And honestly? I liked it that way.
Out of the five of us, Ezra and I fit together like two halves of a blade. Where she was iron, I was flex. Where she was plans, I was hands. She built the map. I made it real.
It was why everyone in the family already knew she’d take the Desmond seat one day… and why I slept just fine at night at the thought of it.
A shadow slid over the table. A hand made of darkness, edges soft like smoke, picked up the bottle of Hellfire and poured two more shots with perfect control.
Sometimes I hated how useful her power was. Sometimes I envied it so hard my teeth hurt.Do you know how much more I could accomplish if I had her demon shadow power?
The shadow-hand dangled the full shot glass in front of my face, and I grabbed it. Another formed, grabbed the second glass, and floated it to Ezra.
As the glass settled in her hand, she leaned back, lifted it, and smirked over the rim. “I’m surprised you’re here.”
Holding up the shot in a lazy salute, I asked, “Why?”
“I figured you’d be out there taking it for a test run,” she said, saluting me before taking her shot. “After texting us some excuse about why you were running late.”
I snorted and tossed the drink back. The burn hit, and I welcomed it. Throwing my chin out at Aniyah and Nova chatting with two guys at the bar, I answered, “I couldn’t miss my baby sister’s twenty-first. You know this is a big one.Theone.”
One brow lifted in my direction, eyes flicking to mine, her mouth curved in amusement as she set the glass down.
“Right,” she said, voice dry. “And Rack had nothing to do with you being here, almost on time, and not playing with your new ‘ready-made’ toy at home.”
I groaned, dropping my head back against the booth.
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered. “He’s a dick.”
Then quieter, like a confession I hated giving, “And a good fucking second.”
“He is,” Ezra confirmed, throwing back another shot as I did a double take.When did she refill her glass?Her eyes stayed on the dance floor, tracking Aniyah’s wild spins and Nova’s laughter like nothing else in the world existed.
“Sometimes,” she added, her voice losing a bit of its steel, “I think I should’ve kept him.”
I caught it. The timing. The tone. The way she side-eyed me to see how I would react to that.
Nice try, E.
“If you want him,” I said lightly, rolling one shoulder like it didn’t matter, “take him.”
My teeth sank into the inside of my cheek as she tilted her head in thought.She isn’t going to take him… right?
Doing the only thing I could think of, I doubled down. I leaned in closer to steal her attention, my grin flashing just enough fang to make it a challenge. “But you better hurry, sis. Once we’re bosses and they are solidified, there’s no trading after the fact.”
Her head finally turned, eyes sharp and deep, weighing every word like they were pieces on a board. I held the look, even when it started to feel like standing too close to a cliff edge.
“Keep Rack,” she said at last, settling back into the booth, hands neatly folded in her lap. Calm. Decided. Like she’d known the answer the whole time. “You need him more than I do.”
I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it again. Anything I said after that would’ve been bullshit, and we both knew it.
Truth be told, I'd been relying on Ezra and Rack for most of my life. Both of them recognized that I didn’t want the pressures of being the ruling head, that I worked best if I was left alone and free to make everything that popped into my head.
They gave me room. Let me build. Let me disappear into my work and come back when I was ready.
I was a handful, and I knew it, but I was serious when I needed to be, too. Reliable when called for. I might be messy and prone to emotional outbursts, but I was also a weapons genius, and when it mattered, I showed up.
“I mean…” I said slowly, pretending to weigh my options. “He’s useful.” I made a show of looking around and shrugging. “I guess I’ll keep him.”
The bubbly, high-pitched laugh that came from Ezra stunned me into silence. I’d maybe heard Ezra laugh a handful of times in her whole life.
