Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75539 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75539 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
As we wrapped up the final details of the plan, I glanced over at Blake, who was deep in conversation with Warrick. Seeing the two of them together, the bond they shared as friends, filled me with a renewed sense of purpose. We were a family, and we would fight for each other until the very end.
With the plan set and the roles assigned, we began to disperse, each of us retreating to our own thoughts as we prepared for what was to come. But as Blake and I made our way out of the living room, I noticed Cassius still sitting there, his expression troubled.
Blake must have noticed, too, because he turned to me and said softly, “I’m going to go talk to him.”
“I’ll be in our room if you need me.”
Blake gave me a reassuring smile and a soft kiss before heading over to Cassius. As I watched them start to talk, I felt a mixture of pride and concern. Blake had become an integral part of our team, and I had to trust that together, we could face whatever was coming next.
As I walked down the hallway back to our room, my thoughts were filled with the plan we had just solidified. The risks were high, but the stakes were even higher. We had to succeed, no matter what. But even as I tried to focus on the mission, my mind kept drifting back to Blake. The fear of losing him, of something going wrong, was always there, lurking in the back of my mind.
Had I made the right choice in bringing him? Should I have fought harder for him to stay?
As I entered our room and closed the door behind me, I took a deep breath, trying to center myself.
For now, I could only hope that our strength, our unity, would be enough to see us through the brewing storm creeping over the horizon.
Chapter 29
People Change
Blake
The living room had emptied, all except for Cassius, who sat on the couch with a purring Bambi on his lap. “Hey, Cass.”
My best friend looked at me with the saddest eyes I’d ever seen. His normally bright green gaze looked clouded over with a dense fog. He had been walking through the house like a ghost with an iron ball chained to his ankle, and I didn’t blame him. I had tried to talk to him on a few different occasions, but he never felt as though it were the right time, and I respected that. I gave him space while trying to do things in the background that made life a little easier for him. I made sandwiches for him and had done a load of his laundry without him asking. But things were getting to a head, and it was time we confronted the issue at hand.
“This is so fucked,” he said, dropping his head into his hands. Bambi looked up with a little “coo,” her long teeth rubbing against the leather couch.
“Want to step outside for some fresh air?”
“Sure,” he said. He gently scooped Bambi up and placed her down on a pillow. She stood and stretched, her claws catching on the fabric.
“She’s probably going to want to follow you. I noticed she’s been your shadow lately.”
“She has, huh? She’s a good kitty. Probably can sense how messed up I am.”
I let out a pained breath. He really did look like he’d been through the wringer. He must have lost at least five pounds, and the dark circles under his eyes were like two permanent shadows he couldn’t escape from.
We walked out of the house in silence. The desert was calm, the last rays of sunlight stretching out toward the darkening sky. It was peaceful. A complete contradiction to how I felt inside.
Cassius sat down on the steps to the front door. I leaned against the railing. A gentle breeze started to stir, bringing with it the typical cool that came with a desert night.
“How did I get here?” Cassius asked. He kept his gaze trained straight ahead. “How? How did my dad betray me like this? Betray everyone like this?”
“I wish I had an answer for you.”
“He could have gotten us killed. Did he even think twice about that?”
A hard, icy-cold lump formed in my throat. I could hardly swallow around it. I didn’t think he did, but I also didn’t want to say that out loud. I let the silence speak for me, filled with the occasional chirps of crickets. It was hard to imagine the position Cass was in. I couldn’t comprehend my own father ever betraying me the way Cass’s had. And it was made all the worse by the fact that he had already lost his mother. Her death had pulled them together with a bond that only true tragedy could form, and now that bond was ruined. Destroyed. And without it, Cassius was sent adrift. It was as if he had lost both his parents, even though one still walked this Earth.