“Evening, everyone,” I say, pitching my voice to fill the space without strain. “Are we late to the party?”
There’s a shimmer like heat off pavement in my peripheral. Queen Kitty herself, in a dress that must have taken three hours to get painted onto her body, glides forward with her primary close behind. They both look so perfectly constructed it’s almost an insult, and I hate that the first thing I think is how good they’d look in my rearview. But there’s a threat here, too—Taurus and Talia materialize, both of them tense knowing that tonight could go very, very wrong. Talia plays with a knife, spinning it between her fingers in a way that broadcasts both skill and intent.
It won’t save you, sweetie. Just you wait.
Belle and Mayhem close ranks beside me, vibrating with the possibility of violence. I can tell from their posture that they’re hoping for a fight. But that’s not the game tonight. This is about corrosion, not explosion—about what rots underneath the surface until the whole structure fails. My crew gets it; they pivot from intimidation to anticipation, ready to follow my lead no matter where it heads. Amanda and Constantine join us, forming a small triad at my back.
This needs to be perfect to work, which is why I’m not moving until everyone is in place.
Veruca and Calista are further back now, working on their portion of the halftime show, while Roman and Janus were told to arrive by car before the rest of us. The two of them have too much heart to be part of us for this plan. They were never told the important parts and kept in the dark to keep this from leaking.
I’m going to fuck up their life a bit, but it cannot be helped.
Something in the air changes, and within seconds, there’s a fan of droids behind our hosts and their mates. Every member ofDeli’s household is positioned in pairs in an arc in front of the guests as if they need to protect them. That mental shit she does is getting scary, but I’ve got magick users of my own.
“Good evening, Sari, Belle, Amanda. I see the gang’s all here. I’m glad you could make it,” the cat says.
She’s ever the hostess, ever the peacemaker.
I arch a brow, chuckling low. “Well, I couldn’t miss my mate’s birthday party, now could I?” I knew that would hit a nerve, and it worked like a charm because that blade is spinning faster and the bird’s teeth are on edge. He moves closer to both, as if ready to fight me, and it occurs to me.
Oh, this is beautiful. This is perfect. They’ve all slept together.
How the mighty ‘I only have one mate’ preachers have fallen. That little tidbit had left me, but it makes this night even more wonderful. I thought I’d hit two buttons, but now I have four. Clapping my hands, I look over at Belle. “I think the guest of honor is ignoring us. It doesn’t seem fair.”
“It doesn’t seem very neighborly,” my partner in crime nods, edging closer.
“I’m not ignoring you ladies,” the long-haired double says, voice all full of charm and good humor. “You’ve made such a grand entrance; it’d be impossible to do.”
Ooh, a double-edged sword. Good parry, mate. You’ve grown a backbone since we saw one another last. That’s very attractive.
“It’s true; we have taken the stage.”
“Do you plan on attending the party or standing there looking at it?”
My head turns, and there stands Philomena—the crown bitch herself—martini in hand as she snipes at us. Roman and Janus are with her, both wearing brooding expressions as they try to read the situation. Their intuition is why they got left out of planning, but if this draws a line in the sand, I know they’ll stand with the family no matter what—even if it makes them unhappy.
“What the hell are you waiting for?” Deli asks, stalking forward until she’s within a hair’s breadth of us, her eyes stormy with irritation. I see the beast in those eyes, her anger and fear raging to get out as she holds onto control.
What I can’t figure out is why the air around her feels like a breeze blowing shocks over my skin or why the wind kicked up. A few clouds roll in, and I look around, hoping the girls finish before a freak summer storm brews. A crackle of bright flashes from behind me, and I smirk, turning towards the back of my group. “My date.”
Wilde walks through the crowd, his smug expression making me proud as he stops right in front of her. “Now that I am returned, we may join the festivities, my Darkness.”
A roar escapes her throat, and lightning sizzles in an arc in the clearing behind the pool house. Before she responds with a clawed reproach, a blond droid that I don’t recognize steps forward from the crowd with Philomena. The two of them are stone-faced and immovable as they block access to the cat and the lazy one.
“How rude of us,” the blond says, her voice soft in tone, but sharp as a razor in tone. “Had we known you were coming, Wilde, we would have sent a welcome-back card with a formal invitation.”
Philomena snorts and rolls her eyes. “As if Hallmark makes a ‘welcome back from being dead zombie blogger’ card.”
The blond gives her a look and continues, “Perhaps you all would like to visit the bar or the kitchen. Leo and Hex have prepared a wonderful spread for everyone. I’m sure it would shock the guests to hear your story.”
“However, the hosts are retiring before they are available for receiving,” Philomena says, her gaze icy. “Thank you for understanding.” She shoots a look at Taurus, who nods, and the fabulous four disapparate into thin air before I even shoot a retort.
“Rude isn’t the word, lady,” Belle snaps. “It feels like a mate returning from the dead requires at least a ‘hello’ before you blink off to God knows where instead of hosting your own party.”
Blurred motion is all I see for a moment, but when it stops, the blond has Belle against a wall, a scimitar at her throat, pinning her in place. Wilde and Mayhem move, but I shake my head, knowing she’d have Belle’s throat slit before they even got there.
How in the hell did Victor and the boys program that kind of speed?
