17. ~Skylar~

What were they playing at?

It had been an entire week since I’d been brought here to King Manor.

And, aside from my initial charged reunions with each of them, I hadn’t encountered any of them since. Sure, the mansion was vast, but it was still unbelievable that I hadn’t run into them in all this time.

They were intentionally keeping out of my way.

It was jarring, considering the initial heavy-handed, in-my-face approach they’d each used.

The only people I’d seen in this time was Doctor Granger, who Caspian had made visit me for a session every single day ever since I’d told Caleb about what he—and Jeremy—had termed my suicide mission. And Luke was the other person. He came by twice a day to ask me if there was anything that I needed. Each time I’d answered with the same thing. I wanted my phone back. Each time he’d responded with the infuriating and cryptic one-word answer of “Soon.”

When I hadn’t gone down to eat out of protest for them keeping me here, forcing that doctor on me, and refusing to give me my phone and my other things back, meals had shown up outside my door. If I didn’t bring them inside, they were then put inside when I was in the shower or asleep. It was a toned down version of force-feeding me. They wouldn’t let me get away with refusing any meals.

This whole thing was a complete mind-fuck.

And, honestly, it was working.

I’d had the urge to go to them, to talk to them.

I’d also started to want my sessions with Doctor Granger.

I liked her warm and non-judgmental demeanor, the way she understood things that I couldn’t imagine just some random other therapist getting—dark things I’d been through and committed. Because she was under Caspian’s employ, I didn’t have to worry about any of what I said incriminating me. His influence prevented that from happening. And it had been a load off to get some of those things off my chest. I’d felt a little lighter from it.

None of that meant that I was going to stand down from my mission, though.

I didn’t know if that was what the guys had intended by having me talk to her. It had seemed more focused on my hopelessness than that. But knowing their tendency to play mind games, which they’d done with me before, it could’ve been discreetly woven into the fabric of it all in a way that was difficult to detect. The guys were masters at it after all.

Except Caleb.

He didn’t operate in that same way. He also hadn’t been that against me eliminating Jett Bane either. He’d even murdered his men that infamous night. He just didn’t want me making it my last act in this world.

Clearly, none of them did.

And, as much as I hated the idea of being saved, I couldn’t deny the effort they’d gone to in order to pull me back from that.

Even the fact of them backing off themselves was a major deal, because that wasn’t usually how they did things, especially not when it came to me. They were all for being right in my space, all over me. This had to be straining on the three of them, especially when factoring in my two-year absence from their lives.

In truth, it was starting to get to me in a way I could no longer simply deny.

Damn them.

I made my way back up the stairs after getting some fresh air out on the patio, heading back to my room.

Again, I hadn’t seen them anywhere.

It was late, too, so Bastian would be back from Luxe and Caspian would be back from King Tower. And from what I’d gathered from asking Luke questions, Caleb was here all the time working remotely with the rehabilitation facilities he now operated.

I walked back into my room and shut the door.

A single step inside had me pulling up short.

Something was different.

There, beneath the window, was a vibrant-blue painted wooden desk with a rolling chair that sparkled with blue and silver, just like my hair color. There was a big golden bow stuck on the back of the chair. And, there, on top of the desk was a shiny new laptop, lotuses that matched my tattoo almost exactly decorating the sleek silver lid.

That wasn’t all. Off to the side of the laptop, three vibrant-blue boxes were lined up neatly.

There was a note stuck to the top of each one.

Reading left to right, they were marked: From Bastian. From Caleb. From Caspian.

What was going on?

I hesitated for a moment before curiosity obviously got the best of me—as they’d no doubt intended. Damn, they were good. Too good.

I opened the first one labeled From Bastian.

I started when I found two raspberry cupcakes inside, the exact kind that were my absolute favorite. Beside them was a Ziploc bag full of blue rolled fondant balls.

“Oh my God,” I breathed.

Talk about tugging at the heartstrings. Staggering, considering I’d tried so hard to lock that down since I’d been here. Maybe my therapy sessions were bringing it out in me, making it possible to come out. Or, maybe it was a case of the longer I was here in this place, it was getting to me. All the memories that being here sparked, knowing they were within reach, all under the same roof with me.

My hands were shaking a little as I opened the second box labeled From Caleb.

I frowned as I found a NVME drive along with a USB cable inside. Curiosity sparked to a whole other level and before I could second guess it, I opened the laptop lid, finding it already on and ready to go. I plugged the drive into the cable, then inserted it.

There were two files inside and my breath hitched at their names.

Guardians at the Gates—Recovered.

Guardians of Gold Forge—In Progress.

I opened up the first one and in moments I was looking at my created video game in all its glory. I sucked in a breath. After the fire, I’d thought it had been lost forever. Yet, somehow, Caleb had managed to save it.

I opened the second one and then I was looking at a partially-coded portion of my sequel. I looked it over for several minutes, taking in how he’d run with my artwork and storyboard, all the notes and everything I’d had on it that he’d managed to bring into being with some ace coding. Next-level stuff.

I couldn’t believe it.

Emotion was clogging my throat by the time I opened Caspian’s box.

What were they doing to me?

I got yet another shock as I found my phone inside.

I pulled it out and it was already turned on and charged. He’d even left the SIM card inside. I scrolled through it for several moments and found everything exactly the same. It was even able to dial out, the internet was on, everything. I noted the text app was open and I looked to see that he’d responded to many texts from Jeremy.

Skylar: This is Caspian King. Skylar is well and safe. She’ll communicate with you herself soon. On my word. King.

Wow. He’d been incredibly diplomatic about that. Considering what they now knew about my relationship with Jeremy, that must have taken some restraint. And effort.

Allof this had taken effort.

I set the phone down for a moment and took out the final thing inside the box—a white, unmarked envelope.

I opened it and pulled out many clippings from gossip and entertainment articles, as well as social media posts. I made my way through them, the shock of it all reaching a crescendo as I took in the headlines and scanned the subsequent articles too.

Prince of the City Finally Meets a Worthy Princess.

King of the City Denounces Sex Tape Scandal: Insight into the Twisted Truth.

Behind Skylar Bennett: An Up-and-Coming Talent in the World of Video Game Design.

Caspian King Endorses Seblyar Ship.

City Princess Heroics: Brings Down Arsonist.

Loss of His Warrior Princess Sends City Prince into Downward Spiral.

Love at Luxe: Relationship Timeline of Seblyar.

Caspian had rewoven the narrative concerning me with the release of that fucking sex tape. Completely reworked it to an amazing degree. He hadn’t just nullified the damage it had done to my reputation, he’d made me into a positive force and a hero—a warrior princess.

“Unbelievable,” I breathed.

It was clearly a message. He was telling me that I was welcome in Rossun, that it wasn’t like what I thought, what I remembered. More than welcome actually, wanted.

I shoved my hand through my hair, trying to reconcile all of this.

Noticing the two drawers in the desk were open slightly, I stepped forward and pulled them both open. More sweet surprises awaited me when I found sketchbooks in the top one, then some top-of-the-line pencils and pens in the bottom one.

I started pacing the room, trying to determine how to react to all of this.

That pacing ended up taking me well beyond the bounds of the bedroom and, before I knew it, I was letting instinct lead the way, and heading downstairs.

As soon as I reached the first floor, noise reached me, the quiet from earlier long gone.

I followed the sounds all the way to the den.

Carefully, I peered around the open door and inside to see the boys chilling and watching TV.

Bastian was the farthest from me at one end of the couch adjacent to one of the Barcaloungers. He was in what passed for pajamas with him, a pair of his navy lounge pants and a gray tank that put a lot of those sexy black rose tattoos on display. Caspian was sitting beside him clad in his fancy black silk pajamas. His left arm was slung over Bastian’s shoulder and his other was draped over Caleb stroking his stubbly jaw as he laid across the couch, his head in Caspian’s lap, shirtless and wearing just a pair of gray sweats.

The were each wearing their special necklaces too. The silver chain with an edgy heart pendant surrounded by angel wings with a gem at the center of the heart. Bastian had the blue gem for the calm and reining in aspect he brought to them. Caleb had the red for his passion. And Caspian had the purple for his whole royal and commanding air. It was something that I hadn’t seen them sporting when I’d first come back here. Something must have happened then, they must have restored their brotherhood after everything that had gone down.

As strange and as trying as things were for me right now when it came to them, I couldn’t help smiling at that.

Caleb tilted his head back a little to look at Caspian. “Good compromise, right? Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Yeah, it’s got sitcom vibes, but it’s also got a kind of mystery element that you like with them being detectives and all that.”

“You’re kind of stretching it there, Cal,” Bastian teased.

“Cas?” Caleb pushed, pouting his lips at him.

“I like it. It’s an intriguing show. Peralta reminds me of you in some aspects.”

“I’m getting Caspian King vibes from Captain Holt,” Bastian told him.

“I’ll take that as a mighty compliment. He’s a fantastic character.”

“Wow, you and Cal actually like the same show. First time ever, isn’t it?”

They all chuckled, then I watched Caspian brush his fingers over Caleb’s lips and tell him, “Watch these pouting lips. You know it makes me think about fucking them.”

“Really? Now?” Bastian groused.

Caleb grinned. “What’s the matter, turning you on B?”

Bastian shifted his weight. “Yeah, all right? Talking about throat-fucking does turn me on. Who the hell would be immune to that?”

“Some guys don’t like fellatio, neither giving it or receiving it,” Caleb pointed out.

Bastian burst out laughing. “Fellatio? Fucking shit, Cal. I see your vocabulary has expanded while you were away.”

“Fuck you. My vocabulary has always been expansive and on point, and you know it.”

Bastian laughed again.

Caspian rolled his eyes at him, then returned to stroking Caleb’s jaw line. “Watch your show, lovely. All is well.”

“Aww,” Bastian said. “Look at you two.”

“You like it?” Caleb asked, all peacefully as Caspian tended to him.

“I do. I’m glad you’re sorting that shit out between you.” He sighed heavily. “I just hope we can get there with Sky.”

I stepped across the threshold. “Well, you’ve certainly pulled out all the stops.”

Bastian and Caspian swung their heads toward me, and Caleb bolted up from Caspian’s lap then did the same.

Surprising me—yet again, as seemed to be the theme lately—none of them said a word.

They just looked out at me, a slew of emotions flickering across their features from concern and care to lust, then curiosity.

Through it all, one thing was coming through loud and clear above all the rest.

A shitload of tension.

I swallowed hard as I felt it rolling through me and affecting me.

Then I walked further into the room.

They turned with my movements as I walked past the couch, then took a seat in the Barcalounger adjacent to it, closest to Bastian.

I sank into it and curled my legs underneath me.

Then I sucked in a breath and looked out at them. “Thank you for the heartfelt gifts, for all of it.” A sheepish smile took me, as I admitted. “I don’t know what else to say, how to—”

“You don’t need to do anything,” Bastian said, rising to his feet and pulling the throw off the back of the couch, jostling Caspian and Caleb in the process. “You don’t need to say anything.”

I frowned. “I don’t?”

He smiled and draped the throw over me, then tucked it in. “Seeing that look on your face was what we were going for. That’s enough for us, beautiful.”

“Look?”

He reached out and brushed some stray strands of hair out of my face. “Your smile, your eyes lit up.” Pulling away, he asked, “Comfortable?”

Oh my God, they were killing me. I could barely get my next words out with Bastian’s making me all choked up. Seriously, only them, only they could pull this off with somebody as guarded as me—and currently trying to maintain a shutdown state that made it even harder for anyone to connect with me. “Uh… yeah. Thanks.”

“Good,” he said, sitting back down on the couch with Caspian and Caleb. “Cal, resume.”

That was when I realized that they’d paused their show when I’d walked in.

To attend to me.

To give me their undivided attention.

I jolted as my chair moved and I looked to see Caspian reaching out and pulling it closer to the couch where they were. He winked at me, then the three of them settled back into the relaxed positions they’d been in before I’d walked in.

And that was that.

They didn’t say another word.

They just let me be.

With them.