“Go to sleep, dweller-baby. I’ll kill Elowin as soon as we find her.” He didn’t sound like he was kidding. Each word was low and laced with truth.
“Next time, just say like …sleep well, or something normal,” I said. “Notgo to sleep, I’ll be murdering someone in no time.It doesn’t sound as comforting as you think it does.”
He chuckled, a small spark zapping up my spine in retribution. It felt nice.How did he do that?Pain was supposed to feel bad.
I wanted to keep my eyes open, to stare at him for a bit longer, but the broken part of me relaxed immediately with the contact of an Abcurse, and the slight prick of his energy was almost hypnotising me as it continued to whisper along my body.
Before I knew it, the darkness spread and I lost the last threads of my consciousness. I had no idea how long I slept for, but it was one of those sleeps where you don’t move from the same position for many rotations and nothing registers in your subconscious at all. The moment the darkness eased—the moment I would usually have been pulled to wake up—I found myself in the head of an Abcurse. And judging by the view of the other four, it was Siret.
“We have no idea what Willa has become, but there is no doubt … she’s affected by our power.”
Aros groaned, his golden head hanging low. “It was instinct; I just reacted. Her pain called to me … Pain and I have shared our women for so long, I just … I needed to counter his energy with mine. It’s the way we keep the sols alive when we need something to fuc—”
Yael surged out of his chair, a snarl rising to his lips. He looked almost animalistic, but Rome only planted a hand on his shoulder and shoved him back down again. Typically, he didn’t stay there. He was back up again in a flash, shoving Rome out of the way and advancing on Aros again. Rome grabbed him just before he got there, and Aros jumped up to face him, holding up his hands, the palms facing outward.
“I wasn’t going to …” he shook his head, grimacing. “I’m trying to explain this, Persuasion!”
Rome shoved Yael back again, biting out a curse, his thick arms folding. “Ever sinceshecame, it’s been chaos between us.” He jabbed his finger, and my—Siret’s—head swung toward the bed.
Once again, I found myself staring at my own image. This time it was even more eerie, because the face set against the pillows on Aros’s bed was sleeping soundly, almost peacefully. For a moment, they all fell silent, watching me sleep, and then Siret was turning back, his voice low when he spoke again.
“Let him explain, Persuasion.”
Yael gave a single, sharp nod, and Rome stepped back, giving him space.
“You all know that we share,” Aros muttered, glancing at Coen quickly, who didn’t seem to be likely to offer him any kind of assistance. “And you knowwhy. Our power isn’t like yours. Our power is directly physical. If Pain loses control, the girl dies. If I lose control, she becomes obsessed, and usually ends up killing herself—so in either scenario, she dies. I justreactedto Pain’s power trying to destroy her, and I used mine to counter it. And then … she …” He trailed off, and I could see that Coen’s face was darker than ever.
He looked like he wanted to rip something apart, but he still wasn’t saying anything.
Siret made a grunting sound that was part-acknowledgement, and part-annoyance. “We know why you and Pain do that shit together, and it’s the very reason it can’t happen withher. She’s not even a sol. You both need to balance out your powers with each other for asolto get close … so how the hell do you think adwelleris going to live through it? It’s not possible. We’re lucky she’s alive.”
“She touched me,” Coen finally snarled. “Seduction didn’tstartit, and I didn’t start it either. And I’ve known you idiots for an eternity; you would have reacted the same way if she’d kissed you like that—”
“No more fucking kissing!” Rome roared, shocking Siret’s eyes over to him.
Rome blinked, as though surprised by his own outburst, and the others hissed at him to be quiet. Coen walked over to the bed, checking that I was still asleep, and then they all seemed to settle a little bit, sitting back in their chairs and taking a moment to think.
Eventually, Siret let out a sigh, picking up the conversation again. “So to save future problems, and probably Willa’s life, we need to make a binding pact. The deal was only for one life-cycle. One life-cycle at Blesswood and then we would be able to go home. There’s no reason why we can’t keep her with us, but it can’t go any further. I never thought I’d be fighting with my brothers over a dweller … but there it is. We can’t leave her—we’re going to have to figure out a way to take her with us when we go home, but the only way she can stay with us is if she isn’t tempting us to tear each other apart to get to her. We share her equally. As friends.” He broke off, laughing. “Our friend, the dweller.”
“If I have to be her friend to keep her around, I’ll be her friend,” Rome grunted.
Nobody looked surprised, but I was a little bit shocked. I had been under the impression that Rome had started resenting me for the fact that my soul was trespassing on his soul’s territory.
“I’m already her friend.” Aros rolled his eyes, his expression caught between resignation and annoyance.
“As am I,” Coen added.
“I want to keep her around,” Yael murmured, glancing toward the bed. “She makes me laugh. I can’t tell if she’s stupid or brave. I want to figure it out.”
“We’re in agreement, then.” Siret stood, and so did the others, all taking a step toward each other.
“No kissing,” Rome declared.
“No sex,” Coen corrected, shaking his head.
“No corrupting the little dweller in any way,” Aros countered, his brows inching up in challenge.
“All of the above,” Yael stated. “No kissing, no sex, and no corruption. Nothing that goes past friendship. From now on, we treat her like one of us. A sixth brother. A sixth girl-brother—”
