Yael growled. “The bet was rigged and you fucking know it. Besides, Willa doesn’t seem to mind both of us being here.”
My head had cleared a little because I wasn’t being completely overwhelmed by their lips dragging over my skin anymore. They were looking over my head, doing their competitive arguing thing—orYael’scompetitive arguing thing.
“Was there something else you were going to show me?” I asked, hoping to defuse the tension.
Yael closed his eyes briefly, and I watched as he fought for control. I couldn’t see Siret, but I sensed he was doing the same thing. They both stepped away from me at the same time, and then it felt like a flood of oxygen filled the room.
“I’ll leave you with Siret,” Yael said, swooping in for one more hard kiss. He basically demanded I give him my lips, and I obliged. His tongue swept across mine, his hands dragging up my arms to my face, and then he was gone.
My legs were a little wobbly as I turned toward Siret, blinking up at him stupidly.
“Really not sure I’m going to survive the five of you,” I admitted, shaking my head to try and clear it.
He laughed. “You match us perfectly. There’s no one else who would be able to take on all five of us at once, but you do it as though you were made for it, and you make it seem likewewere made for it. You’re going to survive. We’ll make sure of it.”
His words brooked no argument. I was surviving no matter what. Sometimes I wondered if my heart would swell so much that one sun-cycle it would just burst from my chest.
“So, what did you have to show me in here?” I whispered, my voice lost.
Siret’s hand came up to cup my chin and cheek, and he smiled his wicked grin. “What? The house isn’t enough? We put at least thirty clicks of time and thought into this design.”
I snorted, pressing myself closer. “I love it. The fireplace, the comfy couches, the huge bed. It’s perfect. But … I know there’s something more. This elaborate scavenger hunt you’ve got set up here, passing me off to one of you after another …”
I trailed off, hoping he was about to jump in and fill in the blanks.
Instead of answering, he began to walk me toward the door that Yael had said led to a wardrobe.
“Since the party is only a sun-cycle away,” Siret murmured from behind me, letting me lead the way into the room. “We figured you’d need something to wear.”
My feet ground to a halt and I blinked in surprise at what I was seeing. The room was huge, and it almost looked like it had been colour-coded. Dark grey robes were first, filling a quarter of the right side, then blue robes. The left side was green and gold, and then at the back there were purple robes. I knew my section immediately, because there were robes of multiple colours. White, which I still favoured; pink, courtesy of Crazy-pants; teal; and magenta as well. I liked having a colour selection to choose from. Part of me wondered if one would eventually just feel right if I tried enough of them.
“I’m wearing robes to the party?” I asked, confused.
Siret clapped his hands, and there was a whirring sound before the section with my robes in it started to rotate. Within a click, the robes had disappeared and a single outfit appeared on a dweller-shaped mannequin.
“We all designed this one together,” he said softly, pressing a hand into my lower back and urging me forward.
I rushed toward it, loving it for the fact that they had worked on it together for me.
Examining it closely, I sensed that a part of Siret was worried about my response. I placed my right hand on the shoulder, letting my hand run along the supple material.
“Leather,” I murmured. “That’s not what I expected.” He settled in at my side, and I turned my head to meet those glittering green eyes. “It’s amazing,” I told him. I had expected a fancy dress. My guys were notorious for dressing me in breathtakingly unique dresses and gowns … which usually ended up completely destroyed within half a sun-cycle.
Maybe that was why they hadn’t this time.
The leather jumpsuit was formfitting, sleek, and dark, with patches of their colours sewn across it. I would go out there the next sun-cycle looking confident and strong, with little patches of green, gold, blue, grey, and purple all over me.
“We wanted you to look like the badass we know you are,” Siret explained. “And you’ll be able to run and fight with ease. And,” he laughed, “as an added bonus, it’s fire resistant and will repel any physical attacks. This leather was gifted to us by the panteras. They didn’t tell us which animal it came from, but they did tell us that it was very rare and would protect against physical attacks.”
I shook my head, my hand still stroking across it. “I’ll bet the moment you all heard the word protect, you didn’t even listen to which animal it was or any of the other details.”
They would have jumped on it.
His arm wrapped around me, and I leaned into him. “I love you,” I told him. “And this is perfect.”
For someone who had barely used the L-word in my life, I certainly threw it around a lot now. But … I did love them. Every single Abcurse was branded in my heart and soul. I couldn’t survive without them. That was the one thing I knew for certain, and we were about to embark on the darkest part of our journey so far. A lot rested on the party to come. On my ability to convince other gods to turn against Staviti.
I wouldn’t let everyone down. I would be enough.
