Page 105 of The Enemy to the Living
Quinn frowns. “Time to go?”
“Yeah,” I mutter. “The real world is still out there, apparently.”
He laughs. “Come on. Wouldn’t want you to be late.”
We dress quickly, and aside from a few more teasing kisses, don’t allow ourselves to be distracted. I know Celyn is dead, and Sorrel too, but speaking with the Huntsman about the matter may well loosen the knot of concern in my chest. I am not as concerned about his opinion about me and Quinn. If there is anything I am certain of, it is that a fae will respect a mating bond.
I book a taxi to take us to Quinn’s pack house, and then me further to the base. Quinn hesitates when we arrive, and so I climb out of the car with him, holding his hand as we stand at the kerb.
“I can do it,” he says, and I nod.
“I have no doubt about that.”
Quinn gives me a smile, small though it may be, and kisses my cheek before he lets go and walks toward the building. I know he is not entirely out of the woods yet, though his pack will never abandon him. He might not have been affected by Sorrel’s death last night, but that does not mean he never will be, and even if he is not, he still has enough to recover from after all that happened last year.
But I’ll be by his side for all of it. I think he knows that now.
I cast one final, lingering look over the building, then climb back into the taxi and head for the base.
Chapter Thirty-One
Quinn
I’mhonestlysurprisedwhenI make it all the way to my flat without being stopped—and then even more so to find the inside completely empty of people. There are still signs of everyone who was here. They’ve left the sofa behind they carried in, and things are just in a general state of disarray.
I don’t mind it much. The fact that they were all here when I woke up warms my chest, makes me believe they do want me here.
Still, nerves twist a knot in my stomach, and it might be a delaying tactic, but I figure having a nice cup of tea before I go and speak to Kieran about everything that happened might do me some good. He has the gist of it, and I’m sure he’s worked out plenty about the things I never managed to tell him.
I make my tea and am just about to drink it when there’s a knock at the door. I set down the mug and breathe in deep.Drew.My wolf barks in excitement, but that knot of nerves becomes a fist rising in my throat to choke me. I clutch the edge of the kitchen side.
Breathe. Drew isn’t here to hurt me. I owe him a real apology for everything I said. I’m sure he feels like he owes me one too, even though he doesn’t. He didn’t blame me for anything at all.
The surprise on his face matches my own when I pull open the door. He hides it faster, hardly a flicker before a genuine smile shoves it aside. “You’re back.”
“Should I not be?” I step back and wave for him to come inside. No one else lingers in the hallway, though another deep breath tells me that at least Adam is close by.
“Thought you might be away for a few days,” Drew says with a shrug. He drops onto the uncomfortable sofa I’ve had in here since I moved in. “Maurice got a few with his mate, didn’t he?”
It’s my turn to shrug. “I think so?” I hardly remember the night of Augustine’s challenge, at least after Asher left the room. I remember Maurice on his knees, and the Huntsman stopping to speak with him, but the specifics are beyond me. “Asher had to go and speak to them.”
“About the two of you?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. Tea?”
Drew nods, and I feel his eyes on me the entire time I’m making his drink. Once finished, I carry both mugs over and sit at the other end of the sofa he’s on.
“I really am sorry,” Drew says before he can even take a sip. “I should have been a better friend to you. Taken care of you better.”
I shake my head. “I never should have said what I did. I know it’s not your fault, what happened. I just felt…”
“Abandoned.”
My cheeks heat. “Yeah.”
Drew hums. He drinks about half of his cup of tea, then sets it aside. “We did do that, though,” he says. “Kieran and I. Sam talked to me after our argument. After I’d calmed down a bit. We’ve all seen our parents die, but Kieran and I had an enemy we could really focus our anger on. It wasn’t complicated.”
“Fuck that,” I mutter. “It was.”
