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“You didn’t need to do it.” He took a swig of his beer. He followed me over there even when I told him I wanted to be alone. He was annoying like that. Maybe in another state of mind, I would have appreciated it. He just sat there watching me drown myself in alcohol for well over an hour.

“Yes, I did.” I picked up the discarded cap to his beer and squished it in my hand.

“Why? Why couldn’t you have just let things happen?”

“You know why. You know what she is.”

“Yeah. But so what? Do you even know why we’re not supposed to mate with Pterons? Have you ever wondered why?”

“It’s wrong. It could be incest for all we know.”

“Bullshit. We all know who we’re related to.”

“Do we? What if Levi had slept with her.”

“We’re not talking about Levi. We’re talking about you.”

I tossed a hundred down on the bar and got up from my stool. “You saw what happened when Bryant spent too long with Michelle.” I cringed thinking how close I got to his fate. Being sent away by my father had hardened him, had ruined him.

“You’re smarter than that.” Owen caught up with me outside.

“Smarter than what?”

“Ever stop to think that the fault for Bryant’s break down is on your dad? Why did he have to send him away? Bryant was in love with her….and her with him. Why did your dad have to get involved?”

“My dad has done some pretty shitty things, but Bryant knew what he was doing. He knew what he was getting himself into. Now I know the truth, and I was strong enough to stop.”

“Strong enough? See, that’s the reason why you don’t deserve her anyway.”

“Shut the fuck up, asshole.” Some friend.

“I’m just being honest. If you really wanted her, you’d keep her. You don’t. That’s okay, but it means you can’t sit around here moping like someone did something to you. And you owe her an apology. You’re not ready to give it now, and she’d probably break you in two if you tried.”

“Oh you think so?”

“Have you seen your face?” Owen gestured to my cheek. I could still feel the sting from the contact of her hand.

“Let’s go home.” I didn’t bother to go into the shadows. I ripped off my shirt and transformed right there on the sidewalk. Who the hell cared if someone saw? I was tired of caring about anything. What good did caring do for anyone? Walking wouldn’t have taken long, but I needed to stretch my wings. I needed something.

The flight home was far too short. I did an extra loop before heading inside. Levi sat on the couch, playing some video game.

“Forget you don’t live here anymore?” I snapped.

He ignored my obviously pissed off mood. “What? I can’t come by and hang out with you guys?”

“I know why he’s here.” Owen took a seat on the couch next to him.

“Why?” I grabbed a beer from the fridge. At least the alcohol provided some numbing.

“He heard about the bachelorette party that Hailey’s planning for Allie.”

Levi groaned. “Can’t you talk your sister out of it?”

“Yeah… that’s a good one.” Owen put his feet up on the ottoman.

“Bachelorette party? You’re letting her have one?”

“If I tried to stop it, I’d look like I don’t trust her.” Levi caught the beer I tossed him.

“What are they doing? Having a pajama party or something?” I took a seat on the couch across from them.

“Hailey’s planning some crazy bar crawl or something. You know how she gets.”

“When is it?” I stretched out my legs. “We can do your bachelor party the same night.”

“No way. I’m not going there. Especially with all that crap about my dad. I’m not going near another woman.”

This was the perfect excuse to forget about Casey. I needed something other than work to focus on. “I figured that much. I have to plan something though. A guy’s night. What do you want?”

Levi looked pensive for a moment, and I knew I wouldn’t like what he said next. “Invite Toby.”

“What?” I spit out some beer. “No fucking way.”

“Yes.”

“Why? Why would you want Toby there?”

“I heard he brought in someone for interrogation but he didn’t keep any records.” Levi set down his beer.

“So?”

“So, I’m positive it’s important.”

“I’ll find out what it was about.” Why was Toby holding back information from me? Was this because of Casey? As much as I didn’t want to talk to him, I needed to. Casey needed to be protected.

“Will you?” Levi watched me. “Do you think he’ll tell you anything?”

“Who said I’d ask him? I have other ways to get the information we need.”

“Fine. Then let’s just do a poker night. We never have time for those anymore.”

“Okay.” I leaned back against the leather couch. There wasn’t a chance I was inviting Toby.

“You okay, man?” Levi asked.

“He treated your sister like crap tonight,” Owen quickly supplied.

“Shut up.” Owen was getting on my nerves more than usual. Did he have to tell Levi everything? Then the reality dawned on me. I would have done the same thing to him.

“Apologize. She’s a princess whether you like it or not.”

“I don’t think she’ll want to see me.” At least that was my goal, as little as I actually wanted it.

“Then make it up to her in another way. I don’t want any more problems than I already have.”

“Understood.” I got up and headed down the hall to my room. I wasn’t in the mood for making conversation.

Hopefully I had enough alcohol in my system to put me to sleep.

Chapter Thirteen

Casey

Georgina was all about the quality time thing. After parading me around town and introducing me to so many Pterons I lost track of the names, we ended up back at the hotel. Considering I was staying in a room of her suite, that meant down time together. She made a pot of coffee, and we sat out on her balcony that overlooked the courtyard. She had a second balcony that overlooked the city. I’m pretty sure she had the nicest suite in the hotel.

“You have his eyes, you know.” She watched me so closely it unnerved me.