Nix’s wolf is incensed in seconds—how dare the interloper stick his bulbous nose into Luca’s neck? He nods and goes back for seconds with a salacious smirk.
Through his rage, Nix locks down his scent so the intruders won’t scent his babies. Just seeing those hands on his mate has him dropping into a crouch, teeth bared, claws out.
“Easy there, Pretty. You don’t want me to have Bas crush his windpipe, do you?” the other—much scarier—man says.
He’s the definition of hideous—a walking corpse, with pale gray flesh sagging around his skull and sunken eyes that glitterwith madness. His pale blond hair is lank, and when the air conditioner turns on, stirring the air, he reeks of death.
There is no doubt in Nix’s mind that this is Withers.
It’s only the threat to Luca that has Nix frozen in place. He’s not wasting his time worrying about it, though—he’ll panic later, because if he can stall them long enough, Rowan will show up, and it’ll be three against two.
Withers runs a preening hand through what remains of his greasy hair, pulling the strands over his balding head in an offensive comb-over. He’s wearing a pink polo shirt and matching striped shorts, with leather boat shoes. The zombie-frat-chic aesthetic is jarring.
“Well, well. You’re not who I expected at all. And you’re Were? Will wonders never cease,” Withers drawls, settling onto a stool like he owns the place and has all the time in the world. “Where is your Adept, little Novice?”
Novice? Does this dumbass think Nix is a magic user? Huh. Guess that tracking he’d boasted about to Carnell during Grayson’s traveling isn’t perfect.
The relief that he hadn’t discovered Grayson’s secret is quickly replaced by dark amusement. No telling what he’s going to do once he figures out Nix’s only magic comes from Grayson using their soul. If the big guy didn’t have Luca up on his toes by the throat, Nix would have laughed and laughed at the fuck-up.
Instead, Nix remains crouched, shielding his belly for as long as he can, saying nothing.
Arlo had told him once that people feel the need to fill the silence, so he lets Withers talk. The more Nix knows about the plan, the better chance he has of getting them out of this alive.
“Cat got your tongue? Well, no matter. I tracked magic to this apartment, and since he’s not here and you are, well, you will have to do. Not that I am complaining because…you.Are. Delicious. Are you another of Rhodes’s bitches?” He leers, licking his cracked lips with a swollen, black tongue.
“Bitches! I’ll show you, you zombie-faced-motherfucker!” Luca shouts, kicking out and landing a kick to Withers’s thigh. The zombie-faced-motherfucker’s face goes from sly to livid, and Nix’s stomach drops. Fuck. Luca.
“You shouldn’t have done that.” The vicious backhanded blow whips Luca’s head to the side.
The blow is so hard that there’s blood on the corner of his mouth, but Luca just licks it with his tongue and bares his fangs in a feral smile. “You’ll have to do better than that, you fugly asshole.”
Nix prepares to leap on Withers’s back, sink his hands through his chest, and remove his heart when Withers spins abruptly. “If you move a single finger or draw on a thread of The Plain, I will have Bas here rip his mouthy head off his shoulders.”
Nix is sure he means it. There is madness in that gaze, and while Luca sits at the center of Nix’s life with the rest of his mates, he is surely acceptable collateral damage to Withers. Nix is glad for that short moment that Withers doesn’t know Luca is Gideon’s heart and soul. Goddess knows what he’d do then.
“Kick his ass, baby. Do it!” Luca yells, kicking Withers in the shin this time.
Growling something under his breath, Withers points at Luca until his eyes roll back and he collapses in BigAndStupid’s arms.
“That’s quite enough out of you.” He dusts his hands off like the villain in a B-grade movie. “Well, that just leaves you and me, lovely.”
Nix’s wolf howls at the sight of his unconscious mate. “What did you do to him?” Nix growls through a mouth full of fangs.
“Just a little request to sleep for a few hours. Nothing compared to a very bruised shin and thigh. Perhaps you’d liketo kiss it better?” At Nix’s silence, Withers continues. “Not now, maybe. But you’ll change your tune. I don’t mind them a little pudgy around the middle.”
BigAndStupid chuckles and picks Luca up in a bridal hold. “More cushion for the pushin’, eh?”
What a fucking asshole. Who does he think he is to comment on how someone looks, especially since Withers looks like he crawled out of a Ralph Lauren–designed crypt this morning? Then again, Nix’s wolf is irate that he can’t recognize a pregnant person when he sees one. Well, at least that’s one good thing. There is no telling what Carnell will do when they realize Nix is carrying two pack babies.
Withers laughs. “Exactly! Well, time to go.” He holds out his hand to Nix and makes a come-hither gesture with his fingers.
Nix shakes his head. “No. Just tell me what you want with us.”
“Oh, my dear, youarewhat I want. I came to see if your Adept would like to join me in my cause, or at the very least, battle to the death; but since it’s just you and your omega, you’ll do as some very sweet leverage to get your alphas to come to heel.”
He thinks Luca is an Omega?
“They’ll kill you.”I’ll kill you, he wants to say, but doesn’t want to tip his hand just yet.
