“And you’resureyou’ll want to keep me?” I looked between them, my chest tightening with a hope I hardly dared to have. “Even after the year is up?”
“Try to leave us and see what happens.” Zane laughed, a rich, warm sound that filled the room. “You won’t make it past the front door before we drag you back.”
“I just, um.” I swallowed, my heart pounding. “I didn’t think you’d want me to stay.”
“Idareyou to say that again, darling.” Zane’s smirk morphed into something sharp and dangerous.
“We want you to stay.” Koa gave me a little smile. “We willalwayswant you to stay.”
“We’re not letting you go after the year is up, Seri,” Casimir said as he finished up with the book shelf. “Forever is what beloveds and matesmeans. Do you feel the same way?”
Shyly, I nodded. I might not have known them long, but I could feel the bond with them, the growing attraction between us. I just hoped I wasn’t just a burden to them, or a means to an end. I longed to be someone theywantedto protect, not someone they felt theyhadto.
“Do you?” Casimir repeated, his voice a little harsher.
Be brave for your mates,I told myself.
“Yes, I do.” Taking a deep breath, I let it out in a rush. “And Iwantto stay. With you three. Forever.”
Zane’s grin returned, brighter than ever, while Koa’s lips curved into a smile. Even Brumous let out a happy yip, which made me chuckle.
“Good,” Casimir said with a nod, then his gaze shifted to the mostly empty brown duffle bag sitting in the corner. He knelt and opened it, his long fingers working the flaps free. “What’s in this?”
“Papa’s things. What I could save.”
My voice sounded small, even to me, and I hated it. But the memories rushed back like a tide, pulling me under: the flashing lights of the ambulance, the movers carting away pieces of my life, Arabesque’s cold smile as her daughters gleefully destroyed everything that had ever mattered to me.
Casimir set the bag on the bed with a gentleness that surprised me, his green eyes flicking to mine.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
I hesitated, my gaze dropping to my toes. Brumous padded over, his nose nudging my hand, and I absently petted his ruff.
“Papa died in October. A heart attack, the paramedic said, but I don’t believe that. I think Arabesque was…” The silence shackle throttled me, and I thought of a different way to say it. “It wasn’t a heart attack, Simmy. Iknowit wasn’t!”
Suddenly Zane stood on my left and Koa on my right, both of them touching their hands to my shoulders, a silent comfort I appreciated more than they knew.
“When I got home from our neighbors, Papa was being loaded in the ambulance and they were already tearing the house apart!” My chest tightened and my breathing grew short and sharp. “Amabel and Eluned, they took what they wanted and broke the rest. I tried to stop them. Eluned yanked my hair. His favorite fishing rod.” My voice cracked, and I pressed my lips together, blinking back tears, refusing to cry. “Amabel snapped it in front of me. Like it was nothing.”
“Those fang-rotted cunts!” Koa snapped.
“They’re dead. All of them,” Zane seethed, his brown eyes burning.
“Seri, from this day forward, no one hurts you in any way and lives.” Casimir moved the duffle to the top of the dresser with deliberate care, his movements precise, but radiating anger. “You will always be safe with us.”
I nodded as I watched him pull out the conch shell, the purple ribbon, the pudding stone, and the remains of Papa’s fishing rod. His lips pinched into a thin white line when he saw the crack in the reel case.
Calmer now, Ko took the handle from him.
“Let me fix this for you.” His gaze held mine, gentle again, as if he could see my hesitation. “I can’t promise it’ll be perfect, but I can try. If nothing else, I can at least unsnarl the line and attach it to a new rod. Make it functional again.”
I swallowed hard, my throat tight. It felt like giving away a piece of my heart, but his gaze was so earnest, so full of quiet determination, that I found myself nodding.
“Okay. Just be careful with it, Koko.”
“Koko!” Zane shrieked, startling me, and Casimir caught him in a headlock.
“Shut it, Zane,” Koa growled, but there was no real heat in his voice.
