Clear message received. Do not bother us.
“Um…” My eyes bounced between all of them before settling back on Aniyah’s intensely expectant stare.
“No coercion,” I answered carefully. “No tricks.” A smile tugged at my mouth despite my nerves. “Just… saving my life and accidentally falling in love, I guess.”
Aniyah made the most offended face I’d ever seen. “Ew.” She physically recoiled against the booth cushions. “A beauty like you could have anyone.”
Her hand waved dramatically through the air. “Everyone.”
She leaned closer conspiratorially. “At the Winged Palace you’d have your own suite. Your own floor. People would line up just to worship you properly.”
I laughed nervously instead.
“Well…” I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. “Honestly, I’m barely surviving the two mates I already have.” Aniyah’s grin turned dangerously slow.
“Darling,” she purred, voice dipping lower, “sometimes overwhelming is exactly what a woman needs.”
Her scent drifted around me sweet and dizzying. She leaned closer until her pale hair slipped forward around us like a curtain, shutting out the rest of the table.
Her eyes sparkled with temptation and playful wickedness, the kind that made my instincts immediately scream danger.
The air suddenly felt too warm. Too close. And despite the white hair and striking features, every instinct in my body immediately recognized one important thing, this wasnotmy Calix.
“Aww, Niyah, stop tormenting the poor girl.”
I practically turned toward Nova’s voice like she’d thrown me a lifeline. Nova winked at me knowingly and suddenly I could breathe again.
“We really did just want to meet you,” she said kindly. “Calix has been ridiculously secretive lately.”
She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Apparently you ‘needed time to heal.’ Then suddenly it became ‘mates need privacy.’”
Aniyah gagged loudly at the word privacy.
“So,” Nova continued with a grin, “we decided to solve the problem ourselves.”
“And by ourselves,” Ezra finally spoke, voice cool enough to cut glass, “she means me.”
The entire table quieted instantly. Even Aniyah stopped moving. And for some reason that made me gulp harder than anything else so far.
“Calix and Rack are going to be occupied for a while.” Ezra’s lips shifted ever so slightly, not quite a smile, but close enough to feel dangerous. “I sent them on a little chase.”
Aniyah snorted beside me like she already knew exactly how furious her brother and Rack were going to be when they figured it out. Nova hid a grin behind her glass while Riot remained perfectly still, though I swore the corner of her mouth almost twitched.
Ezra leaned back slightly, one arm stretched along the booth behind Nova as she studied me over the rim of her sunglasses.
“So.” Her voice stayed smooth and cool. “You have two options.”
She lifted one finger. “You come with us and continue this girls night properly.” A second finger joined the first. “Or you tell us no, and we leave.”
The entire table went quiet after that.
Aniyah bounced slightly in her seat waiting for my answer while Nova looked curious more than anything else. Riot simply watched. Ezra didn’t move at all.
I knew it wasn’t really a choice, not completely, but I also found myself genuinely curious about them.
These women ruled the Syndicate beside Calix and Rack. They were terrifying and strange and somehow already felt woven into my life whether I was ready or not.
I straightened slowly in my seat anyway and nodded once. “I’d be delighted to get to know all of you better.”
