CAGED (#3, of Crows and Thorns)

Chapter 48

I tapped a finger on the page of an old tome filled with lines of ink that had smudged and faded over the centuries. A dull thud-thud-thud rang out as I thought it through, and forced the exhilaration and hope burning through my blood to extinguish itself.

Running a fingertip up and down the middle of the splayed book where the pages joined, my mind flipped from my mother to Nelle and back again. I carefully considered what each needed while dog-earring the page's corner, then flipping it right to smooth the crease out—back and forth—crease then smooth.

Sweet smoke curled through the air from the blunt pinched between my fingers. I took a drag, relishing the pungent smoke. Tipped my head back on the armchair's headrest, held then released the smoke in billowing plumes of white-gray clouds, watching with mild curiosity as it swirled upward toward the stained-glass mural, its colors deeper and richer with the darkness of the evening. As the drug spiked my blood, I sank further in my leather armchair while I picked through my thoughts—how all of this was connected and how I was even going to make it work. Nelle and my mother were connected. Deep down in the marrow of my bones, I knew it.

Warmth radiated from the fire as logs burned with red and orange flames, crackling and popping. My body soaked up the heat, turning my mind and lax limbs even more languid. My legs were stretched out before me, crossed at the ankles. I'd dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, not bothered with my sparkly boots, and wandered into the library barefoot a few hours earlier.

While Nelle had been in the bathroom cursing herself for being caught out, I'd given her the space she needed and headed out to the balcony, trying to tame my wild heartbeat and wipe the grin off my face. She'd more than liked our kiss. Cold stone scraped against my feet as I circled the tower, sucking in lungfuls of fresh air untainted by my little bird and her mind-bending arousal. The fortress, lit up like a city with golden light flooding from the myriad of glass, brightened the night sky, turning it a dusky gray but for the crescent of black high above the Keep, which sparkled with starlight. A shiver rippled across my skin from the chilly temperature as the autumnal wind bit my naked body. I'd stood there, my palms braced against the balcony railing long enough to release the tension winding my body tight from not going any further than a kiss with Nelle, and for my godsdamned cock to soften.

It was either that or grabbing a handful of fucking ice and shoving it against my groin.

Dressing, then whipping around the bedroom, I'd finished rearranging the new furniture, tidying up and storing my clothes neatly into drawers or on hangers, and then headed to the library. Before I met my brothers to get ink tattooed across our bodies there was some research I needed to do, and I hoped I'd find something of worth amongst old crumbling parchment.

But this book reminded me of my mother.

And her memory had kept me company in the library.

I closed my eyes and let my mind drift...