“I defied them, and they killed my aunt right in front of me.”
My words were greeted with gasps and pitying looks. It nearly undid me. But warmth at my back made me pause. My men were behind me, offering me their support.
I cleared my throat. “You might follow their rules, play their games, and deal with their shit. But a day from now, a month from now, or even a year from now, you could slip up. Get tired. Hell, get mad. And Spector could decide to flex their muscles. No one can keep up with their demands forever. We can’t live like this. We can’t bow down and submit, or accept that they’re holding our loved ones over our heads. We have to stop them. As long as Spector exists, our entire community is at risk. But I won’t force anyone,” I told them honestly. “It’s your choice—something that Spector also likes to take from us. I choose to fight them. And I hope you choose to fight with me.”
Everyone was silent, and I glanced around, my anxiety spiking. I meant what I said. Everyone had a choice to join us. It was a huge risk bringing them here and telling them this information. Any one of them could rat us out to Spector. But I had hope that we could band together.
“Spector outnumbers us,” a male said from the back. I recognized him as a Thibault graduate.
“They do,” I conceded with a nod. “But we’re hybrids. I haven’t seen what everyone can do, but I’ve caught glimpses in the training room. We’re strong. And we have the element of surprise.”
“I thought the demon was working with President Belvini?” a pixie-like female asked, her eyes watching Risk with apparent nervousness.
“I enjoy playing the double agent,” Risk replied with a grin. “It raises the stakes nicely.”
I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes at him. “It’s time to decide. If anyone wants out, now’s your chance to speak up. My mate will return you back to Spector.”
“And just so we’re clear,” Risk cut in, “if any of you whisper a word of this to anyone at Spector, I’ll know. And I’ll personally tear the eyeballs from your sockets and shove you into hell where you can stumble around blindly for all eternity, trapped in darkness and fire.”
Crow sighed and shook his head. “Too harsh,” he mumbled.
“Eh, I think it was a good touch,” Tomb shrugged.
The hybrids looked like they were ready to pee in their Spector-issued pants.
“Okay,” I said, clapping my hands once to break up the tension. “On that happy note, who’d like to join us?”
Oddly enough, all of them did.
“You don’t need to rehearse, Cheryl,” I groaned out for what must have been the thousandth time.
She ran a hand through her blonde bob in annoyance. “Look, you asked me to put on this concert, Motley. You can’t just expect me to sing without any sort of preparation or warm up. I’m not fucking Beyoncé, okay?”
“It’s not a concert. It’s not even a middle school talent show!” I yelled back. “All I need is for you to scream and knock out as many guards as you can while we stand behind Johnny’s force field bubble.”
Johnny was a necromancer with quite the handy skill. It wasn’t overly impressive, but he could create force fields that blocked light and sound. He had a silencing demon, giving him the ability to trap his prey in a secluded, dark bubble, and block all sound from the outside until his prey went insane. It couldn’t stop bullets or knives, but he could stop Cheryl’s screeches. Though I wasn’t sure if I preferred insanity to her singing.
Cheryl huffed and scowled, and I stopped myself from snapping. She was an integral part of our plan, but if she asked Risk for one more sequined dress, I was going to lose my shit.
We had a plan. Everyone had a purpose and a part to play. It was shaky and probably wouldn’t work, but we’d at least slow Spector down until Stiles could get the word out.
“Little Spider, come here,” Crow called over his shoulder.
He was standing off to the side with my mates, all three of them huddled over something. I slowly sauntered toward them, dodging fireballs and acid mucus from the training hybrids. It was fucking mayhem in here.
“What’s going on?” I asked while peering over their shoulders. Russell happily flapped around above me.
“We’re thinking about building a house in the Between. Just in case we need to hide out for a while after this. But Tomb here seems to think you need some goddamn gothic cathedral.”
“It’s timeless architecture, Crow,” my gargoyle frowned. The two of them stared each other down for a moment, making me bloom with amusement.
“I like more modern buildings, myself. Sleek lines, an infinity pool, that sort of thing,” Risk interrupted with a wink.
Crow wrinkled his nose. “What’s wrong with something traditional? Why can’t we have a simple A-frame with a wraparound porch? And a kitchen, we need a big kitchen, of course.”
I watched them argue for a moment and let out a shaky sigh. If I were being honest, I didn’t think we’d get the chance to come back here. I didn’t want to get my hopes up with a house if we didn’t make it out of Spector alive. But I’d appease them. If they wanted to pretend that we could live happily ever after in the Between, I’d play along.
“I always wanted a big shower,” I mused.
“How big?” Tomb asked curiously.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve just always had tiny showers.”
“Would you like a shower big enough for company, Wicked Love?” Risk asked teasingly, dark eyes glittering.
Butterflies danced in my stomach at the suggestive look he was giving me, and I felt a blush appear on my cheeks when I remembered the sexy shower times I’d spent first with Crow and then all three of them.
“Maybe,” I hedged.
“She does,” Crow said, his
