“I’m not angry at you; it was just…him. He was gross and rude and just…it was awful, and it brought back memories of a different time in my life.”
Hazard opens the fridge and snags a beer. He leans his ass on the island and exhales. “This is all harder than I expected.”
I move so we’re side by side. “Yeah, it is.”
“I really am sorry.”
“Hazard?”
“Mmm?”
“How did you guys get like this?” I lift my arm with the cuff.
The transformation is instantaneous. Agony, thick tension, and shame.
I swear, I can smell all of that in the air.
Hazard purses his lips. “That…was my fault, too.” He falls silent, and when he opens his eyes, I can almost see the guilt in them.
“I liked women, and I liked men. I used to enjoy the chase, the flirting, and the sex, all hot and intense for the first couple of times, but then I would grow bored. Fuck, I was an ass. I would leave, find something new. I didn’t care how they felt.”
He makes no excuses, just gives it to me. His voice is flat, without inflection, just stating the truth.
“I slept with the wrong women. They found out and talked. I didn’t know they had magic, that they were witches. I didn’t know that Khaos had refused one of them and Wrath the other. Because I slept with the three of them, they were able to hook the pack into the spell. Cursing us into being pets for our owners. They say there’s never been anything so scary as a woman scorned; well, they weren’t lying.”
I swallow hard. “They played you, didn’t they?”
He nods his head, his distress making the air almost prickly. “Yes, but it wasn’t difficult. I should have been more careful.”
“Hazard, it’s not your fault what other people do.” I reach out, putting a hand on his.
He shakes off my hand and turns on me, one hand gripping my hip painfully. “Do you know what it’s like to watch-” He cuts himself off and looks away. “To watch them force Khaos into submission, to collar Riot like he’s a feral beast and leave him all alone in the snow. The things I’ve seen. What they did to Wrath? They punished him over and over for everything any of us did. They stole my brother’s innocence and turned Angel into someone I don’t recognise. I did that; each blow to them is a blow to me.”
“And what did they do to you, Hazard?”
He shudders. I reach out and put my hand on his chest, above his heart. The pain is so strong it’s almost like I can feel it.
“They ignore me mostly; that’s part of the curse. Whatever they do to the others, I feel it. I get to bear witness and watch.”
His words are bitter and angry. He leans back and closes his eyes.
Damn it. He steps back, but I step with him. I throw my arms tight around his waist and slam our bodies together, hugging him fiercely. He stands there with his arms held out stiffly, and then he wraps them around me and buries his face in my hair.
“What’s this for?”
“Something for you,” I whisper back. “Don’t stop smiling, Hazard. You might be the one who brought them here, but I think you’re the one stopping them from falling into ruin.”
I step back, taking in the stunned and shocked expression before I quickly leave the room. I have to because, if I don’t, I might cry…or burn the house down.
If I ever get my hands on those witches…
I pause in the hallway and lean against the wall. Damn it. They are all growing on me. I’m starting to, dare I say it, like them. Enjoy having them around. I want to help them. I try to find the resentment I used to feel, the fear, but it’s gone.
I’m in dangerous territory now. If I’m not careful, I will want them to stay, and that is one thing they can’t do.
I flop down on the couch beside Hazard. He shifts the laptop over to my lap.
“This guy seems nice.”
