Cyrus winced. “We need you here. You'll empower us. And Hades said you're the key to finding Silas.”
“Yeah, I remember now. He told me too. Shit! And now I can't go see Wren. He told me I could. It was one of his bargaining points!”
“Hey, you can visit your friend anytime you want.Afterthis is over. The mission is too important. This god, whoever he is, is threatening the safety of the entire world, not just the Cerberuses. You do understand that, right?”
“Yeah, I get it. And I want you hounds safe. Wren is mated to a Cerberus.”
“She is? Then you should understand how we are. Why are you giving us so much shit?”
“Because I was dead by the time she mated her Cerberus. So, no, I never got to see what it entails.”
He winced again.
“And you don't understandme, fucko. You're not even trying to.” I poked his chest. “You want me to give you all these concessions because you're hounds. But you're unwilling to give me anything.”
“Salina, we're going to give youeverything! Fucking everything we are and everything we have. It's already yours. What more do you want?”
“To live!” I flung my hands up. “I want to live for myself for once. Just for a little while. I've never had that.”
“And you think we have?” Cyrus made a huffing sound. “All we live for is the hunt. We find ghosts and take them to where they're supposed to be. Every day. Every night. Always on duty. When a ghost lingers, we find them. We fix it. And the only thing that's kept us going all these years is the thought that one day, we'd have you.”
My breath caught. Staring into Cyrus's husky-blue eyes, I forgot all about Ace. Reincarnated lovers? So what? Happened every day. Ace couldn't give me forever. He couldn't give me this kind of devotion. He certainly wouldn't tear apart furniture for me. A Cerberus was the elite of lovers. Everything I wanted.
“Youare our life,” Cyrus went on, digging the hole even deeper for me to fall into. “You will give us something to live for. Without you, this won't work. We can't work. You're our only hope, Salina.”
“Yeah, Obi-Wan. You're our only hope. And that fucking sucks for us right now.”
I turned to see Lex leaning in a doorway a little ways down the corridor from us. Jake entered the hallway at the end and grunted.
“We didn't want things to go like this, sugah.” Cyrus took over again. “We put that room together for you, buying pieces over the years whenever we saw something we thought our mate might like.”
“You feathered my nest?” I lifted a brow.
“We've been dreaming about meeting you for all our lives. These lives, at least. The thought of finding you, holding you at last, is all that has kept us going these last few years.” Lex waved back at the destroyed room. “And now,that'sall we have left of our dreams. Just a pile of trash.”
“Trash, eh?” I chuckled. “You guys are being so dramatic. You said you've been with other women. Let me bring your attention back to that fact and the double standard you're dishing out.”
“Let me drawyourattention back to the fact that you've already activated the bond.” Lex pushed out of his lean and stepped over to me. “This is not about equality. It's a situation that isn't optimal. But it is what it is. We have to deal with what we're given, Salina. I'm sorry you didn't get your taste of freedom, but we're willing to give up our freedom for you as well. All three of us. We don't even get to claim you individually. We have to share.”
“And that's a problem for you?” I lifted my brow.
“You know it's not,” Cyrus said. “We're closer than brothers. We're nearly the same person. We even feel each other's emotions if they're powerful enough. There won't be an issue with sharing you.” He leveled his stare at me and added, “Not with each other.”
“You're not fucking that man!” Jake pointed at me, then turned and walked away.
“We're going to have to work on your conversation skills, Jacob!” I called after him.
Cyrus and Lex chuckled.
“Would you like to see the rest of the house?” Lex asked.
I sighed deeply. “Sure. Why not? Show me the prison complex, warden.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
I thought Hades had done well with my place. Ha! The Hounds didn't have a house. They had a fucking palace. One of those old plantation homes with a tree-lined driveway and parkland around it that would have been sugarcane fields if the owners hadn't been hounds. And it was in New Orleans. In the city! That was beyond rare. Most of the homes like that in New Orleans were the type that offered tours to the public. The Hounds did not offer tours.
I shouldn't have been surprised. Those boys had been there before me. They established themselves early, buying property and marking their territory as only three alpha shapeshifters could.
