Page 52 of Sweethearts and Savages
Kell Arborson. Eden had pulled his history to pieces, knew everything about the man who had taken the very light from my life, right from under my nose. Everything, except why he would have a grudge against Eden. He was human, that much was obvious. Washed out army grunt. Deceased parents. Mother of suicide and father of cancer a few years later. He was nearly too young to even remember Eden before it was an Academy.
I curled my fingers around hers, rage and jealousy sparking in my chest, but I breathed through it. She didn’t need violence and retribution, although both Nico and Lucius were still out hunting for her abductor. She needed understanding. Reassurance.
“I know, Princess. Shifter senses, remember?” I squeezed her tighter to me. “It was consensual?”
If he’d taken advantage of her, I would tear out his eyeballs and stuff them down his windpipe. But she nodded, even though I could see her eyes squeeze shut in the darkness. Unable to cope with the waves of guilt pouring off her, I leaned forward and kissed her face. “It’s okay, baby. Anything you feel is perfectly okay, except this self-loathing. Nothing you could do would make me feel any differently for you. I loved you the first moment I saw you, and I’ll love you when my saggy old lion balls drag on the ground.”
She let out a choked laugh. “Love you.”
Those words were like an arrow in my chest every time. They tore the breath from my lungs.
“Liked him,” she said softly, and I didn’t know if it was her nature or some weird abductee psychology bullshit, but only Enit would see the redeemable qualities in a person who’d literally kidnapped her.
I slid out of bed, and she tensed. “Come on, Princess. There's something I want you to see. Go get dressed and I’ll tell Doc we’re going out for a bit. She’ll freak out if she wakes up and we’re gone.” Stacey would never admit it, because it wasn’t logical, but I caught that same panicked look on her face as I got whenever Enit was out of sight. Like we could misplace our heart again, and we wouldn’t survive without it this time.
Enit nodded, not even questioning me. She grabbed my hoodie off the ground and slipped it over her head, then rummaged through her dresser for pants.
I leaned down and shook Stacey gently. Her eyes snapped open, then they bounced around the room until they landed on Enit’s white hair, a beacon in the darkness.
“Everything alright?” she asked, her voice croaky.
I nodded. “Yes. I’m taking her to see him.”
She frowned. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
Not really, but Enit needed to know that she wasn’t the only person who didn’t hate Kell Arborson. “I think it will help.”
She nodded, moving to sit up, but I placed a hand on her shoulder. “Sleep, Doc. I’ve got it. You need to rest.”
She yawned again, her eyes tracing Enit’s back as she tugged on yoga pants. I could see her brain warring with her body.
“I won’t let her out of my sight, Stacey. You have my word. She’ll never leave us again.”
“Alright, Alpha. Be careful with her.” Then she was dragged back into sleep. She was truly exhausted.
I pulled on my shirt and tiptoed toward the door, not even bothering with shoes. Clutching Enit’s hand in mine, we walked down the near silent halls, though the odd nocturnal supe roamed. We hopped into the elevator, and I typed in the code that would take us down to the very depths of Eden. Enit gave me a quizzical look, but didn’t say anything, and I pulled her closer to my body on the way down. I just wanted to feel her warmth against me and let her scent fill my lungs.
As we stepped out into the bottom floor, Enit’s eyes took in everything at once. The perspex cages, the interrogation room, and the locked metal cabinets that I’d found out were an armory. It held an impressive range of weapons, from swords to rocket launchers.
I lifted my chin in greeting to the soldiers guarding the doors, who were both shifters, and watched them tilt their heads as they breathed in the Omega in the room. I curled my lip in warning, and they both dropped their eyes. They were well-trained soldiers, but they weren’t Alphas.
Enit seemed oblivious as her eyes connected with the sole prisoner on this floor, asleep in his perspex box. She drifted over on light feet until she was staring down at the sleeping man.
“Who?”
I stood behind her, my body shielding her from any threats. “Cedric Frostmore. You might know him as Frost.”
Enit gasped, her hands slapping against on the plastic barrier. “He’s alive?”
The sound startled Frost from his sleep. His eyes slammed open, and he jerked upright a moment later. He gazed around, unseeing, for a moment, before his eyes landed on me and he settled.
Apparently, he didn’t see me as a threat. Foolish.
When his gaze dropped to Enit, his brows drew together in confusion. He looked at my hands, the way my body crowded hers, and understanding dawned on his face. It was followed by sadness and fear. Understandable. He’d lost his usefulness as an information source, and now they’d have to figure out what to do with him.
That couldn’t end well for Cedric Frostmore.
“They got you back,” he said softly, his gaze boring into Enit’s like he could read her secrets. “Is he dead?”
