Chapter 21 How to Bleed
Seri
I woke up nestled against Zane’s chest, his heartbeat a steady drum beneath my ear.
I didn’t remember falling asleep, but here we were, his arm heavy around my waist, his breathing deep and even.
I didn’t want to wake him, not when his face looked so peaceful, all the sarcasm and mischief smoothed away.
Carefully, I extracted myself from his embrace, freezing when he mumbled something and shifted.
A strand of his red hair fell across his forehead, and I resisted the urge to brush it back.
He wasn’t the kind to take a nap, so he obviously needed the rest. When he settled again, I crossed the library, my bladder screaming at me.
As I padded down the hallway, Brumous appeared from somewhere to bump his wet nose against my thigh.
“Just need the bathroom, pup,” I told him with a scratch behind his ears.
He trotted after me and waited outside the door.
Once I finished my business, I splashed water on my face and tried to tame my hair with my fingers.
The person staring back at me from the mirror looked different.
Brighter eyes. Pinker cheeks. Less haunted.
It was still strange, seeing this new version of myself, the one who wasn’t constantly watching shadows for threats.
My lips curved into a small smile. It was amazing what a handful of weeks of safety and love could do for a girl.
Opening the bathroom door, I nearly collided with Zane, who was slouched against the wall next to Brummy, one knuckle rubbing sleep from his eye. His red hair was a tornado of bedhead, sticking up in at least seven different directions, and I laughed.
“What’s so funny?” he rasped, voice still graveled with sleep.
“Your hair is staging a rebellion.” I stretched up on tiptoes to smooth down an especially defiant tuft.
“Has been all my life. Thought you’d ditched me for a more comfortable bed, moonbeam. Gonna start tying bells to you.”
“You looked peaceful.” I smiled, something warm and bubbly rising in my chest. “I didn’t want to wake you.”
“Yeah, well—”
He was interrupted by the appearance of Koa, who came around the corner with perfect timing.
“There you are,” he said, eyes softening when they landed on me. “Cas is in the security room. Ready to go over some stuff?”
“Please tell me there’s beer.” Zane pushed off the wall.
“And wings. Knew you’d want them,” Koa told him with a grin, then tucked me under his arm. “Got some things to share with you, beloved. You up for it?”
“Mm-hmm.” I stretched up and kissed the edge of his jaw, earning a smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes.
Along with Brummy, we made our way down the hallway, Zane dramatically yawning every few steps.
The security room had undergone quite the transformation since I’d first seen it.
My husbands had moved their small arsenal to another room they called the armory, and all their lab and medical equipment to a third space designated as the med bay.
Now, the security room looked more like a high-tech office, filled with computers, flat-screen monitors, and gaming-style chairs that looked far too comfortable for a space dedicated to protection.
In the center of the room stood a large holographic table, my favorite piece of tech in the entire mansion.
Four gaming-style chairs surrounded it, one of which was occupied by Casimir, his tablet clutched in whitened fingers.
He’d pulled his long blond hair back in a tight braid at some point, and the rigid set of his shoulders and the hard line of his jaw told me everything I needed to know about his mood.
“I see Sleeping Beauty finally woke up,” he remarked without looking up, but there was no bite to his words.
“Yeah, yeah, don’t stare.” Zane flopped into another gaming chair, spinning it in a half-circle.
Koa handed him a bottle of beer and a plate of wings, then asked if I’d like some, too.
I shook my head, not a huge fan of wings and hating the taste of beer.
He offered to fetch me something else, but I wasn’t that hungry.
So he settled into his own chair, and I hovered uncertainly, drawn to the holographic table, but not wanting to disturb whatever important work the brothers were doing.
“Go ahead, beloved,” he said gently. “It won’t bite.”
Happily picking up a set of VR glasses, I put them on and stepped closer, running my fingers through the shimmering 3D projection of Evermere.
The image rippled like water around my touch, then reconfigured itself, zooming in on the section I’d disturbed.
It was fascinating technology, something Koa had shown me briefly before they’d gone hunting for Claudio with Alpha Jace Beaudreau.
I played with the controls, rotating the image and expanding different sections of the estate grounds. The lake where I’d nearly been eaten this morning glowed with a pulsing red marker.
“It’s a tool, honey bun, not a toy,” Zane teased around a mouthful of chicken.
“Ignore him, Seri,” Koa scoffed. “He was playing Fortnite on it last night.”
“Tactical training, bro.”
“Sure it was.”
Casimir remained silent, his eyes fixed on his tablet, and I sighed silently. He was dwelling on this morning’s incident, on how close I’d come to being seriously hurt or worse.
I knew none of them were happy about me fighting that monster crawfish thing, but what choice did I have? I couldn’t outrun it, I had no magic, and I certainly wasn’t going to stand there and let it eat me!
Taking off the VR glasses, I hung them back on their hook, then crossed the room to where he sat and gently tapped his shoulder. Without looking, he turned in his chair and opened his arms, and I settled onto his lap, curling into his warmth and strength and breathing in his moonflower scent.
He exhaled, a jerky, choked sound that was pure Casimir-near-panic.
“I’m okay,” I whispered against his throat. “Really.”
His only response was to hold me tighter, his chin resting on top of my head, and I knew he was still scared. Not for himself. Never for himself. Only for everyone else.
My Simmy, always trying to be the strong one, the leader, the protector.
Koa cleared his throat, breaking the moment.
“So, the landscapers are working on having the SUV towed to a garage. It’s pretty badly damaged, but it might be salvageable.”
“And if not?” I asked.
“There’s another one in the garage.” Koa shrugged. “Wedding gift from Sebastian. Left it here when he and Lucian babysat you. Bulletproof, armored, warded down to the spark plugs—”
“What about my golf cart?” I interrupted. “I left it by the lake.”
“Your golf cart?” Zane laughed, then made a squishing motion with his hands, complete with explosion sound effects. “Sorry, peach. SUV flattened it when Ko tried to launch it at the crawfish.”
I pouted, genuinely disappointed. I’d liked cruising around the estate in that little cart, feeling the wind in my hair. Brumous had enjoyed it too, sitting beside me with his tongue lolling happily. It had been our little adventure mobile.
“We’ll get another,” Casimir muttered into my hair, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“Really?” My spirits lifted immediately.
“A better one.”
“With cup holders,” I bargained, turning to kiss the frown crease between his brows.
“Anything you want, little wife.”
Grinning, I kissed him again, this time a quick press to his lips that somehow still managed to fan the ever-present ember between us. When I pulled back, his eyes had darkened slightly.
“Hold up.” Zane’s chair screeched as he lurched forward. “What about equal kiss distribution? I’m pretty sure there’s a bylaw about that in the Sharing-a-Wife Agreement.”
“Section three, paragraph two: ‘All kisses must be distributed with mathematical precision among husbands.’ ” Koa nodded solemnly.
Grinning, I tried to slide off Casimir’s lap, but his arms didn’t budge. If anything, they tightened further. His hands spanned my ribs like he could weld me to his bones, and that alone told me they wouldn’t be yielding for quite some time.
“If you want kisses,” I announced with mock haughtiness, “you’ll have to come to me. I’m a queen comfortable on her throne.”
“Well, when Her Majesty puts it that way.” Zane arched an eyebrow, a wicked grin spreading across his face as he dropped his voice to a suggestive purr. “Although that throne’s gonna be impaling you later, sunshine.”
Koa choked on his beer, laughing so hard he had to set his bottle down.
“Zoodle, what am I going to do with you?” I said, fighting a blush.
“Many, many things, each hopefully naughtier than the last,” he countered, dropping dramatically to one knee before Casimir’s chair. “Your Majesty, I humbly request a royal kiss.”
“Me, too! Pleeeease?” Koa showed me all of his teeth as he knelt, too.
Grinning, I leaned forward and dropped a kiss on Zane’s waiting lips, then did the same to Koa.
“There,” I said, settling back against Casimir’s chest. “All equal now.”
“Until the next round,” Zane promised with a wink that sent a flutter through my stomach.
“Behave, pest,” Casimir warned, but the corners of his lips twitched.
As Koa and Zane sat down again, I nestled closer to Casimir, feeling warm and protected and completely unafraid, but the mood shifted as their faces grew more serious.
I felt the change in the air, the transformation from happiness and teasing to something sharp and focused.
Their expressions reminded me that these men weren’t only my husbands; they were hunters, strategists, and protectors.
“Seri, how do you think Amabel will respond?” Koa asked, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “Foster confirmed that Arabesque is still in Chicago until tomorrow night. That gives us a window, but we need to figure out what Amabel’s next move will be.”