Chapter 29
Ileant against the hotel suite's window, watching the city lights blur through the rain-streaked glass.
Behind me, the shower had been running for nearly thirty minutes.
Too long. My hands still trembled slightly from everything that had happened at The Palace.
The confrontation with Alyssa had ripped open wounds I'd spent years cauterising, but that wasn't what haunted me now.
It was the look on Cade's face as her mother destroyed her, piece by piece, in front of half the Trivium elite.
My phone vibrated against my palm for the third time. Logan. I answered before the second ring.
"Where the fuck is she?" Logan's voice was tight with barely controlled fury. "Is she with you?"
"Yes," I said, keeping my voice low. "She's in the shower. I've got her."
"What the fuck happened, Cole? I had to hear it from fucking Hannah, of all people, who couldn't wait to tell me how the Covenant Consort had a public meltdown after being disowned by her own mother." I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose.
"It was worse than that, Logan. So much fucking worse."
"Tell me."
I moved farther from the bathroom door, though the sound of running water would likely drown out my words.
"Alyssa was... she was fucking cruel, Logan. Told Cade she never wanted her, that she tried to abort her with a fucking knitting needle. Called her a failed abortion to her face. In front of everyone." Silence stretched across the line, then Logan's voice, deadly quiet:
"Where's Ryder?" The question sent a chill through me.
"You don't know?"
"No. He disappeared after he found me ranting about something Luce told him. I've been looking for him for the last hour."
"Fuck." I pushed away from the window. "You need to find him. Now. Luce was there; she could have told him everything. You know what he'll do if he finds Alyssa."
"Maybe he should," Logan said, voice dark with promise. "Maybe that bitch deserves whatever Ryder has planned."
"She's a Trivium wife," I reminded him sharply. "You want Ryder to disappear? Because that's what will happen if he touches her. Regent or not. The Trivium doesn't fuck around with their own." Logan exhaled heavily.
"I know. I know. But after what she did-"
"After what she did, our priority is Cade," I cut him off. "And Luce, even. They're both shaken up. Focus on finding Ryder and keeping him from doing something we'll all regret. I've got Cade."
"Fine," Logan conceded grudgingly. "But this isn't over. Nobody humiliates our girl like that and walks away."
"Not tonight," I said firmly. "We need to be smart about this. Cade needs us. She comes first." After a few more terse exchanges, Logan agreed to focus on finding Ryder and ensuring Luce was taken care of. I ended the call and tossed my phone onto the bed, suddenly exhausted.
The emotional toll of the night weighed on me, not just witnessing Cade's devastation, but coming face to face with one of the monsters from my childhood.
Alyssa Knotty, with her perfectly manicured nails and designer dress, looking at me like I was still that terrified little boy she used to torment in the Underground.
The water was still running. I walked to the bathroom door and knocked softly.
"Cade, Pet? You okay in there?" No response.
I knocked again, louder. "Cade?" When silence answered me again, I tried the handle.
It wasn't locked. Pushing the door open slowly, I called her name once more.
Steam billowed out, filling the bathroom like fog.
Through the glass shower door, I could make out a huddled shape on the floor.
"Shit." I rushed forward, yanking the shower door open.
Cade sat curled into herself on the tile, still fully dressed in her purple silk gown, now soaked and clinging to her skin.
Her hair hung in wet ropes around her face, makeup streaking down her cheeks in black rivers.
The water pouring over her was scalding.
I could feel the heat from where I stood, but she didn't seem to notice.
Her eyes were open but vacant, staring at nothing as silent tears mixed with the shower spray.
I didn't hesitate. Kicking off my shoes, I stepped into the shower fully clothed, wincing at the heat as I reached for the temperature control. I adjusted it to something bearable, then knelt beside her.
"Cade, baby" I said softly, pushing wet strands of hair from her face. "Pet, look at me." She blinked slowly, her gaze finally focusing on me.
"Cole?" Her voice was so small, so broken, it felt like someone had reached into my chest and squeezed my heart.
"I'm here. I've got you." I quickly shed my soaked jacket and dress shirt, leaving just my pants. Then I gathered her into my arms, cradling her against my chest. She felt impossibly fragile, like she might shatter if I held her too tightly.
"I have no one," she whispered against my neck. "I'm nothing. She didn't want me. She never wanted me."
"Shhh," I stroked her hair, rocking her gently as the water cascaded over us both. "That's not true. You have so many people who love you. Your grandparents, Luce, Sylvia..."
"And you?" Her voice trembled with vulnerability. I swallowed hard.
"And me. Especially me."
She clung to me then, her fingers digging into my shoulders as sobs wracked her body.
I held her through it, murmuring reassurances, promising her she wasn't alone, that she was wanted, that she mattered.
The silk of her ruined dress slipped beneath my hands as I rubbed her back, trying to anchor her to the present, to me, to anything that wasn't the cruel words her mother had hurled at her.
When her sobs finally quieted, I reached for the shampoo.
"Let's get you cleaned up, okay?" She nodded listlessly, allowing me to help her to her feet.
I unzipped her dress, letting the sodden purple silk pool at her feet, leaving her in just her panties.
There was nothing sexual about it, just me taking care of her when she couldn't take care of herself.
I washed her hair gently, massaging her scalp, then guided her through rinsing it.
I soaped a washcloth and carefully cleaned away the streaked makeup from her face, revealing the pale, freckled skin beneath.
And finally, I slid her soaked panties away and washed her body as she trembled, leaning against me for support.
When we were finished, I shut off the water and grabbed a large fluffy towel from the rack.
I wrapped it around her shoulders, then lifted her into my arms and carried her out of the bathroom.
She felt weightless, hollow, as if her mother's words had carved out everything inside her.
I set her down on the edge of the bed and found one of my t-shirts in my bag.
"Arms up," I instructed softly, and she complied without question, letting me pull the shirt over her head.
It swallowed her, hanging to mid-thigh. I used another towel to gently dry her hair, then guided her under the covers of my bed.
I then stripped out of my own soaked pants and pulled on a pair of sweats.
"It's going to be okay," I said, sitting beside her and taking her hand in mine. Cade looked up at me, her blue eyes rimmed with red.
"How can it be okay, Cole? My own mother hates me. She never wanted me. I don't even know who my father is. I have no one."
"That's not true," I insisted, squeezing her hand. "You have me. You have Ryder. Hell, you even have Logan, though he'd probably rather die than admit how much he cares." That earned me a tiny, watery scoff and the ghost of a smile. Progress.
"And you know your grandparents love you more than anything," I continued. "They raised you, protected you, supported you."
"From her," Cade whispered. "They were protecting me from her all along, weren't they? They knew what she was like." I nodded slowly.
"It sounds like it."
Cade was quiet for a long moment, her fingers tracing absent patterns on the back of my hand. When she spoke again, her voice was steadier, though still fragile.
"How do you know her? My mother." Her eyes met mine, searching. "You called her Alyssa. You knew her before tonight." I tensed, not wanting to pile more trauma onto her already shattered state.
"Cade, I don't think tonight is the right time to-"
"Please," she interrupted, gripping my hand tighter.
"I need to know. I'm tired of secrets and lies.
Please, Cole." I studied her face, weighing how much truth she could handle right now.
But I saw the determination in her eyes, the need to understand, and I knew she wouldn't let this go.
Maybe it was better to hear it from me, someone who cared about her, than to piece it together from rumours or, worse, have Logan or Ryder blurt it out in anger.
"Alright," I sighed, moving to sit beside her against the headboard. I pulled her close, needing the contact as much as she did. "But it's not a pretty story."
"I figured that out already."
I took a deep breath, steeling myself to revisit memories I'd spent years trying to bury.
"You know that The Palace is owned by Dominic Blake, right?
" She nodded. "Well, underneath the Palace is, for lack of a better term, a sex club. It’s one of the elites worse kept secrets.
What most people don't know is that beneath that, beneath all that glitter and wealth, there's another level.
They call it the Underground." I felt her stiffen against me, but continued.
"When I was a kid, about four years old, my parents sold me to Blake. They were addicts, deep in debt, and I was... valuable." My voice caught on the word. "My different eyes, it made me exotic, a collector's item to certain people."
"Cole," Cade whispered, horror dawning in her voice.