Page 104 of Protect Me
Sway is asleep soundly in my bed, along with Killian and Bracken to keep her warm, so I nurse the drink in my hand, wishing like hell I could feel at least a little fucking drunk. Unfortunately, my metabolism burns it off too damned fast for me to get any real relief.
“Can’t sleep either, huh?” Killian steps out onto the patio, and Bracken follows soon after.
“No.” My tone is clipped, but I know my brothers well enough to know they won’t take offense to it. Fuck, I can sense their moods, too, and they’re feeling just as fucking helpless as I am.
“She doesn’t trust D.”
Bracken’s statement is one I’ve been battling with both as Sway’s mate and D’s closest confidant. My entire life, since the moment I met the Ringmaster, has been dedicated to his safety and the security of this circus.
He’s another brother to me, and this place is home.
To have Sway not trust him feels like a punch to the gut even if I can understand where she’s coming from. Robert used her, tainted her powers to match his own twisted agenda, and now she fears anyone she feels possesses any power over her.
“Worse,” I say. “She’s scared of him.”
“What are we going to do about that?” Killian asks.
I down the rest of the bourbon in my glass. “What can we do? We can’t force her to have faith in a man she doesn’t know. Especially when he only allowed her to remain here on a contract that is set to expire in days.”
“D isn’t going to use her for her powers, though,” Killian insists. “It’s not who he is.”
“Isn’t it?” I ask, turning to face him. “D sees power, and he ties it to himself. He’s spent decades essentially enslaving supernaturals he deems important enough to perform here.”
“Enslaving?” Bracken growls. “It’s not like that.”
I sense his willingness to lay down his life for D, and that has pride swelling in my chest. “I know it’s not. But Sway doesn’t. I only point it out because she will likely never see it that way. Not after what she’s been through.”
“You’re just going to let her go then? Just throw in the towel and wave as she disappears from our lives forever?” Killian crosses his arms and glares at me. “Because I can’t do that, Duncan. I can’t walk away and pretend this never happened. Thatshenever happened.”
“I’m not asking you to,” I tell him. “But we’re going to have a choice to make.”
“What choice?” Bracken questions.
I turn back to look out over the land that has become my entire existence. Never, since I set foot in this circus, did I imagine a day when I’d need to leave it behind. But my soul was never lonely before. Now that it’s known Sway, there’s no going back.
If she were to leave, I would lose myself.
“You’re going to go with her,” Killian says, shock shooting through our bond. “Leave the circus for good.”
“What choice do we have?” I ask him. “Because I’m not willing to pretend that she never happened either, brother.”
“What about D?” Bracken questions. “Everything he’s done for us. We can’t just throw it away.”
I swallow hard. That’s been my biggest predicament, too. D gave us a second chance. He brought me in then allowed me to rescue Killian and Bracken. Without him, we’d all be dead or rotting away in some hole we’d placed ourselves in.
Without him, we never would have found Sway.
“We make him understand that there’s no other option. He’s mated to Liv. He’ll understand the power of that bond.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“We’re not contracted,” I remind Bracken. “He can’t force us to stay. And if I have to choose between him and Sway, she wins. Even if it’ll fucking destroy a piece of me to leave.”
“Maybe we can convince Sway to stay,” Killian offers.
The three of us remain silent, processing what may need to be done in less than two days. Forty-eight hours from now, Sway’s contract will be up, and she’ll be walking away from us for good. “She’s scared. Of D, of the power in her veins, I don’t know that convincing her is an option.”
“We have to try,” Bracken says.