Page 57 of Crave Me

“When was the last time you ate?”

“Um.” Food wasn’t something I often needed, so I hadn’t really thought about it.

He faced me fully. “Nyx. When was the last time you had food?”

“It’s been a while,” I admitted, frowning. “My energy comes from the moon, not from sustenance. And it hasn’t been very easy to find meals in this realm, given the way everyone reacts to me.” I pinched my lips to the side and shrugged. “I’m fine, though.”

His expression said otherwise. “I should have ensured breakfast was ready for you when you woke up.”

“Among other things,” Kaspian inserted, causing Vesperus to glare at him. Whatever he said, it wasn’t out loud. And all it did was make the other man grin.

“I’ll deal with you later,” Vesperus said to him. Then he held out his hand for me. “Come on. We’ll eat something. Then I’ll start making calls.”

CHAPTERFOURTEEN

VESPERUS

I staredat the blank screen on my desk for a long moment, my exhaustion hitting me hard.

One pleading session with Cara.

Followed by three sternly worded messages.

And then five tense phone calls.

All after I’d introduced Nyx to the kitchen staff again, where I’d left her to eat. That’d been over three hours ago.

Fortunately, she hadn’t left the palace, something I knew because I’d sent Cara to keep her company. Hence thepleadingdiscussion we’d had earlier.

Cara must have gotten over my request because she’d texted me five minutes ago with a photo of the two of them lounging by my pool.

On the roof.

Nyx invited me up for a dip. I think I like her more than I like you now.

I read the message from Cara once more and snorted.

It was a much better note than the one I’d received before it from Empress Asbesta.

The House of Sea and Serpentine will not pay our part of the bounty while the entity roams free. It is causing distress in our water kingdom. Either remove it or find another way to fix it.

Prior to that message was one from Lady Gabriella reminding me to keep Sky apprised ofallmy updates.

And right before that had been a quick text from Volker saying,Call me. Now.

While I wasn’t accustomed to taking orders from others, I’d phoned him back first. Mostly because he was a fae with abilities tied to the moon. Which meant he could feel Nyx more than most, something he’d admitted might have been causing some of his issues a few months ago.

But he was stable now, something I’d reminded him of when we spoke an hour ago.

I also reiterated my stance on killing an entity that hadn’t done any true harm.

And when that hadn’t been enough, I’d said, “She’s my fated mate, Volker.”

He’d find that out soon enough, so I’d figured it wouldn’t hurt to inform him of the truth.

“I see,” he’d replied. “That certainly complicates matters.”

An understatement.