He clenched his teeth, grounding out every word. “This. Is. Over. We’re done.”
He pulled back and cleared his throat, shifting his gaze to a spot just above my eye. His face was neutral once again. Cold. “From now on, we are guardian and demon sworn. Nothing more.”
“I’m never giving up on you,” I said. “No matter what you say. No matter what Sebastian does. And Iknowyou won’t give up on me, either.” I said it with all the confidence I could muster, needing to believe it for myself.
“It’s too late, Gray.” He turned away from me and wrenched open the door. “I already have.”
Twenty
Gray
After another long and brutal argument, Ronan finally agreed to ask Deirdre for help in transporting Darius. In a moment of sheer brilliance, she’d concocted an IV solution using essence of hawthorn, and with that we were able to fully sedate him and get him on the plane without incident.
The plane wasn't Darius’s private jet—one of the few things Ronan and I agreed on was that Darius’s memory loss needed to be kept secret from the larger vampire community for as long as possible, including his pilots and other associates. So instead, we’d taken an aircraft on loan from Sebastian, no doubt a grand gesture designed to lull us into thinking he could be a friend. After all, Sebastian always had a price.
Ronan and I hadn't exchanged a single word since boarding the plane. By some miracle, I managed to hold it together for the entire flight, as well as the drive from the airport to Emilio's sister’s house in Raven's Cape.
But the moment Emilio opened the front door and bounded down the front steps to greet us, I lost it.
“Gray?” He looked at me like he hadn’t seen me in a hundred years and wasn’t sure he could trust his own eyes.
I nodded, tears spilling freely, and collapsed into his arms, burying my face against his chest. His familiar scent enveloped me like a hug, all forest and sunshine and vanilla, and I slid my arms up inside the back of his jacket, soaking up his warmth. His strength.
Sparkle and Sunshine, my ever-present companions, ran circles around us both.
"I missed you so much," I breathed.
“You, too,mi querida. More than you can imagine.” He wrapped his big arms around me tighter, holding me close, his hand cupping the back of my head. His thumb stroked behind my ear, the touch immediately soothing my jagged nerves.
“I see you brought… these guys,” he said, not quite hiding his grimace as the hounds nipped at the hem of his jacket. He reached down to pat Sparkle on the head, and Sunshine nosed her way in for some loving, too.
“Sparkle and Sunshine.” I pointed each one out. “Courtesy of Sebastian.”
Ronan had given Emilio some of the details over the phone before we took off from Vegas, so news of my new arrangement didn’t come as a complete surprise. But Emilio still winced when I told him about it—the meeting, the temporary stay Sebastian had finally agreed to. And of course, the hounds.
“You… named them?” he asked.
“I figured it was the only humane thing to do. Apparently we’re going to be spending a lot of time in each other’s company. And by a lot, I mean eternity.” I smiled, trying to keep the mood light, but failed miserably. My face crumpled once again.
“Did Sebastian say how long you had?” Emilio asked gently.
“We left it kind of open ended. I’m hoping I can figure out another loophole in the interim.”
“We will, Gray. That’s not even a question.” He put his arm around me and pulled me close again, big and protective and comforting, exactly what I needed. I let out a breath, some of my stress evaporating. Emilio had always had that effect on me.
Behind him, two men headed down the front steps from the house—shifters, I thought. Probably wolves. Jael came next—Emilio had told us he’d been staying with them, helping out. Then, bringing up the rear, a woman who could only be Emilio’s sister, Elena.
I pulled out of Emilio’s embrace and attempted to wipe away my tears and smooth out my hair, but I was probably making everything worse. I was still wearing Ronan’s sweatshirt and the clothes I'd woken up with at the hotel, and I felt like my entire body was covered in a layer of grease from Sebastian's mere presence.
Clearly not my personal best, but Emilio’s sister offered a warm, genuine smile anyway.
"Welcome to Raven's Cape," she said, introducing herself and leaning in to kiss my cheek. “I only wish you’d come here for a happier reason.”
Her accent reminded me of Emilio's, and I wondered what else they had in common, what their childhood had been like, how long it had been since they’d seen each other before this. Emilio had never said much about her, but now I sensed a distance between them, a tension lingering just beneath the surface of their smiles. I wondered if she was the reason for the sadness I sometimes saw in his eyes. The regret.
I thought about his words back at the safe house the night I’d grilled Fiona Brentwood.
People do all sorts of misguided things when they’re trying to protect the ones they love, querida. Let’s just say I know something about that.
