Jake grunted.
I put my fists on my hips and smirked. “I've already fucked him. You're too late.”
They all went silent. Then they converged on me. Jake made it to me first, grabbing my upper arm as he shoved his face into the curve of my neck. He sniffed and let me go. Looking at the other two, he shook his head.
Cyrus and Lex relaxed.
I laughed.
“That wasn't funny, Salina,” Lex said.
“I wasn't joking.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “I laughed because you think just because you can't smell it on me, he hasn't been with me.”
The men exchanged confused frowns.
“Ace and I were together in a past life.” I dropped that gem gleefully. “He proved himself back then. He saved me. He loved me. And that love was strong enough to bring us back together in this life. It might even be strong enough to break the enchantment binding me to you three.”
Jake roared and spun, swinging out blindly. His fist collided with a bedpost. The post splintered, shards flying. As I gaped, the canopy wobbled, then cracked, and fell on the mattress.
Jake wasn't the only one to react poorly.
I backed away as three shapeshifters from Hades went fucking ballistic. I'd never seen anything so terrifying and oddly sexy at the same time. Their faces were monstrous, their bodies bulged, and they tore apart everything within reach with their bare hands. Yet, even within that savagery, they made sure that I wasn't hurt. They directed their fury on the furniture and aimed the debris away from me. I stood within a maelstrom of madness, untouched. Not so much as a splinter hit me.
Finally, when feathers floated in a slow rain to the floor and everything with any mass to it was pulverized, they shifted into their hound forms and bounded out of the room as a pack,that terrible, wounded howling coming from their throats. That same sound they had made the other night. Except now, it didn't scare me. Only hurt. Deep in my chest.
Standing in a circle of clean carpet, I watched them run off with wide eyes. I was frozen in place, absolutely stunned and utterly turned on. I'd never seen anyone react to my rejection like that. I mean, of course, I hadn't. I'd only been with humans. But I had a feeling that even gods didn't have this sort of response to a lovers' spat. It was awful. Yes, of course. How terrible that they would react so violently. And yes, I'm rolling my eyes. Because there's nothing sexier than a powerful guy losing control over a woman—as long as he doesn't hurt that woman. Then, it wouldn't have been sexy. But as it was . . . yeah, I was gonna need some personal time in the shower.
Chapter Twenty-One
“We've got another room for you.” Cyrus barely looked at me as he led me down the hall. “It's not as nice as the last one, but we can fix it up.”
“I didn't like the last one.” I shrugged. “And frankly, I don't care what cell you put me in.”
He stopped and looked at me. “What was wrong with the last room?”
“It was too girly. Frilly. I've never seen so much lace. Or pink.” I shuddered. “It was a room a father designs for his little girl. I'm not a little girl, and you aren't ever gonna be my daddy.”
Cyrus snorted and then ran a hand over his face. “I'm sorry, Salina. We keep fucking up. I don't know what to do to make things right.”
“You could drive me home.”
“I can't do that. It's done. You're here. Frankly, with all the shit going down in New Orleans, you need to be here. It may be the only place you're safe.”
“What do you mean?”
That's when I remembered. “Silas! Fuck!”
Cyrus—that name was too close to the one I'd just shouted—reared back.
“Sorry,” I muttered. “I forgot about him. Again. Why did I . . . oh, that motherfucker.” Cracking my neck, I tried to restrain my rage.
“What motherfucker?”
“Hades.” I shook my head. “He made me forget about Wren.”
“Who's Wren?”
“My bestie. I was going to visit her in Oregon. He didn't want me to go, so he put the whammy on my mind. Only, he got a little of Silas wound into the mix. So, I've been forgetting about him too, off and on.”
