.”
Every word is like a sucker punch to my gut. I rock back. “What the fuck?” He doesn’t react to my tone or my words. “Are you threatening to bench me?”
“I’mtellingyou now, Gage, if you can’t get a lock on your fucking head, then I will take you off this case.” His lips mottle. “I don’t want to, man. But this shit doesn’t just involve you or your kind. This is my life hanging in the fucking balance. I need these Fae alive. I need them to rule on this shit. One way or another.”
A ripple of self-loathing scorches me.
It’s not just Amoret’s brother we are looking for, it’s Ruin’s salvation. His chance for the whole sordid mess with Lilah to be behind them.
And every fucking minute we delay, the chance of the Fae being alive lessens. The chance of a fair trial lessens.
He turns me, forcing me to look at him. “You are my fucking brother, G. Just like T is. Like Horan. Markus. Hells, even fucking Caine’s lecherous ass.” His dark eyes flash as the corner of his mouth tilts. “And as your fucking brother, I am telling you to get your fucking shit together because you’re messing with mine.”
I remain quiet as his words resonate.
“Did taking Lilah help?” I grit out. “Did it help the need?”
He stands up straighter. “No. I crave her more now than I did.” That isn’t the answer I want at all. His hand tightens. “But she’s mine. I would kill to protect her. Would die to save her. Every fucking day that I get up, I have one goal: to make it back to the fucking manor so I can hold her. So I can fall asleep with her in my arms.”
Something gleams in his eyes, and I know it for what it is.
