"Hang on," Everett mutters, waving Silas over.
I raise a brow when they convene—all four of them. It's practically a huddle, and that makes me grin. Are they going to try teaming up against me? That could be entertaining.
My smile widens when they prove me right, all moving to the mat and surrounding me in a circle. "Disregarding the rules, I see."
"What rules?" Silas counters. "You only said to keep it strictly combat."
"Fair enough. I'm going to enjoy taking you all on at once."
Baelfire winks. "Yeah, you will. But as fucking hot as that'll be when it happens, you should get your mind out of the gutter and focus, Raincloud."
The gutter? How was I...
Oh, I see. Double entendre. Took me long enough.
Silas launches toward me first, and just like that, my senses sharpen into needle points. I block his attempt to grapple me and sidestep Everett, twisting around Baelfire when he makes the next move. It's adorable that they want to fight me all at once, but without the cohesion that I'm trying to teach them so they can move as a team, they're even sloppier than usual.
But they also seem ten times more motivated than usual.
Soon, all of my dodging, blocking, and ducking grows old. I kick my leg out to tag Everett. He sees it coming and changes direction but crashes into Baelfire, who swears viciously. I can tell Silas is about to attack my other side, yet I'm thrown off for a fraction of a second because...where did Crypt go?
Too late, I realize he's tripping me from behind, working in tandem with Silas until suddenly, I'm pinned beneath the blood fae. He grins victoriously down at me, his red irises bright with excitement as he leans down to brush a kiss against the side of my neck.
That sends a shudder through me. We're both breathing hard, and suddenly, my body is hyper-aware of the way he's pinning both my wrists over my head as he straddles me. Gods, why does he have to be so handsome? Especially all worked uplike this, his chest heaving and the veins bulging in his arms as they flex above me…
Baelfire chuckles darkly beside us, no doubt scenting my arousal. "On second thought, dinner can wait. Our keeper wants something else."
Silas hums in agreement. "And then we'll get ourotherprize."
I quirk a brow. "You didn't win the other prize."
Everett scowls, brushing off his hands as he gets up from the mat. "You're literally pinned. We won."
Well, if they're willing to fight dirty, so am I. So I lean up to lightly bite Silas's throat, not even drawing blood. When he startles, I take advantage of his moment of surprise. Tucking my elbows down in a sharp movement to break out of his hold, I simultaneously thrust my hips upward. When Silas falls forward, trying to catch himself, I twist and dig a savage elbow into his gut, making him drop to one side.
From there, it's child's play to pin him down. I smirk when he scowls.
"No dice. Crypt slipped into Limbo to trip me, and that's how you took me down. He broke the rules, so it doesn't count."
Crypt stands with his hands laced behind his head like he has no care in the world. When the rest of them shoot him murderous looks, realizing I'm right, he grins unapologetically.
"We didn't agree with that," Everett huffs. "He acted out of line, but that should still count."
"Popsicle Prick is right for once," Baelfire nods, ignoring how Everett looks like he wants to freeze his head off. "We've been training our asses off. Crypt was a dick all on his own, as usual, but the rest of us gave it our best. Can't that count for something, baby?"
I release Silas and stand, shrugging back into my baggy shirt, which earns a surprisingly heavy sigh from Everett.
"I'll catch up with you guys later. I have plans to visit Kenzie," I inform them.
Silas gets up. "We'll walk you there."
Usually, I would protest, but considering the current mental state of my quintet and how they're all looking at me like they'll murder even a fly for daring to land near me, I decide it's more time-efficient to just go along with it.
And if I'm candid with myself…I don't mind that they're so protective of me.
Aside from occasional help from Lillian or Gideon, I've been watching my own back my entire life. I can handle shit, but it turns out I kind of like how these four gorgeous legacies flank my sides and guard my every move.
When Kenzie opens the door of her apartment, she grins. "Awe, they all escorted you here? That's so freaking cute! I mean, it's also probably necessary because I totally saw two legacies killed when they weren't watching their backs during class today, which was awful, but I mean—still. So cute. Hey, have you guys taken a picture of the Oakley quintet all together yet? You should! Hang on, I'll grab my phone."
