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“Really, I’m going to be okay. You were right before, though, Nico. I need more sleep, so maybe just one of you stays to rub my legs, if you want to. You don’t have to.” I move from Holter’s chest to the mattress below. He fluffs my pillow. Nico pulls the sheet over the top half of my body. Unlike them, I can’t sleep without something on top of me. I used to sleep with a weighted blanket, but now I have three males—sometimes four—who like to act as my blanket instead. That doesn’t mean I don’t have to have a sheet over me. I have woken up pinned to the bed by it before with Eros on top of it on one side and Nico on top of it on the other. Then again, that was one of the best night’s sleep I’ve ever had. Though that might have been because of the four orgasms I had the night before.
This time when I wake, the bed is full of three males. Nico’s not here. My heart races. I crawl down the end of the bed, trying my hardest to not wake them, but I know I do.
“Where are you going, Belle?”
“Bathroom.”
“He’s in the communicator room.”
I nod. Holter’s so insightful, it’s like he can read my thoughts. He grabs my hand as I round the side of the bed. He brings it to his mouth and kisses my palm. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Yes. I’ve had enough sleep now.”
“And your legs? How are they?”
“A lot better. You could be a professional masseuse.” And I shudder at the thought of him touching someone else, even if it was for medicinal purposes.
“Only your private masseuse.” He lets go of my hand. “Don’t stay up too long. Make him come back to bed too.”
I lean over the bed and give him a kiss. Eros’s and Castor’s eyes are cracked too. “I’ll be back.” I run my hands over his hair, and Holter closes his eyes.
I make my way through the living room. The sharks are slowly moving around the big window. I stop and put my bare palm against the glass for Mickey to tap. He wags his tail, and I head down the other hallway. From under the door, a light shines. I open it slowly. Nico has pulled a chair into the corner. His head is bent over his tablet.
“What are you doing?”
“Some things never change. I don’t sleep before a mission. I’m running models and scenarios of what might happen. Preparation is even more important than skill in a battle.”
“Battle?” The word hits me across my chest.
“Every mission, even when a shot or punch isn’t fired, is a battle. Battle of wits, if you must. It’s something we have to be prepared for, Little Krill. You are my moon and tide, and I wish to the deepest chasm that you didn’t have to be involved in this, but it’s the strongest plan. And I know how you want our family to be safe. You said as much last night. Do you remember everything?”
I glance down at my legs. But they’re my normal peach translucent version of white. “Maybe?”
“I didn’t think you would. When you fell asleep, you gave the deepest of sighs. And the scales rescinded into your skin. Then you rolled over onto your side and began to snore.”
“I don’t snore.” I laugh and take his tablet out of his hand and sit down on his lap. “Well, when my cousin used to run cross-country, she called it going to battle too. Not the same thing, I know. I know. But she always wanted to make sure that she had enough sleep and the right food. Are you going into... battle fully prepared?”
He smirks at me. And it hits me. He wasn’t preparing. He was trying to find another way, any other way, to keep me from going along on the mission.
“I don’t even know what the plan is, but Holter said there was no other way. You’ve said it yourself before. He’s one of the smartest males you know.”
“True.” He pinches his eyes shut. “Fine. Back to bed for both of us.” He stands with me in his arms.
“Wait, tell me what the plan is.”
“Can’t—that’s part of the plan.”
“Oh.”
27
EROS
It’s a plan. I’m still not confident it’s a good one. But we’re all loaded into the omada. Castor’s piloting because, when we’re challenged by a security vessel—and it’s not if, but when—he at least has an excuse to get us around the lockdown.
We’re having Castor escort us to Zaffiro dome in an attempt to use it as an excuse that we want Sunshine to stay with my parents. To keep her safe from whatever is attacking the city. Complete and utter bullshit. My parents couldn’t keep my sister safe from the Kraken. And while the Kraken are fierce, whomever is terrorizing the city is worse. No way I would leave my mate in their care. Hell, if I had a second sister, she’d be locked up in one of our spare bedrooms right now. Also, the golden prince pilots like my oldest father. I bite down on my molars. That might be what we need right now. He certainly doesn’t look like he’s in any hurry. “You do know how to operate an omada, right?”
“Shut it, Zaffiro. Of course I do.”
