“We can talk to her. Convince her to wait until she finds a guy she wants to be with.”
That would almost be worse. A one-night stand was one thing. A lover, a potential mate, even…fuck, the very idea gave him hives.
Selfish piece of shit.
Yup, that was him. He had to either inject himself with a sexual suppressant or have sex all the time, but dammit, he didn’t want Scotty to be with a male. To his credit, that attitude was a recent thing. Before the incident on Stryke’s oil rig a couple of months ago, he hadn’t given a hellrat’s ass who she dated. Well, mostly. He did extensive background dives on any guy who so much as looked at her.
But on the rig mission, she’d nearly been torn apart in demon-infested waters. He’d almost lost her to Death’s icy grip. And now, it occurred to him that he didn’t want to lose her to another male, either.
“That’s not going to work,” Mace said. “You know how stubborn she is. It should be one of us. She’s ours.” The moment the words fell from his lips, he regretted them. Blade’s eyes shot wide, reflecting Mace’s own shock at having said them. “I didn’t mean it like that,” he said quickly. “I just meant…I don’t know.” Shit. He sounded like an idiot. “I guess I just don’t want to see her get hurt.” There. That sounded noble and crap. It was also true.
Wow. He was a paragon of honesty today, wasn’t he?
Blade nodded as if he understood. “I also don’t want her to fall in love with some asshole and ruin what we’ve got.” His long pause ended with a bitter laugh. “Is that fucking selfish, or what?”
It was selfish as shit, but Mace had no room to judge. He was a passenger on the S.S. Selfish right there with Blade.
And yeah, Scotty falling in love would suck. The three of them had been a team for over a decade, friends for longer. Inseparable and synced. How would they be able to fit anyone else into their tight circle?
Suddenly, Mace’s wrist comms vibrated, saving him from thoughts that would only make him want to join Blade in drinking himself blotto. A screen flashed in front of his eyes as the comm’s NeuroLink connection to the chip in his temple completed. Blade glanced down at his comms and back up, and Mace knew his buddy was seeing the same holo-missive from Kynan.
New mission. My office. One hour.
An hour. Perfect. Gave Mace enough time to do his thing with Alayna and for Blade to finish with Masumi.
Would she still look like Scotty?
The question weighed more heavily on him than he’d like, but at least they had a mission to concentrate on. Nothing kept problems on the back burner like a dangerous assignment.
Blade must have been thinking the same thing, because the tension fled from his body. “I’ll meet you downstairs in forty-five.” He offered his fist. “Team up.”
Tapping knuckles, Mace nodded. “Team up.”
Team Selfish was on the move.
Chapter 3
The relentless Greek sun beat down on Scotty as she crossed the arena, her combat boots kicking up pristine, freshly groomed white sand.
Crap. She and her sister were the first to train today. Aleka had to be thrilled, but Scotty preferred to spar on battle-churned ground. Every footprint, every rutted skid mark, every bit of blood, told a story that Scotty could learn from. Even the stench in the heat spurred Scotty to fight harder to keep her own blood from splashing onto the parched ground.
Not that she had to worry about bleeding while sparring with Aleka.
Their father hadn’t arrived yet, but Aleka was pacing anxiously in front of the weapons racks. And, of course, she was wearing body armor. She had an entire collection of slash-resistant clothing that also absorbed the power of blunt blows. Today, she’d gone with khaki leggings and a form-fitting, long-sleeved olive top.
Aleka was such a wuss. They were freakingimmortal. She’d heal from minor cuts and bruises in seconds.
“Hey, sis.” Scotty stopped in front of the short swords. “Haven’t seen you in a while. I was surprised when Dad hit me up at the last minute to train with you.” She hefted one of the swords, a straight, double-edged blade made for thrusting. Aleka’s protective clothing was practically useless against jabs and stabs.
If Aleka had even an ounce of battle smarts, she’d choose a shieldand a long weapon to counter Scotty.
Scotty would bet a million bucks that she wouldn’t.
“It was my idea. I’ve skipped training three months in a row, and I needed to get Dad off my back.” Aleka tied her long, wavy hair into a high ponytail, and Scotty watched in envy. Unlike Scotty, Aleka had gotten silky, strawberry-blond waves that wouldn’t dare get frizzy or move out of place. G-ma used to joke that Scotty’s hair was as fiery and wild as she was. “I also wanted to talk to you and figured here was as good a place as any.” She dropped her hands to her sides. “I have a lead on the location of Harvester’s blood.”
Scotty nearly fumbled the sword. “Holy shit.”
They’d been looking for answers for months, with little success. All they knew so far was that there had been an incident in Heaven that had resulted in their grandfather, Reaver, being taken captive, and their grandmother, Harvester, being killed when she tried to escape.
