Page 101 of Those That Are Lost

“Do you think they expected me to sleep outside?” Antares asks, jumping onto the bed after putting his garments into the dresser. He gives the mattress a questionable look as it squeaks under his weight.

“Probably,” I reply, letting out a small laugh. “Or maybe they think I’ll get you to sleep at the foot of the bed like a dog.”

“Tripp really wasn’t happy about you insisting I stay in here.”

“He’ll get over it.”

“I bet Adicious will be even less pleased.”

“Tough.” After Tripp informed us that the only rooms available for Antares were the ones they’d not restored—in the outhouse—I’d informed him that it didn’t matter because Antares would be sharing with me.

At the very least, we knew Mitch had a spare bed in hisroom after Ty left, but apparently that wasn’t being offered as an option. It would’ve been too far away anyway. This room is at the end of the corridor, the opposite side to where Ty’s old room is. And after I’d been informed it was Adicious’s room which was next to this one and Ronan was opposite, there was no way I was sleeping in here alone. Plus, the bond between Antares and I was pulling strong, the danger we were in making it demand we stay close. After the less than friendly greeting he’d received and the torture dungeons I knew existed two floors down, my protective instincts to him were just as strong as his were to mine as his leader.

No, Antares was sharing with me.

“So, what’s the game plan for tomorrow?” he ask as I unzip the dress and pull on a hoodie and some sleep shorts.

“We have to wing it for now. Talk to as many of the pack as possible. Start compiling lists of who we think will side with us and who we need to take out.” I keep my voice low. Ty said the walls were fairly soundproof to supernatural hearing if we spoke at regular volumes but we couldn’t risk being overheard.

I hop onto the bed with Antares, matching his cross legged position and start to braid my hair.

“Adicious is going to try his hardest to get you alone.” Antares fiddles with the cotton sheet on the duvet.

“I know.”

“Pretty sure they’ll try and take me out too.” I feel his apprehension in my head.

“Let them fucking try.” I snarl. His eyes meet mine from under his lashes, assessing whether I meant that. I guess no one has ever fought for him before. But I will. “We will have to be extremely careful. Don’t drink anything they offer you.” I’d warned him already about the time they’d drugged me, but I felt the need to reiterate it now.

He nods.

“Do you…” I pause, not sure I should bring it up. “Do you want to talk about Atlas?”

Antares eyes light up and he sits upstraighter as soon as the name is off my tongue. “He’s pretty stunning, isn’t he?” He pulls his lip ring between his teeth like he’s trying to stop the bashful smile breaking over his face. “I wanted to climb him like a damn tree there and then.”

That makes me laugh. “I’m glad you refrained.”

“He didn’t even notice me.” His face falls.

“I’m sure he did. He’d have to, right? Ty said he’s partially Fae, so he might not feel the bond like you can but surely, if he’s your fated mate, he will have been attracted to you at the very least.”

“Wasn’t it his grandfather or something that was Fae? I wasn’t really listening to the family history part of our lessons.”

“I think so.” I try to dredge up that information from my brain.

“So, he’d be like you.”

“We don’t know how far back my Fae heritage goes. Only that my parents must’ve both been born vampires. Maybe my grandfather was the one who turned, maybe my great-grandfather. I don’t know.”

“You didn’t feel the pull to Ty?”

I sit on that for a few seconds. “Not that I’m aware of, but as soon as I spotted him, I couldn’t get him off my mind. We put that down to pack instincts though, seeing how I was alone and turning.”

“Vampires are weird.”

Again, I’m laughing. “You are one too. Need I remind you that you were the one insisting on sleeping in my room the night you took the bond.”

“I know!” Antares uses his magic to whip a pillow into his lap with a gust of wind. He hugs the thing to his chest. “I just can’t believe that you make a decision that lasts for eternity based on feelings.”