Kade POV
"Kade—"
"He won," I said. "He's fine. He's in Riverside with Remi. He's fine."
Damon was quiet for a moment.
Then he kept going. The cloth on my neck. My jaw. The cut he'd cleaned earlier.
"You've been holding everything together," he said. Quietly. "Since before the arena. Since Remi arrived. Since the venom got worse." He kept working. "You manage Nero. You manage Abel. You manage the army and the council and the mother situation and—" He stopped. "Who manages you?"
I said nothing.
"Nobody," he said. Answering his own question.
"I don't need—"
"Everyone needs someone Kade." His hand stilled on my shoulder. "Even you."
The room was very quiet.
Steam rising.
His thumb moved. Just once. Slow.
"I've missed you," he said. Very quietly.
I reached up.
Covered his hand wi
