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“What’s he doing?” I nod to the blond, who is now answering the other one with his hands.
I’ve probably spent too long around the humans. I’ve mimicked an unflattering tone, a demand that is common among their kind, and I want to take it back, but the green-eyed beast looks at the other two.
“He was injured.” There’s a story there, and it would be impossible to miss the flash of guilt that’s so vivid it changes the green-eyed man’s entire face for a moment. This one feels bad about whatever happened to the quiet one. But as quickly as it appeared, it fades and he’s back to himself. I don’t know for certain if it was real or if my imagination is running away with me.
There’s so much I need to know, so many details my mind can’t fill in without their help, but I don’t know if I can trust my own mind, or the men in front of me.
“I am Phantom,” the first one I’d nicknamed Daddy says. He lifts his head a little, and his dark tangled hair falls back from his face. My breath catches, and I realize this man is more than just a pair of green eyes and a commanding presence. I feel kind of silly for even nicknaming him Daddy, because the name doesn’t fit him at all. He looks like some kind of muscular model, but with a strange, regal quality.
“This is Dusk.” My gaze moves to the man next to him. Hesitantly, I reach out, while he watches me, and I brush the hair back from his face with shaking hands. My breath catches, and I stare and stare. There’s no doubt that Dusk is Phantom’s twin, even though he has pale blue eyes instead of green, and a narrower face and body.
“And that is Onyx,” Phantom continues, gesturing to the giant. I turn to Onyx, and he lifts his own hands, pushing his blonde hair back from his face, as if he knows that that’s exactly what I want to do. Onyx is different from the other two. Not only is he huge, but with his hair pushed back, I can see the jagged scar that runs from beside one ear down to the side of his throat. He also has a slightly broader nose, deep, dark eyes that seem to stare into my soul, and lips that are fuller, and strangely fascinating.
“I’m Ann.” My voice comes out a whisper. “Technically, Mary Ann Hart, but I hate the name Mary so much that I wish I could burn it and stomp it into the ground.”
Phantom lifts a brow, and a small smile curls his lips.
Okay, so they don’t mind my nervous babbling. That’s something! Now, time to get into the tough stuff...
“Why am I here?” It’s probably the most pertinent of my questions, and I’ve adapted my tone, added a note of caution, but managed to keep the fear at bay. For now.
Somehow, I expect it when both Onyx and Dusk turn to Phantom. I had named the guy Daddy for a reason. It always seems that when something needs to be decided, both heads turn to him. Onyx begins to sign rapidly with his hands, and Phantom shakes his head. Onyx’s expression shifts into an unreadable one.
“Phantom…” Dusk begins.
The other man cuts him off. “Outside.”
He walks out of the cave with the others quickly following behind him, without answering. My chest heaves, maybe with relief or more likely, just because they’re too massive, too powerful, and it’s intimidating to be in such a closed space with them.
And yet, I don’t like being ignored. I don’t like that the shadow beasts simply left when I asked such an important question. It’s not just rude; it feels like I’m being treated like a child.
So, I stand and creep to the edge of the cave, flatten myself against the wall, and hold my breath.
“She’s our mate.” They’re just outside the cave, and I can hear them distinctly, as if they’re close and speaking to me, but Phantom’s words hold an unexpected edge.
Mate? Hell. Who could possibly be a mate to these three massive men?
I hear a sigh, and then Onyx speaks. “The creatures from the Void will come for her. It was foolish to bring her here.” There’s a note of reproach in his voice, an I-told-you-so inflection that means he might’ve spent a bit of time observing humans also.
But I’m busy dissecting the words for meaning.Creatures from the Void?I don’t know about any creatures, or what the hell a Void is. Not sure I want to, either.
“Yes. They will come.” Their cadence is the same. It’s as if when Phantom is speaking he’s almost answering himself. There’s little difference, other than the fact that Onyx has a slightly gruffer note to his voice. “But leaving her would not have protected her. They would have found a way to reach her, and we wouldn’t be around to keep her safe.”
I peek around the opening to see them, to watch their body language. I’m also too far away to be able to tell the dark-haired ones apart, but the blonde is speaking without the benefit of sound, and I can only tell because of the attention the others are paying him and the slight movements of his arms against his body.
A gentle rain falls through the trees, and every once in a while, a droplet glistens on the blond’s back, the bigger dark-haired beast’s shoulder, the smaller one’s chest. I can’t see much more without giving myself away.
“I don’t want her in danger, either, Onyx, but we can protect her.” He nods at the blond, atOnyx. “Wewillprotect her.”
The emphasis is comforting, but I don’t understand what’s going on. I’m about to move away when Phantom looks to where I’m standing, his gaze hot, assessing, his tone vibrant when he speaks. “We know what she is, but now it’s time we find outwhoshe is.” My body flushes with heat.
He nods to me and the others turn, and now three gazes land on me. Another burst of heat blooms through me.
Instead of inviting me out, they stalk toward me, hulking, muscles bulging, eyes dark.
“The creatures will come for you.” Phantom looks me up and down, closer, and I think maybe they already are.
And then another thought hits me.Were they talking about me the whole time? Hell, do these guys thinkI’mtheir mate?
