AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Caera breathed deep of his scent as she was whisked through the air. Jasper might have proven to be another safe spot for her, but Saul was starting to feel like home. Her head felt like it was going to spring a leak and spill her thoughts over Connie’s pretty carpet, it was so full.
“Considerably more than that between you and her,” Jasper pointed out as Anarchy all but threw herself at him, cuddling into him. His lips curved into a smile when she whispered something in his ear. “Yeah, yeah, kitten, I’ll cut him some slack. Our age gap isn’t dissimilar, but lucky for me, you’re not my sister.”
“Jasper,” Connie interrupted warily, “you don’t appear shocked by this revelation.”
He rubbed his hand over his mouth, his shirt cuffs riding down his wrists to expose colorful ink. “Actually, I feel like I’ve been kicked in the teeth and the balls simultaneously. Fifteen kids were in that house that we know of, trained to Dominic’s specifications. Seven dead, all but one by suicide. Five—including me—got out of there and made a life away from that shit. Erik and Gerald are long dead,” he continued, stroking the blonde’s arm when she looked sick, “and Tabitha’s in the wind. I didn’t think there was anyone else.”
“There were the kids found in the ruins of the mansion after it burned,” Thane said quietly. “I don’t think they stopped breeding and producing children in the time you were gone, J. I think they got more careful about how they recorded their stock.”
Caera’s eyes followed the conversation from person to person, completely lost. She glanced at Saul, but he just lifted his chin to tell her to listen.
“I’ve been free longer than I was captive.” Those blue eyes pinned her. “How old are you, darling?”
“T-Twenty-one?”
He winced. “Fuck, that makes me feel old. Jesus, I’d be eighteen, nearly nineteen when you were born, and I’d been living my own life for three years before that. I don’t know any of your generation.” His expression darkened. “When I left, I didn’t do anything to help the ones I left behind, the ones I knew were still suffering. That will haunt me for the rest of my days.”
“You were sixteen,” Anarchy chastised him. “We’ve been through this, Sir. Dominic would have killed you or worse if you’d tried.”
Worse? What was worse than dying? Caera acknowledged the question, then answered it without hesitation. Some part of her knew exactly what was worse than dying, she just couldn’t drag the memory to the surface.
She didn’t want to.
“And we both know that that’s a cop-out, kitten. They trained me to kill. I have killed, because that’s what was ingrained into me. Age was irrelevant. I could have slaughtered the whole fucking household with one hand tied behind my back.”
“I think we should all take a step away from the subject before Caera’s eyes pop out of her head,” Connie suggested quickly. “It might be more conducive to answer any questions she has, rather than bombarding her with the whole sordid lot at once.”
Saul nodded. “I’d be happier with that. The night terrors are bad enough without adding images of Jasper playing assassin to the chaos.”
“I could do with a few minutes alone.” Jasper rose, sliding Archie off his lap into his seat, then bending to kiss her. “Stay here. One glass, and one glass only, if you decide to have some wine. I need you to be sober tonight, kitten.”
She gazed up at him adoringly. “I know, Sir.”
“Good girl. Excuse me,” he said to everyone else. “I’ll be back.”
Caera leaned into Saul as Jasper slipped out of the room like a ghost. “Will he be okay?”
“Nothing seems to keep him down for long. He’ll be back to his normal, annoying self soon enough, trust me.”
“Would you like the rest of your beer, Saul?” Connie picked the almost full bottle up off the table and wagged it. When he nodded, she smiled at Caera, although it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “How about you, sweetie? Beer, wine, water, juice?”
“Can I try some wine?” she asked hopefully. “What is it?”
Grinning, Thane heaved himself up off the sofa and limped over to her, snagging the wine bottle as he passed the table, and presenting it to her with a flourish. “This is a bottle of 2009 Pape Clement Blanc, for the lady’s pleasure. Will this be to your satisfaction, ma’am?”
Caera couldn’t help it, she giggled. It was easy to tell that he was attempting to lighten the slightly somber mood in the room with his antics, but for her, it was a relief to do something other than cry. “Oh, I…I don’t really drink.” She read the label, attempting a sophisticated air. “That looks okay.”
Thane laughed as he opened the bottle, taking the empty glass Connie handed to him from behind. “I won’t tell Atticus you said his five-hundred-dollar bottle of wine was okay. It might render him comatose for a month.”
“Shit.” Caera’s stomach twisted in distress at the thought.
Saul ran his hand over her shoulder, urging her to relax. “He’s joking, little rabbit.” He reached out and took the glass from Thane, pressing it into her hands. “Just sip it.”
Caera brought it to her nose, sniffing suspiciously. She’d read that alcohol could make a person sleepy, so she’d stayed far away from it, choosing to pump her system full of caffeine instead.
While she inspected the wine, Saul accepted his beer from Thane before their friend hobbled back to the couch. She blushed when her belly growled, taking a mouthful of wine to cover her embarrassment.
It tasted weird. Lips twisting, she forced herself to swallow politely, then gasped at the mild warmth trailing down her throat to pool in her stomach. Eyeing what was left in her glass, she weighed up the pros and cons of the taste versus the effect.
