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“She threatened you, didn’t she?” Jakub asks, his voice deadly.
“She’s willing to do anything to keep you safe, Jakub. In her own, messed up way, she loves you.”
“I’m going to fucking kill her!” he snaps as a look of agreement passes between Konrad and Leon.
I grip his arm. “No!”
“Christy,” he warns, glaring at me. “I won’t have anyone threaten your life.”
“I said no. There’ll be no more deaths. Five has promised to keep her out of the way until it’s done. I trust her to do that, as should you.”
“She won’t stop, Jakub. You know that as well as I do,” Konrad says to him.
“Please. Whatever you’re thinking,don’t. We’ll figure out another way that doesn’t include violence.”
“Why are you protecting her?” Jakub asks.
“I’m not protecting her. I’m protecting you. You’ve all fought too hard to be where you are now. Don’t you understand? I can’t risk losing you to the darkness again so soon. Irefuse,” I say firmly.
“And I won’t lose you to her jealousy either. So what do we do?” Leon asks stubbornly. “We might be changed men foryou, Christy, but that doesn’t mean to say we'll allow her to hurt you.I refuse.”
“Look, Iknowshe won’t be there when I do what I have to do. So I can only assume that Five does what I ask and keeps her away, or that it’s at a point in the night when she’s otherwise engaged. Please. Just let this go for now and we’ll figure out how to deal with One when I return. Okay?”
“Jakub, think about this,” Leon warns.
“I’m with Leon. One is volatile right now. Dangerous. Look what happened with Twelve,” Konrad adds.
Jakub looks from me to his brothers and back again, a muscle feathering in his jaw with the stress. “Tonight we do this Christy’s way.”
“Jakub—” Leon begins, but Jakub cuts him off.
“One will be onstage most of the night and after The Menagerie performs she’ll be with the Wolf. If at any point she manages to get away from him, we have Five as back-up.”
“Has it slipped your mind that Five will also be busy tonight? She has her yearly date with the Mole,’ Konrad points out.
“And have you forgotten stamina really isn’t his speciality? Half an hour with Five and he’ll be passed out. We do this Christy’s way, but with one exception.”
“And what’s that?” I ask.
“If any of us catch One trying to hurt you, she’ll be dealt with intantly. No second chances.”
“Five will make sure that doesn’t happen,” I say, more to reassure myself than them.
“Then that’s settled. Let’s have lunch in our suit before the madness starts. I’ve asked Thirteen and Nala to join us,” Jakub says, taking my hand in his.
“Shit, Nala! She won’t understand. She’llhateme,” I exclaim. I hadn’t even considered how she’s going to react to what I’m going to do, let alone the pain it will cause her. I’m a terrible person.
“She won’t know. I’ve asked Thirteen to give her a tonic. She’ll be asleep through it all,” Jakub says.
“Thank God.” My shoulders drop and Jakub releases my hand, pulling me into his arms as I murmur my thanks into the warmth of his neck. “I couldn’t bear to think of her distress. She’s been through enough.”
With his arms wrapped around me, Jakub hauls me closer, and for the briefest of moments I allow myself to hope that maybe everything will work out and we’ll get our happily ever after.
“I love you, Christy,” he says, brushing his mouth across my cheek. “To be able to say that to you freely, let alone feel it, is a gift I will treasure for however long I have left in this world.”
“Years and years,” I whisper, my fingers curling into his jumper as my heart wishes for it to be true. The words I know he wants to hear are on the tip of my tongue, yet I can’t say them. I won’t say them, not yet, not until this is all over and I know we’ll be free to love each other without fear of repercussions. First I have to figure out a way to get back to them all without Grim and Beast finishing what they’ll be starting tonight.
“Hey, stop hogging Christy, she isn’t just yours, you know,” Konrad says, grinning as Jakub releases me from his arms and I step into his and breathe in his distinctive scent of leather and metal, spice and musk.
