“And at night?” I ask, because the silence is always at its worst then. “What about when?—”
“One of us will stay,” Jace says. No hesitation. “Every night. We’ll rotate. We already cleared it with Lucian.”
I shake my head, not out of defiance, just because I don’t know what to do with that kind of safety.
“You don’t have to do that. You don’t even like me.”
“We want to,” Noah says.
“We’re going to,” Tex adds, crossing his arms.
“You don’t get to scare us off, sweetheart,” Luca says. “You’re stuck with us now.”
For a moment, I just stand there, wrapped in a hoodie that’s too soft, surrounded by four boys who don’t hesitate.
They’re not just protecting me. They’re choosing me.
The tears hit before I can stop them. Not sobs, just a few hot drops, rolling silently down my cheeks.
Noah steps closer. “Is it okay if I?”
I nod.
He pulls me into a hug, warm and solid, anchoring me to the ground.
Luca grabs the front of Jace’s shirt, dragging him over and throwing his arms around us.
Luca holds Jace’s arms in place. “Get in here Texy, time for a group hug.”
Tex rolls his eyes with a sigh but gives in.
Not crushing, not overwhelming, just surrounding. Shoulders brushing. Arms overlapping. A cocoon of warmth and steel and we’ve got you.
I close my eyes.
And for the first time since Lucian gave me the news… I feel like I might actually be safe.
30 THE CAGE
The boys have stayed all day in shifts, unofficially, cycling in and out under the radar. They act like it’s casual. Like it isn’t strange that four elite Blackmoore boys are spending the afternoon camped out on the floor of a girl’s room, swapping stories, arguing over which energy drink is actually poison, and flinging cards across the floor with deadly accuracy.
They stay. They make it feel normal.
But night comes. And with it, the restless itch under my skin.
I sit on the edge of my bed, fingers twisting in the hem of my hoodie, while the others talk in low tones near the window. It isn’t claustrophobia, it’s something deeper. Like if I stay still too long, he wins. Like every second I spend hiding means I’m still his.
I stand without thinking. Four sets of eyes snap toward me.
“I can’t sit here,” I say. “I need to move. Go somewhere. I don’t care where.”
Tex’s jaw ticks. He glances once at Jace, then back at the others.
Noah’s the first to nod. “Yeah. Okay.”
Luca straightens, a grin already forming. “I know just the place.”
“We all do,” Tex adds, voice low. “You’ll likeit.”
