What surprises me is the fact that Seth can read at all, and the realization makes me feel a little inadequate around them. Not that I thought my Sethy couldn’t read – just that I thought we had the most in common, and I can’t read at all…
I nudge that thought aside as I stretch and push myself up from the couch. Pax’s gone, and I can’t see him anywhere inside or outside.
“Where’s Pax?” I croak.
Both guys stop what they’re doing and look up to watch me yawn and run my good hand through my hair. The pinky on my broken arm is twitching, and I groan, holding it in place with my other hand.
Roarke leans towards the window and taps on it a few times.
“What was that for?” I ask, but my sleepy voice makes it sound more like another groan.
At least my headache is gone.
“Where’s Pax?” Internally adding, and Thane.
I won’t lie, being Pax’s mate just got a lot scarier.
Scary like knowing Lord Martin is in a bad mood, but not knowing exactly where he is – and at the same time not scary, like when Lord Martin travels into Drayden, and the servants have the Manor all to ourselves.
“Looking for the Spring,” Roarke says.
I nod. That’s all I needed to know.
Killian’s big steps echo all the way up to the door, then stop. After a moment, he lets himself inside, taking much softer steps with only his socks on.
I pull my legs up underneath me and watch him advance, my skin prickling, because I know he’s in here to do something to me, and I’m not keen on the idea. I’m even hugging my arm to my chest.
“Give me your arm,” he says softly, sitting sideways on the couch beside me.
It’s the soft tone of his voice that slips under my defenses and makes me hold my arm out like a good little injured servant. My heart beats a little faster than it should – Killian talking softly is as unnerving as it is calming.
Then my finger twitches again.
“Why’s it doing that?” I ask.
“Just a muscle. I’ll relax it,” he says.
Seth goes back to his book, but Roarke flips the big red hardcover in his hands shut.
“She’s fine,” Killian grunts at him.
I run my fingers back through my hair again, snagging on knots, as Killian starts untying the splint, and Roarke crosses the room to his bag.
My stomach growls, followed swiftly by Seth, with the book still open and being scanned as he walks, shoving a jar of nuts into my lap.
I start eating, chewing each one slowly. Roarke returns with a brush in his hand, and slides onto the couch behind me to pull it through my knotted hair.
My Darkness runs his thumb down the inside of my arm, stopping to knead deep into the muscle until he releases exactly the right spot to stop the twitch in my pinkie. I sigh – that was getting really annoying.
I’m not sure which hurts worse. Roarke working the knots from my hair or Killian working the knots from my muscles.
Three of my guys are here with me, and Pax’s out in the dark looking for the Spring. But technically we’ve an extra member that I never knew existed before.
“What about Thane?” I ask, very tentatively. “How does that work?”
“They’re the same being,” Roarke says. “Same body, same soul.”
“But two names?” I press.
“Two threads,” Killian adds, pressing hard near the crook of my elbow.
I wince, squeeze my eyes shut, and almost chuckin’ cry. Almost, but not quite.
“Two streams of consciousness.”
I wait a beat, hoping Roarke will realize I have no idea what that means.
“They think independently. When Pax is a man, Thane can talk to him in his mind, but Pax has to talk to Thane out loud. When Thane takes over, and they’re all wolf, Pax’s words are almost lost in the wolf’s impulses. They rely on a balance that exists between them. On shared rules.”
Rules, that sounds like Pax. Killian hesitates, his thumb sitting lightly on my wrist.
Roarke stills.
“What?” I ask, not even sure I want to know the answer.
“You can’t use my power anymore. I don’t know what kind of damage you’re doing to yourself,” Roarke says.
“You can’t be serious. How am I going to stop doing something that just happens on its own? That’s like trying to stop a sneeze or the damn hiccups.” I hiss as Killian presses into the muscle at my wrist, stretching it forwards towards my hand.
“You compelled Pax to answer you,” Roarke continues. “You ripped the information from his mind.”
I chuff at him. He makes it sound so much more amazing than it was. I just asked. I was freaking out, and I asked a question. That’s it.
Roarke plays with the ends of my hair, pulling everything tight, before letting it go. A little pang of regret radiates through my chest – does he have to stop? Can’t he keep going? A little more – or forever?
Trying not to pout, I run my fingers over it. A braid. The guy has braided my hair. Both of his hands settle on my shoulders, sending shivers down my spine, as he leans in to rest his forehead against my now neater-than-it-ever-has-been hair. I suck in a breath, stuttered and desperate.
Wanting the world to hold. My eyes drift closed. Just this. Just us. Just now. For as long as the universe will allow. Killian even stops pressing his fingers into the tender parts of my arm.
“You can’t do that again,” Roarke says softly, but not soft enough. The air shifts, and the moment shatters. “Allure is a delicate, seductive power. You can’t force it.”
Don’t pout, I tell myself, trying to focus on what he’s saying and not the shivers still coursing through my body or the fact that Killian is moving again. I can’t force Allure, or it hurts.
I nod to show Roarke I understand because
