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Her eyes slip shut, and she swallows hard as her knees give for the barest second. Lucifer pulls away with a wide grin. Clearly satisfied with her reaction.
Eden blinks and pushes back against him, forcing him to take a step back, and puts space between us all. “I—” she stutters, shaking her head. “I grew up on a compound where there weren’t a lot of women. Virgil would group the guys and marry them to a woman to share.”
“Sounds miserable, not having a chance at making a real connection with someone,” I say, and Eden moves further away from Lucifer and me.
“I think it would be, but everyone put on happy faces when they were out and about. Behind closed doors … who knows what it was like. So no, this,” she gestures between the three of us, “doesn’t feel odd to me. It’s familiar.”
Red hues bloom on her cheeks, and she looks down at the floor. “What about you? Are you okay with where things seem to be heading?” Her voice is timid and shy, the turn of the conversation obviously making her uncomfortable or nervous.
A smile crosses my face, and the beast inside of me purrs with delight at her making a connection between us all. “Little killer, we’ve been heading down this road since we saw you that first day at the bus stop. We were just a little slow on the uptake. For that, I’m sorry.”
“We do things our own way here, and that’s all that matters,” she says, taking one of our hands in hers.
She drops our hands and picks up the gift box with the twin daggers inside. Pulling them out, she drops the box on her bed and holds them out to me. “Show me where these go, please. We have a meeting to attend, and by your choice of gifts this morning, I’m guessing I need to be ready for a fight.”
I hook my fingers into her belt and pull her closer. “It’s a real possibility. But I’m hoping it won’t come to that.”
Her eyes search mine; a pleading look, and I know what she’s going to ask before the question ever tumbles past her lips. “Don’t ask it, little killer. I won’t stay behind. This is far more important than my own safety.”
“He’s right, butterfly. We have to show a united front in this request. If we all don’t go, even with him injured, it’ll look as if we’re divided.”
I unhook her belt and look at Lucifer. He pulls half of her belt free, and I take the daggers—still in their sheath—from Eden and hand them to him. He threads the belt through the loops on the sheath and threads it back through her pant loops. I refasten her belt and give her a tug for good measure. “All set,” I say, and kiss her once more.
She steps back and reaches behind her, then gives the daggers a light tug, but nothing happens. She pulls again, harder this time, and the audible click of them slipping past their locking mechanism echoes in the room, and she pulls them free.
About the length of her forearms, the light glints off the newly polished metal as she twists them in the air. Her eyes trail over the engravings I had carved into the blades. “What do these say?” she asks, not looking away from the deadly gifts in her hands.
“Maybe I’ll tell you one day after you’ve had more training in how to properly use them. In the meantime, you understand which side to stab the bad guys with, right?”
She rolls her eyes up to me, an unamused expression firmly in place. “Oh, I don’t know. Can I test my theory on you?”
Lucifer laughs and places a hand on my shoulder. “Maybe you should quit while you’re behind, brother. Come on, you two. It’s time to go,” he says and exits the room.
Eden shoves the daggers back into their sheaths, only poking herself twice before slipping them home.
I hold out an elbow, and she accepts the gesture with a smile, wrapping her arm around mine and walking slowly with me towards the garage. “Are you nervous?” I ask her, sensing the tension rolling through her body.
“No. I have you three to protect me. I’m just not looking forward to having to relive the most horrid years of my life … again. And—”
Silence hangs in the air as we walk. We make it to the door leading to the cars, and Eden stops. I look down and wait.
“You’re going to hear a part of the story you’ve never heard, and you’re not going to like it. I need you to promise me you’ll keep your cool.”
Not knowing the right words to say, I sling my arm around her shoulders and give her a squeeze. She looks up, and I nod. For her, I’d give the moon if she asked. She offers me a sad smile, and I place a kiss on her temple.
* * *
“The network headquarters is a bar?”Daemon asks as we pull up outside of the local pub.
“No, they’re just meeting here today. The network moves, never meeting in the same place twice in a row,” Lucifer explains, exiting the SUV and coming around to open Eden’s door. She accepts his hand to help her down, and I slide out after her. A groan of pain escapes me as my feet hit the hard pavement.
“Come on.” Lucifer walks inside, still holding hands with Eden. “We’re only two minutes early, and if one of their watches isn’t in sync with mine and says we’re late, they could refuse to see us.”
I follow Lucifer and Eden with Daemon at my back through the pub to a large solid wooden door. Lucifer raps on the hard surface in a pattern of sequential knocks and the door opens with an ominous squeal.
“Kinkade party and guest, come inside. They’re ready for you,” says an older gentleman with frosty hair and weathered eyes that have seen too much.
Walking through the door, I’m immediately hit with a shift in the air. Tensions are high in the room, and my awareness of our surroundings heightens. I count all the possible exits from the room, the number of men I saw in the bar that could be armed, and the number of guards in this room. I know my brothers are both doing the same. Always on guard, always one step ahead of the possible threat.
