Chapter 6 – COSIMA #2
"What the fuck?" Nikolai snarls, blinking up at Raven with confusion that quickly morphs into irritation.
"Morning, sunshine," Raven chirps with false brightness. "Sleeping Beauty is awake, and the bed needed making."
Nikolai's gaze swings to me, his eyes widening like I just stepped into the room wearing a ballgown adorned with pre-war crystals instead of a towel. His expression shifts minutely, his eyes darkening before he masks it with his usual sardonic demeanor.
"You're wet," he says bluntly.
"Yes, this must be a momentous occasion for you," I say, my voice dripping with false sweetness. "And surely the closest you're ever going to get to having a wet omega in your bed."
Irritation flashes in his good eye, muted by lingering drowsiness. "I don't know, you seemed pretty worked up in the control tower."
My face heats up with more irritation than embarrassment and it takes all my self-restraint not to lob the nearest object at his head.
The nearest object happens to be a lamp.
The only thing that really stops me is not wanting to hear Geo bitch about whatever elaborate origin story the guy who sold him the damn thing gave him.
Instead, I strut past him toward the closet where the majority of Raven's gifts are hanging.
"Come on, you insolent brute," Raven mutters, grabbing Nikolai by the back of the head. "Let's give her some privacy."
"Ow! Fuck off," Nikolai snarls all the way out into the hall like an alley cat raging for a fight.
I ignore their bickering, rifling through the clothes until I find something suitable—a pair of soft black leggings and an oversized sweater in a shade of deep blue. Gathering them in my arms, I retreat behind the dressing screen in the corner of the room.
Knight growls softly at me once they're gone, as if to ask if he should leave, too. It's a surprisingly gentlemanly gesture for someone who eats other alphas, but he's seemed different lately. More… aware. Less like he's just living in a dissociative state of rage and primal hunger.
"You've seen more than that, big guy," I say, giving him a wink.
It's impossible to see anyone blush behind a mask, but his eyes averting in what's clearly an awkward expression is close enough.
"You know," I call out to the hall as I drop the towel and begin to dress, checking first to make sure the others are gone.
It's a small test, but one they pass. Not that it's necessary, considering I don't hear the sounds of flesh being torn from bone.
"I never figured you two for the sleepover type. "
There's a moment of silence, and I can almost feel the tension in the air.
"Knight was guarding you," Raven finally replies, his voice carefully neutral. "And I was guarding Knight."
"And I was guarding Raven," Nikolai adds, a hint of mockery in his tone.
"I was guarding all your sorry asses," Geo's voice interjects as he re-enters the room. "None of you has a lick of sense when a pretty omega's around, apparently."
I step out from behind the screen, fully dressed, running my fingers through my damp hair in an attempt to tame it. Geo stands in the doorway, holding what looks like a glass of murky, greenish liquid that makes my stomach turn just from looking at it.
"What the hell is that?" I ask, eyeing the concoction with suspicion.
"Hangover bomb," Geo says, holding it out to me. "Fair warning—it tastes like an unholy combination of ass water and battery acid, but it'll fix you right up."
I wrinkle my nose. "What the hell is ass water?"
"Just drink."
I take the glass gingerly, bringing it closer to my face for inspection. The smell that wafts up is enough to make my eyes water. "Are you sure this isn't just poison to put me out of my misery?"
Geo's lip twitches. "No, but hold your nose when you drink it. Trust me."
I look at the others for confirmation. Raven nods encouragingly, while Nikolai's smile has a hint of sadistic anticipation, as if he's looking forward to my reaction.
Taking a deep breath, I pinch my nose closed and take a tentative sip. The taste is... indescribable. Like someone distilled the essence of every bitter herb known to mankind, added a dash of rubbing alcohol, and then let it ferment in an old boot. I nearly cough it back up immediately.
Now I get where the ass water thing comes from. It's as accurate a description as any.
Geo lets out a belly laugh at my expression, and Nikolai snickers openly. Knight growls in concern, taking a step toward me, while Raven shoots Nikolai a glare and kicks him in the shin.
"What the fuck?" Nikolai snarls at him.
Raven ignores him, turning to me with sympathy in his eyes. "It helps to just chug it all at once. Like ripping off a bandage."
I look down at the vile concoction, then back at his earnest expression. I suppose if the first sip didn't kill me…
With a grimace, I tilt my head back and down the entire glass in one go, fighting my body's natural instinct to reject the poison I'm willingly ingesting.
For a moment, I think I've made a terrible mistake.
My throat burns, my eyes water, and I'm certain I'm about to disgrace myself by vomiting all over Geo's expensive rug, which was probably the sacred object some duke from a faraway land was conceived on.
But then, something strange happens. The burning sensation spreads throughout my body, and in its wake, the fog in my head begins to clear.
The jackhammer behind my eyes recedes to a dull thud, and my stomach settles.
I blink in surprise. "What the hell did you put in that?"
Geo gives me a lazy grin. "Family recipe. Some things are better left a mystery."
"It's working," I admit grudgingly, setting the empty glass on a nearby table. "I actually feel... almost human again."
"Told you," Raven says with a satisfied nod. "If there's one thing Geo is good at, it's remedying the consequences of debauchery."
Geo grunts in irritation, turning back to the door. "Breakfast is ready in the kitchen, if anyone's interested. Had something brought up from downstairs. And by interested, I mean get your asses out there before it gets cold."
He exits without waiting for a response. It's strange how quickly these dynamics have formed. This odd temporary alliance between alphas who should, by all rights, be at each other's throats over my presence.
"Shall we?" Raven asks, offering me his arm with a flourish.
I hesitate a beat before I take his arm, not missing the way he melts as if I just crowned him King of Reinmich. Knight immediately falls into step beside me. Nikolai follows, bitching under his breath in clear jealousy that Raven got to me first.
The kitchen table is laid with a spread that makes my newly settled stomach growl. Freshly baked bread, various meats and cheeses, fruit that doesn't look particularly mutated and must have cost a fortune in this wasteland, and a pitcher of steaming hot coffee.
"That was fast for all this," I remark as Nikolai lunges to at least be first to pull out a seat for me at the table.
Geo grunts again. "There's a chef at the brothel. Just had them send up the extra."
"Don't let him fool you," Raven says, dropping into the chair next to me a second before Nikolai can and ignoring the white-haired alpha's death glare as he starts filling my plate. "He's showing off."
Geo rolls his eye but doesn't deny it, busying himself with filling his own plate.
I sit cautiously, still half-expecting my body to revolt, but the hangover bomb seems to have worked its magic.
Knight hesitates, then takes the seat on my other side, which Nikolai isn't quite bold enough to try to claim.
Knight's massive frame makes the chair look like it belongs in a dollhouse, but it still supports him.
It's not the chair that was there yesterday, I notice. The wooden one that matched the rest of the set has been replaced with a sturdy metal chair, and I can only imagine who put it there. But it's clearly meant for Knight, which is more thoughtfulness than I'd expected from any of these men.
It has to be a gift from Raven. The throne, too. I'm not sure about Geo, but clearly someone is trying to impress me.
Gods help me, but I actually think it's working.
Nikolai sits across from me and next to Geo. Both of their lips curl in distaste at each other, not unlike dogs.
"So," I say, after taking a fortifying sip of coffee. "Why do you have a chef at a brothel? Is it some kind of adult-themed bed and breakfast?"
"For the whores," Geo answers without missing a beat, directing a forkful of fruit to his mouth.
I choke on my coffee and Raven pats my back, his eyes glittering with amusement. "It's lacks the same ambiance as the Alpha's Alpha, but it's certainly the finest place to whore this side of the shithole," Raven says dryly.
"Ambiance my ass," Geo growls. "Covering everything in curtains and pumping scent blockers through the vents ain't the same thing as class."
"Oh, what would you know? You wear white socks with black shoes."
Geo blinks like he's trying to process what the problem is. "The fuck else would I wear with them?"
I take another sip of coffee to swallow my laugh as they continue to bicker about men's fashion, or lack thereof.
Nikolai shifts uncomfortably, as if any reminder that these two share a past—however innocuous—pains him. He's so fucking transparent, it's embarrassing. But these are alphas. I'm pretty sure on the scale of emotional intelligence, Raven is a damn savant compared to the rest.
"So," I say, deciding to give the poor bastard a break for reasons that are beyond me, "I'm guessing I made quite the spectacle of myself last night."
A beat of awkward silence follows, broken by Geo's snort. "That's one way to put it. Fortunately, Raven thinks fast and cuts faster. We're gonna be cleaning blood out of the club carpet for weeks."
I glance at Raven, who's suddenly very interested in buttering his bread. "You killed someone last night?"