Page 74 of Claimed
Chapter 27
Caine
My phone blasts the first discordant notes of Lilah’s lullaby, and I step out onto the balcony before answering the call.
The screen brightens. Her bright eyes are vibrant as she watches me. Luminous. “Hey,” she says, smiling.
I chuckle. “Hey.”
“Ruin said she’s awake, can I talk to her?”
For a minute, I can’t breathe. “You want to talk to Onyx?” I ask, confused.
Her eyes roll. “Are you kidding? Ruin said she took out one of the shifters at the house. As a human. She’s badass. Of course I want to talk to her.”
“Well, she’s in the shower right now,” I broach. I can’t help put look back at the dim room. There is a faint golden glow through the opaque glass, making the steel gray expanse almost pale blue. “But when she gets out, I can see if she feels up to a call.”
I turn back to the phone.
Lilah watches me in silence. “Caine, can I ask you something?”
“Of course,” I say immediately. “Always.”
“You seem … different. Everything okay?”
“Different? I’m not any different, Lilah. Swear.”
She purses her lips. “No. There is something different with you.” Her body leans toward the screen. “You seem … calmer.”
Calmer?
I shrug. “I’m tired as fuck, so there’s that.”
“No. This isn’t fatigue, Caine. This is peace. Calm.” Her eyes widen. “Oh my god. You like her.”
I almost drop the phone. “What? No. Not like—”
“You do,” she says, scrambling up. The room blurs and then the hall.
“Lilah what are you—”
“Amoret, get Nisha on the phone,” Lilah demands. There is a soft feminine response and I groan.
“Lilah. Seriously?”
She peers at me. “This is huge, Caine. Huge!”
“I don’t like her like that, Lilah. She’s nice. And fun. That’s it.” I drop into the corner of the balcony. “So no calls. Okay?” I press my head back against the wall.
Her silence is stony. “It’s okay to like her, Caine. It’s okay to want her. To date her.” She drops down and I catch a flash of blond hair before Amoret’s pretty face joins Lilah’s.
“I want you to be happy, Caine. Like I am,” Lilah tells me. “If thereissomething there, then why not pursue it?”
I dig my head into the brick. “Because I love you, damn it.”
Lilah sighs. “And how long are you going to use that as an excuse to keep from moving on, Caine?”
My eyes narrow. “Don’t do this.”
