“Hmm. Tactical harness,” Cas mused. “Emergency weapon holstered on one side, ammo pouches on the other.”
“Brummy is my baby,” I interjected since he seemed to be taking the joke seriously. “He’s not a soldier or a hunter, Simmy.”
“He’s going to become your guard, though,” Koa said. “We’ll at least train him to protect you.”
“He does that already.” I gave him a smile, and his eyes glimmered. “Didn’t you see him just now?”
“He can be our ring bearer at our wedding,” Zane teased. “Too bad he doesn’t have a mate. Could’ve been our flower girl.”
“Who’s going to be the husband?” Koa looked at his brothers.
“What?” I frowned as Brumous flopped down on my feet. “Youallare, aren’t you?”
“Human laws only allow you to marry one person, so the other two will be witnesses,” Casimir explained. “Which of us do you want to be your legal husband?”
I might not have any experience with husbands, but if brothers were anything like sisters, I didn’t want them to be resentful or jealous of each other. I’d seen Amabel and Eluned fight too often to makethatmistake.
“Oh, no!” I raised one hand and shook my head. “You three can work that out. Maybe Rock, Paper, Scissors?”
“Zane cheats,” Koa and Casimir grumbled at the same time.
“Then, my brothers, there is but one solution.” Zane punched his fist into the air with a savage grin. “A battle to the death!”
“Put that suggestion back in your ass.” Koa rolled his eyes before turning back to me. “We’ll sort it out, and you can shop online for a dress. Any dress you want.” When I opened my mouth to argue, he laid his finger over my lips. “A gift from us. Please accept it.”
I stared into his dark eyes long enough to get a little lost in them, then nodded, thanking him, all of them, for their thoughtfulness.
As we finished eating, Casmir asked if I knew where I wanted to start once my magic replenished.
“Well, there’s a ward I was trying to perfect before…”
I dribbled off, only partly because of the silence shackle, but mostly from the memory of Arabesque ripping my magic out of me.
“What was the ward for?” Koa asked.
I hesitated, unsure if the whisperbind would let me answer, but to my surprise, the words came out, clear and unhindered.
“Protection from siphoning.”
16. Not to Me
Seri
Zane’s smirk vanished, Koa went deathly still, and Casimir’s green eyes darkened.
And just like that, I understood.
They’d figured it out, even with me unable to say it.
Their silence was heavy, nearly suffocating because of the rage beneath it, but I was also strangely relieved.
Now that they know, maybe they’ll help me fight back.
Koa stood abruptly, his chair scraping against the polished floor. A muscle twitched in his cheek.
This wasn’t the gentle, kind man I was coming to know. This was someone else entirely. Someone already calculating a thousand ways to dismantle Arabesque piece by piece.
Someone dangerous.
