After one of the most heavenly showers I’d ever had the pleasure of experiencing—one in which Vali helped ensure every inch of me was clean—I toweled off and wrapped up in an Omega-issued robe. Call me a coward, but I had a feeling that prancing into the living room to find my clothes while naked wouldn’t result in us getting anything much done. Or… anything particularly productive anyway.
Don’t get me wrong, this whole “repeated sex with five different guys” thing was awesome. Seriously awesome. But I needed to face the music on everything River and I had done… and then sort things out with the guilt-ridden hound himself.
“Hey, you found Finn,” I observed as I entered the living room while still towel-drying my hair. “That saves me from hunting him down.”
“Ah, that makes more sense now,” my demon accomplice nodded. “Dark-Kit is gone, huh? That’s a shame; she was rather a lot of fun.”
I rolled my eyes, abandoning the idea of getting dressed in favor of the food spread over the table. There was so much of it, but prior experience had taught me that these guys could out eat me five times over. And I was no light weight in the eating department.
“You would say that, hellspawn,” I snorted at Finn and sat down on the carpet beside the coffee table, which I now saw was propped up on a stack of books. River and the guys really had done a number on the furniture.
“Hellspawn?” Cole repeated, cocking an eyebrow at me. “Do explain.”
Austin spoke quietly, frowning at me in confusion and what looked suspiciously like jealousy. “We found him lurking around the kitchens and flirting with the cooks. You can imagine we were a bit surprised to see him here, and then he said he was here with you.”
I cleared my throat and took a huge gulp of coffee before replying. “Uh, yeah. Finn offered to lend his assistance with a particularly, um, challenging situation. He is motivated to see Bridget stopped in her diabolical plan to rule the world and enslave humans, just the same as us. And he’s kinda handy to have around.”
Finn coughed a laugh. “I couldn’t give two shits about the human race being enslaved. But that whore needs to pay for a whole laundry list of crimes, not the least of which is Lucifer’s death.”
“Same thing,” I muttered, flapping a hand at him in a you can shut the hell up now kind of way. “Anyway, I guess you all want to be caught up on what we’ve been doing?” I forced a casual air, but inside I was a mess of nerves.
“That would be appreciated,” Wesley replied with a small smile, clutching his own mug of coffee just as hard as I was. “You did a remarkable job of staying under the radar. We were pretty damn good at finding people before we became what we are now, so I’m sort of impressed.”
I blushed a little at his semi-compliment. It was pretty impressive that I’d evaded them all, but it would have probably been a whole lot better for everyone involved if I hadn’t been so good at it.
“Yeah. Dark-Kit is a sneaky bitch,” I mumbled, hiding my face in a piece of cheese toast, which tasted like heaven. Where had they even found all this amazing food? Austin had mentioned Finn flirting with cooks, but I didn’t recall seeing any service staff in the cafeteria when I was changing every damn human in sight. Fuck, that was going to be a shitstorm.
“So?” Caleb prompted, bumping me with his shoulder as he sat beside me on the carpet. “Fill us in. Or do I need to let Sam out to insult you a bit first?”
Groaning, I shook my head forcefully. “Please no. I’m too fragile to deal with Sam right now. Okay, let me just gather my thoughts…” I chewed at the inside of my lip while I quickly skimmed over everything that had happened—everything I’d done—in the past six weeks. There was no way in hell I was telling them about the details; they didn’t need to hear about how I had skinned a man alive with my magic and enjoyed it. They certainly didn’t need to hear about the prisoners in Nevada, some of whom had been no older than teenagers, that I’d killed when they didn’t accept my offer.
No, this was one situation where it was a much better idea to gloss over the details. Facts only. A summary, really.
“Well, after I left you all at the… uh, at Lucy’s…” Wow, it was really hard to say the word funeral when I wasn’t all disconnected from my emotions. I cleared my throat again, getting a grip on myself before I did something embarrassing, like cry. “After I left you all, my initial plan was to go after Bridget, but of course we had no leads on where we might find her. Or whatever we did pick up ended in a dead end.”
“Same as us,” Wesley agreed, nodding to himself.
“So, we made a change of tactics and decided to deal with the other faction trying to involve themselves in this… shit fight. The human faction.” I paused to take another sip of coffee and savor the rich taste on my tongue. “We started hunting down those soldiers that Doctor Florsheim had been using his serum shit on. You know, the one he made from my blood? Well, we kind of just followed the breadcrumbs until we found him.”
“What happened after you found him, Vixen?” Cole asked me, his voice all low and growly like he already knew the answer.
I shrugged, like it was no big deal, despite the vivid images flashing across my mind of blood coating the floor of that panic room. The unforgettable memory of a skinned human pinned to the wall, its heart still beating…
“I killed him,” I admitted. “Destroyed all of the research he was keeping on site. We just, sort of, hope that was all of it, or at least enough of it that we can deal with Bridget before the human government becomes a problem.”
There was a long silence where I felt the eyes of everyone—except Finn—glued to me. Waiting for me to say more? What else was there to say?
“Oh, and then we came here and uh, changed everyone. That’s why I was so drained when you guys arrived.” I gave them a sheepish smile. “So, good timing? Thank you?”
Again, no one spoke for a long time, until Vali sighed heavily and leaned forward to peer at me with eyes that saw right through my bullshit. Damn him for having such a thick dark streak in him; it made it easier for him to read between the lines.
“Regina mea, I sense you are holding back a lot, but we are not going to pressure you to tell us until you’re ready. If you ever are.” Caleb opened his mouth to protest, and Vali shot him a look to tell him to shut it. “So, what do you need from us now?”
I blinked at him a couple of times, a bit at a loss for words. I hadn’t truly thought they’d let me off the hook that easily, and guilt gnawed at me for not having them yell more about all the stupid, reckless, and downright amoral shit I’d done.
“Um,” I started, then paused. What did I need from them now? What the hell could we do to right all the wrongs I’d made? Fucking hell, I had really made a mess of things.
“I would venture to say we will need to help all these agents and recruits that you’ve changed,” Wesley suggested, and I gave him a grateful nod.
“Yes,” I agreed, “that should definitely be our priority. I don’t know how long it will all take, seeing as none of them were coming back from the brink of death like you all were, but I’m guessing maybe a couple of days at most.”
“Shall we work out where each of our strengths lie so we’re prepared to help with a wider range of creatures when they transform?” Caleb prompted. “I imagine there will be a range of, uh, things. But between us, we can hit all the main subspecies, don’t you think?”
Nodding, I gave him a tight smile. These guys were all incredible; how could I seriously think they would prefer to yell at me over stupid choices rather than help me move forward with a logical and sensible plan of attack?
“Still, would have probably been more useful if you hadn’t gone on a mass magical healing spree without any plan in place,” Austin observed, and I had to hold back an eye roll. At least some things never changed—like his snark.
“Thank you, guys,” I whispered, swallowing past some pesky emotions clogging my throat. “This all means a lot. The fact that you didn’t give up, that you’re not holding a grudge…” My voice broke, and I sniffled a bit. Maybe it was hay fever season?
Finn groaned dramatically. “Gross, the feelings in this room are getting way out of hand. Just call me if you need me; I’m going back to check on the instructors that you changed first. Maybe because they’re older, they might change faster?” He shrugged. “Who knows. Peace out.”
Finn took off without a second glance, and I fiddled with the sleeve of my sweater.
“Does anyone know where River might have gone?” I asked in a small voice. “I need to go and talk some things out with him. I’m worried about leaving him alone too long.”
The guys all exchanged glances, but no one looked like they had any great suggestions for me.
“Sorry, Vixen, he could be anywhere,” Cole admitted. “I agree you should find him, though; it doesn’t feel right not having him here with us all now that we’re back together. I’ll come with you to look.”
I shook my head. “No, I need to go alone. Thanks though, Cutie.”
Cole gave me a frown but didn’t argue as I grabbed my shoes and got ready to leave. It was one of the things I loved the most about him. He trusted me implicitly… even after I’d fucked-up so bad.
