“By all means,” he said lightly, “help yourself.”
The shirt barely covered more than the towel, but it made me feel less naked. I raised my chin as I walked back across the room and settled into a chair opposite him. “We need to talk.”
“Really? Here I thought you scaled a wall during a storm and almost died out of a desperate need to get laid by someone who knows what they’re doing.” Bastian changed his position so he could face me without having to twist his neck.
“Ryker knows what he’s doing,” I said stiffly. “As you’re well aware of.”
“I suppose I am.” He chuckled. “Which is impressive, given his history, or lack thereof.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing.” He waved a hand dismissively. “What’s on your mind, beautiful?”
My fingers curled inward, and in my head, I summoned one of my axes and threw it at his stupidly perfect face. In real life, I let out a deep breath, trying to release the frustration of dealing with Bastian. I didn’t know what he’d meant about Ryker. Maybe that he hadn’t had many sexual partners before me? Given that he rarely left the Alpha stronghold, it wasn’t that surprising.
It didn’t matter. I’d been good about maintaining a distance between me and Ryker. Now, thanks to Selene, I was significantly closer to breaking my ties with the Alpha pack for good.
“I need to visit Fervis territory, specifically Alexis’ clan,” I said evenly.
The smile remained fixed on Bastian’s face, but his eyes hardened at the mention of Alexis. “And why, pray tell, do you need to visit Alexis?”
“I do not need to visit Alexis,” I corrected. “But I do need to get into the hidden treasure he and his clan have.”
Bastian swung his legs over the arm of the chair and leaned forward like a predator who’d caught the scent of blood. “What hidden treasure?”
I smiled smugly, knowing I had his full attention. If there was one thing Bastian loved, it was a secret.
“Prior to joining our pack, Selene belonged to the Novak clan. Their enforcer, Julien, is good friends with Alexis. One day, Julien took Selene to visit Alexis, and they walked past a room full of Fae artifacts, items that have never been reported to Drudonia. I’ve been to that room. The night I had my fight with Alexis, I wandered around their stronghold. In and out of random buildings. I saw it,” I said excitedly. “Selene just jogged my memory. I need that crest to fix the Fae mirror downstairs.”
Selene had only seen it in passing and hadn’t given it much thought. The only reason she remembered it at all was because of the artwork. But it fit the description of what Erendriel had told me, and it made sense because I knew I’d seen the crest somewhere before. If I’d seen it often at Drudonia, surely I would have remembered that, but I’d only glimpsed it in that room beneath the Dragomir stronghold.
“And this is what you need to bargain your way free of us?” Bastian didn’t even try to hide his skepticism.
“It’s what I need to find that something,” I clarified. “I wouldn’t come to you if it wasn’t important, Bas.”
He smiled faintly. “You know, I can probably count on one hand the number of times you’ve called me Bas.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I didn’t say anything. It just felt right sometimes to use his nickname.
“The spring equinox is coming up,” Bastian noted. “We can use that as a cover to visit them and throw in that you want to check on Marie.”
“What will you tell, Cade?” I asked carefully.
“Worried about what our dear leader will think about your plotting?” Bastian gave me a pointed look.
“Yes.” I didn’t bother lying. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m pissed at you all for not being more honest with me. But Cade has at least been trying in his own way to help me adjust to living here. I don’t want him to feel like I’m betraying him by pursuing this. Although he’ll probably be happy to see me go. One less complication in his life.”
Bastian’s brows bunched together, and he opened his mouth before closing it and looking away. He stared at the wall for a few seconds before facing me again, his expression unreadable. “You are a complication.”
I tried to keep the hurt off my face. It wasn’t like I’d wanted to make everyone’s lives harder. And I was trying really fucking hard to fix everything, for both me and the Alphas.
“What are we going to do about Ryker?” I finally asked. “We both know he’ll insist on coming along.”
“There’s no getting around that.” Bastian grimaced. “Cade could forbid him from going, but Ryker will just disobey again. Besides, despite our recent agreement with the Fervis Order, I don’t trust them, and having a third person with us is a better show of strength. Someone has to stay with Selene as well.”
Logically, I agreed with everything Bastian was saying. I just didn’t know if I could handle traveling alone with both of them again. The Dragomir stronghold was in the northern part of Fervis territory, so it was a shorter journey than when we’d visited my family, but it would still require staying somewhere for two nights.
I could argue for my own room this time, but what if Ryker didn’t follow the closed-door rule outside of the stronghold? At least if we all shared a bed, Bastian would be there to make sure I didn’t make any bad decisions.
