“I will.” The mention of his husband made him smile. “And you take care of your harem.”
I sneered at him.
With a musical laugh, he opened the pocket watch. His form was cast in a soft, silvery light before he faded from sight. Similar to when Rowan used the shadows, but Lupin was the opposite, using whatever light the pocket watch emitted.
Everything he’d told me rattled around in my brain as I took the ladle back downstairs and finished cleaning up the kitchen. Lupin had come to warn me that something big was about to happen.
Something that would change the course of my life forever.
***
A booming crash woke me from sleep, followed by a shrill scream. I flung upward in bed, my heart racing and a thin layer of sweat on my skin.
“Evan?” Lake stirred beside me, his purple eyes glowing in the darkness of the room. The fire still burned in the small hearth but had died down, destined to go out if not stoked or given a fresh piece of wood.
My throat felt sore, and my cheeks were wet. That’s when I realized the scream had come from me. Another roar of thunder crashed outside. Tears welled in my eyes, and a pathetic little sound left me.
Lake took my face in his hands and wiped at my cheeks. A low whine tore through his chest. “How can I make it better?”
“You could start by holding him,” a different voice said, coming from the corner. Topaz eyes showed in the shadows before Rowan stepped forward. “Can’t you see he’s scared?”
“R-Rowan?” My voice shook.
“Of course it’s me. What other dashingly handsome devils do you know who lurk in shadowy corners?”
I tried to laugh, but it came out like a small cry. Lake’s arms enveloped me. And then, so did another pair of arms. The scent of peaches and black cardamom surrounded me, acting as a balm for my racing heart and anxiety.
“It’s only a storm,” Lake murmured in my ear, petting the back of my head. “You’re safe.”
However, pieces of the dream I’d been having before being woken by the thunder came back to me. Ones I didn’t want to remember. Maddox roaring in his rage, blood slinging off his sword. Lake’s purple eyes glowing as he tore into someone. Rowan using shadows to crush people to dust. And Briar… my sweet Briar…
I choked on a sob.
“Sing to him,” Rowan snapped at Lake, rubbing my back. “That calms him when he’s upset.”
“How long have you been spying on us?” Lake asked with a snarl.
“Long enough to see how you wiggle and whine like a little puppy sometimes when you sleep. It’s really adorable. Especially when you wag that fluffy tail. Is it as soft as it looks?”
“Touch me, and I’ll bite off your hand,” Lake growled.
I smiled at their bickering. It helped mend some of the sorrow that had my sternum in a death grip. I had to save my men from whatever dark future Lupin had seen.
Iwouldsave them.
The storm raged outside, amplifying my anxiety about everything.
Lake lay back down, taking me with him as he cradled me to his chest. Rowan sat on the edge of the bed and lightly rubbed up and down my side. His fingertips created a delicious heat on my skin. Like he was made of sunlight.
“The bed is big enough for the three of us,” Lake told him. His skin was warm too, less like the sun and more like a shooting star blazing across the night sky.
“I prefer to sleep alone,” Rowan responded.
“I said nothing of sleep, thief. Our male needs us. Unless you don’t see him as yours?”
My heart knocked hard against my ribs.
Silence followed Lake’s words. But then, the mattress dipped behind me, and a warm body pressed to my back. As Rowan’s scent strengthened, I closed my eyes and wiggled more into him. I loved being sandwiched between them.
