He pauses. Then adds, quieter, "And Darius… he's a self-important, arrogant, smug bastard…"
"True," I murmur.
"…but he's not theworstcreature out there," Kayden finishes. "By a long shot."
I press my lips together, amused despite myself. "I'll be sure to pass along your glowing endorsement."
He laughs and pulls me back in, arms solid around me. "We'll be all right, nymph. We will."
I close my eyes and rest my head against his chest, trying to believe him. Trying to let it settle in my bones that we'll be fine. That this wild, impossible thing we're building might actually hold.
I'm tipsy in the best way. That mellow, fuzzy kind that makes the night feel soft around the edges. The four of us step out ofCole'sinto air that's strangely warm for the hour.
Darius walks beside me. Asher and Kayden just ahead. My three husbands and I, going toward the parking lot like we're part of something normal.
The wind shifts. It picks up fast, twisting into spirals, pulling leaves into chaotic dances across the ground. A flash of lightning splits the sky. Thunder answers like a warning.
And then everything stops. Us. The air. The world.
I feel it before I see him. The energy wraps around us, vast, ancient, and wrong.
Kayden murmurs, "What the—"
A figure walks out from the shadows, each step casual, unhurried. The kind of walk that says:I've never once been prey.
At first, the shape blurs. I blink, but he's already resolving, like the stars themselves are pulling him into focus. The moonlight sharpens, catching on the edges of him.
He's tall. Ridiculously tall. Shoulders broad, frame carved like it remembers war and pleasure in equal measure. Olive skin, dark curls, a jaw you could sculpt from marble. And his eyes… purple. Not human. Something cosmic and magnetic. Like looking into the birth of galaxies.
I take half a step back before I even realize I've moved. My body knows what my brain is still trying to process.Danger.
Darius moves in front of me. Asher and Kayden shift protectively, bracing for the stranger.
The man laughs. His laughter rings out, echoing off every surface like the sound of spring breaking loose. Flowers blooming. Wine spilling. Madness unfolding.
"Well, well," he says, voice thick with charm and something darker underneath. "A satyr, two vampires, and a dark nymph walk out of a bar. AndIget to write what happens next."
My pulse stutters.
"Please," Darius says, his voice tight. "Let me explain."
If Darius is afraid, we should all be terrified.
"Explain?" The man tilts his head. "No need."
He flicks his wrist.
The air splits open. Darius jerks as invisible claws rake across his chest, tearing bloody lines through his shirt, the gash so deep, I'm afraid it hit bone. He hits his knees with a strangled gasp.
I scream. Before the sound's echo can quiet, Asher and Kayden move in a blur, attacking the stranger.
He doesn't even look. One blink and he's behind me, solid and immovable. His arm snakes around my waist, his hand gripping my neck—not hard, but enough to show me how easilyhe could break it. His body hums with raw, electric power, heat radiating through me like molten sunlight.
"That was cute," he murmurs, his breath brushing my ear. "Team vampire. I almost felt it."
"Who are you?" Asher asks, controlled, cold fury lacing his words, but I see the tension in his posture. He's ready to move, yet frozen with calculation. One wrong step and I'm gone.
The man laughs again, and the sound vibrates through the air like music. Like madness. "Who am I? I've had many names. The one who drinks and dances. The one who devours and delights. The one of rapture and ecstasy."
