Page 8 of King’s Kismet

“Wait,” Novak sang, holding his hand out to stop the conversation. “Is Sloane King scared of needles?”

“Uhm, no.” I quirked a brow. “Why would I be?”

Stone hummed, smirking at me as he instigated. “Are you sure?”

“Shit starter,” I mumbled before answering. “Pretty sure I lost my head last week. Needles aren’t that bad.”

“Then we’re going to get a tattoo,” Briggs stated, his tone leaving little room to argue.

For them…

I could and would argue with anyone and anything.

They knew this, even anticipated it.

“What if I don’t want one?”

“What if there’s no choice?” York countered, grinning at me.

I studied my guys, feeling suspicious. “Is this a gang initiation? Because if it is, take me to your leader. I need to know the rules.”

Vaughn scoffed. “So you can break them?”

“So I can kill the leader and change the rules,” I admitted with a shrug. “It’s not like I don’t understand how organized crime works.”

“Yeah,” Novak drawled, rolling his golden eyes. “She’s totally scared of needles.”

“Fine,” I grumbled. “Take me to your cult headquarters. But Palmer is coming with us. He doesn’t have a tattoo either.”

My mage glared at me. “I can’t believe you just threw me under the bus like that.”

Novak dropped his hand onto my shoulder and pulled me through the void. We stepped out into a neatly furnished apartment, though I couldn’t tell if anyone actually lived in it. Too many scents mingled in the air.

Briggs and Palmer stepped out right behind us, catching me muttering, “This feels sketchy.”

My wolf scooped me up, tossing me over his shoulder in true captive form. I cut my eyes to my chuckling mates as I dug my elbows into the center of Briggs’ back to prop my head up.

Palmer and Novak started gesturing wildly at my wolf, and I squinted in confusion. It looked like they were trying to get me to pinch Briggs… But—

“Anal,” Novak whispered.

My mage snorted. “Don’t you mean starfish?”

Briggs spun, giving me a better view of his ass in the reflective elevator doors. But I was quickly pulled away from the glorious sight before me as popping and grinding echoed around us. I could hear the machine rising floor after floor at a snail’s pace, the gears and cables making more noise than was safely appropriate.

“Are you calling me an asshole? Or—”

“Novak and I were debating on what would get you to turn around,” Palmer confessed. “Her ass is a better view than yours.”

“Agreed,” Novak said, though I could hear the smile in his voice. “I mean. Yours is like the second best to look at out of this group. Be glad Vaughn isn’t here. He’s got a nice ass.”

My wolf sighed. “You’re unbelievable sometimes. You know that, yeah? Palmer’s right there. Way to hurt his feelings.”

I wiggled out of Briggs’ grip as the elevator pinged open. “I’m not getting on that. Did you hear it?”

“The owners have the elevators serviced regularly to keep their tenants happy,” he explained, grabbing my wrist to drag me inside as he hit the B button. “There’s a mixture of eclectic small businesses here.”

“There was no shopping directory,” I pointed out.