“Jay, no.”
It’s not false modesty that causes Finn’s bond with Nix to twinge—it’s shame.
“What? Why? You were fucking amazing,” Jamie says, surprise clear on his face.
Finn shakes his head and squares his shoulders, his belief in what he’s going to say clear in his firm tone. He’s dead serious.
“Look, I’d do it again. The Goddess knows he got what he deserved, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. I dedicate my life to doing no harm and…if I didn’t have to do it again, that would be good, too. I will not be proud of it, you know?”
They fall silent for a moment.
Nix catches Finn’s eye and smiles, reaching for his hand. “You’re a good man, Finn Merritt.”
“I’m no better than anyone else, Nix. I just have to be true to myself. Like Gideon or you, Jay. We all protect those we love in our own ways.”
Jamie clears his throat, surreptitiously wiping his eye before rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, well, you did what you had to make sure Withers didn’t chuck us off the wall.”
“Yeah, thanks for that, Finnie,” Grayson says, elbowing Finn in the side of the thigh.
“You’re one to talk. You were fucking badass, Gray. Allwhooshandzapandboom!” Rowan waves his hands in a facsimile of Grayson’s power moves. “Fucking hot—and I don’t mean just literally.”
Cheeks pink, Grayson just shakes his head. “It wasn’t just me. We’re a team, you know?”
“Yeah.” He finally meets Grayson’s gaze, caught there for a minute with a goofy smile on his face, before he shakes his head. “Okay, enough mushy shit. This is why I’m a wolf.”
“I, for one, like the mushy shit,” Jamie smiles, kissing Nix’s cheek. “I’m blessed to have you all. I’m never taking any of this—or you guys—for granted ever again.”
“That will be a pleasant change, Jaybird,” Gideon says as he tows a red-eyed Leo into their little circle.
Leo slips in beside Finn, sighing when the alpha pulls him in for a side hug.
Most of the agents have moved out the side door, no doubt to secure the house, leaving only a final few in white forensic suits, scraping samples and putting them into little bags.
Lauren has been waylaid by a tall strawberry-blond man in a tan suit at the edge of the rampart. Her body language says she’s annoyed, but her face shows she’s being officious and accommodating under duress.
“Who’s that?” Grayson whispers. “He’s a really strong magic user…looks hella official.”
There’s a real fear along Grayson’s bond that perhaps he could be in violation of some magical treaty or law. He’d used advanced magic unsupervised, even if Nimue and Ignatius had registered him as their apprentice, and he would hate for them to get sanctioned for his actions.
Luca watches for a moment before tilting his head as if he can hear what they’re saying—or maybe just reading lips.
“Lauren won’t let him talk smack about you. But, he’s actually asking about Nix…”
As soon as Luca says it, the man looks over as if he’d felt their gaze.
The sun comes out from behind the clouds, turning the man’s hair into a red-gold, fiery corona as the light glints off his glasses. Maybe it’s a trick of the sun, but Nix thinks his eyes flash gold behind the lenses.
Raising a hand, he waves before disappearing through the side door and the stairway.
“I guess you’ll live to fight another day, Gray.” Luca smiles, shifting so he can settle between Nix’s legs. “My turn. Give snuggles.”
Nix laughs, rubbing his nose against Luca’s before kissing him softly. “You did really well today, baby. So brave.” Now that Nix thinks about it, Luca has been brave on countless occasions since they’ve come to Florida—maybe even before.
“Yeah, I was. We all were,” Luca sighs. He’s so pretty with his golden skin, burnished by the sun.
“I’d say,” Jamie agrees, pulling Grayson and Gideon into either side.
Now wrapped in Luca’s forfeited blanket, Rowan lays his head on Nix’s thigh, nudging Finn and Leo with a knuckle in their spines until they lie down, their heads resting on Grayson’s and his own thighs, respectively.
