CRYSTALLUM (The Primordial Principles Book 1) (45 page)

“Either way, I killed the guy who Kade thinks is her dad. I killed her uncle. This is insane.” He shook his head. “I'm the last person she'll want to see."

"You did your job, Cole. A job that you do exceedingly well.” The Warden put the photo back in his pocket, and strode off down the hallway. "I'll be in touch. Oh,” he stopped and turned around, “and given the circumstances, I have no issue with Kadence staying in the bunker underneath the Brotherhood. That is probably the safest place." He winked. “Although, explaining the situation to Tiffany may be tricky. You know what?" He tapped his temple. "Just tell her to see me about it if she gives you too much trouble. Kadence being an Anamolia needs to stay within the confines of these walls until our investigation is finished. Well, these walls, and your little rat pack of hellions." He grinned and walked back down the hall. “Oh, and you and Danny should remove Kadence's belongings from her house as soon as possible.

“Grandfather?”

He stopped and turned around.

“Thank you.”

The man smiled. “Thank
you
for being my grandson.”

"RAT PACK OF HELLIONS?"
Danny carted the last box from Kadence's room down the stairs. "That's what he calls us?"

"Apparently." Cole carried the boxes out to his Jeep. “You know, I wonder if he meant Plumb, too?"

When Kade was ready, they would come back and get anything else she wanted, but for the time being, he and Danny had literally disassembled her bedroom. Cole thought she would like to have all
of her own stuff, so he broke down her bed and loaded up all her furniture into a U-Haul truck. He even packed all of her towels from her bathroom and the shower curtain. Halfway through, he wondered if she would even want any of it after she learned the truth. Maybe she'd rather buy all new stuff. He packed it anyway.
Better to have it and her not want it.

"So, what's the plan?" Danny asked.

"Lay low for a while. Keep Kade under wraps. See if anything develops. Go from there."

"You mean we get a break? An actual break? I could take up a hobby."

"You do that."

***

Kade sat in her bedroom in the bunker, staring at her baby album. Flipping through the pages, she landed on her favorite. The one with her gold
Astrum
necklace. She'd never wondered before why her
mom
and dad weren't in any of the photos. She'd assumed that they were just proud parents taking pictures of their new baby. Now, she
wondered if that was true, or simply a notion she'd thought up to make herself feel better.

Growing up, there were never any framed photos on the walls. No family or friends to boast about, have Sunday dinners with, or holiday picnics. Now she knew why. Her parents had been killed, and she'd grown up with her uncle.

The Warden had explained everything to her when she'd woken up in the hospital a few days before with her ribs aching, a sling on her arm, and her voice sounding like it belonged to a toad's. The Warden was a kind man, older, with a loving smile, and eyes that reminded of her of Cole's.

Someone had set up her bedroom in the bunker with all of her stuff from her house. Her bed, her dresser and nightstand. Her comforter and pillows. Even her bathroom was decked out in clean
towels and wash cloths, her shower curtain lining the massive garden tub. Her desk and laptop had also been set up underneath the faux window.

Kade wondered who had done it all. Probably Plumb. Besides the Warden, she was the only person Kade had spoken to since she'd left the infirmary. Plumb told her that Cole and Danny had been investigating some recent Daemoneum activity near the Colorado Springs abandoned mine, but Kade knew that wasn't the reason she hadn't seen Cole, and part of her wasn't sure she wanted to.

She’d barely come out of her room—not that she had anywhere to go. The bunker was like a safe haven, and even though she still felt alone, she was thankful to be there.

Kade closed the photo album and placed it on her bed. It did no use to cry anymore. She never knew her parents, and the person she thought was her father had only used her for his own purpose.

A knock on the door had her crossing the bedroom.

Plumb stood in the long hallway with two cups of hot chocolate. "Want to talk?" She offered a gentle smile.

"Sure." Kade opened the door and walked to the couch.

"How are you holding up down here?" Plumb handed her a mug.

“Okay.” Kade took a small sip of hot chocolate. “Shoulder's better." She rotated it with a little pain. "And my voice is only
scratchy. Throat's still sore, though."

"And the bruises are a better," Plumb supplied, with a glance at her neck.

"Have you seen Cole?" The words slipped out of Kade’s mouth.

"Yes." Plumb sat down. “It’s my job to see him. Have you?"

Kade shook her head, staring at the steaming brown liquid in her cup before setting it on the coffee table. "I'm sure he hates me."

"No." Plumb placed her cup on the coffee table as well. "He doesn't hate you. I think it's the exact opposite."

Kade looked up. ”Why would you think that?"

"I've been taking care of Cole since he was nine. And I knew him before that through his mom and dad. I know him better than he probably wants me to, or would admit to anyone, and like I told you the other day, there are only a few people who have broken through his thick exterior and seen what's on the inside. You're one of them."

"He thinks I lied to him," Kade mumbled.

"You did. But he understands why you did. All of us do, and none of us think that you were out to hurt anyone. Your dad was your only friend, the only person you could count on... anyone in that situation would have done the same thing in your shoes. Maybe more. You could have helped him destroy everything if you'd wanted to."

"But I didn't, and I didn't know what he was planning. All Dracon ever said was that he needed me, never why, and he made feel less like a freak, and—" Tears poured down her cheeks. She didn't think there were any left.

"We know." Plumb placed a hand on her knee. "And I wish there was something I could say that would make a difference. Would a hug help? I mean, I know you don't know me very well yet, but—"

Kade's arms wrapped around Plumb.

"I know you keep hearing this," Plumb whispered, patting her back. "But you're not alone anymore."

"Thank you."

***

Kade found Cole in the only place she knew to look.

Steam and low light created distorted shadows on the walls of
the cavern and Kade relished in the immediate warmth that
enveloped her body. Cole's back was turned to her, his legs hanging over the edge of the pool, his feet in the hot spring.

She stopped a few feet behind him, rubbing her hands together in the silence. It had been over six days since the altercation with Dracon, or her dad, or uncle, or whoever the man was, and she hadn't seen Cole since. She thought she'd heard his voice in her
dreams when she was in the hospital, but that had to have been wrong. If he'd wanted to talk to her, or see her, he would have done it by now.

She turned around and headed back toward the cavern's entrance.

"You're not going to say anything?"

Cole's voice fell over her like the sweetest, most bitter honey she'd ever tasted. Pleasure wrapped in pain. She stopped, a
combination of relief and dread filling her from the inside.

"I..." She stared at her feet, not turning to face him. "I didn't think you wanted to see me."

"Then why did you come?"

"I...don't know.” Kade started back down the narrow tunnel.

"You're braver than that, Sparrow."

"Braver than what?" She whipped around, and Cole stood inches in front of her, gazing down, his light brown hair falling over his beautiful eyes.

"You should've told me."

She stared up him, the most incredible person she'd ever known, and had a hard time not bursting into tears again. "I should have," she conceded. "I didn't know how."

"You mean you didn't know if you could trust me." His tone had a hard edge in it, but his gaze remained soft, centered on her face.

"I trust you more than anyone, but he's all I have...all I had." She shook her head. "When he was normal, he was good, and sweet, and
caring, and..." Tears fell down her cheeks. "And I know it wasn't real, that all of it was fake, but it never felt that way. He cared about me, Cole. And no one else did, and I had no idea what he was doing. Planning all this stuff with the Araneum. He never told me anything about that. I wanted him to get better. To stop changing into a demon." Tears turned into choked sobs. "I thought I was like him.
That I had to be, and who would ever want to be friends with someone like me? Date someone like me? And after Dracon didn't come back from the night you found me by my house in the snow, I thought...maybe this time my dad was getting better. That maybe he would be okay."

"I'm sorry." Cole pulled her into his arms, and she melted against
him, clung to his shirt, and lost it completely. "I'm so sorry, Kade." He held her tighter until she quieted down. "It'll be okay. I promise it will be okay. I didn't mean to hurt him. I mean, I did," Cole admitted. "But I never ever meant to hurt you. I was just so...I saw red. He was choking you, and..." He wiped her face and lifted her chin. "I'm so sorry."

"I don't blame you for any of this. I don't know what I would've
done if it had been you in that situation. Something similar,
probably. Or something worse."

Pain creased his eyebrows as he stared at her.

"I probably would've done it worse. Honestly." More tears fell down her cheeks. "If anyone ever hurt you the devil would come out in me, and I...don't think I'd be able to contain it. I don't blame you for anything. You saved my life."

Cole stared at her as if she had truly fallen from some angelic realm, “Serva me, et servabo te.”
Save me, and I will save you.

Kade’s breath caught, and Cole pressed his lips against hers. Hard. A moan hit his throat as Kade gripped his shoulders, pulling him closer, closing off all the spaces between them. He backed her against the cave wall, heat pouring off of him, and Kade couldn't get enough. He tasted like fire, and she wanted to be engulfed by it. His fingers found the zipper on her coat, and he tugged if off, raining kisses down her neck.

Kade's hands were underneath his shirt, tracing the scars covering his back, fingers trailing down to his waist. She drew his shirt over his head, hands coursing over his stomach. His breath rushed out and he trembled. Red light surrounded his body, his
corona blazing like a
beacon in the dark cave. His black eyes smoldered, a look she'd never seen in them, as his chest rose and fell with his speeding breaths. He was the most beautiful person she had ever known.

His finger methodically moved over the corner of her mouth,
and a shiver wracked Kade's entire body. He moved to her cheek, her temple, drawing little circles over her skin. The motion was
lulling,
affectionate, and electric. An electricity that radiated all the way
down into her toes.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he whispered in a growl. "I told you to stay in the car. Danny was coming to get you.”

Kade's skin hummed, as he continued to draw on her face, down her neck. "It was...three on one." Her vision blurred, eyes closing.

"Three on one I can deal with." Cole shifted a hand down her neck, to her side, her waist, resting it on her hip. "You getting hurt…I can't do. You mean
everything
to me."

Kade opened her eyes, and Cole’s mouth found hers again. He
lifted her off the ground, and pushed her against the wall. Kade's legs wrapped around his waist, her hands gripping his shoulders, pulse racing in her veins, as he ran his mouth over hers, gently, softly. His teeth grazed her lip, his tongue found hers, the kiss deepened, and Kade no longer remembered her own name. The
intoxicating scent of fresh laundry and fire rushed over her senses. She moaned against his mouth, as he pushed his hips against hers, the muscles in his arms popping as he held her up off the ground. Her hands trailed over his chest, down his stomach.

“You are so hard to resist," he whispered against her mouth. "You have no idea." He heaved a breath and set her on her feet, placing a hand on either side of her head against the cave wall. "But
given the circumstances I think we should stop."

"But—"

"I'm not saying never, I'm not even saying not soon." He grinned that cocky smile. "I'm just saying not right now. I know what it means to lose someone. For a second there, when Dracon had you, I thought I'd lost you, too. And as much as part of me—the cocky, asshole part—would like to take advantage of you needing me right now, and me desperately needing you, there is no way in hell that I am going to put our relationship in jeopardy by having sex with you when you're coming out of shock, and risk you hating me for it later. Or worse, hating yourself."

She was speechless. How in the hell she ever found him, Kade didn't know, but just hearing him talk, standing next to him, being held by him, made up for every hour, every second, that she had ever spent alone.

Cole pushed off the wall, freeing her, and grabbed her coat off the floor. “But I'd love to go on a date." He smiled that shy smile of his. "A real date. No hiding or scheming. Just you and me."

"How are we going to do that?"

"We're going to walk out in public and sit down at a table in a restaurant and eat food, or we're going to go to a movie, and I don't
even care what movie, or we're going to get one of those Frappuccinos, or, hell, anywhere, Sparrow. As long as it's
somewhere with you."

She jumped at him, wrapping her hands around his neck. "But what about the rules?" Her words muffled against his throat, as she breathed in the scent of him.