Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Bastian
I watched Rynn where she hovered just inside the room, the balcony at her back, as if she was debating turning and running. But she had nowhere to go that I couldn’t easily follow.
“You’re the one who’s been avoiding me,” Rynn finally said, giving me a cool look. “You could have come to me at any time over the last two days to get the story.”
“But I’ve been so entertained watching you avoid Ryker.” My fingers plucked at the bed covers. “Given the lack of his scent on your sheets, I’m assuming you prefer to keep your dalliances against trees?” I gave her a sly look. “Or perhaps in hidden hot springs?”
Both her and Ryker’s scents still clung to the cavern.
Rynn let out an annoyed breath and strode into the room, heading straight for the liquor bottle on the table. “You’ve been busy.”
“So have you and Ryker in that cavern.” I scoffed before gracefully rising from the bed and sauntering over to the sitting area, claiming her favorite chair before she could. “Pour me one too.”
Those mismatched eyes stared at me in challenge before she pointedly flipped over two glasses, filled one, and set the bottle next to the other before taking a seat in the remaining chair.
I smiled faintly and set about fixing my own drink. Rynn leaned back in her chair, and I felt her eyes sweeping over me. When I sat back with my drink in hand, she was frowning.
“Not sleeping well?” Her gaze lingered on my face, and I knew what she saw.
Faint lines at the corners of my eyes, pale skin, and an exhaustion that I struggled to hide.
I hadn’t slept since we’d returned because, much to my annoyance, I’d gotten used to her being in my bed at night, keeping the nightmares at bay.
That was the real reason I’d stayed away.
Ryker wasn’t the only one who needed to get his head on straight when it came to Rynn.
When I spoke with Cade about Ryker, I’d also be telling him the bet was off.
I intended to put things between Rynn and me back to how they’d been before we’d traveled together.
Cool and distant.
“My sleeping habits are none of your concern,” I said dismissively and was rewarded by a flash of hurt in Rynn’s eyes.
“I suppose they aren’t,” she said tightly. “Why haven’t you told Cade about me and Ryker? I thought that would be the first thing you did when we got back.”
“Cade has a lot on his mind right now and I’d prefer not to add to it.
” I shrugged. “I will be telling him soon, but first I’d like to have a better handle on the situation.
And that means getting Ryker to see reason, because right now, he’s feeling very possessive of you, and we can’t afford to have him get too attached.
Nothing has changed. You will never be a member of the Alpha pack in truth.
I don’t care if you and Ryker fuck, but it can never be anything beyond sex.
You might understand that, but I’m not sure he does. ”
I watched as my words landed on her like physical hits. My mask of indifference never slipped, even as I hated myself for it.
You’re hard to love but so easy to hate, a rough voice echoed through my mind. It was an old memory, but it still cut as deeply as when the words had been spoken.
The never-ending pain in my chest burned a little harder. I endured it as always.
“What is your history with Alexis and his clan?” I prompted.
Rynn looked at me for a long moment, and I knew she was trying to shove all her hurt feelings aside, but she seemed to be struggling more than usual. She’d allowed herself to get too close.
Sorry, Princess. I’m not the knight in those ridiculous Fae stories you love to read. I’m the villain.
“Always the fool,” she muttered to herself before closing her eyes and taking a long drink.
When she looked at me again, I saw nothing but cool detachment.
“As you’re aware, I traveled to Fervis territory often with my mother when I was younger, before things deteriorated enough between our Orders that it was no longer feasible. ”
“It’s how you became friends with Remy and Marie.” I nodded. “But nothing I uncovered about you gave any indication you have a relationship with Alexis.”
“Because I don’t.” She bared her teeth. “Alexis is a bully who doesn’t like being denied things.”
“And you were one of the things he was denied?” I asked in a bored tone, even as anger boiled under my calm facade. Alexis’ reputation was almost as notorious as Ryker’s. The difference between them was that Ryker only hurt those who directly challenged or threatened him or us.
More than once, Cade and I had discussed taking Alexis out in a way that couldn’t be traced back to us. But we were concerned his death would be used to justify punishing those in the Fervis Order who might challenge the Dragomir clan.
Rynn held my stare, rage burning in her mismatched eyes.
“I’ll never convince you I’m loyal to the Alpha pack, or that I could be if you lot weren’t such assholes.
But just so you know, Alexis offered me a way out years ago.
All I had to do was accept his offer. Become his mate.
And he promised the Fervis Order would protect me, go to war if necessary. ” She leaned forward. “I told him no.”
For a second, my mask slipped. “What did he do?” I asked harshly.
“Broke my arm, several ribs, shattered my right kneecap, probably a few other bones. Things got a bit hazy.” Her eyes lit up with a feral quality I was used to seeing in Ryker’s. “Now ask what I did to him.”
I couldn’t stop the wicked grin from spreading across my mouth. Maybe I wasn’t the knight of her stories, but she didn’t need one anyway. “You’re the reason his voice is fucked up,” I guessed.
“Ripped out his throat,” she confirmed. “Only reason he survived is because there was a Moroi visiting at the time who was able to cast a healing glyph. Even still, his vocal cords were permanently damaged.”
“Who was the Moroi?” I frowned. Most of the Moroi who visited the Velesian realm went to the Narchis Order.
“Lucian.” The grin slid off her face. “That’s why I think the asshole is hiding there. Vail and Draven have looked all over the Moroi realm for him, and if those two haven’t located the traitor, it stands to reason he’s not in the Moroi realm.”
“None of my sources have spotted him there,” I said doubtfully. “And a Moroi, especially that Moroi, would draw attention.”
“I’m merely sharing my opinion.” She took another drink. “So that’s the story of me and Alexis. He takes any opportunity to remind me the offer is still open. All I have to do is submit to him.”
I finished the rest of my drink and poured another as I thought over what she’d told me. It would make my life so much easier if I thought Rynn was lying. If I believed she was working with either her birth clan or the Dragomirs.
But I didn’t.
Despite the strained relationship, I did believe she was loyal to her brother.
If—when—he rose to the role of Alpha of the Narchis Order, that could complicate things.
But it wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle if we didn’t want to.
The bigger concern was her unflinching loyalty to Samara.
Aside from the optics, which were bad, thanks to all these moonsdamned rumors about the Blood Sovereign having the ability to control minds, it meant we could never fully trust her.
Cade, Ryker, Warrick, and I were all vastly different people, but the one thing we had in common was that there was no one else for us. We had no family and barely any friends outside the Alpha pack. There was no one else to claim our loyalty, and it had kept us strong and united.
I hadn’t met Selene yet, but I’d done some digging.
She needed us far more than we needed her.
I didn’t exactly know why she’d failed to integrate with the previous packs she’d joined, but I knew she’d been desperate to get out of the Fervis Order.
Which meant we could make a deal about her place here.
Rynn wanted more. She wanted something we could never give her. Before we’d left to visit her family, I’d thought we could figure something out. That we could give her just enough to make her happy. But that wasn’t feasible, and the longer she remained here, the more she threatened everything.
Feverishly, I thought through options. We couldn’t just send her home; it would destroy our relationship with the Narchis Order. With Selene being here and helping to smooth things over with the Fervis Order, we had a real chance at stabilizing the Velesian realm.
Ignoring the way it made my stomach turn, I thought about what would happen if we killed Rynn.
It would be difficult to do so in a way that we wouldn’t be held responsible for, but I was confident I could figure it out.
Warrick would be thrilled about that plan.
Cade wouldn’t like it, but he’d go along with it if I laid out a good enough argument.
The problem was Ryker. If he ever learned about what we did, he would never forgive us. And I wasn’t willing to lie to him forever.
“If your glass whispers the answer to whatever problem you’re struggling with, do let me know,” Rynn drawled.
I grunted. “Sadly, it has yet to offer any solutions to our impossible situation.”
“Which is what, exactly?”
“What to do with you.” I let out a long breath through my nose before raising my gaze to meet hers. “You can’t stay here, Rynn. Not indefinitely. But we can’t just let you go either.”
“Debating the merits of killing me?” Rynn refilled her glass, not seeming all that disturbed by the direction our conversation had gone.
It was unfortunate things weren’t different, because I could admit to myself that I really did like her.
Rynn had a way of surprising me just when I thought I had her figured out.
I nodded. “Ryker presents a bit of a problem there. Do you have any ideas?”
“On my untimely death? Or me leaving?” she asked dryly.
“Either.” I shrugged.
Rynn pursed her lips together. “I don’t trust you,” she said slowly.
“So I won’t tell you my plan. But there may come a time when I’m in a position to bargain for my release from the Alpha pack with something that will allow you pricks to save face,” she said quickly.
“It’ll help all Velesians and overshadow my leaving. ”
I searched her face. She wasn’t lying. Whatever she was plotting, Rynn believed it would work. “And how do you plan to pull this off?”
She shook her head. “Sorry, Bas. Not giving you the details. But when the time comes, it would benefit us both if you could get Cade to agree to my offer. And maybe keep Warrick from killing me.” She wrinkled her nose.
“What about Ryker?” I tilted my head, watching her reaction.
Her hand drifted to her chest as she frowned at her cup. I didn’t even think she realized she was doing it. “As you’ve already pointed out, Ryker belongs to the Alpha pack. He was never meant for me. I made some mistakes, but I’ll be correcting them going forward.”
“Glad to hear it.” I ignored the way my instincts told me this wasn’t right. The same instincts that were stubbornly clinging to a mating bond that would never happen.
“So you’ll help me?” she asked quietly, a sad resignation in her eyes. “When the time comes, you’ll help me negotiate leaving the Alpha pack?”
I stared at where her hand rested over her heart.
“Yes, Rynn. I’ll help you.”