“You know, when all three of us were in that car with you and—”
My cheeks go hot.
He flicks his eyes toward the entrance, like he’s checking whether Cassian’s about to storm out, summoned like some black cat from hell.
“Cassian didn’t strangle me afterward,” he goes on. “Nathaniel didn’t vanish for a week pretending he had research shit to do like he always does when things get intense between us three. And I...” His smirk softens again, almost thoughtful. “...didn’t feel like I was competing for you anymore.”
That catches me off guard. “Competing?”
“Don’t play dumb.” He steps closer, bracing his hands on the railing behind me. His scent wraps around me again and heat crawls up my neck. My pulse spikes, sliding lower, pooling where I’m still wet from the both of us.
Softly. Softly.Stronger.
“We’ve been dancing around each other since you got here,” he murmurs. “All of us. And I wanted you so fucking much,Little Grim. From the moment you stumbled into that bloody basement.”
“Yeah,” I whisper. “Because I was just a dead girl with nothing real to give.”
“Maybe.” His voice dips. “But it changed along the way, didn’t it? Then that night in the car, it was like we all stopped pretending there were lines. Nobody was pushing anyone out. We were all... in it. Together. And you—”
He leans in, close enough that the warmth of him fogs my brain. “—you didn’t pull away from any of us. Didn’t act like you had to choose.”
“For the power.”
“Whatever.” His mouth curves. “We all want you. All of us. Those two fuckers, too.”
I swallow hard.
“Well, I want you, too.”
Talon’s gaze flicks over my face. “Yeah. We all felt that back then.”
“So what, we’re just... okay with this now?” I tilt my head, testing him. “No claws? No jealous death glares from Cassian? No Nathaniel staring me into a guilt coma?”
“Maybe notnojealous glares. Cassian’s wired that way. But yeah. I think we might be okay.”
I blink, half mind-blown, half suspicious.
I never even thought an option like this could exist between the four of us.
When I first got close to Talon, it was because of how alive he made everything feel. Back then, I was just a metaphysical Grim Reaper, thrown off my routine, starved for sensation, and Talon fed me in sharp, wicked doses.
Cassian was the opposite. He reminded me how dead I was. And why I should probably stay that way.
And Nathaniel… Nathaniel was the one always just out of reach. Controlled. Deliberate. With moments where the mask slipped and I caught something dark and molten underneath.
Never in a million years did I think the three of them would find a way to... overlap.
Never in a million years did I thinkI’dtake that seriously.
Like a girl who actually has something to offer.
A life to live.
I huff out a breath.
I should say something. More than that, I should actually go inside this hospital and say something to all of them. It’s only fair.
But just as I’m about to open my mouth, a loud, obnoxious croak splits the air above us.
