Sticks and Stones

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Standing outside of the Lupine castle doors, waiting around with his 'demon crew' in the shadows, Caspian recapped his parting words with Sofia.

He knew he'd been snappy in his bid to leave—but there were some valid points there. And yeah, maybe snappiness wasn't the best approach—but he'd done what he could with what little time he had.

What had she done for him? A relationship was give and take. So far, all she'd done was take.

Was she going to change? Sure, he'd detected some change—she wasn't as heartless anymore and she wanted to do better. Was asking her to be less selfish changing her personality? She didn't even see it. He didn't want to spend an eternity pointing it out.

Part of him wondered if he was imagining these problems. That in his bid to stop himself from being hurt he was killing any possible chances they had at happiness. Had what the Crusader said about them being doomed nestled itself into his consciousness? Would he destroy any chance at happiness with Sofia himself?

He didn't want to think about it any longer. Thankfully, the castle door creaked open just then.

A petite blonde poked her head through, checking that the coast was clear. He recognised her from the club, the first time he'd ever met the infamous Evette.

"Caspian," She greeted, slipping out the doors. She was keeping it somewhat together for someone with so much at stake right now. Maybe Cas ought to take a page out of her book. "Claudio said you'd be here. You didn't have trouble getting in, did you?"

"That portal you came in from isn't properly guarded yet." Or at all for that matter. "Since it's been dormant for so long, it's been neglected. Getting through there was easy. The guards haven't added it to their rounds yet. I'm sure they will after tonight's expedition."

She really had no idea. He almost felt bad watching her eat the lie up with such blind trust. He reminded himself that this was for the best. Evette wasn't any old woman. With so many enemies out to get her, she needed the protection of a ruthless werewolf King now more than ever.

"Right," She nodded. "You know what you're doing, don't you?"

"I do. I'm getting you out of this realm and past the cabin. From there, you're on your own. Good luck with that, witch."

She muttered something about needing it.

"This is my crew," Caspian said, pointing to five demons he'd never met until an hour ago. His real crew were off doing God only knows what. "They're all trusted soldiers of Claudio's. Not my usual bunch, but they'll do."

"Your usual bunch? So you do this kind of thing a lot."

"Search and retrieve's not really my thing—but yeah. I piss off powerful immortals for a living."

"You're not worried about Lorcan hunting you down?"

Caspian chuckled. Lorcan ought to be thanking him after this.

"With his mate gone, Lorcan's going to be too busy hunting you down to give a shit about me. For your sake, I hope there's someone that can cloak you when you get back to Veneficus."

And there was the seed of doubt. He already saw it on Evette's face. On the way she nibbled the inside of her cheek, seeming skittish.

"There is."

"Good. Ready to go?"

She nodded but didn't move, glancing back at the castle with a look that almost seemed longing.

Deep down, this woman wanted Lorcan. Would Sofia ever look at him like that?

"You coming?" Caspian called out to her. She nodded, hastening to catch up.