“I’ll go.” Ko was already rolling off the bed to grab his pants.
“It’ll take too long to drive,” Cas cut in, his tactical brain calculating distances and timeframes. “Even at top speed, that’s four hours minimum.”
“I can shadow walk there in four seconds.” Seri’s statement landed in the middle of our bedroom like a live grenade.
Even knowing it was coming, we all froze, exchanging the kind of look that communicated paragraphs without a single word.
“Absolutely not. I yanked on my boxers. “We’re not sending you into that psychopath’s den.”
“It’s my home—”
“It was yourprison,” Ko corrected, struggling to keep his tone gentle for her.
“I know every inch of that place,” she insisted, her gray eyes flashing. “I can get in and out through the shadows faster than any of you could evenfindFoster.”
“And what if you see her?”
“Then I see her.”
We launched into what could generously be called a debate, but was really just three overprotective dhampirs trying to talk sense into our beloved. Cas started listing all the tactical disadvantages. Ko went straight for the emotional appeal, reminding her of what Arabesque had done to her. I, in my infinite wisdom, decided to bring up the most recent shadow-related disaster.
“Have you forgotten what happened with the shadows at that camp?” I gestured wildly with the hand not rearranging my junk in my boxers. “They nearly pulled you into fucking oblivion! You needed three days to recover, Seri.Three. Days.”
A flinch crossed her face at the memory, but her chin jutted out stubbornly.
“That was different. This is just a simple there-and-back usingnormalshadows.”
While we argued, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and attempted to stand. Her knees immediately buckled, and I lunged forward, catching her against my chest before she hit the floor.
“See?!” I said, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. “You can’t even walk. You said that yourself, like, a minute ago.”
“I can walk to save Foster.” She glanced around the room. “Koko, where did my nightie end up?”
“What, no panties?” I shrieked, trying to lighten the mood because that’s what I did when I was terrified. “You hussy! Going commando straight from your husbands’ bed to rescue another man!”
The smack to the back of my head from Cas was entirely expected and probably deserved.
“Not the time, menace,” he growled, which, fair.
“I know my old home better than any of you.” Her hands gripped my forearms tightly, whether for balance or emphasis, I wasn’t sure.
“The Bell homestead is hundreds of miles away, and crawling with dangers,” I pointed out as Ko found her nightie, a flimsy pink thing that barely covered her ass. When I’d bought it for her, that had been its chief selling point.
“What if Foster is injured?” Ko slid the nightie over her head. “Hurt wolves are dangerous, and he’s triple your size.”
Seri frowned, and I could see her mentally recalculating. It was a fair point. Foster was a big dude. Taller than me, broader than Ko, pure muscle from head to toe. Then she shrugged.
“No one weighs anything in the shadows, and if he bites me, one of you can bite him back.”
The room fell into tense silence. Cas had gone still in that way he did when he was processing multiple scenarios at once. The fact that he hadn’t immediately shut this shit down completely told me he was considering it, which was both surprising and unsettling.
Finally, he spoke.
“Zane goes with you.”
Three heads swiveled toward him simultaneously. If the situation hadn’t been so dire, I would have laughed at our perfect synchronization.
“I’m sorry,what?” I blurted. “Did you just volunteer me for a shadow suicide mission?”
