Page 124 of Sage Haven
But we both knew that wasn’t true.
“What are you going to do about Sage?” Cas asked, dragging me back.
His voice was steady again. Too steady.
I opened my mouth, only to close it again because for once I didn’t have a response.
What was I going to do about Sage?
She was in my head. Under my skin.
Inside every goddamn thought I had.
I couldn’t stop reminiscing over the taste of her. Couldn’t stop feeling the heat of her breath on my neck. Couldn’t forget the look in her eyes when she’d bared herself to me—trust, desperation and defiance all meshed together.
She was chaos. And I craved it.
But more than that…I wanted to protect her.
And I wasn’t sure I could until I got this stupid formality out of the way about Klay.
I ran a hand over my mouth, shaking my head. “I don’t know, Cas.” My voice felt raw and honest. “I’ve never felt like this before. But I know it doesn’t change anything. This life—this is what we’re stuck with.”
He studied me closely, something softening in his gaze. “Did she say why me? Why not you?”
I shrugged, feigning indifference like it didn’t matter.
But it did.
It fucking did.
Why not me instead of Cas?
To call it jealousy would’ve been an understatement. I wanted to be the one to unravel that side of her—not watch my little brother do it. Yet here I was, tangled up in this stubborn little wildflower who was slowly wrecking every last part of me.
“All right,” He said, pushing away from the table with a heavy sigh. “I’ll do my best. But knowing you, by the time I get anything useful out of her, you'll already be lurking in the shadows.”
I smirked. “What makes you think I’m not already?”
He let out a small laugh. “Some things never change.”
I leaned back in my chair, letting the silence settle over us. “Exactly,” I murmured. “Just like our arrangement with the ENA.”
The temperature in the room dropped.
A heavy, suffocating silence fell between us.
Just saying those three letters out loud was enough to twist my gut.
The ones who owned us.
The ones who controlled every move we made.
They were the reason we couldn’t walk away.
The reason we never could.
Cas’s jaw clenched. His fists curled at his sides. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to.
