Page 57 of Hellfire

“Will it be ready in three days?” Blaze didn’t go along with the joke.

He seemed lighter and freer of the worry dragging him down, though I detected a strange vibe. Discomfort or anxiety or something by the way he didn’t say much and avoided eye contact as much as possible. I didn’t know if he was ashamed of his ice-blue eyes since Nelle and Camus stripped him of his magick, or if something else bothered him. Talon and I questioned him, and he said he was fine, so we respected his privacy. If he wanted to offload, he knew where we were.

“It needs a few minor tweaks, but it’ll be done,” I replied.

“Good.” Blaze’s palm came to my shoulder and squeezed.

The combination of designing this with me, our investigation for Talon, his return to teaching, and the biker’s treatment did wonders for Blaze’s mental state. The old Blaze returned. He didn’t look as exhausted or on alert. It was good to have our friend back.

The elevator pinged again, and I waved at him. “Get out of the device before Bruno returns. We’re not supposed to invite non-dungeoners down here to test out the tech.”

Talon rushed to take it off and set it on my bench as the doors hissed open. We huddled by the workbench, pretending to chat and erase any evidence of our little experiment.

“Oh, all my handsome knights are here!” Luna’s voice registered from behind, and we glanced up as one.

My girl balanced three boxes of lunch in her arms, and I went to her, taking them from her and setting them on the bench. My heart warmed and swelled.

“What are you all doing here?” She tilted her head to receive kisses on the mouth from each of us.

“Came to see our brother,” Talon said to cover for us all.

Luna’s mouth lifted into a delighted smile, and my heart stretched wider. She was pleased that the three of us were family again. Brothers reunited. Brothers forever. And a week ago, she expressed her happiness that we started to bond with Gable. She said she could finally relax with her team of knights, rather than being on edge and diffusing every tense situation between the four males.

Despite my initial reluctance and fears, I was glad she had three more men to take care of her and love her the way I did, each in different ways. Blaze her mentor, Talon her friend, Gable her confidant.

“We’ll get back to it and leave you to lunch.” Blaze patted me on the arm and smiled in a secretive way.

“No, stay for lunch!” Luna caught him by the bicep, tugging him to a stop. “I’ve got enough for all of us.”

“Enough for Cole,” Talon teased, tapping the two boxes.

Luna gave me a conciliatory pat on the arm. “Cole will have to top up with vending machine snacks if he gets hungry.” She dragged two bench seats over to my station. “I won’t eat all of mine and can share.”

“I already had a bite beforehand, but I’ll share with you, Princess.” Talon grabbed a third chair and brought it over for himself, situating Luna between him and Blaze, while I took my seat on the opposite side.

We settled down to tuck into our food, Blaze taking one box, me the second, and Talon picking at Luna’s, feeding them both.

“How’s your day?” Luna asked the question to all of us, but stroked Talon’s jaw, indicating for him to go first.

“It’s going well.” Talon fed her some curry and rice on a spoon. “We got reports of some Brotherhood movement, and the gargoyle scouts are investigating.”

Luna nodded as she chewed.

“Are we still on for our homework today, or are you swamped with assignments from this asshole?” He threw a pea at Blaze, and my brother chuckled.

Homework was their code for snake practice and sex if Talon could stick around longer after classes finished for the day. Luna mastered her fear with Shelby and was now able to let her coil around her shoulders, and often sat at her desk studying with the snake sliding all over her. I was so proud of my girl and reached under the table to stroke her knee.

She swallowed and answered with a sly smile. “Still on.”

Talon flung another pea Blaze’s way. “Don’t fuck her all afternoon and make her late.”

Normally this was where my stomach crunched at the idea of them together, but the feeling dulled to the point of barely bothering me anymore. She was adored by the two men closest to me, and that gave me peace of mind.

“I won’t.” Blaze ran his knuckle along her thigh where he hiked her skirt up to admire her sexy, toned, curvy legs.

Talon snorted and took another bite.

Luna’s eyes flicked to Blaze, telling him to go next.

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