In the end, the truth is we have no options. Unless we nullify my father’s ability to compel, any plan we make is dead in the water. Even dropping a bomb on the compound—if any of us were willing to do it—wouldn’t guarantee my father’s death. He’s too old, too savvy. He’d find a way to survive even that, and then we’d have mass casualties on our head.
My life was a living hell in that compound, and my father wasn’t the only one responsible for that. But not everyone was a monster. Not everyone chose cruelty when they could offer kindness instead. I won’t say those who showed me kindness as a child were the majority, but they existed. Even if they hadn’t, I’m not willing to sanction the murder of every adult and child in the compound. It’s too high a cost.
So Wolf phones his sister, Lizzie.
He makes the call in the other room, but even I can hear his side of the conversation, so no doubt Rylan and Malachi can hear both sides. Sure enough, they exchange a long glance. Malachi sighs. “Lizzie is going to be a problem, but we won’t let her hurt you.”
“Maybe you can fuck her, too, and then the seraph bond will take care of that.”
I stare at Rylan. Of all the things to suggest… “Please tell me you’re joking.”
“Mostly.” He grimaces. “It would simplify matters, but we’d have to make sure Lizzie didn’t kill you during the bonding process, and that’s more difficult than you can imagine. She’s too unpredictable.”
There it is again.
The evidence that they have such a deep history that extends many of my lifetimes in the past. Malachi was in that house for a hundred years, but before that he was friends and lovers with Rylan and Wolf and others. Maybe even Lizzie. I’m not sure how I feel about that. Not jealous, exactly. Just…strange.
“If you want to know, you can ask.”
I jump, startled out of my thoughts by Malachi’s low voice. There’s no mistaking what question he’s talking about. I force myself to meet his gaze. “Were you lovers? Either of you?”
“Not me.” Rylan doesn’t exactly shudder, but it’s there in his voice. “I prefer my throat intact.”
“I was, briefly.” Malachi holds my gaze. “Does that bother you?”
“I don’t know,” I say honestly. “I don’t think so, but it feels strange. We’ve been very isolated up to this point, so part of it is that, I think.” I’m going to have to get used to the feeling that there are great swathes of these men’s history unavailable to me, at least outside of sharing stories. We have the future, and that’s enough. It has to be. “I guess we’ll deal with it as it comes.”
Wolf walks back into the room, unhappiness in every line of his body. “She’s in LA right now, but she’s all too happy to dive into the chaos and do a little murder.” His voice goes up on the last part of the sentence, obviously mimicking his sister. “She’ll be here in about ten hours.”
Every hour is a risk at this point, but this delay is one we can’t avoid.
Wolf comes back to the table, but instead of reclaiming his chair, he sinks down onto the floor next to me. He puts his head in my lap and wraps his arms around my waist. I freeze. “Wolf?”
“I’m fine.”
He’s lying. Now that he’s touching me, the bond flares between us, soaked in his misery. I tentatively clasp the back of his neck and massage a little. He responds by going boneless, though his unhappiness doesn’t abate. I look at the other two men. “Someone explain this to me. Now, please.”
Rylan shifts. “Fifty years ago, Lizzie set Wolf on fire.”
“Excuse me?”
I know him well enough to recognize that his cold tone is a way of masking his emotions. He holds my gaze and continues. “They had a disagreement and she felt that was a reasonable way to deal with it. He almost died.”
The table creaks beneath Malachi’s hands. “You didn’t see fit to mention that before we called her.”
I get a sense of Rylan’s internal conflict through the bond, but none of it shows in his face or tone. “We don’t have any other options.”
I keep massaging Wolf’s neck and try to think past the fury that burns through me. “Tell her not to come. There has to be another way.”
“No other way.” Wolf speaks against my thigh. “She’s the best. If she helps, it’s a sure thing—at least that part of it.”
Killing my father is the top priority, but I never expected the cost to be so high. That feels very naive right now, with Wolf feeling so small and human against me. I want to protect him, to wrap him up and keep him safe, and that isn’t the world we live in. “It’s not worth the cost.”
He tightens his hold around my hips. “I’m fine,” he repeats.
He most assuredly is not fine. Not when he’s clutching me like his favorite toy. I look to Malachi and Rylan for help, but they’re staring at each other and engaging in one of those silent arguments that I’m not a part of. Malachi is obviously furious they didn’t tell him what happened, and Rylan is clearly digging in his heels on his stance.
Huh. Apparently I can read them a lot better now, whether from the experience of being in close proximity for a few weeks or maybe as a side effect of the bond. Their argument ultimately won’t change anything. I have to go off what Wolf says. He’s my priority right now.
“Feels nice.”
I blink. “What?”
He shifts enough to look up at me out of one eye. “Being the priority. Wish it were better circumstances.”
Guilt slaps me hard enough to make me shake. “I’m sorry. I know I said it before, but things haven’t calmed down enough to talk about it. I’m sorry I compelled you.” Bad enough to do it, but then to simply not talk about it as if it’s beneath notice? I can’t believe I let it get this far. “Maybe now isn’t the time to talk about it…”
“Mina.”
The shock of him saying my name makes me tense. “Yes?”
“You’re strong.”
It’s such a random statement that I stare down at him blankly. “What?”
“Don’t apologize for being strong.”
I feel like we’re having two different conversations. “I’m not apologizing for being strong. I’m apologizing for forcing you to do something you didn’t want to do. Strong or not, it’s not right. I love you.” The last comes out in a rush. “I love all of you. I don’t want to hurt you and I don’t want to take your choices away. I shouldn’t have compelled you. You are a priority to me.”
“Seems like a silly thing to apologize for.”
“Why would you say that?”
He straightens and wedges himself between my thighs. Wolf isn’t as tall as Rylan and Malachi, but he’s more than a few inches taller than me. We’re nearly the same height like this. He holds my gaze, his blue eyes strikingly serious. “If you hadn’t made that call and forced the issue, we’d still be in your father’s tender care. Call me unhinged all you want, but I’m not a fool. I underestimated you.” He gives a sharp grin that almost looks like the old Wolf. “Maybe I should be the one apologizing.”
“I compelled you.” Like my father does to those around him. I took away Wolf’s willpower and forced an answer out of him.
“Yep.” He laughs suddenly. “Gods, love, but seeing you twist yourself up over this is enough to make me feel loads better.” He leans up and presses a kiss to my lips. “If you need my forgiveness, you have it.”
I sigh. “That doesn’t help with your sister.”
“Just sleep with her, too, and it will be a moot point.”
I frown. “Why is everyone so invested in me adding people to the bond? That’s the opposite of what we need if she’s as bad as you say.” Not to mention three bed partners is a lot. I can’t imagine trying to juggle the needs of more, let alone one as volatile as Wolf’s sister seems to be. No matter what else is true of our little group, the caring between us is real. The men’s goes back several human lifetimes. Mine is newer, but no less valid. “Besides, even if I could compel her, it only works in spurts. It’s not something that I can hold to ensure good behavior.”
“I’m joking, love.” Wolf shakes his head. “No matter what else is true, I do not want to be linked that closely with her. Better to get her agreement to pull this off for us and then to go our separate ways.”
I don’t have answers. I don’t know that I ever have. But we have time and I want to wash away that faintly lost look in Wolf’s eyes. This I know how to do. This is a way I can help. I cup his face between my hands and kiss him. I start gently, teasing his mouth open and delving inside. For once, Wolf doesn’t immediately take control. He meets my kiss halfway, but he allows me to lead us.
He tastes so purely Wolf that I moan a little. I nip his bottom lip. “Trade places with me.”
He moves all at once, surging up and lifting me into his arms. I expect him to do as I say, but instead he whisks us into the living room. I end up on my knees between his thighs, staring up at him. “Wolf?”
“Floor’s killer on the knees.”
The small act of caring only drives the desire to return the favor all the more. I slide my hands up his thighs. “I’m taking off your pants now.”
“Don’t let me stop you.” But he’s the one who undoes the front of his pants and lifts his hips so I can work them down his thighs. It takes a little maneuvering to get them fully off, but it’s more than worth it when I reclaim my position with nothing between me and Wolf’s body. He’s so deceptively beautiful. The aura and mohawk kind of shield that truth, but when I have him like this, there’s no denying it.
I can hear Malachi and Rylan still speaking softly in the kitchen. Arguing softly, more like it. I can’t do much about that right now. They’ll argue and debate and eventually come to an agreement on how to deal with Lizzie and the coming confrontation. I’ve given them the map of the compound and I’ll provide any additional information they need, though we all are aware that it’s somewhat outdated, even with Grace surveying the compound from a distance. I can’t do anything to help the plan right now.
But Wolf?
I can help Wolf.
I want my vampire back. I don’t like the brittle look that’s appeared in his eyes. Of the three, he’s always seemed the most untouchable, the one who is carefree and more than a little wild. Right now, he seems almost…human.
“Wolf.” I lean down and rub my cheek on his bare thigh. “Do you know what I would like right now?”
He sifts his fingers through my hair. Not tugging. Not guiding. Just touching me as if the very contact soothes him. “What?”
“I want to take care of you.” He tenses against me so I press a kiss to his thigh. “Will you let me do that?”
“I thought you were going to tell me to fuck your mouth.” He gives a low, strained laugh. “Quite the twist there, love.”
“Is it so shocking?” They’ve taken care of me since we met. Yes, there was some circling on whether they wanted to keep or kill me—at least where Wolf and Rylan were concerned—but ultimately that threat didn’t last long past the initial meeting. They have bolstered me, have encircled me, have lifted me up to make me stronger.
The very least I can do is return the favor.
More, I want to.
Wolf shakes his head slowly. “No. Guess it’s not.” He smiles slowly, almost looking like himself again. “Very well. Do your worst.”
“Oh, Wolf. I’m not going to do my worst.” I wrap my hand around his thick cock. “I’m going to do my very best.”
