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“So, she had me infected.” Bastien scoffed with disgust. “I managed to behead the poor blood-mad sod, but he bit me in the struggle.” Bastien crowded into me, but he wasn’t groping at me like usual. After a beat, his arm snaked around my waist, and he pressed a kiss to the top of my head.

I struggled to swallow. The big, gentle male confused me. For the life of me, I couldn’t connect the Bastien I’d come to care for with the creature that kept me trapped.

“If it’s truth telling time, I have something to add.” I flexed my hands.

“The Pale One I told you all about, the one I thought was hunting me?” They watched me with such focus, not rushing me. “It wasn’t him. Imogen has been behind everything.”

“She had a vampire trap you?” Tobias narrowed his eyes.

I shook my head. I wasn’t explaining this properly.

“No, he couldn’t have been the one hunting for me.” I licked my lips and spat it out, “The Pale One is Bastien.”

Silence.

Bastien’s arm slipped off my waist.

“The bastard who kept you captive was him?” Asher’s expression twisted with confusion.

“You mentioned he got out once and then he returned looking closer to this?” I motioned behind me at the large, healthy male vampire.

“Ren was the one who found him,” Tobias said in agreement. Ren both caused and saved me from it. If he’d never followed Imogen’s order—no, I needed to stop. The past couldn’t be changed.

“You were there,” I said in awe, connecting the rest of it. They’d mentioned Ren was the one who found him but I’d been so wrapped up in who Bastien was, I didn’t focus on the vampire who pulled him away from me. “He’d had me pinned a-and you pulled him off me.” Leaving me bleeding, for another human to find me and call for help. “Do you remember me?”

Ren’s arms dropped to his side.

“I wouldn’t have paid attention to a human. I was too stunned at Bastien’s change.” Ren stepped back, head shaking.

“We believed he’d gorged himself and that had been what began to heal him from the blood-madness. But with each new feeding we gave him, he did not advance,” Tobias said.

“That was where he was that entire time we searched for him? With you.” Jax’s phrase at the end became less of a question.

I nodded. Asher was in Bastien’s face, and his quick movement forced me back a few steps to get out of the way.

“You were why she was so scared.” Bastien didn’t flinch at Asher’s accusation.

“What did I do?” Bastien murmured, eyebrows dropping down over his red eyes. He fixed a piercing look toward me. “What did I do to you?” The question almost sounded angry.

I put my hand on Asher’s shoulder and wiggled between them to push him back.

“He doesn’t even remember, leave it be. We have someone else to worry about.” Asher’s jaw line bunched, and he took a slow step back. He grabbed my elbow, keeping me to his side.

“So, if it was never the blood-mad male after you. Imogen is behind it all,” Tobias said.

I nodded curtly.

“She had a lot of fun gloating about everything she’d done while she broke me. She also gloated about having someone run me over.” She’d been trying to kill me for a while now. “I feel like I should get an award for surviving this long,” I said wryly.

“We’ll be bringing her ashes to you,” Ren vowed. That would mean they would hunt her down. My heart jumped in my chest in a slow agonizing squeeze.

“No. We need to stay far away from that psycho.” I shook my head hard.We. The word echoed in my head. Were we a ‘we’? I stepped back. “You know what, there’s nowe. Jax woke up. It’s time for me to go,” the words flowed out quickly, almost panicked. I was too comfortable.

All five of them became preternaturally still.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Jax snarled.

“You don’t have a say in anything.” I whipped my head toward him and shoved him as I backed away until I faced all of them. They stood across various spots in the kitchen. “Am I supposed to wait until you disappoint me again?” I whispered.