Greykin Valley

| 64 | A Long-Awaited Call

He exhaled a long breath and relaxed his shoulders. "I guess I do have it better than most of the others."

"And you get paid, too."

"I guess," he grumbled. "I just hate the fact that I can't choose to take a sick day or take some PTO. When I'm needed, I got no choice."

Clementine shrugged and said, "Yeah, but...you do get time off. Maybe you could ask for some?"

"Well, I'm sure I'll be seeing Lord Caedis real soon if Heir Zephyr decides to press charges against Jackson, so I'll ask him if I can take some time off after this mission. If I don't see him, I'll send a message. That's if I don't get scolded for letting Jackson do as much damage as he did."

"Why would you get scolded? Did you let it happen?"

Sebastien shook his head. "No...I wasn't around; I was on overwatch duty. When I got there, he was already latched onto Heir Zephyr like some kinda tick."

Clementine sighed and said, "Well, it wasn't your fault. Just make sure you tell the investigator where you were and what you were doing before you got there. Don't let them twist this on you."

"I know, I know," he breathed, lying down.

"Are you okay, Sebastien?"

He nodded. "I'm fine, babe."

"You sure? It looks like you've got a lot going on in your head."

Sebastien chuckled a little. "Yeah, you never miss a thing, do you?"

Clementine shrugged. "When you've been around someone for over a hundred years, you tend to get to know what all the little micro-expressions on their face mean."

With a dragged-out sigh, Sebastien stroked his hand over his face. "Promise me you won't freak out." He could ask, but he knew that his mate would lose his shit either way.

"I can't promise you that," he said as a worried expression struck his face. "What's going on?"

He groaned and rested his free arm beside him. "You remember Kane?"

"The Alpha wolf walker that Cyrus had dealings with?"

"Yeah, him—"

"Don't tell me you're involved in that, Sebastien," he complained with a tone of disbelief in his voice. "You're supposed to be finding that lab."

"We are," he insisted. "But we got wrapped up in some Kane shit on the way. Damon's pack had a run-in with them before the Venaticus picked them up; they killed some of Kane's wolves and now Kane wants revenge or something—you know, wolf walker law shit. He lured us all into a trap using cadejo, locked us up in some fucked up arena place, killed some of Damon's pack with an Amarok, and then we managed to get Jackson out. The kid somehow bumped into Cyrus, who came and rescued us all. But Kane got away, and I feel like it ain't gonna be safe to head back out there until we deal with him. He wants Damon's head, and he isn't gonna stop until he's killed all of them."

Clementine's frown grew thicker.

Sebastien continued, "Cyrus is gonna be holding a meeting after debriefing, so I'm sure I'll find out then what the plan is. It is likely that we're going to have to deal with this situation first, though."

"You guys just keep running into trouble, don't you?"

"Feels kinda normal nowadays. But if I'm being honest, being out here is better than being on the front lines. I'll fight wolf walkers over demons any day."

"Being here would be better than either of those options," Clementine said with a pout.

"Eh, I dunno. Being around the royals is a pain. If those kids in the penthouse haven't caused any drama yet, I'd be surprised."

Clementine laughed a little. "Well, there was something about how the pool wasn't warm enough for them."

"Of course," Sebastien said with a sigh. "I shouldn't really be bad-mouthing them; they haven't done anything to me—well...Heir Lucian is a pain in the fucking ass, but the others are okay I guess."

"I know someone else who's a pain in the ass," Clementine said with a smirk.

Sebastien scoffed and shook his head. "You're really asking for it, aren't you?"

Clementine shrugged and smiled. "Maybe. How long do you have until the meeting?"

"Uh..." he drawled as he glanced at the clock. "I don't know, to be honest. Maybe a few hours. Everyone's gotta be debriefed."

"So...you have time for phone sex?" Clementine asked with a smirk.

"More like mirror sex," he laughed. "I'm sure we can make it work."

"Okay," Clementine said as he shuffled back in his bed and rested against the headboard. And then he started unbuckling his belt.

Sebastien smirked as he watched, and once Clementine pulled his belt off, he unbuckled his belt, too. "I'd much rather be in that bed with you right now," he said as he unbuttoned his jeans.

"Just imagine you are," Clementine said quietly and reached into his trousers.

Sebastien moved his hand into his trousers, too.

"Close your eyes," Clementine told him.

He closed his eyes.

"Imagine it's my tongue stroking the tip of your dick."

Sebastien let out a quiet groan as he dragged his thumb over his tip—

A loud, thumping knock came at the door.

"Fucking hell," Sebastien exclaimed as he pulled his hand out of his trousers and looked over at it. "What?!"

"Finally, God," came Amos' voice. "The boss needs you for debriefing."

"What's going on?" Clementine asked.

Sebastien sighed and mumbled, "One sec." Then he glared at the door again. "He literally doesn't need me," he insisted. "He can get the same story from everyone else who was there."

"Yeah, but...he said something about that kid attacking Raphael."

He groaned angrily. "Of course he fucking reported it."

"He reported Jackson?" Clementine asked worriedly.

"Looks like it," he muttered, glancing at his mate in the mirror. "I'm sorry, babe, I'm gonna have to go and get this shit over with."

Although he looked disappointed, Clementine nodded and said, "Okay. Just remember what I said and don't let them pin anything on you. It wasn't your fault."

Sebastien smiled at him. "I'll be okay. I love you, and I'll call you as soon as I'm free, okay?"

"Mm-hmm. I love you too."

"Okay, talk later."

"Bye," he said with a sad smile.

"Bye." Sebastien disconnected the mirror, which faded to black, and then back to a normal reflective surface. He sighed—

Amos knocked again. "Sorry dude, but—"

"I'm fucking coming, God damn," he complained as he climbed to his feet. He stormed to the door, unlocked it, and pulled it open. "Can I literally not get like twenty minutes of fucking privacy up in this place?"

"Sorry, man," Amos said with a frown. "I'm just following orders."

"Whatever. Let's just fucking get this over with." He left the room and stormed down the corridor. He didn't know what was going to happen to Jackson after whoever they'd sent to investigate had everyone's statements, but he was certain that it wasn't going to be good. It never was when people attacked a royal.

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