Page 19 of Dermot

“You’re just saying you don’t want the job. I’m not surprised. You and Emory seem to be more similar than you probably think.”

“I don’t know that we are. We’ve lived very different lives since we lost our clans.”

“Have you? You both found your mates. You both have loving clans and homes. You’re both ready to do anything in your power to protect those things. Even though your lives might look different from the outside, you’re very similar.”

Dermot was curious about this Emory, and maybe one day he’d get to meet him. The village couldn’t stay closed the way it was forever. No one wanted that to happen, which was why they had to get rid of Parrish.

Maybe this mess with Celeste would be the way they finally got to the Kudlak. They still didn’t know what had happened with Celeste, but he decided that it didn’t matter. They needed to get Celeste back, find out what had happened with Rose, and hopefully kill Parrish, and they would only be able to do that by working together. That included Dermot, even though he had no idea what he was doing when it came to fighting.

But he was a Krsnik’s mate. He’d seen how Krsniks and Vila could work together when they were bonded, and if there was even one chance that he could help Bastien come out of this in one piece, he wanted to take it.

“Anyway,” Dominic continued. “I’ll get my people together. I can send several of them to spy on Parrish and his people, but it would be good if you could start moving things on your end. If you get information faster than I do, we can plan how to get to Parrish and Celeste, and how to get Celeste out again without her getting hurt.”

“Parrish isn’t going to let her go easily,” Bastien commented.

Dominic didn’t ask who he was. It didn’t matter. Since he was on this call with Rowan, it meant that Rowan trusted him.

Rowan wouldn’t have let Bastien in if he didn’t trust him. Maybe that was what Dermot should’ve focused on instead of what Bastien was. Bastien might be a Krsnik, but he hadn’t done anything to show Dermot that he couldn’t be trusted. If anything, it was the opposite. He’d given Dermot time and space, and even though everything was going to hell around them, he still was. He’d even forgiven Dermot, or at least, it looked like he had. It might take a little more time, but that was okay. Dermot was sure that once Celeste was back with them, he and Bastien would have all the time they needed to get to know each other and learn to be together.

But that meant that the sooner they got Celeste back, the better it would be, and not only for Bastien and Dermot. It would be best for Celeste, who wouldn’t have to get hurt by Parrish any further. It would be best for the village and clan because it would keep them safe from Parrish.

The only person it wouldn’t be best for was Parrish, and Dermot couldn’t wait for the man to suffer. It wouldn’t be the way he’d made others suffer, and it wouldn’t be nearly enough, but it would be something.

Dermot was definitely looking forward to that.

* * * *

“HE’LL BE SURROUNDED by his minions,” Dermot said.

Bastien frowned. “I don’t know. When I met him, he was alone.”

Dermot took a sip of coffee as he nodded. “Which makes sense since he was trying to convince you that he was just a guy who happened to be your sister’s mate. How would you have reacted if he’d appeared with a bunch of people following him? From what we know, they were probably in the area, waiting for him.”

The thought made Bastien want to throw up. Back then, he’d truly believed that his sister would be happy. He’d had his doubts about Parrish, but he never could have imagined that Parrish would use the bond with Celeste the way he had. He’d told himself that even though he didn’t like Parrish, he didn’t have to like him. Parrish wasn’t his mate. He was Celeste’s, and Celeste had been happy, focused on the future, and Bastien had wanted that for her. They’d both thought that she and Parrish would settle down, maybe have some kids, even though Parrish had been a Kudlak.

“You know, initially, when we met Parrish, we didn’t know what to think,” Bastien said. “I mean, he’s a Kudlak. My life’s mission, the reason I was born, is literally to hunt Kudlak. It’s one of the reasons Celeste kept Parrish a secret for a while. She wasn’t sure how we would take it, and she wasn’t wrong to feel that way. When she first told me about him, I wasn’t happy. I knew this was going to be a disaster, and I was right. At the same time, though, he’s her mate. I didn’t have a choice because of the laws, but then, he’s my sister’s mate. I couldn’t keep them separated, not if I wanted Celeste to be happy.”

“He fooled you. He fooled a lot of people.”

“I know. He’s a smart man, and I know that finding out that Celeste was his mate probably delighted him.” If Bastien had to guess, Parrish had already started thinking about how he could use her. He’d known that she would have Krsniks in her family and that he’d have to work around them to get to her, and he’d succeeded. He’d been apologetic about what he was and had explained that he’d lost his family, too. He admitted that he’d fought Krsniks and had killed some of them, but then, what Krsnik could say that they hadn’t killed any Kudlak? He’d begged to be allowed a fresh start with his mate, and Bastien and his family had agreed, not for Parrish but for Celeste. She’d told them that she wanted Parrish, and it had made sense at the time. It still didn’t sit right. She hadn’t known what kind of man Parrish was, and the only thing he’d shown her was what he knew she wanted to see. Their bond had done the rest.

And here they were. Still dealing with the consequences of all of that years later. For a few glorious days, Celeste had been free. She was back with Parrish, though, and no one had any idea how to get her out of there.

Bastien was tempted to sneak out and try on his own, even though he knew it would probably end in his death. The Parrish he’d been introduced to was nothing like the real Parrish, the one he would have to face. He’d heard stories, but that wasn’t what scared him. No, what scared him was the fact that Parrish wasn’t working alone. He was a powerful Kudlak, and he didn’t need minions, as Dermot called them, but of course he had them. He used people. If he could avoid getting his hands dirty, he wouldn’t hesitate to send someone else in to fight for him.

Now that he had Celeste back, he would make sure that he didn’t lose her again. He would be extremely careful, and Bastien didn’t think there was any way around that, especially not on his own. That meant waiting for the council and the pride to make their move, and for now, that move was to send in spies. They wanted numbers. If they could, they wanted names. They wanted to know exactly where Parrish was and what he was up to. It made sense, and it would help prepare everyone for what they had to face, but the thought of how much time they were wasting made Bastien feel panicked. He didn’t think that Parrish would kill Celeste—she was too useful to him—but that didn’t mean he couldn’t hurt her. Hell, knowing him, he would make sure she knew how unhappy he was with what she’d done. He would also ensure that she could never leave again, and Bastien wasn’t sure he could find a way around that.

Someone dropped a plate on the table between him and Dermot, startling him. He looked up and blinked at Clay, who grinned. “Have some pizza.”

Bastien looked down at the pizza. There were too many pieces for the plate to be just for him, which meant Clay intended for him and Dermot to share it. He seemed unapologetic about it, too. He winked and stepped away, and Bastien half expected him to say something, but he went straight back to his mate, who was on the phone and nodding.

“Ignore them,” Dermot said as he picked up a slice of what looked like pepperoni pizza. “They like to be involved even though they really shouldn’t be.”

“What are they trying to be involved in?”

“Us. Remember what Rowan said when we first got here earlier? He thought we were here to tell them about us.”

Bastien had mainly been thinking about Celeste since then, but he did remember Rowan’s words. “Do they know we’re mates?”