I groaned and sat up, placing my feet over the side of the bed before hurrying to the dresser where I pulled on a new Spector uniform. I felt all three pairs of eyes watching me as I pulled on the tee and black legging pants. “What did you mean that they wouldn’t be right there with me?” I asked before turning around to face them and pulling my hair out of its messy bun to comb it through with my fingers.
“Exactly as I said,” Risk answered where he leaned against the wall. “Collector handpicked which hybrids would be in attendance today, and neither Tomb nor Crow are on that list.”
I exchanged a worried look with them and bit my lip. “I don’t like being separated.”
“I don’t either,” Tomb agreed. “You couldn’t pull your weight and get us in there?”
Risk shrugged a shoulder. “Haven’t you ever heard the term pick your battles? I can’t request your presence without it looking suspicious. Motley as my pet? Yes. Her other two mates? No.”
Tomb sighed and ran a hand over his bare scalp. “I don’t like the idea of her being there.”
“I’ll take care of her,” Risk said with all the confidence in the world. “Collector would be stupid to try anything today. The demonstration is all about showing off. He doesn’t want to make waves. He wants Spector to look good so the council will want to support him.”
I quickly pulled on a pair of black training boots, tucking my pants inside of them before straightening up. “Okay, I’m ready,” I said, even though I didn’t feel ready at all.
Risk cast a look my way from head to toe. “Hmm,” he said, coming forward. He tugged on a strand of my wavy hair before trailing a single finger down the curve of my neck and resting it against my hourglass mark. “You have just-fucked hair and swollen lips,” he mused. “You look like you’ve just spent all night ravished in my bed.”
My face heated. “Umm, I was ravished all night in your bed. By all three of you. At the same time,” I reminded him.
He grinned. “Exactly. You look the perfect part as my pet.”
“I really don’t like that nickname,” I grumbled. “Couldn’t you call me something less degrading?”
“What?” he asked while leaning even closer. He cupped his hand around my neck and brushed his lips over mine. “Like Mate? Wicked Love? Baby? Sweetheart? Mine?”
“Kitten,” Tomb offered offhandedly.
“Snookums,” Crow added.
“Little pet doesn’t have to mean something derogatory, Motley. I treasure you. I own you. You’re mine to do with as I please,” Risk rasped while squeezing even tighter. Our colliding chests created delicious friction, making my nipples pebble.
“We so do not have the time for this,” Crow mumbled, though he sounded as heady as I felt.
“Are you sure? She could be fashionably late,” Tomb added.
Risk lavished me with a brief, soul-crushing kiss. I could taste the coffee on his breath and the sulfur in his soul. It was devastatingly quick, leaving me wanting more of his decadent tongue sweeping across mine. “We don’t have time, my pet,” he said, though his face was filled with regret. “We have to go.”
Crow whistled, and one of his birds animated to life, fluttering toward me before landing on my shoulder. “Russell is going with you. If I can’t go, then I at least want my eyes on you,” he said as the bird nuzzled my cheek.
“Russell the crow? That’s his name?” I deadpanned. The bird cawed happily at me, as if pleased.
“All my birds have names. Magnus. Bernadette. Gigi. Fabia. Aerin is a pain in the ass and eats all my chocolates.”
“Can we please discuss how you name your crows another time? I’d like to get there on time,” Risk interrupted with a roll of his eyes.
“Shit. I don’t have something to send her off with,” Tomb said while frantically looking around the room.
“Chisel off one of your appendages. She could beat her enemies to death with your cock rock,” Risk teased.
Tomb’s eyes brightened for a moment, as if considering it, then shook his head. “It’s too big. She’d never be able to carry it all that way.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, we’re going now,” I said, slipping by Risk to land a kiss on both Tomb’s and Crow’s lips.
My mates shared a serious glance as I made my way to the door. “Take care of her, demon.”
“On my honor,” Risk said with a hand to his heart.
“He keeps saying that word, but I’m not comforted,” Tomb mumbled to himself.
Risk and I walked out into the hall, and I gave them one last wave before the door closed behind us. Turning around, my brow shot up in surprise when I saw the heavy presence of Spector guards. There were way more than usual. Some were posted at the end of the hallways, while others were marching back and forth doing rounds.
“What’s with the extra security?” I whispered to Risk, hurrying my steps to keep up with him.
He reached down and grabbed my hand, tucking it in the crook of his arm. His hand lingered over mine, his hot fingers dancing over my knuckles in a light caress.
“Oh, them? They’re here for you. Your stunt with burning that guard alive made them a bit more fearful of you than they were before,” he answered with a smirk, as if he were thrilled by that. “Such risky behavior, Wicked Love,” he taunted. “Though the webs you spun at the front of the door? Brilliant. I particularly liked you constricting the male’s hands until they popped right off. It’s sexy to see you get so bloodthirsty.”
“Only you would get turned on by that,” I murmured as we passed another pair of guards. I didn’t miss the way they eyed me, as if they wanted to litter my body with bullets and punish me for taking one of their own.
Russell kept close, staring down the guards with his beady red eyes as we navigated the hallways. Although I’d
