Chapter Four #2
It looked like he wouldn’t have a choice.
Clay and Rowan were still discussing the council and the Whitedell pride.
Bastien wanted to yell at them to make a decision and hurry up, because every second Celeste spent with Parrish was one more second in which Parrish could hurt her.
It wouldn’t be productive, though. He was a guest here, and if he wanted help to get Celeste back, he was going to have to work with the clan.
Going out there on his own would be suicide, and if he died, there would be no one left to help Celeste.
By the time their family got here, Parrish would’ve probably made sure that no one could get to Celeste, and even if he hadn’t, Bastien was the best trained in his family.
If he couldn’t help Celeste, he doubted his parents would be able to.
They’d try, but they might lose their lives, too, and where would that leave Celeste and the rest of their family?
No, the best way to do this was for Bastien to take on Parrish, and to do that, he’d need help.
It was why he was in Rowan and Clay’s kitchen right now.
They were the clan leaders, and Bastien was going to have to follow their lead.
Besides, it was clear that Rowan knew Parrish much better than Bastien did, and in more ways than Bastien would want to.
It seemed like things were personal between them, which couldn’t be an easy thing to deal with for Rowan.
He was probably the person who wanted Parrish dead the most, after Bastien and Celeste.
Hell, since Parrish had killed his entire clan, he probably wanted it even more than they did.
“Bastien?” Dermot asked as he stepped closer.
Bastien hated that he wanted to talk to Dermot as much as he wanted to tell him to fuck off.
Part of him hated Dermot for what he thought of Celeste, but another part understood.
This was Dermot’s home. These were his people.
They came first, even before Celeste. Besides, Dermot wasn’t entirely wrong.
Rose might not have anything to do with this.
She might be innocent of what Bastien had accused her of, just like Bastien was sure that Celeste was.
Parrish was smart. If he wanted to get Celeste back — and he definitely did—he’d find a way to make it happen. It seemed that he had.
“What do you want?” Bastien asked gruffly.
“To apologize.”
Bastien was surprised. He was also curious, and he wanted a distraction.
He didn’t have a place in the conversation happening between Rowan and Clay, and he wouldn’t have a place in the conversation they would have with the council or the Whitedell pride.
The only thing he could do was wait, and it was driving him nuts.
His entire being was itching to go out there and get Celeste back, but he couldn’t move.
He leaned his hip against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m listening.”
Dermot blinked as if he hadn’t expected that. He probably hadn’t. It was clear he thought that Bastien was still furious, and Bastien was. He was still thinking about possibly strangling Dermot a little, and not in a sexual way. No, if he did that now, it wouldn’t be pleasurable for anyone.
Dermot cleared his throat. “All right, then. I’m really sorry about what’s happening to your sister and for assuming that she left willingly. I’m also sorry for not trusting you.”
“You know, that’s something I don’t fully understand.
Vila and Krsnik have always lived together.
We’re family.” And more often than not, they also found their mates in each other’s species.
Bastien’s mother was a Krsnik, and his father was a Vila.
His sister was a Vila, just like their other brother, but Bastien was a Krsnik.
It was how their clans and families had always worked.
Dermot looked away. “They have,” he murmured. “That was how things went in my old clan, too. Vila used their magic to protect the village and make everyone’s life easier, and in exchange, Krsnik hunted Kudlak and protected us physically.”
“What happened?” Because even though Bastien barely knew Dermot, he could tell something had.
Something had happened to all of them as the Kudlak grew stronger over the years and decades.
Kudlak had decimated countless clans, killed endless families.
It was a miracle some of them had survived.
It was an even bigger miracle that some of them had started organizing clans again.
It made them stronger to live together, but at the same time, it also made them more vulnerable.
“Kudlaks killed my entire clan,” Dermot said.
He wasn’t looking at Bastien. “That’s a story a lot of us share, so I’m sure I don’t have to go into details.
Some of the Krsnik who were supposed to protect us, the Krsniks we considered family, walked away.
They were scared and didn’t want to die, so instead of fighting, they left us to die.
That betrayal was almost worse than losing my family.
They were people I’d always trusted in my life, only to be shown that I should’ve doubted them as soon as I needed them to protect me.
I was on my own, and even though it felt like hell, I survived.
It’s a miracle they didn’t kill me, too. ”
If Bastien ever found out who these Krsniks were, he’d make sure they knew what he thought of their behavior.
Their clans worked because Vila and Krsniks offered different things.
Running instead of fighting was dishonorable, and it shouldn’t have happened.
Bastien understood being afraid, he understood grief and hatred, but abandoning someone you’d promised to protect?
It didn’t make it easier for him to forgive Dermot, but it at least explained what Dermot had gone through. It explained why he didn’t trust Bastien, even though in theory, he should have.
“I know this doesn’t mean that all Krsniks are like that. I trust Rowan enough to be sure that if Parrish attacks the village, he’ll fight to the death to protect us.”
Dermot was saying the right words, but Bastien couldn’t help but wonder if he actually believed that all Krsniks were like that.
Bastien couldn’t even blame him if that was the case.
It was the example he’d been given. When he’d most needed Krsniks to protect him, those Krsniks had abandoned him.
They hadn’t been trustworthy, so why would Dermot trust Bastien?
“I understand,” he said.
“Do you? I know you lost people, too, but were you betrayed by the Vila who lived with your clan? Did you watch them run away?”
“I don’t know what all of that felt like, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have empathy. I can understand that you’ve been betrayed by people you trusted without having lived through that myself. It explains why you kept your distance from me as much as you could.”
“I wasn’t trying to keep distance between us. I was just panicking.”
“Then maybe you should have talked to me.” Bastien sighed.
“Look, I get it. I’m not going to blame you for something you can’t help, although I’d suggest you take a good look at yourself and your beliefs.
You just said that you know not all Krsniks are alike, yet you behave like we are.
I’m glad you told me about this, though.
We’re going to have to work together to get my sister back, and it’s going to be easier to do that if we can actually talk to each other. ”
“You have to trust Clay and Rowan. They will get Celeste back,” Dermot said, and he sounded convinced. He probably was, too, but Bastien couldn’t help but wonder.
What if it was already too late?
* * * *
DERMOT WASN’T SURE that Bastien had forgiven him, but at least he didn’t look like he wanted to strangle him anymore, which Dermot counted as a win.
He knew he would have more groveling to do to get Bastien to accept him in his life, but now wasn’t the moment to think about that.
They needed to get Celeste back, and while Dermot still wasn’t a hundred percent sure that she hadn’t left willingly, now that he’d had some time to think, he realized it didn’t matter.
Even if she’d left to rejoin Parrish, considering what Parrish had put her through over the years, could she really be called willing?
That wasn’t even considering the possibility that Rose was involved.
Dermot hoped she wasn’t, but he didn’t think anyone would blame him for having wanted to trust her and help her.
She’d been in a terrible state when she reached the village.
Anyone would have wanted to do something for her, but maybe Dermot had been too trusting, or rather, maybe he’d trusted the wrong person.
He hadn’t been lying when he’d told Bastien that he knew not all Krsnik were the same.
He trusted Rowan to protect him and the rest of the clan, even though Rowan was a Krsnik.
At the same time, Dermot couldn’t deny that he was wary of most Krsnik.
He couldn’t help but wonder when they would betray him and the clan.
But Bastien wasn’t just a Krsnik. He was Dermot’s mate, and that meant something, although Dermot wasn’t quite sure what yet.
What he was sure of was that he wanted an opportunity to make things right, and he knew that would come with Celeste.
From the little he knew about her, she would probably be happy to forgive him for what he’d thought about her.
If she knew that Dermot was her brother’s mate, she would probably welcome him with open arms the way she had with Rose.
It made Dermot feel guilty, but he told himself not to focus on that right now.
The only thing he needed to focus on was finding Celeste, and he wasn’t quite sure where to start.