“Maybe so, but her timing is still undeniably suspicious,” Kai reminds them.
They move away from the dark romance and back to the subject at hand. I lose interest again, for the most part.
“Regardless, we should at least ask her about the men who came here last night,” Ezekiel says quietly. “Keyla! We have you a name,” he yells, like he’s trying to make sure I hear him throughout the massive home.
Rolling my eyes, I stay hidden, even though I do like having a name now.
“She only has ten minutes where she doesn’t have to see us,” Kai points out.
My smile spreads. It’s been over ten minutes since I laid eyes on them, but I’m still not in pain or desperate to peek out. Just their presence being so close seems to sate my need for them.
How did I not notice sooner?
In fact, it was like that all night, but I didn’t notice then either, since I was sort of distracted. Maybe I did level up, just not the way I thought I would. Well, clearly I leveled up with the weird ways the assassins seemed to die, but I’m talking about a personal level-up.
“Well, then, where the hell is she? Because it’s been at least twenty minutes since I saw her last,” Jude states, frustrated.
When I see the handle of the weapons closet start to turn, I step through the back, passing through that wall, and end up in Ezekiel’s bedroom.
Staring at the wall, I continue to listen as the door opens, waiting for my chance to dive through and trail their siphon.
“Found her,” comes a voice far too close to my back, causing me to jump and whirl around.
Ezekiel is smirking as he stares down at me with his arms crossed over his chest.
His hair is the lightest, a rich blond hue that highlights his tan. His eyes sparkle with that gold hue that happened when I passed through him.
His broad shoulders lead down to a very impressive chest, and all that leads down to a tapered waist full of ab muscles. Which are easy to count, since he’s shirtless.
Why did he take off his shirt?
Before I can slap myself back to my senses—which I can’t literally do—three other shirted men are in here with us, fortunately covering up their distracting bodies.
“What happened last night?” Kai asks me seriously, skipping pleasantries.
“You drank some spiked rum; I watched some TV and killed some men. Other than that, not much,” I say with a shrug, averting my gaze.
A hand passes through me when Jude tries to grab me. He curses as those wonderful little tingles slither over my body. Funny how none of that happened with the numerous men I passed through last night.
“What happened?” Gage asks me this time, his gaze on my face.
“I just told you,” I say with a tight smile. “But just so you have the facts, it was eleven men. Not seven.”
I act like I’m counting my fingers, then lift only middle ones when I give them a cruel smile. Gage’s lips do that twitching thing they do when he’s trying to suppress a smile.
“You killed eleven men yet claim to have no ability to—”
“Just stop there. I’ve already heard these discussions,” I state dryly, holding a hand up in front of Kai’s face. “For whatever reason, my protective instincts are on overdrive with you four. Things I can’t do normally come a little too easily when I’m saving your lives.”
I take a step back, almost passing through the wall again, and they all four crowd my space like they can stop me.
“Here’s the new arrangement,” I say to them, crossing my arms over my chest. “You don’t leave without me. It fucking hurts when you do,” I tell them, certain that will still be an issue if their presence is gone. “Or I’ll let the next team of ruthless assassins kill you while you dream of ponies or whatever it is you dream of. You need to give me a reason to want to save you.”
“You supposedly need us,” Ezekiel reminds me.
“Yes, but what’s the point in existing if it’s just to feel like an unwanted burden? I need a reason to want to keep from fading into nothing, because honestly? Nothingness is sounding better than this hell you four are putting me through.”
They exchange a look, and Jude’s jaw tightens as he looks back at me and speaks. “We’ll have a new spell up by nightfall. I’m not sure that it won’t evict you as well.”
“You can try. I’m sure you’re dying to get rid of me even as I save your ungrateful lives over and over,” I tell him as I pass through the wall.
They appear in the room just as I finish, and I barely stop myself from making some embarrassing noise of surprise.
Jude’s eyes darken as his smirk forms. He likes scaring the shit out of me, it seems. He’s the one who has cut me the deepest, so I look over to Ezekiel, breaking up the eye contact.
Ezekiel steps closer, his eyes wandering over me. “What in hell are you wearing?” he asks incredulously.
I look down at my warrior princess outfit. It’s leather, a little sexy, and downright awesome. It also has the illusion of a bunch of weapons strapped to me, even though they’re not real.
“Something a badass wears when she’s saving lives all night and about to go to a gauntlet of unforetold dangers,” I deadpan.
“Is so much cleavage necessary?” Kai asks, his eyes a little distracted as they continue to trail down.
“And does the leather have to be so tight?” Jude asks from behind me, sending chills throughout me when his hand passes over my ass.
“I prefer to feel pretty when killing. Not sure why, but it seemed to be ideal last night,” I state as I look around. “By the way, my terms also include the four of you not ignoring me and not being cruel to me anymore. Either fake being nice and treat me better, or I’ll take a spectator’s seat the next time men with enchanted swords try to drain you, cut off your heads, stab you, or cut off your junk.” They all give me an incredulous look, so I add, “Yes, a lot happened last night.”
Jude adjusts his cock in his pants as he arches an eyebrow at me.
“You’re asking us to trust you, acting as though we owe it to you. Surely you understand our reservations,” Gage tells me, regarding me warily.
Something cold and detached washes over me as I drop my hands to my sides.
“I told you all my story. I explained I’ve spent five years able to do nothing but watch you. Without you, I faded. Without you, I didn’t exist. Only in your presence did I seem to have a purpose. I exposed a vein when I cut open so many vulnerable details of my very lonely existence, laid it all out there for you like my most precious secret. Naively, I expected you all to welcome me with open arms, telling me I was no longer alone. Yet none of you could spare a second to put yourself in my shoes. None of you had an ounce of concern for the fact that I’ve held on by a thin thread all these years, not knowing anything about anyone else but the four of you—I didn’t even know myself, but I knew you. You’ve been all I’ve had.”
My gaze flicks from one set of eyes to another as they all stay quiet.