“That’s it,” I mutter, feeling energized all over again for a very different reason. I almost start blurting out my theory before remembering the strangers caught up in animated conversation with the guys. “Kins.” He turns to me instantly, not giving two shits about cutting off the other guy mid-sentence.
“Yeah?” His worried gaze scans my face, looking for the cause of my sudden alarm.
“Can we go now?”
He nods, brushing the other guys off without any big drama like I expected there to be. Kahl starts to tug me back towards the house, assuming I’ve had enough and am opting out, but I stand my ground and dig in my heels, not that it would slow him down in the slightest if he was actually trying.
After the two men are far enough away, I whip my gaze back to Kinsley, reaching out to grab his wrist and tug him closer to me. Last they checked, there were men milling around the front of the house, and I wouldn’t be surprised if all of the chatter brings a couple back here.
Kahl straightens up while still keeping an arm slung around my shoulders as Kinsley leans down so I can whisper in his ear. I don’t even entertain the thought of taking the revelation to the grave for the sake of the son of a bitch humans that got us into this entire mess by organizing a global slaughtering of women. They deserved every bit of retaliation that came their way, but it’s the rest of us caught in the crossfire that were forced to pay the price.
“What if you could link computers the way you do cell phones? Just enough to send something like a text, but you need a password to access the message so there’d be no risk of someone intercepting or tracing it.”
He pulls back to look at me with wide eyes. It’s clear the second it clicks for him what I’m implying, his mouth parting in disbelief. “Fuck, that could change everything,” he murmurs, mind already racing, trying to discern the mechanics behind the concept to make it work. They all have their strengths, areas they shine compared to their identical counterparts, and for Kinsley it’s inventing. Thus far though, all of that energy has been channeled into either his work at the forge or into causing chaos for laughs to pass the time. He starts pulling out his phone before hesitating and stuffing it back in his pocket. “I need to run some stuff by Soren and Yri,” he mumbles distractedly, already lost in thought and starting to walk away without us.
“What’s going on?” Kaiden demands, too far away to overhear.
Kahl starts walking, guiding me with him as we start to catch up with Kinsley. “Our girl figured out the perfect way to get Kins out of the picture for a while so we could have her all to ourselves.” Kaiden gives him a look, so I beckon him closer, filling him in on my theory.
He glances around quickly as we round the corner to the front of the house, seeing a few people making a piss-poor attempt at subtlety working in the yard across the street. “If we could get something like that going, we’d have to make sure it couldn’t leave a trace of location like phones do,” he murmurs softly, glaring as one guy pulls out his phone to take a picture and a couple take the bull by the horns and walk over.
Kahl adds quickly, “But it means there’d be a shot of organizing our own revolt. Expose what’s happening, force people to face reality instead of the lies they shove down everyone’s throats. Hard to turn a blind eye when you see what they’re really doing to your sisters and daughters instead of the bullshit propaganda.”
Softly, I shake my head. “You can’t force people to care. They’re too selfish to risk their necks for a world that doesn’t want to change.”
Kaiden steals me away from Kahl, throwing him under the bus to talk to the newcomer as he grips my hand, breaking into a jog away from everyone. Despite the heavy topic I grin, loving how they uncomplicate everything so easily, not intimidated by seemingly overwhelming, impossible situations. Here I am caught up in the fear of striking up conversation with strangers, trying to fit in so they don’t see past the scaley mask I need to wear in front of them, and Kaiden just fucking leaves, not giving two shits if it’s rude. They couldn’t care less about what anyone thinks and don’t bother wasting time pandering to people that don’t matter.
“The world is constantly changing, Saige. It’s the people that stubbornly stand in its way. We can’t force them to care, but we can take away some of the power from the people that don’t deserve it. Monsters in suits, masquerading as men that think themselves untouchable.”
A feral glint lights his eye as he rounds a corner, abruptly pulling me behind a house and pushing me against it, caging me in with his body. There’s nowhere I can see that isn’tKaiden,shrinking my world until he’s the only thing in it. We’re quiet for a few minutes as we hear footsteps slap against the pavement, and it will never cease to amaze me how absolutely fucking creepy that is and no one is mentioning it. Who the hell just starts staking out someone’s house, waiting for them to show their face before chasing them and demanding answers they aren’t entitled to, fueled by nothing more than their cocks and curiosity in an otherwise boring town?
“But they’re so caught up playing pretend, thinking they’re at the top of the food chain, that they get rusty,” he whispers against the shell of my ear and a shiver wracks my body. “Too many have given up the prospect of ever getting to shift. They settle for the highest level of power they can achieve, losing that drive.” He kisses my neck before gently nipping at the flesh and I stifle the moan that wants to break free, urging him closer. “They’re so caught up in their political games that they forget they’re still playing the most primal one. We just need to spark a fire in the masses and let nature take care of the rest.”
Before I can start shamelessly grinding against him, he pulls back, leading me back the way we came and changing direction until we’re in front of Ezra’s house, the other two pacing nervously. Audibly sighing in relief, Kinsley smiles at me before knocking.
“Any trouble?” Kahl frets, though he tries to appear collected and unfazed after as much he’s reassured me this outing was a good idea.
“Just Saige,” Kaiden retorts with a cluck of his tongue. “Trying to instigate an awful lot of revolutions for someone claiming to want to be a hermit.”
Snorting, I don’t bother arguing since I know he’s not upset. “Nobody home?”
Kins pounds his fist against the door again before sharing a conspiratorial look with his brothers, all of their faces lighting up as they have a silent conversation.
“I have just the thing,” Kinsley cackles, bolting back towards their house without another word while Kahl digs out his keys, thumbing through them quickly.
“We’ll have to work fast. None of them are working today so who knows when they’ll be back,” he declares, practically shoving us through the door in his haste before closing it behind him.
He and Kaiden don’t even take time to come up with a plan, just both split off in different directions to divide and conquer. That leaves me just standing alone in the living room, no clue as to what exactly is going on. Sure, I know they’re sabotaging everything to fuck with their siblings, but this is way out of my element, never involved in any of their ridiculous antics.
“What do you want me to do?”
Kahl peeks his head out from around the corner of the hallway he just disappeared into. “Take the upstairs. Don’t do anything that would actually hurt someone, but beyond that, go nuts.”
Blinking after him I cringe, realizing I’m guilty by association at this point. Eli already warned me I used up my one and only pass by him tipping me off about the shower that dyed Kinsley purple for days, so it’s only a matter of time before I wake up to a face full of snakes or some shit.
Okay, get creative.
Heading upstairs, I open the first door I come across, which turns out to be the bathroom. Instantly I nix anything involving the shower, knowing they’d be expecting something along those lines. I almost grab the bar of soap and rub it all over the tile, but with as small as this space is, someone could easily bash their skull on the counter if they slip. Biting my lip, I glance around with a grimace, everything suddenly feeling like a death trap.
