Chapter 28
Scotty was both exhausted and excited as she headed to the compound. She couldn’t wait to tell Blade and Mace about Eva and Harvester. She’d have gone straight to their place, even if they hadn’t sent her a message saying they wanted to see her.
She wished she’d been able to spend more time with her grandma, but Harvester had passed out shortly after being reconstituted, and everyone agreed that she should get some rest before they overwhelmed her with questions and hugs.
The important thing was that Eva would live. By the time Scotty left, she looked better than she had in weeks. Unfortunately, she was also back to being mortal.
They’d find a way to fix that, though. Surely, Harvester would help, once she was up and running again.
Even though it was well after midnight, Scotty found the guys on the well-lit basketball court, shooting hoops with Crux, who spotted her first and shot her a big grin.
“Hi, Scotty!” He loped over to her, enthusiasm radiating off every inch of his tall, gangly body. He wasn’t looking forward to his transition, but she knew he’d be pleased with what would happen to his physique. “Wanna play? We can do two-on-two. You and me against those two jerks.”
“Another time,” she said, wishing she wasn’t drop-dead tired. “I need to talk to the two jerks.”
Crux shrugged, then smiled again. “Tomorrow?”
“We’ll see.”
That seemed to satisfy him, and he took off for the house, leaving her with the guys. Dressed in shorts and tees that showed off sinewy muscles and rock-hard bods, they moved toward her with smooth, lethal grace that reminded her of predators.
A mere week ago, she’d have thought nothing of how incredibly sexy they were, but now, all she could do was remember how they touched. Kissed. Licked.
And she wanted more.
Gods, how was she supposed to survive the next assignment with them if she imagined them naked every time she looked at them?
Sex with them was supposed to fix things—and it had. But it also created new problems.
Like perma-lust.
They’d awakened something inside her. They’d introduced her to new sensations and emotions, and they’d forever altered how she would look at them. They were still friends, closer than ever, but now, she saw them as lovers too.
Swallowing dryly, she met them at the edge of the court.
“Everything went great,” she said, and they both looked relieved. “Well, Lilith tried to interfere, but we sent her packing.”
Blade tossed the ball into the storage bin. “How the hell did Lilith get involved?”
“Long story,” she said, nearly buckling under a new wave of exhaustion. “I’ll tell you later.” Casually, she reached out and braced herself against a nearby bench. “What’s important is that Eva is going to be fine, and Harvester is back.”
“Did she say what happened?” Mace plucked a couple of hand towels off the bench and tossed one to Blade. “What’s going on in Heaven? Where’s Reaver? Is there going to be—?”
“I can’t answer any of that. She only said a couple of words before she passed out. Than and Regan are keeping an eye on her. They’ll let everyone know when she wakes up.”
Blade wiped his face and then scrubbed the towel through his sweat-dampened hair. “Awesome news. I’ve been worried about Eva, and I’m glad you have your grandmother back.”
“Me, too.” Mace gestured toward the back door. “Wanna come inside? We need to talk to you about something.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “I thought your message was about the ritual.”
“It was,” Blade tossed his towel onto the bench. “But we also wanted to talk to you.”
Mace shifted his weight, the way he always did when something became uncomfortable. “We can do it later. She looks tired.”
Scotty didn’t care how tired she was. She needed to know what was going on. “Talk to me. I’ll sleep later.”
They exchanged glances, and a sinking sensation filled her belly. She wasn’t going to like this, was she?
When they just stood there, waiting for the other one to speak, she prodded them. “What’s going on? You’re freaking me out.”
“It was Blade’s idea,” Mace blurted. “But I think he’s right.”
“Okaaaay…” Now, she was really freaked out.
Blade took a deep breath. “I…well, we…want, I mean, after being with you, we both, uh, well—”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Mace broke in. “We’re in love with you, Scotty. Both of us.”
Stunned, Scotty just stood there, not quite comprehending. But as Mace’s words sank in, her strength flagged, and she sat heavily on the bench. What was she supposed to feel right now? She wanted to be happy, but this didn’t seem to be a happy moment. The guys looked troubled.
Questions. She had so many questions.
“Why are you telling me this?” She barely heard herself speak through the roar of activity in her brain. Heck, she didn’t even know if that was the question she should have started with. She seemed to be operating on autopilot.
“Because we need you to choose,” Blade said. At what must have been her confused expression, he elaborated. “Choose one of us.”
She blinked at them, still not understanding what was happening. Heck, she hadn’t even finished processing what Mace had said yet. Then, her brain caught up, and she surged to her feet, ignoring the sudden wave of vertigo.
“Are you guys crazy? What is wrong with you? I’m not choosing!”
They both looked baffled. “Why not?” they asked in unison.
Had they always been this dense, or was it a new affliction? “Did you think this through at all? What happens when one of you has to see me with the other one? Imagine seeing us cuddled up on the couch watching movies, or kissing goodbye, or…whatever. I mean, really?”
“Better than seeing you doing any of that with someone else,” Blade said. “We can’t watch that.”
“I thought it was nuts at first too,” Mace admitted. “But the last week and a half has been a clusterfuck, and we managed to get through it. We’re in a good place now, all of us, and—”
“Exactly,” she said. “We’re in a good place. Why ruin that?”
“We wouldn’t be ruining anything,” Blade said. “We’ll be saving us.”
Had she crossed into another dimension or something? Should she look around for that crystal Dare had been on the hunt for? Because seriously, what was wrong with these two?
“I suppose you want me to flip a coin or some shit.” She jammed her fists on her hips instead of using them to strangle the idiots. “And did it occur to you that maybe I don’t want either of you?”
There were the baffled looks again. As if they couldn’t even conceive of the idea that she might not want to be with one of them.
Gods help her, she did want to be with them, but that was the problem.
She wanted them both equally. And there was no way that could work.
Temporarily, maybe, but at some point, they’d need to take mates, or they’d go insane after their next transition.
Which meant, again, she’d have to choose which one to keep.
There was no way in hell she could choose just one.
So, it had to be none.
“I won’t do it,” she said.
Blade nodded solemnly. “Then when Kynan gets back from the conference, I’m going to request a transfer to another unit.”
Mace and Scotty both wheeled around to Blade, and she wondered if she looked as shocked as Mace did. “What?”
Fists clenched at his sides, Blade closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, they swirled with shadows.
“I’ve spent too long pretending I wasn’t in love with you, Scotty,” he said, and his words—and the vulnerability behind them—plucked at her heart and made tears sting her eyes.
“I told myself I didn’t care if you dated, but I seriously wanted to kill Jon and Skoll every time they looked at you.
The idea of one of them…” He shook his head. “I can’t work like this anymore.”
He started for the stairs, the finality in his words and body language sending a stab of panic through her. She couldn’t lose him. She couldn’t.
“Blade.” She grabbed his arm, but he refused to look at her, keeping his gaze on his destination. “Give us a chance. Please. Our team has been through a lot. We can get through this.”
“Can we?” he asked softly. “Because I’m not so sure anymore.” Gently, he freed himself from her grip and took the stairs two at a time, every footfall sounding like a death knell.
“I can’t believe this.” Blood throbbed through her every pulse point as the fear of losing everything gripped her. “What about you, Mace? Do you want to get transferred?”
Suddenly, he was inches from her face, her hands in his. Heat flared in his eyes, little flecks of gold that seemed to wax and wane to the beat of her heart.
“I want the same thing Blade wants,” he said softly, with a hint of breathlessness. “You. Gods, Scotty, I want you so bad it hurts. And so does Blade. You can make one of us happy.”
The tears in her eyes spilled over, burning hot, miserable paths down her cheeks. “And destroy the other one,” she rasped.
“No.” He leaned in, his heat scorching her as his lips touched her cheek, kissing away one of the tears. “You would set them free.”
Her throat closed as he drew back, his gaze searching her face. For what, she didn’t know. All she knew was that she’d never been in so much misery.
“I want to kiss you,” he said, his voice deep, husky, tortured. “But I won’t take anything from Blade.”
So. Many. Feels.
Overwhelmed by this—by everything—she wheeled away from Mace with a cry, her eyes burning with unshed tears.
“Scotty—”
“Go!” she cried. “Just go.”
He stood there.
“I said, go!”
“Uh, this is my home…”
At her glare, he grinned, that playful scamp grin he’d perfected to disarm females, and she fell for it. She fucking fell for it when she’d always rolled her eyes at other females when they did the same thing.
Angry with herself, she glared harder.
“Okay, okay, I’ll go.” He jerked his thumb toward the back door. “See you later.”
He took off with a cocky swagger, and he didn’t look back. Just gave her the space she’d demanded. Irrationally.