Zayden looked at us before he stepped forward with a small smile. “Darling, I think we’re all wondering what it is you meant by that brief statement? Did you think we needed more food than this?” He gave her a look that one would give a child that just asked a really stupid question and her eyes narrowed into slits.
“It’s protocol to test your food for poison when in a new place you haven’t been to before and vetted in advance. As I am the only one here trained to take most of the main poisons used, I was offering to test it for you,” She took a few steps grabbed a plate roughly, turned around and walked to the opposite side of the room, “But since you all seem to think I wastryingto steal more than my share of the food, I will leave you all to test it at your own risk.” She stiffly sat down, cut pieces off of each item, vetting it before placing it on her tongue.
Ajax stepped forward, apparently not as done with the conversation as she was. “Protocol?”
“Yes,” she snapped out, “Protocol for any good assa-” She stopped mid-sentence as she realized something.
“It’s just something I’ve lived by.” she whispered quietly, continuing to taste her food before she ate it.
Zayden picked up a plate and went over to where she sat in the corner, sitting next to her on the floor, deciding at that moment to be the idiot of the room as he asked, “So you’re immune to poison? Is that like a magical power?”
I didn’t want to be left out of the conversation, so I grabbed my plate and sat on Emerald’s other side. There was room in front of Emerald for Ajax to sit, making the circle complete, but he was being a dick, he got his plate and leaned against the wall next to Zayden. One day, he was going to have to face that massive pride of his and decide what he wanted… but I guess it works out better for me if he stays the prideful idiot. That just means that the genuine contenders are me and Zayden.
“No. It’s taken years of micro dosing myself with various poisons and toxins in order for my body to build up immunities.” She let out a small sigh, her anger leaving her eyes as she explained, “When my father and I would travel, that was an… eating ritual of ours. We would taste each other’s food. Being well trained assassins, especially foreign ones, made us targets for that kind of behavior. We adapted.” She whispered in a deeper voice, “Assassins should be near unkillable, which means that we need to do the extra work to insure our survival. We don’t get fun and games, we get training and near-death experiences.”
“I wish my father thought of that.” Ajax said between his bites of food. The three of us all looked up at him. When he noticed, he swallowed what was in his mouth. “What? I think that’s smart. She’s right. The better the assassin you are, the more likely you’re going to have people out to kill you. Even from rivals.”
Emerald nodded, “Yes. That happens more than you think.” Ajax tipping his head to her in respect, his eye not holding pride but admiration. They were connecting in their assassin ways right in front of us, and I couldn’t have that.
Apparently, Zayden had the same thought, because as soon as I opened my mouth, he laughed, putting his hand on her knee. My eyes zeroed in on his hand, catching him rubbing in soft slow circles with his thumb saying, “Well, next time we eat and someone else makes the food I don’t mind having you test it for me… as long as I get to feed it to you.” Emerald puffed out a laugh and rolled her eyes, the tension in the room immediately disappeared. Ajax took that moment to kick Zayden in the leg, his hand leaving Emerald as he turned to complain to him.
I purposely caught Emerald's gaze as she put her fork down, lifting my brow in question. I thought that if she blushed, that meant something happened between her and Zayden. If she got angry, then that meant that I was way off base. What I did not account for was for her to look back at me with a raised eyebrow in question. My lips curved upward, I enjoyed that she wasn’t so easy to read, that my Em was not only a beautiful warrior but also elusive and smart. It makes her even more intoxicating. I only felt this way once before, with the same men around me now but in a completely different mindset. The memory of that night worked its way open.
I was at the table of the fifth pub of the night, feeling both excited and alert. Was I a little drunk? Sure, but it was the perfect kind of drunk, the kind that your mind still worked but your body was loose. And we were just getting started.
When Zayden brought over the girl who had the voice of a siren, luring us all under her spell, I thought he was crazy. Why would he bring a woman when we all agreed we were going to have a guys’ night? I already knew that Jax was half in love with her and Zay was obsessed. I knew I would be outvoted if I brought up ditching her, so I let it go and enjoyed the ride.
I was pleasantly surprised by this girl. She was bright like the sun, beautiful, smiling and giving off the overall sense of happiness and enthusiasm. All those things alone could make a guy fall for this girl but what did me in was she was an adrenaline junkie like me.
We quickly learned that she never backed down from a dare, from something dangerous or hard. She always said yes, claiming that she wanted all the new experiences she could get.
We scaled walls, pranked some guild members, took a tumble into the fountain, we even did her dare and each of us individually sang and danced on stage while the others cheered us on. It was one of the most fun nights of my life. I never wanted it to stop.
I watched as we all finished our last drink and she smiled up at us, effectively making my insides all gooey as I wanted to just stare at her all night. “I’ll go get the next round!” She hopped off the stool and easily weaved her way through the dense crowd to the bar.
“I want you both to know that I’m in love with Mika and I’m going to ask you guys to back off so I can take it to the next step.” Jax called over the roar of the crowd. Zay immediately straightened up in his chair, ready to battle it out with Jax over her when I opened my mouth.
“I like her too. I want to see where things go with us. I think we’re good together. We like the same things and I think she would fit in well with my family.” I can't believe I just said that. I didn't intend to say all that, but I did. When I really looked down deep inside I could tell that it all came from a true place, a place I like to keep locked up when I didn't want to be vulnerable, but I didn’t want to back down. I really really didn’t want to back away from Mika.
The few kisses and touches we’ve shared were down right explosive. I have never felt that way with another girl in my whole life and I just knew she was perfect for me, for my family and my guild. I could see teaching her how to be a thief, she would love it. The more I started to fall into this future fantasy the more my resolve solidified. I wanted to make Mika mine.
“Well, that's going to get a little complicated because I’m not backing down either. I saw her first, talked to her first and should have first dibs.” His casual, sure tone pissed me off. I glanced over to Jax who looked ready to launch across the table and strangle him.
Jax glared at us, leaning in as he growled out, “We can't all have her.”
As soon as he said it that was all I could think about. My fantasy started to play out. Her being the center of our circle. She could practice assassin and self-defense techniques with Jax, thieving and sneaking with me and manipulation and seduction with Zay. I mean she would never work at the pleasure guild, that would piss me off, but I could see the benefits of her learning a thing or two. She would be an unstoppable force, our unstoppable force.
Zay’s face was pinched in thought before he snapped his fingers, “Why not? Why can't she be with all of us? I don't think I would mind sharing if it was with you guys.” His earnest, brotherly gaze made me think that maybe it didn't need to be a fantasy.
Jax scoffed, looking around to make sure no one was paying attention to us before he looked to me to be the voice of reason. “I think I might want to give it a try.” I said as his eyes widened.
“You think you could watch me or Zay kiss up on your girl? Hands all over her while you watch?” I could tell with the strain in his voice that he was having the hardest time with that part and needed an ally in this, but he was barking up the wrong tree.
“When I imagine it, I kinda think that sounds hot. You guys working her up, making her moan out. Then she looks at me for more and I kiss the shit out of her.” I looked at Zay whose eyes were lit up, imagining the same thing now and getting excited. “Ya that seems fucking hot as hell.”
Jax’s gaze quickly volleyed between the two of us, seeing that we were serious, disbelief and confusion clouded his eyes. “You think… you want…” I could see his mind working on it all, seeing the image I painted but he got himself caught on one detail, “But I don't just want sex with her, I want a life. I want a partner and kids.”
Zay surprised us both when he whispered, “What makes you think I don't want that with her too?” He was always the sex only, no relationships, one of the group, and seeing him with her all day and night, I can tell he was falling for her hard.
