A Crown Of Shadows And Secrets - Sloane Murphy Page 0,76

at the thought.

For all the things I said. All the things I didn't say.

If anything happens to her... If she doesn't make it back…

I shake my head, trying to dislodge the thought, because I can't think like that. I wasted so much time being an ass to her, letting my dad and my guild tell me what I wanted was wrong. How I felt was wrong. I know now, that if I get her back, if she forgives me for having my head up my ass, I'll never make her regret it. I'll spend our entire existence making it up to her.

Some might think I'm a fool, to love a mortal. Especially when I will just be reborn and she won't. Those people can fuck right off.

A bang at the door three times breaks the silence.

“I've got it!” Bauer calls out, I hear his footsteps on the creaky floors in this place as he heads to the door. The voices getting louder as Elijah and Danny come into the house.

“Oh Colt, baby, you cooked for me. You shouldn't have,” Elijah coos as he swaggers into the kitchen with a laugh.

“What can I say, I'm just a domestic fucking goddess,” I say, greeting him with a slap on the back. “Seriously though, if I don't feed you guys, Maddie will have my hide.”

“That woman terrifies me.” Elijah shudders and Danny laughs at him.

“I could eat,” Danny agrees and Bauer grabs plates and cutlery while I pull the lasagna from the oven and take it over to the table. Elijah heads to the fridge and grabs four beers before sitting down with the rest of us.

“God bless Maddie and her cooking,” Danny says as he cuts a quarter of the lasagna and drops it onto his plate. I laugh at him and he flips me the bird. “Do you have any idea how long it’s been since I had a decent home cooked meal? You're lucky I'm leaving you any.”

“Help yourself, man. You should see my fridge.” I laugh with a shrug, taking a swig of my beer while the others dish themselves up some food.

“I'm moving in,” Danny groans around a mouthful of lasagna.

“Not like there isn't space.” Bauer smiles. He isn't wrong. This house is huge. Way too big for just the two of us, and I don't see Dad coming home anytime soon.

We shoot the shit while we eat, and I enjoy it, pretending like the weight of the world isn't resting on my shoulders. I know that after whatever Bauer tells us tonight, I'm going to have to call an Elder meeting, though thank god for younger Elders and Skype, because all the travelling just isn't feasible right now.

Bauer clears the table when everyone’s done, and grabs another round of beers, handing them to each of us before taking his seat again.

“So I guess, I need to thank you guys for saving my ass,” he says before taking a long drink. “So thank you, for saving my traitorous ass. I'll do my best to make it up to you.”

“You're Colt's family, that means you're our family. We don't leave our own behind,” Elijah says and Danny nods his agreement. Bauer launches in to telling them what they need to know regarding locations and security systems at each of the sites he's aware of that Archer has acquired, as well as any wards that might be in place, and the numbers of bodies potentially at each site.

I sit and listen, it hitting me just how involved he was in all of this. Bauer is a strategic guy, logic is his lifeblood. He picked these locations, he helped Archer build this entire army against us. Helped him plan where to hit us, what our weaknesses would be, how to cripple us in the worst of ways, what would cause us the most damage, not just in terms of numbers, but in morale.

“You told him to take Fallon,” I say glaring at him across the table. His eyes go wide at my words, and then he nods, the movements small, but enough.

“You motherfucker!” I shout slamming my bottle down onto the table.

“I didn't know,” he tells me sadly. “I knew she was Remy's friend, and Remy is Remy. She would sacrifice herself for her friends. I didn't know about you.”

“That doesn't fucking matter, Bauer!”

“Colt,” Elijah says firmly, drawing my attention to him. “You boys can settle this later, but for now. We need to be smart about this right now. Hitting