Page 75 of Don't Tempt Me (Nora Jacobs 4)

I don’t bother arguing with her. She’s my friend. I’m glad she’s here. If it were her that needed the backup, I’d be there in a heartbeat.

“Stop hogging her,” Ren whines, pushing Cecile out of the way to wrap me in his own hug. “I can’t believe you didn’t invite me to this party.”

I bark out a laugh and kiss his cheek. “Thanks for coming. If we live through this, you can join the family and move into the den with us.”

Ren jerks me back and pouts at me. “Don’t even joke about that. That’s just cruel.”

I smirk. Terrance was so sure he’d turn us down, but I knew.

The troll in question must have heard our conversation, because he clears his throat behind Ren and says, “She wasn’t joking.”

Ren whirls around, wide-eyed. “Shut. Up.”

Terrance shifts into his cranky bouncer stance, which I’ve decided is really more of an I’m-hiding-my-emotions pose. He grunts. “We’ve already discussed it. If you want it, there’s a clan waiting for you and a bedroom in the den.”

Ren’s mouth falls open, but only for a split second before he grins wickedly and says to Terrance, “Yours, handsome?”

Terrance rolls his eyes and walks away to talk to Parker, Rook, and Wulf. Ren snickers. “So?” I ask him. “You in?”

“Oh, sister.” Ren grips my shoulders and raises his eyebrows. “Join your clan and live in the love cave with all of your hot men and your pretty faerie?” He fans himself. “I am so all over that.”

I shake my head and chuckle, and then Charlie yells out from behind the bar in exasperation, “Would everyone stop calling me pretty?”

Rook doesn’t miss a beat. “Sure. As soon as we stop calling Oliver adorable!”

All my guys laugh. Even Terrance throws his head back and releases a laugh that shakes the walls of the building. I love that laugh. I love my troll. I love all my guys. They’d better all make it through this, or I’ll never forgive myself for suggesting it.

With the mood lightened, my guys all drift together, and Director West comes over, hands full of navy blue vests. A couple of Henry’s vampires are with her, holding even more vests. “Here,” she says, handing out the vests to my clan. “These should help protect you from bullets and knives at least.”

She hands me one, and I test its weight before slipping it on. It’s a standard bulletproof vest with the initials FBI on the front. I’ve never thought about using body armor, but it’s brilliant. “Thank you, Director.”

She smiles warmly at me and holds up a dozen amulets on leather straps. “These will also help protect you from magical attacks. I spelled them myself.”

Surprised, I take one of the amulets and place it over my head while Director West hands out the rest to every member of my clan plus Cecile, Kat, and, unfortunately, Henry. Call me an asshole, but I really wouldn’t be sad if Henry got staked in this fight.

I am, however, touched by the director’s efforts to protect the people I love. I may not like her, but she’s not really a cold-hearted bitch. I suppose she does the best she can in difficult situation after difficult situation. Maybe I can’t quite forgive her for what happened to my mother, but I can admit that someday I probably will.

Once all of my guys are outfitted in their vests and magical amulets, and are armed to their teeth with a variety of different weapons, we all get into position.

Oliver sits on a stool behind the bar where he will focus on magical attacks while Charlie and Enzo stand guard beside him. Ren stands guard beside Enzo. The last thing we want is our healer to be hurt.

I stand in front of the bar, smashed between Kat and Nick. Parker, Wulf, Rook, Terrance, Director West, and Cecile are our front line of defense, while Henry and his vampires flank them on both sides of the room. Illren has slunk off to the shadows and will likely attack whatever army comes our way from behind. They’ll never even know he’s there until he stabs his sword in their backs.

When the clock strikes 10 p.m.—the time we told the collector to meet us—Nick turns to me. “You do not leave my side.” His eyes flick to Kat. “Either of you. Stay with me unless it looks bad. Then I want you both to hightail it to Terrance’s panic room. It’s the two of you this asshole is after. I don’t want him getting either of you.”

Kat and I both agree because it’s what he wants, but the look she slides me when Nick turns his back on us says she’s thinking the same thing I am. Neither of us is running from this fight. No matter what happens, we’ll see it through to the end.

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