Page 50 of Hybrid Heroics

“That’s what I said. What?” He rolled his eyes. “And then she shoved me.”

I popped my lips together, not really knowing what to say to that.

“And then she said her mates aren’t weak. They don’t need her; they want her.”

“Oh,” I whispered, grimacing at Stone.

“Yeah.” He huffed. “And then she pointed out the door for me and asked if I wanted her to piece together a hooker so I could take it with me.”

I chuckled, then coughed. “Sorry. That’s not funny right now.”

“It’s more funny now than it was then…” Stone tugged at his hair. “I told her I didn’t want anyone else.”

“And she told you to prove it.”

He turned to face me. “How did you know?”

“Because I know her,” I replied. “The hookers wouldn’t have been a big deal if you would have pushed them away. Watching them touch you is what made her mad at you. When the one lady was after Palmer, and he kept evading her? That made Sloane mad at the hooker, not Palmer. When she touched me and I threatened to hurt her, Sloane realized that she wasn’t the only one who was uncomfortable with those women in our space.”

“So, if I’d have broken their necks and left them lying on the floor—”

I shrugged. “She would have fucked you on their corpses.”

He squinted his eyes, almost like he was trying to picture the imagery. “I think that might be a limit for me.”

“Never know until you try,” I teased.

“She assumed we all felt that same way Vaughn does…” he trailed off, shaking his head again. “That she treats us like glass.”

“She does,” I agreed, then argued my opinion. “But that’s just what Sloane does when she cares for people. That doesn’t mean she thinks we can’t fight or defend ourselves. She knows she’ll bounce right back. She thrives off the adrenaline and chaos that happens when she fights enemies while defending anyone. And she wants to do all the things at the same time. If you let her, she will. The trick is not letting her.”

Stone gave me an unimpressed look. “Some fucking trick.”

“It took me a while to understand that,” I confessed. “The second time I saw her, we were in the Ivy Buffalo, and this guy was relentlessly hitting on her. She threatened to splatter the walls with his blood. Then she sat beside me, and he followed again... And I made a joke about fighting her jilted ex. She shut me down fast. Told me she wasn’t a damsel in distress. I wasn’t sure I believed her until a few weeks later.”

“What happened?”

I grinned at the demon. “I watched her kill a man with a pen.”

“A pen?” he repeated, pursing his lips. “Like a plastic writing pen?”

“Yeah,” I drawled. “It’s a long story that will derail this conversation. The point is... I watched while she acted. Then I reacted, waiting for someone to come to his aid.”

“So, beat her to the punch?”

“While somehow letting her have her fun.”

His expression bounced between confusion and disbelief. “That’s a microscopic line to walk.”

I shrugged. “It’s not impossible.”

He mulled it over for a minute, then whispered, “She told me what I said during our argument made her feel imperative to my survival. She’s worried about us now that we’re so close to reaching Alric.”

“Of course she’s worried, Stone,” I declared. “She’s not one who loves easily, yet she loves us. She has too much power to not have enemies. And that means she’ll always worry that she’s brought us into something we weren’t ready for.”

“How do you prove you can handle it?” he asked. “I’ve never had anyone question my ability to survive before.”

“Time. Determination.” I sighed. “It’s not that she doesn’t see it.”