“It’s circling,” she murmured to no one in particular. “Circling…”
Suddenly, a thin stream of blood rose into the air the way it had earlier. Anxiety shot through Scotty. Last time, Lilith had tried to steal Harvester’s Grace. Now, Scotty was afraid to hope. Afraid to be crushed once again.
Please, please let this work.
The form took shape. Scotty held her breath as the skin began to solidify. Long, black hair flowed down its back, growing longer…just as it had when Lilith appeared.
But as the facial structure solidified, Scotty couldn’t hold back her excitement.
“Harvester,” she whispered. “It’s her. It’s really her.”
Harvester’s limp body lowered to the floor. For a heart-stopping moment, there was silence. Stillness. Not a single twitch or breath.
And then she took a huge gulp of air.
They all rushed her, laughing, cheering. Crying.
She opened her eyes, taking each of them in in turn, but when she got to Reseph, on his knees next to her, the color drained from his face, his blue eyes tortured, she paused. Their gazes met. She reached up, her hand trembling, and placed her palm on his cheek.
“I forgive you,” she murmured. “I forgive you.”
Chapter 28
Scotty was both exhausted and excited as she headed to the compound. She couldn’t wait to tell Blade and Mace about Eva and Harvester. She’d have gone straight to their place, even if they hadn’t sent her a message saying they wanted to see her.
She wished she’d been able to spend more time with her grandma, but Harvester had passed out shortly after being reconstituted, and everyone agreed that she should get some rest before they overwhelmed her with questions and hugs.
The important thing was that Eva would live. By the time Scotty left, she looked better than she had in weeks. Unfortunately, she was also back to being mortal.
They’d find a way to fix that, though. Surely, Harvester would help, once she was up and running again.
Even though it was well after midnight, Scotty found the guys on the well-lit basketball court, shooting hoops with Crux, who spotted her first and shot her a big grin.
“Hi, Scotty!” He loped over to her, enthusiasm radiating off every inch of his tall, gangly body. He wasn’t looking forward to his transition, but she knew he’d be pleased with what would happen to his physique. “Wanna play? We can do two-on-two. You and me against those two jerks.”
“Another time,” she said, wishing she wasn’t drop-dead tired. “I need to talk to thetwo jerks.”
Crux shrugged, then smiled again. “Tomorrow?”
“We’ll see.”
That seemed to satisfy him, and he took off for the house, leaving her with the guys. Dressed in shorts and tees that showed off sinewy muscles and rock-hard bods, they moved toward her with smooth, lethal grace that reminded her of predators.
A mere week ago, she’d have thought nothing of how incredibly sexy they were, but now, all she could do was remember how they touched. Kissed. Licked.
And she wanted more.
Gods, how was she supposed to survive the next assignment with them if she imagined them naked every time she looked at them?
Sex with them was supposed to fix things—and it had. But it also created new problems.
Like perma-lust.
They’d awakened something inside her. They’d introduced her to new sensations and emotions, and they’d forever altered how she would look at them. They were still friends, closer than ever, but now, she saw them as lovers too.
Swallowing dryly, she met them at the edge of the court.
“Everything went great,” she said, and they both looked relieved. “Well, Lilith tried to interfere, but we sent her packing.”
