Page 41 of Crossed Fates

“I don’t go home much either,” I confessed.Too busy gallivanting around worlds I don’t belong in, like this one.

Alaric glanced at me for a moment, and I spotted the guilt lurking in his blue orbs.

“My parents don’t really know the extent of what I do—my mother would flip the hell out—and every time I go home, they put pressure on me to return.” I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. “I love my pack. But I don’t want to be tied down like that.”

He met my gaze and held it, assessing me with an inquisitive expression. “Why?”

I shrugged. “Free spirit, I guess.”

He continued to study me, but he seemed a bit less moody. I sank into the water until it reached my neck, and peered upward. The rays of the sun streaked across the sky, and I followed their path to the sparkling water. This spot of Silver Lake spoke to my soul, and some part of me felt happy that it was just as beautiful in this realm. Perhaps Alaric would think of me whenever he happened upon it. For some reason, that thought appealed to me. The idea of Alaric forgetting my existence felt wrong.

“What kind of wolf are you?” he asked bluntly. “And what did you mean about everyone being fragile inthis realm?”

Yeah, I should have known he wouldn’t let that slide. It wasn’t an intentional slip, yet it’d felt right to say.So maybe I should give him the truth. If he freaked out, I could just jump the realm with my ring.

I continued to stare off into the distance, unsure of how to begin. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I responded honestly.

“Try me.”

“I’m from Silver Lake, but in a different world.”

Silence.

Shaking my head, I turned to face him with an “I told you so” look that I punctuated out loud by saying, “I told you that you wouldn’t believe me.”

“Actually, I do,” he replied, shocking me. “My E.V.I.E. partner recently left this reality for another one. Not sure what exactly happened because my boss didn’t give me all the details, but she disappeared with some royal vamp.”

“Royal vamp?”

“Cassius.”

Dimitri’s cousin?My eyebrows shot upward. “You’re sure that’s his name?”

“Yep. The night before I saved you—”

I scoffed and started to protest, but his mouth curved up slightly and I realized he was messing with me. So I rolled my eyes and kept quiet.

“Violet and I went to Blood Thirteen to investigate a lead on the Bloodsucker Serial Killer, but it turned out to be a vampire nest. ‘By invitation only’ made a lot more sense once we realized they were waiting to kill a bunch of humans.” Alaric’s expression filled with anger. “Anyway, they locked the doors and shut out the lights, and mayhem descended in the form of sharp objects and screams.”

“Whoa,” I breathed.

“Yeah. Violet and I fought back—I had some UV bombs, and we both had our stakes—but the hybrid subdued us with some kind of chemical. We woke up tied to chairs in silver chains.” Alaric tunneled his fingers through his hair and blew out a harsh breath before returning his hands to the water. “Next thing I knew, Cassius showed up out of fucking nowhere with Luci—Violet’s hellhound. He freed Violet, but the jackass left me there.”

I was a little shocked at that.Cassius is a dick, but not the devil.

“Well, he loosened my chains enough for me to escape from them myself. But he’s still not winning any awards, as far as I’m concerned.”

Ahhh. Yes. Dick, not devil.I did wonder sometimes, though…

“By the time I managed to free myself, he and Violet were long gone.”

My hands swished around in the water as I contemplated Alaric’s story. “Huh. That makes sense,” I concluded.

“It does?”

“Yeah, Cassius is from my universe.” I held my hand out to Alaric, palm down, and wiggled my index finger to show him my ring. “A witch gave me this ruby. She made a similar one for Cassius. He probably took Violet back to our world.” Although, I wasn’t sure why. Was she the long-lost slayer he once loved?Kseniya, if memory served right. Maybe she’d changed her name to Violet in this realm?

Alaric moved closer and took my hand. I ignored the tingling sensation on my skin wherever he touched.