“What’s official?” I ask, confused.
Frankly, I need a distraction so I don’t sink into a depression about finally being able to feel something and having it ripped away. It’s much better to not know what you’re missing than to be tortured with just a teasing touch.
“We’ve been invited to the royal palace of the underworld. We’ll be collected in one month,” Kai answers, putting the invitation to the side.
“Why a month?” Still needing that distraction.
“Because it takes time to set up the next obstacle, and they make it as hard as possible for the twenty competitors based on how well they did in the first two rounds,” Ezekiel answers, not budging an inch from my side.
Gage studies Ezekiel, the way he’s unconsciously drawing so close that I’m passing through his body.
“Two other quad sets made it through to the next round as well,” Gage says as he closes his invitation and puts it aside.
“So twelve out of twenty are part of a quad group? Why is this done by teams? Someone needs to start at the beginning and explain all this to me,” I grumble.
“It’s done by teams because you’re going to be a part of a larger team,” Ezekiel says immediately. “You’ll become one of the elite who has access to Lucifer on occasion, and—”
“And there are some things that don’t need to be told,” Jude interrupts, arching an eyebrow at Ezekiel.
Ezekiel’s jaw tightens, but he doesn’t say anything else. I roll my eyes, because that means I’m still not trusted. I half suspect they find my vagina to also be evil now.
“Okay, so what can you tell me? Since my level-up, I can see and hear things in Purgatory, unlike before when I didn’t even know where we were going because focusing was so hard. And you guys never really talk about any of this here,” I go on.
“We used to. There’s no reason to discuss things unless we have new developments now,” Kai says with a shrug.
“We’ve been working toward this goal for a couple of centuries now,” Ezekiel goes on.
“Centuries?” I ask, my eyes widening.
“Really? Little much information,” Gage tells him, narrowing his eyes.
Ezekiel flips him off. “We told her the highlights in Purgatory.”
“Highlights and details are two very different things,” Kai points out.
Ezekiel looks at me. “A few centuries ago, we were all four born to different mortal families involved with the underworld in some way—imps, lawyers, and some media—”
“For fuck’s sake, E, not that much information,” Jude says incredulously, looking at Ezekiel like he’s lost his mind.
Ezekiel ignores him, and my gaze returns to him as he continues.
“By twenty-six, we were all going a little crazy. Actually crazy. Hearing things, seeing things, always paranoid we were being targeted or watched. I was ahead of them by several decades, and though I’d stopped aging, I wasn’t really immortal.”
“Ezekiel!” Kai snaps.
Ezekiel doesn’t even glance in his direction. His eyes stay fixed on mine.
“That’s the reason my dreams are the worst. The madness tries to return when I let my guard down. When we sleep, the bond is the weakest for some reason. It’s why Kai struggles to sleep. It’s why Jude is so pissed most of the time. Gage may seem to sleep soundly, but he’s frozen in the places his mind visits, and he becomes a prisoner until his eyes—”
Gage is suddenly grabbing Ezekiel by the shirt and ripping him up from the couch. “That’s enough!” Gage barks in his face.
Ezekiel shoves him off, and then suddenly they’re tackling each other, fists flying.
“Stop!” I snap, jumping up from the couch.
An ache lances through me when Ezekiel takes a hit to his face. And sickening dread surges when Ezekiel hits Gage so hard that blood flies.
Kai and Jude take their sweet fucking time coming to break them up, both of them glaring at me as they struggle to pull them apart.
“You don’t get to fucking tell her our secrets. That’s a group decision!” Gage snaps at him.
Ezekiel shrugs Jude off him, and without another word, he turns and stalks out of the room.
Three pairs of accusatory eyes turn and narrow on me.
Ah, great. Well, having them be semi-nice was fun while it lasted.
“What’d you do to him?” Gage growls.
“I told you she was singling him out because he didn’t find her to be a threat. Now she’s tearing us down by using our connection against us,” Kai states.
“How’s your leg, Kai?” I ask with a tight smile, my eyes dipping to the fully healed leg that I helped heal. Somehow. “Was I a threat when I was scrambling to save your life so you all wouldn’t die? I certainly wasn’t trying to separate the four of you then or pit you against each other. Wouldn’t it have made sense to do it then?”
“You’d know you couldn’t be so obvious about it. You’ve been studying us for who knows how long?” he growls.
“Five-and-a-half years I’ve been studying you. It’s not like the four of you told me before today that you couldn’t get it up without each other in the room. As you stated, there are some things you don’t feel the need to discuss after so much time together. I only heard what you shared with each other. It was usually dark jokes, women, and some killing I witnessed. That’s about it.”
He starts to speak, but I hold my hand up.
“You know what? Forget it. You can’t touch me. None of you can. Whatever happened this morning was probably another form of torture to show me what I’ve been missing, because it’s become clear to me that whatever I am is a punishment of some sort. Why else would I be stuck with the four of you?”
I turn to walk up the stairs, but Gage is suddenly in front of me.
“Leave Ezekiel alone. The last thing he needs is you tearing him away from us when our lives are at stake. You want to prove you care? Fucking care by staying away from him.”
I pass through him without another word. Just to be spiteful, I almost walk through Ezekiel’s door, but I stop myself.
For five years, I’ve stalked their lives. Today is the first time I’ve ever seen them fight.
A sick feeling forms in the pit of my stomach, and I bite back an angry curse as I spin and stalk away, moving toward the west wing and my self-proclaimed bedroom.
Right now, I really wish I could touch things, just so I could slam a freaking door.
I could hang out in my room, but instead, I zap myself back, swaying a little but not as bad as usual. Like the stalker I used to be, I hide out in the room beside them as they argue.
They all, of course, went to Ezekiel’s room.
“I get it. I get the temptation that would present. But remember what makes us the way we are,” Kai is saying.
“You don’t have a clue what it felt like, and I don’t know how to explain it without sounding completely fucking insane,” Ezekiel grumbles.
“You turned on us. Do you see the problem here?” Gage asks.