“I do like seeing her skin flushed and dripping wet,” Tomb added as he drew a hand over his jaw.
Fire sparked to life in my core. I loved this. The normalcy of sexual banter. Of sexy flirtation. Of thinking that we were actually going to be able to enjoy a shower together and live safely away from Spector. They were distracting me from the danger and my grief, and I loved them for it.
“If our mate wants a big shower, then that’s what she’ll get,” Risk said with a decisive nod.
“A big bed too,” I put in. “You guys take up too much room.”
Crow and Risk chuckled, but Tomb shook his head. “I like you sleeping on top of us.”
I jabbed him playfully in his hard, muscular chest. “Well, you’re terrible pillows. You especially because you actually turn into solid stone sometimes in your sleep.”
He captured my hand and placed a kiss on the inside of my wrist. The sweetness of the gesture made me sigh in contentment. “I like feeling your body on mine. Hearing your breaths. Smelling your skin,” he murmured.
“Grinding your dick into her ass,” Risk supplied, making me choke out a laugh.
Tomb didn’t miss a beat. “Yeah, that too.”
I smiled, shaking my head. “You guys are insatiable.”
Crow leaned forward and nipped at my lip, sucking it in his mouth for a moment. “You like it.”
I did. I really, really did.
“I—”
A horrible noise sprung through the air, and I cringed. I swear to gods, Cheryl was going to be the death of me. I turned so I could find her and tell her to shut the hell up, but Risk grabbed my arm and placed his mouth against my ear. “It’s not the siren. It’s the Between. It’s grown too unstable from so many of us in here. I need to get everyone out.”
I nodded, and just as he pulled away, the whole place began to shake slightly, a bare tremor that moved with subtle vibrations beneath our feet.
Risk went to grab me, but I stepped away. “No, everyone else first.”
He scowled. “Absolutely not.”
“You have to!” I argued. “We’re leading them, Risk. How do you think it would look if you took me out of here first?” I challenged. “Besides, it’s the right thing to do. And I’d just be worried that everyone didn’t get out. Go. Just hurry.”
I pushed him away slightly, and he clenched his jaw, clearly pissed. He cast a look to Tomb and Crow. “Watch her. And don’t let anyone leave this spot. I haven’t formed anything else besides this space in the Between. If anyone panics and tries to run, they could get lost in the unformed abyss, and I won’t be able to bring them out.”
“Don’t let anyone sprint into the abyss. Got it,” Crow said.
“Hurry,” I told Risk again.
With a terse nod, he turned and dashed away, grabbing the first group of hybrids he approached before disappearing in a swathe of smoke as he transported them out.
I rushed over to the rest of the cowering hybrids and found them looking at Cheryl accusingly. “It’s not me! I don’t sound that bad,” she huffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Everyone looked at her dubiously.
“Who’s gonna tell her?” Tara asked with a smirk.
“Okay, everyone,” I cut in before Cheryl could really lose her shit, and then we’d never hear the end of it. “I need you all to just stay right here,” I said, while Tomb and Crow walked around the outskirts, directing everyone closer together.
Risk popped up, gave me another glare, and then stalked toward another group. He barked directions at them until their hands were linked, and then he disappeared with them.
“What’s going on? And why is this place shaking?” someone asked.
“We have to get you out now. We stayed as long as we could, but the Between is too temperamental to hold so many of us. Risk is bringing us back to Spector.”
My demon reappeared again and took more hybrids out.
The vibrations steadily grew stronger, and the awful noise in the air became louder. I gave a worried look to Crow and Tomb. Risk transported in and started taking larger groups, but by the seventh time, I saw that it was taking its toll on him. His suit jacket was long gone, his shirt disheveled, and sweat coated his handsome face.
When there were only a dozen hybrids left, the ground—for lack of a better word—was shaking so hard that it tossed us all on our asses. It felt like an earthquake that was gearing up to rip the space apart. And the sound...I realized belatedly that it resembled something ripping apart. Like the fabric of existence was tearing in two.
Risk appeared just as colorless pieces of the Between began crumbling down around us. Hybrids screamed, and one girl tried to run off, but Crow exploded into action, sending his birds to surround her and cut her off, herding her back to us.
“Stay calm!” I yelled, but they couldn’t hear me over the sound.
Risk took one look at the pieces falling around us and grabbed hold of me. “No, Risk, not y—”
But my words were torn from my throat and my body was squeezed through time. One second I was standing in the shaking space as the Between collapsed around me, and the next, I was back in Risk’s bedroom alone.
“No!” I yelled at the empty room.
But no one heard me.
Seconds passed. Then minutes. I was biting at my nails, pacing around the room, tearing at my hair. What if it totally caved in and the bubble of the Between burst from existence? Would they all be stuck in the abyss forever? What if—
Risk suddenly popped into the room with Tomb and Crow in tow.
Relief washed over me for a split second before anger overruled it. I stalked over to him. “You son of a bitch! How
