“I could give you even more,” Koa growled, his voice dropping to that register that always made her blush.
“You’re getting too cold, little wife,” Cas intervened. “Your arms and face exposed would be sufficient for this experiment.” He turned to me with narrowed eyes. “Give her your hoodie.”
“What?” I scowled. “No way. Look at her! She’s like a living nightlight!”
“And she’s freezing. Hoodie. Now.”
“Ten more minutes,” Seri pleaded. Her glow intensified, the moon doing a mic drop moment across the orchard, and shadows scattered like roaches. “I canfeelit like static under my skin.”
I inched closer, drawn against all self-preservation instincts. My thumb brushed her ankle.Night’s teeth! Cas was right, as usual. She was the equivalent of an ice cube.
“Zane! I’m—”
“Freezing.” I shrugged out of my second-favorite hoodie, the red one with “Bite Me” emblazoned across the chest in vampire-bait letters. Steve, if you wanted to know, was currently framed to preserve Seri’s scent on him.
“I’m fine, really—”
“You’re a popsicle,” I interrupted her protests, kneeling beside her. “And while I personally find the whole teeth-chattering thing adorable and the hard nipples provocative, frostbite is probably counterproductive to your recovery.”
“It’s almost fifty degrees. Frostbite isn’t possible,” she argued and tried to resist as I held the hoodie open for her.
Ko, my bro, helped out and launched a sneak attack on the bottoms of her feet. She squealed, jerking away from his tickling fingers and directly into my waiting arms. I took full advantage, slipping the hoodie over her head while she was distracted.
Not to be outdone, Cas darted in and licked the insides of her knees, a move so unexpected and intimate that Seri dissolved into helpless giggles.
“That’s cheating!” she gasped between bouts of laughter, struggling half-heartedly as I pulled the hoodie down her torso, trapping her arms at her sides. “I look ridiculous.”
“You lookours.” The confession slipped out, raw and stupid. Ko’s eyebrow arched. Cas coughed into his fist. Brumster howled at the moon like a furry Greek chorus. To cover my drivel, I quickly quipped, “All’s fair in love and hoodie warfare.”
Her hair still shimmered with captured moonlight, and her face, flushed with laughter and bathed in silver, was the most exquisite thing I’d ever seen. When she finally settled, curled up in my oversized hoodie with her bare legs still stretched out to catch the moonlight, she turned her attention to Cas with a familiar determined set to her jaw.
“This reminds me of what I said at breakfast about cosseting.” She poked his chest with one finger.
“This isn’t cosseting.” Cas raised an eyebrow, unruffled. “This is preventing hypothermia.”
“And while I’m on the subject,” she continued, ignoring him, “I want you to train me.”
That got all of our attention.
“Trainyou?” Ko repeated, his shoulders tensing. “For what?”
“Just self-defense. All of you said you would teach me your specialties when you had the time, and since you’re technically still on your honeymoon and not taking jobs, I think you have more than enough time on your hands.”
“I’d rather haveyouon my hands,” I teased, waggling my eyebrows, but even as the words left my mouth, I knew this wasn’t a joking matter, not to her.
“I’m serious,” she insisted, the glow beneath her skin intensifying with her emotion. “I want to know how to defend myself. I’m not a monster hunter and never will be, but I still want to prepare myself, especially after everything we’ve been through and what we know is coming.”
The memory of finding her flashed through my mind. Magic depleted, arm infected, ankle dislocated, bruises everywhere.
I exchanged a look with my brothers. Having spent our entire lives together, we could read each other’s thoughts with nothing more than a glance long before I came into my telepathic abilities. Now, a trio of blinks, our oldest silent communication, followed by tiny nods.
We understood where she was coming from. How could we not? The three of us had sought the same thing when we agreed to an arranged marriage to escape Lucian’s machinations. We’d be the worst hypocrites if we said no. Still, the idea of deliberately putting her in harm’s way, even in controlled training sessions, made something uncomfortable twist in my gut.
“Of course, beloved,” Ko finally said. “We’ll teach you everything we can.”
I expected relief, maybe gratitude. I did not expect Seri to launch herself at Ko with such force that she knocked him flat on his back, covering his face with enthusiastic kisses.
My jaw dropped as I watched our little witch shower affection on my brother with complete abandon.
