She trusted me.
Which shook me to my very core.
And I would make damn sure I didn’t make the same mistake as the asshole who broke her.
When Sean and I were children, there was one hill we weren’t allowed to climb. The weather often created dangerous mudslides, and our parents had strict rules to keep us safe.
Obviously, it became our daily hangout spot.
One afternoon, I took Emma there and told her how ignoring rules was what first bonded Sean and me. I recounted our wild adventures, each one more ridiculous than the last.
Like the time we enchanted the castle doors to open only if you gave them a heartfelt reason why you deserved entry. Sean talked for twenty minutes and got in. I said, “because I’m me” and got blasted across the field.
Emma nearly choked laughing when I told her about the time Sean and I thought it would be brilliant to light the stables for a midnight race using floating flame orbs.
“What we had forgotten—entirely—was how flammable hay is. The moment the first orb lit, the flames jumped to the beams, then the hay, then…well. Luckily, the horses were fine. The stable? Less so. And of course, the west library caught a bit of it too.”
“Did the library survive?” she asked, still wheezing.
“It suffered from some smoke damage,” I said, wincing slightly at the memory. “Turns out, books are also pretty flammable when you fling a burning saddle through a window.”
“Which is why,” I added with a smirk, “I dedicated myself to restoring the entire estate.”
She stared at me, wide-eyed. “So you picked this castle to live in…because you once set it onfire?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t burn the whole thing down—just…one of the smaller wings.”
She broke into one of those devastatingly gorgeous smiles. “You, Mister Colt, are an absolute menace.”
I flashed a proud grin. “Always have been, always will be.”
Our playful exchange was abruptly cut short when Sean portaled in, snapping us back to the present.
“What is it?” I asked, noticing the serious look on Sean’s face.
“I got some news from Cyclos,” Sean replied, his tone grave.
At the mention of her home-Collective, Emma, sitting next to me, stiffened, and I sensed the instant anxiety radiating from her.
“How?”
“Jackson nexed me.”
“Jackson Lau?” My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Why would he contact you?”
I watched in amusement as Sean’s cheeks started to flush. It was rare to see my best friend flustered.
“Well, uhm…” he stammered, muttering a string of barely audible words under his breath.
A grin tugged at the corners of my mouth as I watched him struggle. “Really? Jackson?” I teased, unable to resist.
Emma elbowed me, a not so subtle reminder to behave.
“And pray tell, what did our dark and brooding Orator from Cyclos have to say?” I asked, my tone light.
Sean’s eyes flitted to Emma, and I noticed a flicker of sympathy in his gaze. My chest tightened.What now?I instinctively moved a bit closer to Emma, as if to shield her from whatever news was coming.
"It’s about James," Sean began softly.
