Outside a frog croaks, the noise funneling up the drain. But neither guy moves.
Upstairs, Roarke thumps around, and I listen to his every step until the whole house goes silent. Just the frog – and my thoughts.
Thoughts that won’t shut up.
I was drowned, a really long time ago. But I lived. I could be part-something-awesome, but not a big enough part to actually be awesome.
And on my thoughts go. Sleep dances just out of reach.
A growl punctures up through the floor, and I bolt upright, heart racing. Hands shaking. Eyes searching for …
“What was that?” I gasp.
Pax grips the back of my shirt and yanks me down, helped by Seth who sits up and presses a hand to my chest.
“Darkness,” Seth mutters.
He hasn’t even opened his eyes. Neither has Pax. The house itself feels alive with the echo, even though I can’t hear the sound anymore.
“Killian?” I ask. “Is he okay?”
“He’s fine,” Seth mutters.
“We have to check on him,” I demand.
“I’m not going down there. That man’s deadly in his sleep,” Seth says.
Pax settles his arm over my waist, nodding into his pillow. “No one goes near him,” he agrees. It almost sounds like he’s going to add the words ‘that’s an order’, but he’s already falling back to sleep.
Killian’s gone quiet again anyway, but now I need to pee.
“Let me up,” I declare, wriggling towards the foot of the bed. Neither of them lift their arms, so I try again with something a little more pressing. “I need to pee.”
Both of them snag a grip on my shirt.
“Do you want me to pee my pants?” I ask, adding, “Or your pants?”
Pax almost-growls, opening his eyes a sliver and fixing his groggy gaze on me.
Damn, when Sabers sleep, they go down hard. No wonder these guys are paranoid about where they sleep.
“I can’t leave my bubble anyway, so I can’t go far. I’m going to pee, and you’re going to close your eyes and not watch me pee.”
He relaxes his grip. Seth’s fallen back to sleep, and I practically have to rip my shirt free from his fingers.
“Pax?” Seth asks, trying to sit up.
I put my hand on his chest and push him back down. “I’m going to the toilet,” I grumble.
I get myself off the bed and out of their reach as quickly as I can, then hesitate awkwardly until they’ve both rolled over. I’m almost certain Seth’s going to roll over as soon as I start to pee and laugh at me. But he doesn’t. Neither of them move when I wash my hands and wet my face either. The frog croaks joyfully at the bottom of the water pipe.
Killian lets out a series of low, angry growls downstairs. The sounds send shivers up my spine, freezing me in place. Like he’s in serious pain, soul-deep pain.
I follow the edge of my bubble, past Eydis’ clothes, towards the door, but not out of it. I can’t even glimpse down the stairs and see if Killian’s okay.
Which is a considerably stupid idea, because I’m pretty sure Killian is not okay. Another heart-stopping howl rips through the building, making me jump. A low whimper follows, and that’s the sound that hits me the hardest.
I run over to Seth, giving his shoulder a firm shake. He grips my wrist, wriggles over, and tugs me into the bed. “Sleep.”
“I need to check on Killian.”
“That’s a bad idea.”
“You don’t have to check on him – you just have to walk me down the stairs.”
“Very…” Yawn. “Bad idea. He’ll break you…” Yawn. “Like a twig. Tiny Vexy.”
Pax groans. “Beautiful.”
“She’s here,” Seth whispers.
They both make an agreeing-grunting sound, then settle into silence.
Bralls, no. Killian’s gone quiet, but I need to see him before I can go to sleep. Which has nothing to do with these two being super-possessive and super annoying.
Okay, maybe a little.
Their attitude has certainly got my blood pumping a little faster, and my good hand curled into a fist.
“Seth,” I whisper. You can stay asleep for all I care – but you are taking me downstairs.
The sharp ache through my temple, and little trickle of blood under my nose, warns me that I just used Roarke’s Allure – but I get no warning before Seth’s on his feet, picking me up and carrying me from the room. I bite my lip to stop myself from squealing, looking back over Seth’s shoulder at the still-sleeping Pax.
Killian groans like a man being beaten to death, then thumps something hard enough to make the big bay window shudder. Seth doesn’t react, walking down the stairs with his eyes unnervingly still closed.
“Stop,” I say on the bottom step, then wriggle free from Seth’s grip.
I can feel that I’m inside Killian’s bubble – but I can’t see the man. The back of the couch is blocking my view. All I want to do is peek over the couch, see he’s okay, then go back to bed.
Maybe even shake his shoulder to wake him a little – that usually stops a nightmare. Or shake his shoulder a lot because he’s a big man, and the sounds he was making hint at the most intense nightmares a person could have.
Seth turns and stumbles back up the stairs.
“Where are you going?” I hiss after him.
But he’s gone. I scratch my head, trying to remember what my actual instructions were. Do people obey to the exact words a person uses, or is intention enough?
Right, new plan. Check on Killian, then curl up in one of the single chairs and deal with pissed-off Pax in the morning.
Carefully, I step up to the back of the seat, practically tiptoeing. Every nerve in me is alive with Seth’s warning – ‘he’ll break you.’ But the big guy has gone quiet.
I peer over, stepping close enough to make out his features in the firelight.
He’s using the couch arm as a pillow. One foot is hanging over the far arm, and the other has fallen to the floor. His hand is
