“He said he’d selected Hunter, Damian, and Kaige to be my mates and bring me back. Either Adrian telling the Slaughters was the beginning of him putting that plan into motion, or he unintentionally upped Ash’s timeline and he’s spinning it to look like it was part of his master plan. Ash controls the actual distribution of the drug, and when Stonewood started making a play to get me back here sooner when the Slaughters put a hold on it until I was clear of Shadow Ridge, Ash sent it anyway to buy himself a little more time.”
As one bag finishes filling, Damian swaps it out for an empty one, crossing to the fridge to store the first. “He set it up so that you’d be away from him, weak, and raised to be resentful of humans like he wanted. While he... perfected the lycan drug?”
Slade has embraced his new job so much it’s like he’s already gunning for a raise. On the opposite side of the table, Reid is busy swapping options in one of those story plot auto-generators that mixes and matches whatever’s in its database, while Slade has filled up an entire notebook with possibilities for him to input; going so far as to add color coded sections, then dividingthoseinto multiple subsections per topic. I don’t think he slept at all in the past two days, and he’s never looked happier.
“I ran down this rabbit hole around two this morning, hold on.” Flipping to a specific page on the first try, he skim-reads the page quickly before tapping a spot and reading his notes aloud, “Ash started experimenting with the drug before Sabrina’s mom was ever pregnant, so was likely an attempt to free the demons because bringing Aurelia back was a long shot even for a crazy person, and he’s too meticulous in his planning. If he was still working on it all of this timeafterhe realized he pulled it off and Aurelia was back in play, it would be a fallback plan if Sabrina failed to do what he needs. Alternative theories: He needs to inject peoplebeforeSabrina officially releases them from their human vessels so he’ll be able to keep them from turning on him, or-” he smacks his paper with a victorious grin “- because he’s not planning to free them in the literal sense we’re thinking of, he’s making us switch places.” Despite the horrifying implications, his pride at coming up with the idea is written all over his face.
Slowly, Reid nods, closing his laptop. “What would be more poetic than after being a passenger in someone else’s body for centuries, to throwusin the cage instead? Then none of us would die, but they’d still be free.” Lifting his hand, he concentrates on lengthening his nails into claws and back as a demonstration. “They can still use their abilities in this form, even if it’s not as powerful; it’s just the suckishness of not having your own body to wield them. Hell, any of the Nightmares that became rankless wolves actually made out like bandits, not having to siphon from anyone anymore and gaining another form.”
Damian releases a weary sigh as he swaps out another blood bag. “But with enough time, it would likely turn out like Ash and my father, where their counterparts faded away completely.”
Bo gestures between Reid and Cinjin. “Hell, they’re perfect examples that it’s possible. Reid nearly suffocated his wolf out of existence, and Cinjin had curled up so far inside himself for so long, we all thought that he was gone for good.”
Hunter rakes a hand through his hair, shoving off of the wall to pace the room. “He can’t just pick up where he left off with that war; we’re vastly outnumbered in this day and age, and humans have never hesitated hunting down anything that was different. Could you imagine a demon walking down Main Street would turn out well? No matter what extra abilities they might have, if humans were able to kill them in the past, the technology we have now would eradicate them in no time. Blending in and hiding in plain sight is the only way theycanbe free.”
I meet Slade’s eye with an incredulous, dark chuckle. “We’re not better than any of them, just better at surviving.”
The pride on his face falls as my meaning dawns on him. “You think Annika has known this whole time what we really are?”
Slowly, I state, “I think that Annika was closer to Acheron than anyone, and was paranoid and resented me for a reason.”
Damian interrupts, palming my cheek, and tilting my head to face him. “You’re looking pretty pale, how are you feeling?” Before I can even respond, he’s unhooking me with the third bag not fully topped off. Carefully retracting the needle, he presses a cotton ball to the puncture wound.
With a small smile at his fussing, I admit, “Little light headed, but that’s par for the course.”
He nods to himself, swapping out the cotton ball for a bandage. “Let’s call it for the day. This is already going to make you heal a bit slower, and we don’t want to screw ourselves over by making you more vulnerable and giving him an opening before we’re ready. It’s not like you’re going to be able to provide enough for all of the injections we need in a day or two, anyway, so no point risking pushing you too far right off the bat.”
“You’re kind of cute when you worry. But we don’t even know what our deadlineis.Ash simply said I wasn’t strong enough yet. And it’s stupid to assume he’s going to simply leave us alone until then, so we need to prepare as much as we can as quickly as possible.” Getting to my feet, I take a second to adjust to the head rush before stretching my arms above my head.
“Here.” Gesturing for me to turn around and cross my arms over my chest, Damian locks his arms over mine and lifts me up while leaning back, cracking my back better than anything I could accomplish on my own. “Seriously, we need to get you a better chair or keep a damn chiropractor on speed dial. All of those hours hunched over a desk are killing your back.”
Sighing in relief, I take the cup of hot chocolate that Kaige brings me, sipping it happily. “How about I make you guys a deal?” All eyes instantly fall on me, Cinjin even going so far to let his makeshift ball hit him in the face rather than catch it to give me his complete, undivided attention, and my lip twitches with amusement.
“If we get out of this mess alive, we’re going to needsomewhereto live, and I know it’s been killing you to hold back on my account so-” I take a long drink as I mentally prepare myself to put my money where my mouth is, and getting a small kick out of dragging out the moment. “You can not only decide where we settle down and pick out whatever house you want, but set up my future room. Go nuts.”
Slade’s the first to break the silence as they all attempt to find the trap, eyeing me warily. “Not only picking out the furniture and layout?”
I take another drink to hide my smile and bolster my nerves, already knowing this is going to bite me in the ass, but secretly a little excited for a change, too. “If it fits inside, so long as I have room to sleep and a space to work without tripping over things every time I try to walk through it, it’s free game.”
Cinjin flips so that he’s upright on the couch, his auburn hair a disheveled mess and arctic eyes alight with mischief. “Even stocking the closets?”
At that, I narrow my eyes. “Don’t you mean closet?”
He doesn’t reply, his grin only widening.
Before I can take it back, there are seven quick declarations of, “Deal.”
With a shake of his head, Bo chuckles, “I’m not sure you know what fresh hell you’ve unleashed, pretty girl.”
Meeting his eye across the room, I counter, “If you guys are willing to come together for my sake and stay alive, I suppose it’s only fair that I suffer a little, too.”
Hunter snorts, uncrossing his arms and stalking to where our bags are piled in Sebastian’s room, rummaging around for a minute before returning. “You poor thing, needing to endure a life of luxury.” He offers a vending machine sized bag of mini chocolate chip cookies and I perk up instantly at the sight.
“I’m glad you understand the weight of my sacrifice.” Taking the offered snack, I rise up on my toes and kiss him. Against his lips, I murmur, “Like you don’t know how incredibly uncomfortable it is having someone else pay for things and feel like you’re a little more indebted to them with every additional dollar spent. Don’t think I didn’t notice how little you ate our entire trip back here. At first, I thought it was because you would rather go hungry than take a handout, but now I see you were actually just secretly filling up on junk food.”
When I attempt to pull away, he threads his fingers in my hair to keep me captive for a few seconds longer. “No, I stocked up a bag in Khalida. Wanted to be prepared out here because it's a miracle you've kept yourself alive this long with as often as you forget to eat for one reason or another.” Breaking away, he opens the bag for me. “Go hop yourself up on sugar while we fight over who gets to stock your underwear drawer.”
He releases me with a half-smile and I polish off my drink, setting the empty cup on the table. As I pop the first tiny cookie in my mouth, Damian gestures to Reid’s computer and asks him, “Are you even going to pull this off in time for it to be useful? Doesn’t this sort of thing usually take months?”
