Our high-octane ethos made anything regular seem boring, including fucking a woman alone and without all our toys. Novelty was our drug and we were all addicts of the highest order.
“That bacon’s gonna be burnt in another ten seconds,” Vigo said.
He was right. I flipped the bacon and opened a pack of bread, then put two slices in the toaster.
“So how are we going to do this?” I asked.
“How are you going to do what?”
We turned toward Cassie’s voice all at once, like she was the sun rising over the mountains and we were trees waking after a long winter.
She looked even prettier fresh out of the shower, her wet hair the color of an old penny, face scrubbed clean. She’d changed into matching sweats in a pale purple that made her eyes look like emeralds under light.
“How we’re going to fuck you,” Vigo said, hopping off the counter. “Because of the virginity thing.”
Her cheeks turned an adorable shade of pink and I felt the uncommon urge to rescue, to shelter. It was an urge I wasn’t eager to share, even with Hawk and Vigo, and I worked to keep my voice cool when I told her to take a seat.
She hesitated, then slid onto a chair at the end of the island, leaving an empty one between her and Hawk. “That bacon smells amazing.”
I removed the bacon from the pan, drained all but a little of the grease, and poured the raw eggs into it. “Nothing fancy but hopefully this will get you by. Figured you need sleep more than anything.”
“I’m definitely tired,” she said, “but I have some questions.”
“Your questions can wait,” Hawk said. “First we need to talk about Bram.”
19
CASSIE
The mentionof my brother made me feel a little sick. Telling him I’d joined the Hunt had seemed like a distant problem when I’d been preparing for it, probably because he was so far away, most likely lying on some Balinese beach with Maeve, Poe, and Remy.
But fresh out of the shower with the sun streaming into the kitchen, it was impossible to ignore that this was real.
I’d played in the Hunt. I’d lost. And now I was owned by the Hawks.
Bram was going to murder me. But only after he murdered them.
“I’m an adult. Bram doesn’t make decisions for me.” I hoped I sounded braver than I felt.
Because I wasn’t afraid of Bram the way most people were, but Iwasafraid of disappointing him. And I was definitely afraid of getting him into a situation where he did something rash out of anger.
Bram angry was enough to keep the whole town in line.
“That may be true,” Vigo said cheerfully, “but that doesn’t mean he isn’t going to lose his shit.”
Oh, he was definitely going to lose his shit.
Jagger slid the scrambled eggs out of the pan and onto a plate, then added five slices of bacon and a stack of buttered toast.
He pushed the plate toward me and handed me a fork.
“It was my decision,” I said.
“You lost the Hunt,” Hawk replied. “We own you for the next ninety days. It’s really that simple. Bram will have to deal with it.”
I took a couple bites of egg. “This is really good,” I told Jagger. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” His face remained expressionless, but I thought I caught a flash of warmth in his blue eyes.
