Page 75 of Claim Me

I just want tofeel.

To indulge.

To be with these two males who have made their intentions and desires for me clear.

To just exist. Be alive.Feel wanted.

Nox presses his lips to mine again. “Okay,” he breathes. “We’ll start with this…”

CHAPTERSEVENTEEN

NOLAN

Kaspian calledthree times while I was meeting with some of Klas’s old neighbors in Ireland. None of them had anything useful to say. However, their summaries made it quite clear that Klas kept Fallon under close watch.

“We didn’t really have a chance to know Fallon; she stayed inside a lot.”

“I didn’t even realize he was mated until a year ago.”

“She wasn’t very social.”

“The one time I saw her, she kept her head down and didn’t acknowledge my presence.”

All of their statements caused my stomach to twist, my fury mounting with each passing second. How did not one of these people notice the signs of abuse?

I shake my head after leaving the final neighbor’s house and start down the sidewalk before dialing Kaspian’s number.

His face appears a second later, his eyes hidden by a pair of shades as he seems to focus on something over his phone.

I frown. “Are you driving?”

“Yeah.” He doesn’t sound thrilled about it. “Nox and Bane took Fallon to the lagoon. I had it vacated, but now I feel like I need to be there, too.”

My eyebrow lifts. “You let her out of the palace?”

His jaw visibly clenches. “Nox and Bane convinced me it was a good idea.”

“And now you’re not so sure, which is why you’re driving out there to check on them,” I finish for him.

“Something like that,” he mutters. “Anyway, there have been some developments.”

“I’m listening.”

Kaspian launches into a story from earlier today about how Fallon essentially died again and came back only to fall into some sort of episode where she mentioned her sister, Issy, and something about the “patriarchs.”

He continues by telling me about Fallon’s lies—or what he interprets as lies—and ends with, “Then I tried to reject her, but she kissed me. And, well, now she’s swimming with Nox and Bane.”

I stopped walking somewhere around the part when Kaspian said Fallon essentially died again, and I’ve been gaping at my phone ever since.

“Some developments?” I repeat, using his description of these colossal updates. “And youkissedher?”

“Technically, she kissed me. I just… reciprocated.” He adjusts his glasses, his focus still on the road and not on his actual phone. Knowing Kaspian, he took one of his favorite sports cars out for a spin and connected his phone to the dash, hence my view of his face.

It’s dusk there, but as an older vampire, he’s more susceptible to the sunlight, which explains his dark shades. With anyone else, I would assume he was trying to hide his eyes from me, maybe to mask whatever emotion thatkissbrought on.

“The kiss isn’t what I’m worried about,” he continues. “It’s the lies and her comments about the patriarchs. That’s not usual coven speak, which means it could be related to a number of things, but I’ve only ever heard that term referenced in conversations about a specific witch sect of the Supernatural Syndicates.”

The Outcast Coven, I translate, aware of the strange political dynamic within that syndicate. While the matriarchs are considered to be the face of the organization—female witches are usually stronger than male warlocks—there are rumors of a powerful patriarchy operating behind the scenes.