And Serena had been punished for it, which only added to Cass’s burden of guilt.
“I’m sorry.” I touched her shoulder. “For all of it.”
“None of it’s your fault.” She wiped pink tears from her cheeks. “I can’t believe she was out there, this whole time, and I didn’t know. I could have saved her. We could have been…”
Delacorte had stolen that time from them, twisted Serena until she was a hull of her former self, until all she wanted was to make the pain, the loneliness, the memories…stop.
“You couldn’t save her, Cass.” I hoped she believed that. “It was too late when she started hunting you.”
“We’ll never know, will we?” She ruffled her hair, shaking loose dirt. “I think I’m going to go home for a few weeks.”
Home meant back to her clan, to Javier, where she could heal among her own kind in safety and privacy.
I won’t lie. It hurt. I would rather she asked to come home with me. I would have let her use Hadley’s room until she climbed out from under this cloud. But maybe that was me, forgetting she was a vampire at the core. A calm, sterile environment with minimal emotion might be the best environment in which to heal. I had to trust her to know herself, what she needed now.
“Okay.” I cleared the lump from my throat. “Bring your phone?” I handed it to her, since Serena had taken it. “In case you need me?”
Cass came to me, folded herself against me, and buried her face in my neck. “I’ll always need you.”
Touched by her affection, I didn’t notice at first that she was licking me. My carotid, actually. “Cass…”
“You told me to bite you.”
“That was last night. When you were dying. You’re fine now.”
“You’re not fun.”
“So I hear.” I shoved her back a safe distance. “Do you need a ride?”
“I’ll call Javi.” She rubbed her thumb over her phone. “He’s always fussing I don’t come home enough.”
“You’ll stay with me while you find a new place to live.” I made it an order. “I’ve got plenty of room.”
“Yes, Mom.” She cracked a smile then faced Boaz. “Take care of her, or I will rip out your throat.”
“Keep your lips to yourself,” he said, returning her threat, “or I’ll tear them off and feed them to you.”
“No one is ripping anyone’s throat out or lips off.” I waded in between them. “Y’all need to behave.”
Both of them squinted at the other, clearly waiting to see who would fall in line first.
When neither broke, I tried for diplomacy and expediency. “Do you want us to walk you to the road?”
“No.” Her gaze slid past me, and I wondered if she was searching for a pile of ash scattered across the leaves in the distance. If so, she wouldn’t find Serena. The cleaners had already collected her remains, though Cass could claim them, and the bounty, later. If she wanted. I wouldn’t pressure her either way. “I think I’ll stay here for a few more minutes.”
“All right.”
I startled when Boaz wrapped an arm around my shoulders, but I appreciated him guiding me away. I might not have left otherwise, and that was wrong. Cass deserved a moment alone to say her goodbye.
We returned to Willie, who was right where he’d left her, but the view of the charred remains of Cass’s home left a cold weight in my stomach that only grew colder when a blue pickup turned into the drive.
The window slid down to reveal Patel, who took in the destruction and then us.
“You cost me money.” He spat on the dirt. “I came all the way down here to collect on this killer that had all the clan masters clutching their pearls, and you beat me to them.”
“Sorry, man.” Boaz shrugged. “Them’s the breaks.”
“Yeah.” He grunted. “Guess so.” A feral smile tipped up his lips. “I still say you owe me a drink for my troubles.”
“Sure.” Boaz grinned. “Name the time and place, and your first glass of water is on me.”
The joke, that water was free, took a second to penetrate Patel, but then he roared with laughter.
“Always did like you.” He slapped his hand on the side of his truck. “You’re an asshole, just like me.”
From what I had seen of them, Boaz was nothing like Patel, but I wanted Patel gone more than I wanted to defend Boaz. Cass and I were big fish in a small pond here, and we liked it that way. We had no room for a shark in our waters.
“See you around, Patel.” Boaz offered him a curt wave. “Happy hunting.”
“I expect an invitation to the wedding.” Patel put the window halfway up then laughed. “I’ve never seen a man get his balls chopped off. Ought to be interesting.”
With that, Patel spun dirt that ruined Willie’s mirror shine and hit the road.
“I really hate that guy,” Boaz muttered. “I hope I go another five years without seeing him again.”
“Me too.” I wiped the grit from my eyes. “I promise there will be no ball-chopping at the wedding.”
Whipping his head toward me, Boaz broke into a wide smile that turned into a laugh. “Good to know.”
“I’m ready to go.” I patted his arm. “I want to wash off the smoke and dirt and then sleep ten years.”
“Hop on.” He patted the seat on his bike. “We can go the speed limit and everything.”
A laugh wedged itself in my throat, and I was tempted, so tempted to take him up on his offer.
“I think I’ll walk back,” I murmured. “I’m ready to go home, but I’m not ready to be home, if that makes sense.” I raked my hair back into a ponytail. “See you there?”
“I’m not letting you go alone.” He shot me an incredulous look. “I told you I would walk the bike if I had to, and I meant it.”
About to tell him I had changed my mind, that I was being silly, he didn’t give me the chance. He nudged the kickstand
