She flips him off before taking a bite. “I thought you’d be happier I was proactive. I figured mobs of horny men would rank right up there with brussel sprouts for you, Kinsley.”
Kahl serves his plate and sits across from me. “So why didn’t you act like the others? No interest in our sister?’
I don’t even hesitate. “On the contrary, I warned her it would be a conflict of interest to take the position.”
“No talking about positions and my sister in the same sentence,” Kaiden snaps, stabbing his fork into his plate.
I chuckle. “Apologies. I felt the same pull, but my only concern was removing her from the situation before she got hurt in the crossfire.”
Kahl strums his fingers on the table as he thinks things over before turning to Kaiden and Kinsley. “Might be a decent plan. One of us can’t be with her all the time, and if he likes her, he won’t allow any guy she’s on a date with to go too far.”
Kinsley starts to get on board next, talking around a mouthful of potatoes. “And he’ll be forced to watch her date other guys. Got to hand it to you sis, that’s pretty savage.”
He’s not wrong, but just because she goes on a date, doesn’t mean she’ll mate the guy.
“Way to make me sound like a bitch, Kinsley,” Ezra scoffs and I grin as they continue to snipe back and forth. I’m an only child, so this is all foreign to me, but also much more amusing than I would have imagined.
“It’s a compliment. Now you’re a savage in the races and out of them too,” he counters instantly.
“What’re your thoughts on the matter, Elias?” Kahl asks, and I turn in my seat to look at the second smallest red head of the bunch.
Red hair? Must be a Veles.
Elias is more subdued, but under the attentions of his older brothers, he sits straighter and speaks louder than he did this afternoon, as if he’s trying to emulate their actions.
“I’d like to find out why he came here before trusting him alone with Ezra,” he declares, looking at me in challenge.
He knows he’s backed me into a corner and is damn proud of it. If I don’t say anything, I’ll look suspicious. If I explain, they might kick me out. But if I lie, I have no doubt in my mind these four could sniff it out the second the words left my mouth. I sigh, pushing my plate away and resting my elbows on the table and interlocking my fingers. I rest my chin on them, looking directly at Ezra so I can watch her reaction.
“I come from a small country overseas called Omisha. With as small as it is, it wasn’t hard to eradicate the humans after the attack. But earlier this year,” I trail off and take a deep breath. “A few months ago, there was another attack there.”
Ezra cocks her head to the side. “But I thought all the humans there were slaughtered?”
I nod. “They were. This one was led by our kind. Dragons, turning against other dragons.”
There’s a beat of tense silence before she breaks it. “Why?”
I scrub a hand down my face and sit back. “Competitions over females are becoming more and more violent. There’s a radical group that thinks thinning the herd now will be better in the long run. Less competition over women and less resources used before they die.”
Elias pipes up beside me while also kicking me under the table. “That doesn’t explain why you’re here.”
I tip my head in acknowledgment. “As you can imagine, things escalated quickly. My flight and I cut down a good chunk of their numbers before fighting our way out of the country. We came here to try to escape it all, to start over somewhere peaceful.”
Ezra is the first to point it out. “But you didn’t kill them all, and those you left alive might come after you for revenge.”
I close my eyes, sighing in defeat. “Exactly. We did everything possible to cover our trail and moved halfway across the world, but anything’s possible.”
Elias slaps my back as he walks behind me towards the kitchen sink. “Okay, then I’m good.”
“Wait, what?”
The triplets follow his lead, taking their plates into the kitchen as Ezra rolls her eyes at the mess piling up. Kahl crosses his arms across his chest and leans against the fridge.
“One, they wouldn’t kill Ezra if they came across you since they’re thinning the herd of males,” he states.
“Two,” Kaiden continues, leaning against the counter, “we’ve spent the last ten years training her how to fight her way out of impossible situations. Even if you hadn’t shown up today, she would have locked herself in the bathroom and busted out the window if she couldn’t get to the doors or take them all down herself,” he says confidently, but he misses the appreciative smile Ezra gives him when he does.
Kinsley starts in on the dishes. “And third, something like that will gain traction worldwide if it hasn’t already.” I make sure not to let any of the confusion show on my face, going along with his speech. “The Gauntlet each town runs is its own way of culling, but it’s disguised as a competition so people voluntarily sign up. We’re better off having someone we can trust that’s faced off against those assholes and knows how they operate than flying in blind when they eventually make their way here if they haven’t already.”
