Jules breaks me out of my reverie, coiling around my ankle like a little snakelet, and I have to peel him off, too. As nice as it is to be wanted, if I don’t get moving, I’m going to be late. And the last thing I need is my brother letting himself into my house to find out what’s keeping me.
I never should have given him that key, emergencies be damned.
Handing the baby basilisk to Z, my heart warms as he accepts him like it’s his personal mission to ensure my pet’s safety in my absence.
I only feel a little bad when he gets bitten instantly. Jules’ venom won't come in for several months yet, so for now, bites just suck. Z rolls with it though, scowling at him and carefully extracting the basilisk’s teeth from his flesh, urging him to head up to his window ledge nest far above our heads. He zips up the wall like gravity doesn’t affect him, settling in for the night.
“Dev promised to feed you dinner,” I trail off, looking at the man in question that’s busy reorganizing my closet first by season, then color, doubt creeping in. “If he doesn’t… eat him or something, I guess. Natural consequences. Everyone good then? Good.”
I don’t expect Z to respond, but shout to get confirmation from Devlin. “Are yousureyou’ve got this? I can still cancel.”
“Nobody in or out of the house, keep the rabid beasts alive until you get home,” he recites like he’s distractedly reading off items on his to-do list. But with the way he’s fixated on his current task, I’m nervous about what I’m going to walk into when I come home tonight.
But if I’m seriously considering Devlin as one of my mates, I have to give him a chance to prove himself. If he’s going to let me down, I’m better off finding out before accepting a permanent bond.
A knock at the door has my heart picking up pace. “Stay out of sight until I’m gone, okay?” I beg both of them. I get a nod from Z and a distracted thumbs up from Devlin, and mentally start thinking up ways to warm my brother up to the idea of me having mates, drawing a blank. I can’t let Killian find out about them yet. Devlin, maybe, but Z? I cringe. Not until I canprove I’m making enough headway healing him that my brother will actually hear me out before losing his shit and getting him committed to the nearest feral facility.
Pulling the front door swiftly closed behind me, I overcompensate with a broad smile. If his face is anything to go by, Killian sees right through me, glancing over my shoulder with a curious frown, but I know my brother’s weak spots to exploit for a distraction.
“So, did you figure out what was going on with your bear shifter yet?”
He sighs heavily, but his lips quirk up. “You called it. Didn’t matter that he’d lived in the city his entire life, being around people constantly caused an underlying stress disorder to manifest. A week camping alone in the woods cleared up his issues better than all the healing I threw at him combined.”
I smirk as I slide into the passenger seat of his car. “I know you love to think we’ve evolved beyond such things, but shifters are more in tune with their baser instincts than the rest of us. Nine times out of ten, it can be cured with either an antibiotic, snuggles, or a walk alone in nature.”
He rolls his eyes, but smiles fondly as he adjusts the heat vents to blow on me instead of him. “Yes, yes, oh wise one, I bow down to your unorthodox healing methods.This time,at least. Exactly why you should come work with me; we’d be an unstoppable team.”
Yeah, except you’d do all the satisfying work while I consulted and filed paperwork,I think cynically. Which really isn’t fair.
My brother is my biggest hypeman and advocate. But Killian can’t protect me from the rest of the world, no matter how much he’d like to tuck me away in a private office and be a buffer between me and anyone that would hurt my feelings with callous comments or stand by and watch me hurt myself.
“I love you. You know that, right?”
He shoots me a concerned look out of the corner of his eye as he navigates the streets out of town. “Did something happen? You know you can tell me anything, right?”
Yes.
“No.” Stomach in knots, I offer a rueful smile. “Just wanted you to know that I appreciate you, is all. You’re the best big brother a girl could ask for, and I’m really lucky to have you looking out for me.”
Though he still looks concerned, he doesn’t push the issue, and we spend the rest of the trip making easy small talk. The next thing I know, we’re pulling up to a mansion that has me feeling about two feet tall. Idefinitelydon’t belong at this sort of event. Gorgeous cars surround our cheap sedan, but my brother doesn’t let that deter him. He parks with the sort of confidence I can only dream of, fully convinced he has every right to be here with people leagues above us.
He offers his elbow. “Milady.”
I take a beat to get my head on straight. I’m being stupid. With mimic blood? We don’t belonganywherein this world. It’s up to us to carve out our own place, whether people like it or not.
Fake it til you make it.
I take his arm and head up the steps with my head held high.
I’ve never backed down from a challenge before, so like hell am I about to start now.
Chapter 25
Stryker
“Hold this, will ya?” Sinclair asks, passing me yet another business card given to him like I’m his butler instead of respecting my position as his personal guard for the night. At this rate? I’m beyond thankful for the dental insurance my job provides, because we’re only thirty minutes in and I’ve spent the better part of it grinding my teeth.
OfcourseI got saddled with the eldest Sinclair heir. He’s a smug, entitled asshat that’s pissed off more people in this world than he’s helped. But they’re a powerful family, and if I can swallow my pride enough to score this contract for Thorne Security, it might be the win I need for my father to finally choose me to take over. Tonight is a prime example that I can put the company’s future over my own ego, which is crucial in leadership positions. Sebastian would sooner set the bridge on fire while he was standing on it than play second fiddle to a Sinclair, thinking it made him lesser in some way, but he doesn’t understand.
