Caspian nodded. It was what he wanted to believe, but at the moment, all he could do was guess. Raine had always seemed to be the understanding sort though. Even when they were kids, he’d thought she was the more level-headed of the two of them, and she had always been pragmatic. After Iris had turned up without any warning, she would have to realize he didn’t mean to give her false hopes, wouldn’t she? He pressed his lips together as he thought about it. Of course, he didn’t expect her to breeze along with the sudden change without any qualms, but hopefully, if his impression of her was right, she wouldn’t hold it over his head once the dust settled.

More important was the matter of the continuing rebellion in the districts. As Iris turned his attention there, the king frowned to himself. She was right that it was strange. There were still plenty of missing pieces, and his intelligence on the situation had been… well, lackluster, even before his father had passed away. They had taken out multiple kingpins amongst the Scourge, and yet the rebels continued to operate like a well-oiled machine. He wasn’t sure who was pulling the strings behind it all, but clearly, there was someone in charge of the operations that they hadn’t managed to take out yet.

[color=#b97703]“Someone else, maybe,”[/color] he sighed, running a hand over his hair. [color=#b97703]“Or maybe the same someone… I don’t know. We’re working on it.”[/color] Meeting her gaze again, his dark eyes flitted between her blue. [color=#b97703]“Whoever it is, they’re done using you though. I promise. No one’s going to be taking you away again.”[/color]

Perhaps it was brazen to make a promise like that when he hadn’t been able to stop Ethan from kidnapping her last time, but he meant it regardless. Now that she was back, he was going to do everything in his power to keep her safe from the rebellion. Right now, that meant keeping her close in the bunker. Later, he planned to do the same in the palace. The hotel he’d hidden her away in before hadn’t had the same level of security as either of those places, so at the very least, he could rest in the knowledge that his security team would be looking out for her alongside him.

As she rested her hand in his, Cas laced his fingers with hers with a smile, happy with the simple pleasure of being able to touch her again. However, the expression disappeared quickly when she admitted it had been a while since she’d last fed herself. [color=#b97703]“[i]Days[/i]?”[/color] he echoed, gawking at her incredulously. [color=#b97703]“Jesus, Iris. We need to get some food in you right now.”[/color]

Getting up from the bed, he ushered her with him by a tug to her hand, only to pause momentarily at her next question. [color=#b97703]“It will be,”[/color] he assured her with a nod. The other people in the bunker might have mixed feelings about her presence there, but he was in charge, and that meant they had to set those feelings aside if he asked them to make her feel welcome.

It might not happen right away, but he was confident the dust would settle. With that thought in mind, he led her with him back out of the room and down the hall until they could rejoin the others. When they stepped back into the room, most of the team was still crowded around their monitors, while Raine was seated on the couch by the silently playing TV, and Jacob was standing aside with his phone in hand, his eyes fixed on the screen as if busy.

It was the latter who Caspian fixated on, his eyes narrowing as the sting of his guard’s betrayal cut through him again. He’d promised Iris he wouldn’t fire the other man, but he couldn’t bring himself to pretend like Jacob hadn’t kept her hidden from him—let him think she was [i]dead[/i]—for an entire month. His grip tightened on her hand, and he glanced at her sideways. [color=#b97703]“Take whatever you want from the pantry… I need a minute to talk to Jacob.”[/color]