His hands worked slowly, steadily, undoing each knot like he was afraid of hurting me. His callused fingers grazed the back of my neck, and I swore the air shifted.
Roman watched, his grin fading into something softer. “He’s showing off,” he said quietly.
Lev didn’t look up. “Maybe.”
“It suits you, Kara. Letting us take care of you, even if for a moment,” Dmitri observed.
I turned my head toward him, our eyes meeting across the room. “And you? Do you ever let anyone take care of you?”
A faint smile curved his mouth. “Not until now.”
Roman cleared his throat, breaking the spell between us as he pouted. “I think I’m feeling left out.”
Lev glanced over his shoulder. “Then make yourself useful. Find me a brush or something.”
Roman leaned closer to me, his voice dropping to a playful murmur. “You see how he talks to me? No respect.”
I bit back a laugh. “I think he just likes annoying you.”
“It’s a full-time job,” Lev joked.
Roman grinned. “And yet you can’t seem to quit.”
They bickered, and I couldn’t stop smiling. This was what I hadn’t realized I needed. The way their edges softened when they looked at me, the way the room didn’t feel dangerous anymore, onlyfull.
When Lev finished untangling my hair, he rested his hands on my shoulders. “There,” he announced. “Better.”
I tilted my head back, catching his gaze. “Thank you.”
His fingers squeezed lightly. “Of course, princess.”
Roman strode over to me and brushed his knuckles along my jaw. “You know what the problem is with you, Kara?”
“What?”
“You make us forget who we are.”
I smiled up at him. “Maybe that’s not such a bad thing.”
Behind me, Lev’s voice was low and warm. “It isn’t.”
Dmitri stood slowly, setting his book aside. He came to stand in front of me, his gaze warm and searching. “They’re right,” he said quietly. “You do make us forget who we are.”
Roman’s grin turned knowing, but there was softness beneath it. “She’s good at that. It’s kind of her thing.”
Lev snorted. “Her thing is surviving idiots like us.”
“Correction,” Roman said, “shethrivesaround idiots likeus.”
Dmitri’s lips twitched, barely, but it was enough to make my heart stutter. “Maybe it’s because she’s smarter than we are.”
Lev’s hands were still resting on my shoulders, his thumbs tracing slow, absent circles against my skin. Roman was closeenough that I could feel the warmth radiating from him, the faint scent of smoke and spice clinging to his clothes. And Dmitri just stood there, watching, his presence calm and consuming all at once.
“I’m not used to this,” I admitted.
Roman tilted his head. “To what? Being worshipped? Tortured?”
I laughed softly, shaking my head. “To being seen.”
