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As I peel my fingers away one by one, I almost smile when I see the bruise forming on her skin. Rubbing her neck, she sighs and glances in the back.
“Touchy, isn’t he? So what can a scorpion do?”
Clutching my head, I stave off a headache and try my best to ignore her.
It’s harder than it sounds.
Her scent is everywhere. We’ve swapped drivers a few times, and everyone bar me is asleep. My eyes are locked on the window, waiting for the next attack as I try unsuccessfully to ignore the fiery brimstone smell wrapping around my body. It’s the mating bond, and with her so close, I have the insane urge to reach out and touch her.
“It’s getting stronger, isn’t it?” Emrys asks, leaning into my seat from behind. “Even I feel desire and the need to claim. It’s hard to ignore, even harder with her completely oblivious to the effect.”
“She’s not oblivious. She just doesn’t care,” I respond quietly, unsure why we are talking out loud, but sometimes it’s nice to speak rather than focus on the thoughts in my head.
“Are you sure about that? Sure she doesn’t feel it too?”
“If she does, she’s better than we are at ignoring it,” I reply, and his face presses closer, his voice lowering.
“How do we kill a phoenix? We need to figure that out.” He’s right, we do, but I do not have a clue. Phoenixes are notoriously unkillable. As creatures of legend and myth, little is known about them. It makes this harder than it needs to be.
“We’ll just keep trying until one method works,” I answer.
“We need to keep our eyes on Bram.” I glance back to meet his glowing gaze, knowing he sensed what I did. Bram is growing attached quicker than the rest of us. “You know how he feels about lost and broken animals.”
“He likes to collect them.” Just like us.
He was the one who brought us together.
“If you’re going to talk about me, either talk louder so I can hear better or speak silently in your minds so I don’t have to listen.” Her voice interrupts us, and we both look at her. She doesn’t even twitch, but I know she’s awake now. She’s good. She had me fooled. “As for ways to kill me, at least get inventive. As my mates, you cannot be so dull.”
“Cutting her head off might work, and it will stop her from talking,” I inform Emrys.
Her eyes flutter open and lock on us. “But then you wouldn’t be able to kiss me again.”
Emrys surprises us by choking on a laugh. When she swings a look his way, he coughs to cover it. “That’s a Kitt problem, not ours. We didn’t kiss you.”
“Don’t you want to, ghoul boy? I wonder, do you taste like death?” His eyes narrow as she grins at him.
“I’d kiss you.” The voice catches us off guard, and we glance back to see Bram awake. “I’ve never kissed anyone. I’d like to before the mate bond breaks.”
“You don’t want me as your first kiss, baby,” she teases, but there’s a softness to her tone. “You’ll find someone else.”
“I won’t,” Bram states cordially, and for a moment, I’m in his head, seeing what he sees—the past, present, and future—before it’s gone. “Either way, you are the end of that possibility.”
Sitting up in her seat, she glances between them and finds him eyeing her sadly. “What does that mean?”
He doesn’t respond, and when I nudge him, he ignores me too. Sometimes Bram acts his age, the youngest of us, but sometimes he knows way more than the universe can seem to hold. It’s disconcerting, and I know it concerns him too.
“Wait, if that’s your first kiss—” She looks at me. “Was that for you as well?”
“Sex and affection were not exactly on the top of our lists after we escaped,” I admit, and she files away that fact. “Allowing someone close enough for that means you trust them to a certain extent, and we trust no one but each other.”
“You don’t have to trust me. In fact, I wouldn’t. I’d rip out your hearts with my bare hands if this bond would allow it, but for now, I’m the one person in this world who cannot hurt you.”
“You can still betray us,” I retort.
“To whom?” She looks around. “Do you see anyone with me? I was thrown into Gehenna, Kitt.” The way she says my name has desire pounding in my temples, and my skin reacts, which I’m sure she notices, much to my chagrin. “That means nobody gave a fuck what I said. I have nobody to betray you to. That’s the bitter fucking truth. I’m all alone, and there are five of you.”
“What, you want me to feel sorry for you?” I spit.
