More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Yes, my aesthetic was mental illness; no, I didn’t want to talk about it.
I’d always thought of John as a friend. The special kind that you snuggled in bed with and held on to for dear life as you drowned in the ocean for hours. I’d grouped him in with Sadie, but there was a problem. I was bizarrely aware of the fact that he wasn’t a woman; he was an extremely handsome six-foot-five supernatural assassin. John was definitely treating me differently than he had when I was disguised as a boy. There was an unfamiliar edge in his eyes. The way he looked at me. It made me squirm.
He quickly piped down once four shifters surrounded him with glowing eyes. Xerxes brandished his knives, and Ascher cracked his knuckles. The shifter legion settled into line beside us, and Sadie launched herself into my arms. She straddled me and squealed, “Oh my sun god, you’re a girl again! Damn, I forgot how gorgeous you were. Sexy mama.”
Mentally, I was a slut. Physically, I was terrified of intimacy. Spiritually, I didn’t like men.
“Tell them I’m single,” Sadie’s sister, Lucinda, yelled in the background. Jax growled. “You’re not allowed to date until you’re three hundred and fifty years old.” Cobra scoffed. “You’re not allowed to date until you’re dead. You can date in the afterlife.” His jewels transformed into shadow snakes and crawled over his skin. “In this life, I’ll kill any man that touches you.”
“You’re doing amazing,” he praised. “You’re so fucking strong and impressive.” He started sewing up another wound and murmured, “That’s it, just breathe slowly, Princess.” Everything was a jumble of pain. Seconds bled slowly into minutes, then dragged into hours. “Good girl, such a good girl,” John mumbled under his breath absentmindedly as he worked on a gash on my forehead. Suddenly, I forgot how to breathe. A different type of pain streaked across my spine.
Arabella was sprawled across John’s naked chest, and the fucker was propped up on his pillows, holding her. She was covered in stitches and looked a million times better than the last time I’d seen her. John scowled at me and nuzzled the top of her head.
Slowly, the corner of John’s mouth pulled up in a smirk as he made a show of nuzzling his chin against her curls. I saw red. It wasn’t from the eclipse. He pulled Arabella tighter against his chest, and his lips moved as he whispered something only she could hear. His eyes didn’t leave mine. John was staking his claim.
The other’s eyes widened. “Our Highness defends us to the kings. She is not only powerful but kind.” “Um.” Arabella pursed her lips. “Sure?” “Don’t forget she’s also gorgeous!” Sadie yelled from the table next to ours.
Jinx sagged against the wall and said in a small voice, “Thanks for being a good friend, Aran.” I screamed, “Sadie, Jinx has been erasing all our memories! She can look us in the eyes and make us forget things! She’s probably been doing it her whole life and is hiding things from us! Also, she’s apparently in pain every day!” “WHAT?” Jax roared.
I’d read a book about the psychology of body language. Appearing approachable was important to fostering trust with someone. The book had also said that if you stared into someone’s eyes for over a minute, chemicals would release in their brain that mimicked love. Attachment. Dependence. I kept my eyes on Arabella every chance I got.
“I’ll take care of you, Aran, I promise,” he whispered reverently as he touched me like he wanted to.
His voice was a gravelly rasp. “Lift up your hips, Aran.” I relaxed against him and obeyed. This was my friend, and I was safer with him than any other man in the universe. That mattered. “So perfect,” John praised.
Sadie threw herself against me and pulled me down into the newly vacant chair beside her. “I’ve been so worried about you,” she whispered against my chest as she hugged me. I clung back. Over her shoulder, Xerxes and Ascher both smiled and gave me little waves. The friendly movement was comically out of place on the two men.
“Are you okay?” Jinx asked quietly from the end of the table as she stroked the ferret hanging around her neck like a scarf. Her dark eyes were too large for her pointy features and gave her a ghoulish appearance. She looked worried.
“Both he and Sadie didn’t sleep last night. He felt guilty for not going back to rescue you, so you didn’t finish last. He wasn’t sure if it would break the competition rules, but he’s mad at himself for not trying.” I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. Jax stared down at me with compassion and whispered, “He feels responsible for what happened to you.”
Luka sauntered up to the bed and leaned against it so he stood beside her. He didn’t smile or touch her like John, but he stood in her proximity with a scowl on his face as he studied her intensely. He was acting like he was her bodyguard or something.
Malum breathed raggedly like a maniac. This was exactly why all fae men would be jailed at birth and not released until they proved themselves peaceful. Thank the sun god I was queen and not some male whack job.
“I don’t care that your mother’s dead. That is not enough. Whoever served her will burn by my hand. Whoever failed to help you will burn by my hand. Whoever was within a hundred-mile proximity to her when she did this will burn by my hand. I swear it on the honor of the House of Malum. You will be avenged.”
“Can you two stop embarrassing me?” Jinx snapped her fingers in my face. “Seriously, people are looking, and I’m tired of being asked if my mothers are lunatics.”
Sunshine burst inside my chest. What I felt for the twins went beyond words. It went beyond destiny. The three of us were inevitable.
