Chapter 13 Kreed
KREED
Iheld her, her head tucked perfectly under my chin, the hair on the top of her head tickling my throat with each breath she took. Her heartbeat was a faint, precious flutter against my chest, proof she was here and whole and mine again.
It didn’t take long for slumber to claim her.
I didn’t even try to sleep. My body was wired, adrenaline still coursing through me.
I waited until I was absolutely certain she was deeply asleep, and only then did I carefully climb out of the bed.
I didn’t want to leave her side, but I needed to check on the twins and find out if Raine ever made it back.
I wouldn’t be able to sleep until everyone was accounted for.
We were a crew, and leaving someone behind was against everything we stood for.
Just a quick check. Then I’d sneak back up, crawl into bed, and hold her for as long as she needed.
The stairs creaked under my feet as I descended, the low murmurs trailing from down the hallway. I followed the whispers into the family room. The warm glow of firelight danced across the walls. Bodies were sprawled in various states of repose. I took count.
Mason, Maddox, Grayson, and Micah were gathered around the stone fireplace in a loose semicircle, cold bottles of beer sweating rings onto the coffee table.
Mason’s legs were sprawled wide, his head tipped back against the leather couch cushions.
Maddox sat forward, elbows on his knees, rolling an empty bottle between his palms. Grayson occupied the armchair, one ankle crossed over his knee in deceptive casualness.
Micah stood by the mantel, firelight casting his profile in relief.
Grayson noticed me first. He gestured with his beer bottle toward the cooler in the corner. “You look like you could use one of these.”
I shook my head. “I’m good. Is Raine back yet?” I asked, scanning the room and noting his absence immediately as well as Fynn and Brock.
“No, but he texted about ten minutes ago. He should be here any minute now,” Maddox informed.
“Didn’t expect to see you tonight,” Mason said, a stupid grin plastered across his face.
“Or tomorrow. Hell, for the next week, honestly. Figured you’d be otherwise occupied.
” That’s when Mason decided to be Mason.
He made one of his characteristically crude gestures, hips thrusting forward in an exaggerated humping motion that would’ve been more at home in a frat house.
The movement was so absurd it broke some of the tension in the room, and the guys snorted with reluctant laughter.
Maddox smacked the back of Mason’s head.
“Watch it, little Corvo,” Grayson warned, but I caught the corner of his mouth twitching upward in a half smile that betrayed his amusement. “I might be tired, but I can still knock your teeth out for being disrespectful.”
I blew out a breath, leaning a shoulder against the doorway. “I’m an asshole. I’m not a sadist. Jesus Christ, she’s been home for all of five minutes, and you think the first thing I should do is jump her? After everything she’s been through?”
The room went quiet for a beat, the crackling fire suddenly the loudest noise.
Mason had the decency to look slightly chagrined, his grin fading to something more thoughtful.
“To be fair,” he said finally, shrugging, “you haven’t been acting like yourself.
And I don’t mean just the last week. Since she came into our lives, you’ve been different.
So sorry if we don’t know the protocol for what comes next. We’ve never been here before with you.”
“He’s never been in love before.” Raine’s voice cut through the room from behind me, his timing so immaculate I’d swear it was deliberate if I didn’t know better.
I groaned, angling my body to the side as Raine stepped through the archway flanked by Brock and Fynn.
The three of them brought a new current of energy into the room.
Seeing Raine in the flesh unharmed, I turned my gaze to Brock, who had definitely seen better days.
He looked like he’d been dragged straight out of the ninth circle of hell.
Soot streaked across his face in dark smudges, dried blood stained his torn shirt in patterns, and his knuckles were split open and raw. But he was breathing.
Thank fucking God.
For Kaylor’s sake. She couldn’t afford to lose anyone else.
“Careful what you say next.” Brock folded his arms across his chest, his brows bunched together. “That’s my cousin you’re speaking of.”
“No one said anything about being in love,” I grumbled because I didn’t like the way the words sounded in their mouths.
Raine flashed a sideways grin and crossed the room to claim the other armchair, settling in.
“At some point, brother, you’re going to have to face the truth.
A girl like Kaylor won’t wait around forever while you sort out your feelings.
If you’re not careful, some guy with his shit together will sweep in and steal her right out from under you. ”
My eyebrows shot up, and something cold and territorial slid through my chest. “Is that a warning or a threat?”
“It’s whatever you need it to be,” Raine replied. “I’m just stating facts. You think she doesn’t have options? A girl like that?”
Brock crossed the room in three long strides and dropped heavily onto the opposite couch, his body moving like every muscle ached. “I’m not sure how I feel about this conversation.”
Maddox leaned forward, the flickering flames catching the angles of his face. “We’re not done, right? Just because she’s home safe, we’re not going to let this asshole walk free, assuming he’s still walking after tonight.”
My jaw clenched so hard my molars ground together. “No. We’re not done. Not even close.”
“He will pay,” Brock vowed, his eyes going cold and flat.
“Maybe you should let us take it from here,” I offered.
“I know revenge is the Elite’s specialty, but getting directly involved could create complications at home for the four of you.
You have families, people who rely on you.
” I paused, letting that sink in. “I give you my word that Rusty won’t go unpunished. The Ravens will see to it personally.”
Fynn, Micah, Grayson, and Brock exchanged looks, a silent conversation between people who’d known each other for years.
They did have families waiting at home, reputations built over decades, people depending on them to stay out of trouble, but the burning in their expressions said they understood what had to be done, regardless of the cost.
Our crews were more alike than either of us might want to admit.
“We’ve never once backed down from a fight,” Micah said. He pushed off from the mantel and moved to join the circle properly. “We’re not about to start now, especially not for something like this.”
“Suit yourself,” I said with a shrug. “But I won’t lie to Kaylor. I need to make that crystal clear right now. When she asks me, and she will ask, I’ll tell her the truth.”
Fynn lifted his beer in a mock toast. “We don’t expect you to lie for us. That’s not how family works.”
Grayson cut in. “But what happened tonight stays between us. It doesn’t go any further than this circle. Do we have an understanding?”
“We’re not narcs,” Maddox said, the corners of his mouth twitching upward despite the serious nature of the conversation. “Give us some credit.”
“What about Kaylor?” Micah asked as he fixed me with a direct stare. “How can we be sure she won’t go telling the girls? Or her friends? She’s been through trauma—people process that by talking. It’s natural.”
“She won’t,” I insisted, matching his stare with enough intensity that he nodded slowly.
I glanced over at Brock, needing him to understand this was a promise I intended to keep.
“I’ll talk to her. I’ll make her understand the danger of this getting out before we’re ready to move, but she’s going to want revenge. ”
Brock kicked off his shoes. “You know my cousin better than most. If she’s anything, she’s stubborn as hell. She’ll fight you on being sidelined, but I trust you to keep her safe, to make her see reason.”
We sat in that circle, two crews who had bled together and bled for the same cause.
“Now that that’s settled…” Brock’s lips lifted at the corners. “We can get to the good stuff. There’s nothing sweeter than payback.”
I caught Brock’s eye. “I couldn’t agree more.”
By the time I climbed back into bed, muscles protesting the movement as the night finally caught up with my body, I was more than ready to sleep like the dead for hours. The lamp still cast its soft amber glow across the walls, painting everything in warm tones.
She looked impossibly small wrapped in my hoodie, the dark fabric creating a cocoon around her slight frame.
Her face was partially hidden by the oversized hood of my sweatshirt, but she started tossing before I’d even pulled the covers over myself, her legs tangling in the blanket with increasingly frantic movements.
The fabric twisted around her calves and thighs, small whimpers escaping her lips.
Her eyes moved rapidly behind closed lids, the muscles around them twitching.
She was caught in the throes of a nightmare, trapped in some hell her mind was forcing her to relive.
I shifted closer, positioning myself beside her trembling form.
Her head shook back and forth. My hand came up slowly, cupping her face to keep her still, but she fought against me until my thumb brushed across the dampness collecting at the corner of her mouth.
Sweat or tears, I couldn’t tell in the dim light, but my touch quieted her.
I needed to wake her up without doing more harm than good.
The last thing I wanted to do was frighten her more.
I leaned down and pressed my lips to her temple, feeling the heat of her skin and the rapid flutter of her pulse beneath my mouth. “You’re safe, little raven,” I whispered in her ear. “You’re home. Come back to me.”
But she only twisted harder, her fingers clawing at the sheets as the fabric bunched under her nails.
I moved to her ear, whispering, “Wake up, little raven.”
Her eyes snapped open without warning, pupils blown so wide they swallowed the blue almost entirely.
They were wild and unfocused, seeing something—someone—that wasn’t there.
A scream built in her throat, and she thrashed, her nails raking across my forearm, leaving hot lines of pain in their wake. Her heel caught my thigh hard.
I did the only thing I could think of. The thing that would keep her from hurting herself.
I shifted my full weight over her, pinning her body to the mattress with mine.
My hands caught her wrists, holding them firmly but not cruelly, pressing them into the pillow on either side of her head.
My legs bracketed hers, stopping the dangerous kicking without restricting her completely.
The position caged her without causing pain, my body becoming both barrier and shield.
My mouth found her ear again, lips brushing against the delicate shell as I spoke directly into her consciousness. “It’s me. I need you to look at me. Please, little raven, look at me.”
Then slowly her muscles began to relax, the tension in her arms easing fractionally. Her legs stopped their frantic movement, and she blinked, her gaze finally settling on my face.
“Hey, little raven.” The use of my pet name for her was deliberate. I wanted it to reach through the lingering remnants of the nightmare.
“Kreed.” She exhaled, a shudder raking through her entire body. Her breath came too fast and too hard beneath me, but she was present now, seeing me instead of whatever monsters had haunted her sleep.
Fuck, thank God.
“It was just a dream. A nightmare. You’re home. You’re safe. You’re here with me,” I repeated, lowering my forehead until it rested gently against hers. I’d repeat those words again and again until she believed them.
Her eyes filled immediately, tears welling up and spilling sideways across her temples to soak into the pillowcase.
She gazed up at me with an expression so lost and raw it nearly split me open.
I loosened my grip on her wrists slowly, giving her the freedom to move while staying close enough to catch her if she needed it.
My thumb brushed under her eye, catching tears that kept falling in hot, silent streams.
“You’re okay. Breathe, little raven. Breathe with me,” I coaxed. “I’ve got you. Nothing’s touching you while I’m here. Not dreams, not memories, not him. Nothing.”
The trembling that had taken over her body began to ease under my hands, and I rolled to the side. “You stayed,” she rasped, her finger grazing the stubble forming on my chin.
I didn’t see any point in telling her that I’d left for a little bit. I’d been gone less than an hour, but it was enough time for the nightmare to dig its claws into her. I’d have to be more careful in the future because I plan to spend the foreseeable nights in her bed. “Where else would I be?”
When she curled into my chest a second later, I wrapped her up without hesitation. My arms came around her, and I tucked the blanket tighter around both of us. “Did I hurt you?”
She shook her head. “No. I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be okay. Knowing you’re here helps.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I promised. “Not tonight. Not any night you need me. Not ever if that’s what it takes.”
“Watch what you promise, Corvo. I might hold you to it.”
I meant it with every broken, exhausted, determined piece of me. If keeping the nightmares at bay meant staying awake for the rest of my life, I’d do it without hesitation.