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It felt strange waking up in her own room, in her own bed, back home at the Darkhaven that next morning. Strange, yet comforting too. Her time with Rune had been incredible as usual, a blissfully exhausting gauntlet of pleasure and release that never failed to leave her sore in all the right places and longing for the next round.
But as she showered and dressed, it was the other persistent ache that clung to her.
Was she anything more than just a good fuck to him?
Did she even know him?
She knew he cared for her. More than once in the weeks they’d been together, he’d even told her he loved her. She believed him. Even now, she wanted to believe that what they had together was real.
But there were missing pieces to the puzzle that was Rune.
There were secrets.
Last night, she saw for the first time that there were walls built up around him too. Steep walls she hadn’t even realized she needed to climb. Walls he obviously wasn’t ready to let her get close to, let alone begin to scale.
Rune came from dubious beginnings; she knew that. He’d told her that he’d grown up on the streets, a denizen of Boston’s underworld. He’d scraped by most of his life, making his living on his fists and other dangerous means.
He’d told her all of that the first time she had asked about his past. He hadn’t seemed proud of where he’d come from, but he hadn’t seem bothered by any of it either.
Now, however, she wondered . . .
Those heavy thoughts followed her as she left her room and walked to the main living area of the Darkhaven mansion. The place was quiet, no one around. Then again, at nine in the morning, her father would be deeply entrenched in Order business with his warrior teams down in the command center.
Carys strolled toward the kitchen, following the aroma of fresh baked goods and brewing coffee. She found Brynne seated at the island counter, enjoying both by herself. She wore jeans and a crisp white button-down shirt, with her long sable hair twisted up into a messy bun on the top of her head.
Carys smiled as her mother’s half-sister glanced up. “Good morning.”
“Morning.” The Breed female’s expression turned sheepish as she chewed a big bite of blueberry muffin. “I know, I really ought to go find a blood Host this morning, but honestly. How am I supposed to resist temptations like this?”
Carys laughed. “Just one of the benefits of being winners of the genetic lottery. Not only can we walk in daylight, but we can eat and drink anything we like.”
Brynne lifted her coffee mug in salute. “And not a bit of it ever goes to our hips.”
Carys walked over and took a muffin off the serving plate. She popped off the top and began nibbling at the crispy edges. “I suppose everyone is down at the command center already?”
“For about an hour now.”
“My mother too?”
Brynne smiled. “She left me with muffins and coffee, so I can hardly complain.”
It wasn’t unusual for Tavia to be part of patrol reviews and mission strategy meetings. She’d been involved in Order business since her mating to Carys’s father, and it was obvious Tavia was at her happiest when she was working at her mate’s side. But her impeccable manners would balk at abandoning a guest—family or not—for so long by themselves.
“Today’s meeting must be important,” Carys mused out loud.
“Must be,” Brynne said. “Lucan’s called in personally this morning, from what I understand. Something about a new lead on one of the ongoing operations.”
Carys nibbled on her muffin, her mind running a hundred miles an hour. It couldn’t be her lead they were discussing, could it? Had the information she’d found last night proven useful? Had it possibly led the Order to another Opus Nostrum member? The very idea spiked her veins with a jolt of adrenaline, the thrill of the hunt.
“Why don’t you go find out for yourself?”
“What?” She blinked at Brynne.
“If you want something, sweetheart, you have to be willing to reach for it.”
She gaped. “What are you saying? That I want to be part of the Order?”
“I didn’t say that at all. But you just did.”
