Page 7 of Kael

Kael watched me the entire time, something unreadable flickering behind his eyes.

“Good girl,” he murmured.

The praise made my stomach flip in a way I didn’t want to examine.

He stood slowly and walked to the barred window, looking out over the mangroves. The moonlight painted his broad shoulders in silver and shadow.

“You’re going to hate me for the next few weeks,” he said quietly, almost to himself. “You’ll scream at me. You’ll beg. You’ll tell me I’m evil. Worse than the drugs.” He turned back to me. “And that’s fine. I can take all of it.”

He crossed the room again and stopped beside the bed, towering over me. For a second I thought he might reach for me, but he only tucked the blanket higher around my waist.

I curled tighter into myself, tears slipping silently down my cheeks.

“Why are you doing this to me?”

“I’m not doing it to you; I’m doing it for you. Don’t you want your life back?”

I didn’t answer. I turned over and closed my eyes, curling my nails into my hands until one pain distracted me from the other.

Chapter 4

Kael

Caine sat at the head of the long oak table. Raziel leaned against the wall near the window, arms crossed. I stood by the bar cart, pouring myself a drink I had no intention of finishing. They both watched me with raised eyebrows after I told them what happened with Bria. She was back at my place, sleeping off her first brutal night.

“I caught a bullet helping Maya rescue her,” Caine said, staring directly at me. “Now you’d kidnap her? This is going to cause some kind of trouble. You and Malachai are two peas in the same fucking crazy pod.”

I remained silent, swirling the whiskey once before setting the glass down untouched.

Raziel let out a dry chuckle. “Maya’s been blowing up my phone asking about Bria. She thinks you’re going to kill her or some shit.”

I finally looked at them both. “She’s not dead. She’s detoxing.”

Caine leaned forward, jaw tight. “Her parents actually agreed to this madness?”

“They’re tired,” I said flatly. “They’ve watched her kill herself for years. They know she won’t get clean any other way.”

Raziel pushed off the wall. “And what happens when she comes out the other side? You think she’s just going to thank you for the kidnapping and spread her legs? Maya said Bria’s beenthrough hell with Darius. She’s not some fragile little thing that’s going to fall in love with her captor just because you play nurse.”

I met his eyes. “She’ll stay.”

Caine stared at me for a long moment.

“Why her?” he asked.

Raziel nodded. “That’s actually a good question.”

I looked toward the dark window overlooking the water. Images flashed through my head—Bria asleep in my passenger seat, Bria laughing at something stupid Maya said, Bria curled up sick on my bathroom floor, Bria trying so hard to pretend she wasn’t afraid.

She was always one bad decision away from a morgue.

“I know what happens if I let her go,” I said quietly. “She dies. Maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not next month. But eventually. And I can’t stand the thought of losing her.”

I paused, my gaze dropping to the whiskey.

“It didn’t make sense at first. I just kept looking for her. Kept checking where she was. Kept making excuses to see her. Somewhere along the way, I stopped making excuses… and started thinking about keeping her.”

Caine laughed, short and sharp. “Jesus Christ. You sound exactly like Malachai did when he first saw Indigo. Look how well that worked out for everyone involved. I’d hide the knives if I were you.”