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That was a huge mistake, because as soon as I did, everything that’d been plaguing me all week seemed to rush back in with a torrent of images. I winced.
My movement caught Trace’s attention, and he turned his head to look at me. “Ah, fuck. Is it time for us to get serious already?”
I smiled at him, chuckling as I ran a hand through my hair.
“Yeah, ’fraid so. As incredible as that was, I have to be honest, that’s not actually why I came here. I wanted to tell you something.”
He laughed. “Dammit. And here I thought I was just a booty call.”
“Never.” I rolled over, draping my body over him and pressing my lips to his.
I knew he’d been joking, but I kissed him hard anyway. I’d decided to stop running from my feelings, and that included making sure Trace knew I wanted all of him—his wicked humor, his intelligence, and his wild streak that called to the wildness in me.
“Oh, I didn’t mean for that to sound like a complaint,” he murmured with a grin when our lips broke apart. “You can call my booty anytime you want, Snow. I guarantee you’ll come.”
I bit back a grin at his flirtatious wink. “Thanks, Mr. Rock Star. I’ll keep that in mind.” Then I shook my head, trying to organize my thoughts. “I just… had to talk to someone. I know things have been weird since we got back, but I guess I wasn’t sure what was real in the godly realm and what wasn’t.”
“This was real.” His arms tightened around me, his hands sliding down to cup my ass.
“Yeah.” I smiled, assuming he was talking about the thing between us and not my actual ass. “I’m starting to realize that.”
Trace pulled me a little higher on his body, then propped his head up with one arm. “Good. So, hit me with it. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
Unease churned in my stomach, but for the first time in days, I didn’t feel quite as lost and helpless as I had when we’d returned from the godly realm. I wasn’t alone anymore.
“I overheard a couple of admins talking outside the school a few days ago,” I said quietly. “I missed the first part of their conversation because I was having a minor mental breakdown, but what I did hear was really strange. They made it sound like something had gone wrong with the challenge. That it’d been ‘sloppy,’ whatever that means.”
He regarded me seriously for a moment. “So what do you think is going on?”
I pressed a kiss to his shoulder, my lips brushing over a patch of bare skin where his tattoos had been burned away. Then I took a deep breath and finally spoke my suspicions aloud. “I think there’s something off about the whole Gods’ Challenge thing. Maybe it’s a test of some sort? I don’t know. But I don’t think those four students were supposed to die. I think something happened to Brielle and Shane.”
Trace’s hand roamed over my back as he puffed out his cheeks, his gaze going out of focus as he fell into his thoughts.
Then he let all the air out of his lungs and met my gaze again. “I’ll be honest, I’ve been wondering something similar. I keep thinking about those last few minutes of the challenge. Brielle was right behind me. She was right there. Then the portal yanked me back through space, and the next thing I knew, I was back on earth. And she was dead. What could’ve happened in that split second that killed her? Or did she die inside the portal somehow? I dunno. It doesn’t add up.”
“No. It doesn’t.”
A weird sort of relief combined with a deepening dread in my chest. It felt good to share my fears with someone, to know that I wasn’t crazy for thinking this. But at the same time…
If I’m not crazy, then what the fuck is going on around here?
I sat up, flipping my hair back and getting up out of the bed. “We need to talk to the others.”
“Yeah.” Trace sat up too, completely unabashed at his nakedness. “Yeah, we should. Four heads are better than one. And much better than three.”
He shot me a meaningful look, and I rolled my eyes, grinning like an idiot. Except, I wasn’t an idiot. I’d stopped being an idiot the second I’d stopped trying to deny my feelings for these three men. When I’d admitted that I wanted them by my side.
We both dressed in a hurry, and I could feel his gaze roving over me. If I hadn’t been so horrified by what we were discussing, I probably would’ve tackled him and gone another round. Or three.
As it was, we needed to talk to the other men. Now.
I shook my head as I pulled my robe back on, tying it at one side. “I shouldn’t have waited. I should’ve come to you guys right away. I was just… fucked up in the head.”
Trace pulled the shirt over his head, tugging it down. Then he crossed the small room and took my hand, drawing me toward him. He brushed my hair back from my face before dropping a small, sweet kiss to my lips.
“Hey. We were all pretty fucked up. No shame in that. But I wasn’t kidding, Snow. The one thing in this whole mess that I’m sure of is that I care about you. That’s real.”
I placed my hands over his, keeping us connected for another moment as I fell into the bright blue of his irises.
