21 #3
It only halts as if it slammed into a wall of titanium when Ezla places a hand on my arm and says, “Calm.” Then she continues, “All I could recognise was my father—”
“Joseph,” Scotty corrects softly.
Ezla nods slowly, making no argument. “Yes . . . Joseph.” Then she carries on, “He was all I knew. It was as if his aim had been to have me think of nothing but him, see only him. He wanted himself to be my entire world . . .” A snarl pulls at my lips, and I fight to contain it while Cooper makes a sound of disgust. “But he miscalculated. He did not think to change my feelings for him; he only thought to have all of my being focused on him.”
Realisation saturates Scotty’s words. “So you didn’t see us, not really. Only him.”
Understanding crashes into me like an avalanche, and I curse in time with Cooper. Tiger and Alby both look horrified.
“Yes . . . which is why the only thing I could think was kill. Because that is my only desire when it comes to him.” A hand finds Tiger’s hair again, the other Alby’s.
“So do not worry. You are safe. We all are. He evidently only woke me up, probably by the Avri that was infecting me at the time, too, in order for me to break your hearts by showing you that all I cared about was him.” Pausing to take a breath, she cants her head.
“As I have said, that failed spectacularly. However, he is appearing more and more unstable as the days go by. He is almost certainly losing his touch. His plans are all unravelling right before his eyes, backfiring atrociously, and he has only himself to blame.” She hesitates to voice her next thoughts, but we give her time, and she eventually says, “I would like to apologise again for my—”
“Vengeance, don’t,” Cooper cuts her off firmly, and a glare that holds nothing but the promise of a magnificently gory death slides over Havoc’s shoulder to meet him.
I’m aware she won’t go to town on us, but that doesn’t change the fact that I get the best kind of chills, the best kind of ache in my balls, every time she gives one of us a look like that.
“As much as I love that you’re able to apologise to us, and only us, it’s unnecessary.
As you’ve just said, you thought we were .
. . him”—his voice stiffens there—“so we can’t fault you for your behaviour.
You were completely out of your damn head, HC, and never would I blame you for acting the way you did.
It’s completely valid, and I’d be more worried if you didn’t hurt any one of us. ”
Ezla’s glare has softened out as he spoke, and now she can only blink once at him, slowly.
He grins, and her eyes narrow again, which only makes him chuckle and press a kiss to her cheek as he hugs her closer. “Fuck, I love you, HC.”
My brows evacuate the premises, they shoot so far up. At the same time, Tiger flies upright, excitement pouring off him in waves. “Holy shit! No way! When did that happen, Coops?! Why wasn’t I notified of this update sooner?!”
Cooper becomes a beetroot.
Scrubbing a hand over his mouth, which has stubble now to match Cooper’s with his extreme decrease in shaving over the course of the previously ongoing nightmare, one that actually seems like it might die down after today with Havoc back to us in every way and no option for the Game Master to do anything to us without hurting her, Scotty answers, “Maybe because it only happened last night while you were knocked out in bed?”
“Hmmm . . . fair, then, Coops. I’ll let you off this time.”
He scoffs.
“Right,” Ezla says abruptly, and my spine snaps straight like a good solider. “It is time for you all to shower. The only one who has is Cooper.”
“I will if you come in with me, Havoc, baby.”
“No.” The response is blunter than ever, and I pout. “I would like to focus on Scotty, Alby, and Tiger for today.”
The three of them light up, and everything in me protests, raging and ranting furiously in an instant. That jealousy I’d been so good at keeping down roars up with the might of a fucking gorilla, and I open my mouth to let it erupt from me—
“I will dedicate tomorrow to you, Tate.”
Her words have every particle in the room freezing mid-motion, a downpour of elation and possessiveness drowning out anything else.
Dedicate tomorrow to me. Only me.
Fuck yes.
Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine . . .
“I feel as though you all need separate attention for now,” Havoc explains. “Then we can regroup properly. Everyone will leave their doors open for me, however, as I have yet to add my fingerprint to them all, and so I will do that today.”
We all dip our chins without question, each of us wanting her to be able to come and go into our private spaces as she pleases.
“Make sure you also nourish your bodies. I will not be happy if you do not get proper food in you, especially after your collective awful eating patterns during the past couple of days.” Her look is sexily stern.
All my jealousy is gone now, and I’m not even too bothered as Scotty and Ezla leave the room together, heading into the adjoining bathroom. I ache in her absence as always, but as long as I get an equal part of my Havoc, our Bonded, then I’m thoroughly content.