Allegiance (Causal Enchantment #3)(88)
“I love you,” I blurted out and then realized it was the first time I’d ever said those words to him out loud. I had meant to a thousand times and yet …
Now, though, it was time.
I heard the sound of my dagger clatter against the floor as he tossed it away. His hands gently cupped the sides of my face as he lowered my lips to his, our mouths finding each other, as if they were a matched set. “So …,” he murmured, suddenly somber, “about that demand.”
***
“Wraith is going to freak out when he realizes you’re not in the bathroom,” Caden stated, his fingers resting on the small of my back. I felt his Adam’s apple bob against my forehead as he swallowed.
“I don’t care,” I grumbled childishly.
“You will care when he’s handing you your toilet paper from now on. And it’s going to be hard to explain to Bishop why I needed to sneak you away.”
Too quickly, back to reality. I swallowed my sadness. “What are you going to tell him?”
Caden heaved a sigh of frustration. “I don’t know, Evie. This is so messed up. He’s my best friend and I want to put him through a wall every time he looks at you. Things are getting so damn compli—”
Suddenly, Caden’s body went rigid.
I knew before he told me. He rolled off the blankets and was pulling his jeans on before I could register his movements. “Get dressed. Quickly,” he ordered, yanking on his shirt.
The moment was gone. Our brief, intimate time together—incredible and surreal—dissolved as my snare tightened. I would do anything, give anything, swear anything, to freeze time for another hour so I could rest on Caden’s broad chest and listen to his voice lull me into false safety.
I was up in a heartbeat, resentfully yanking my sweater over my head, not wanting Wraith to find me lying naked in a pile of blankets and animal pelts. Or Bishop … That familiar gnawing of guilt attacked my insides with renewed strength. Seeing me here with Caden would send Bishop spiraling back to that dark world of misery and pain, tarnishing his false memories of our make-believe relationship.
But then I’d be free from another lie. Suddenly, selfishly, a part of me ached for Bishop to walk through that door. This whole nightmare circus would be over and I could go back to being with Caden again. Until I killed him …
Caden swept up the suspicious mess of blankets and threw them into a corner behind the wood stove. I barely had the zipper to my jeans pulled up before the door splintered open, bringing with it a gust of wind and snow. And Wraith. Soulless blue orbs rolled over me—calm, unperturbed, void of all emotion—so inhuman. They locked on Caden and I could almost see the order register in his head. Enemy. Attack. Kill. Behind Wraith, four wolves and Max watched curiously. I briefly wondered what they thought of this. Then I realized I didn’t care.
My demon guardian began closing the gap between him and Caden, arm outstretched, his long fingers stretching forward like deadly tentacles. I dove in between them and slapped his hand away.
“I waited for you by the bathroom,” he stated with what might have been a glare, if his normal look could be any more sinister.
“Sorry,” I grumbled, peeking over his shoulder in search of Bishop. When I didn’t see him, my guilty conscience swelled with relief.
“I waited and then realized that you were not in the bathroom anymore.” He stopped talking, waiting. Waiting for what? What could I say? Apologies meant nothing. And was I sorry? No. Not for a single second would I feel sorry.
“There are a million other bathrooms you could’ve used. You didn’t have to wait for mine,” I offered with a slap-worthy smirk.
“I do not require the use of restrooms,” Wraith explained in all seriousness, not getting the sarcasm. I shook my head with annoyance.
Max finally sauntered past Wraith into the outpost, the floorboards creaking under his paws. Some of us aren’t dead idiots, you know … you can’t just take off like that! Do you know how close Wraith was to killing every single one of us in that place, looking for you? Unlike Wraith’s monotonous tone, Max was perceptibly upset. Guilt tightened around my already fragile heart. I knew Wraith would feel nothing beyond his call of duty. I hadn’t thought of Max and the others. I thought of no one but myself. Selfish, selfish, selfish.
No—no! I hadn’t just “taken off.” This wasn’t just a whim. This was my life. Caden was my life and all of these lies were suffocating me! I quashed the guilt with a bolt of anger, gritting my teeth defiantly.
“Where’s Bishop?” Caden asked. “I’m surprised he’s not with you.”
Gone, Max answered.
The word screamed with wrongness. “What do you mean gone, Max?” My voice cracked and suddenly all kinds of thoughts whirled, making me clutch my stomach in panic. Had he seen us? Had he figured it out? I felt the blood seep from my face and I had to take a step back to lean on Caden.
“What’d he say, Eve? Tell me,” Caden whispered, his hand closing over my shoulder, squeezing reassuringly.
He just took off, Max explained.
“He just took off? Where? What are you saying?” I pressed. “You let him leave?”
I mean he’s gone! One minute he was there, and the next he was gone. Like you!
Before I could push for more information, Caden lifted me into his arms and ran out the doorway, yelling, “See you back at the house!” It felt like only seconds before we were back in the glass room, finding it empty except for Julian and Amelie. A heavy-pawed Max was right behind us. Thankfully Wraith couldn’t match their speed.