Page 132 of All the Devils are Here

“Yes…” I suddenly had an inkling of what was happening, but I didn’t want to believe it. Wasn’t sure how to react if it were true.

Ban, who I couldn’t believe was wearing this kind of suit, and who looked fuckinggoodin it, took over. “We want you to have everything, kitten. Even the things you used to have.”

“Which is why,” Ariel said, standing and brushing the hair out of his eyes. “We’re keeping your tradition. Just because you’re halfway around the world doesn’t mean you can’t go to opening night.”

The doorway behind him dissolved, and I gasped. Beyond it, I heard the warming of strings and saw the heavy red curtains. The milling of a crowd ready for a show. The door led directly into a box at the Met.

Emotion washed up in a wave, and I blinked away the tears. It wasright there. My heart ached from missing it so badly, and yet there was peace.

“Was this a bad idea, sweetheart?” Laurent asked.

I shook my head. “No. It’s a very good idea. But it’s still not easy.”

“No,” he said. “I would guess not.”

They led me through the door, and it was like stepping into a memory. The sounds and smells—this was a life I’d lived for so many years. People were backstage warming up and making last minute touch-ups on their make-up. Making sure the ribbons were secure on their shoes and they had fresh toe-pads. They were teasing each other for the superstitions they used before each performance and repeating inside jokes which had come about in rehearsal.

And they were doing it all without me.

I sat down at the front of the box, and my mates arrayed themselves in the seats around me.

“Are you okay?” Ariel asked.

One deep breath in, and one deep breath out. This was closure. Just because I wasn’t backstage right now didn’t make me any less a dancer. And just because it wouldn’t be a huge part of my life going forward didn’t mean I needed to leave my love of it behind.

“Yes,” I finally said. “Yes, I’m okay.”

In my chest, tension eased as they relaxed. They’d really been nervous about this. But it was so sweet—it was everything.

It wasGiselle. One of my favorites. And only a few minutes after sitting down, the lights flashed and I was swept up into the story of beautiful love and exquisite heartbreak.

We didn’t make it all the way through the door back into the house before I was taking off my clothes. Toward the end of the ballet they all teased me. Thinking dirty thoughts I could feel and touching their marks if they could reach them, all making sure that when we got home I was ravenous for them.

“Four on one is never going to be fair,” I said, hauling Ban close and kissing him. “You guys will always win.”

“It’s true,” Laurent said mildly. “But you like that.”

Damn it.

Trin pulled me toward the pool in our bedroom, collapsing into the water and releasing his tentacles. They wrapped me up and started arranging me the way he wanted me, along with sliding over his mark. “You know what we haven’t done in a while?”

“Don’t tease me,” I begged. “I can’t take it.”

He simply held up his wrist, showing me the spike. It had been a few months since we’d used his venom for anything. “I promise you,” my voice was breathless. “I don’t need it.”

“Need isn’t the right word,” he said. “Butwant? That’s the one. We want you to be out of your mind tonight.”

“Why?”

The scratch of Ban’s tongue licked over his mating mark, shooting sparklers of pleasure straight down to my core. “Why not?”

“Because we love you,” Ariel said. “And tonight is all about you. In every way.”

Laurent raised his eyebrows in question. If I said no, none of them would be angry or offended. No matter what, I was having the time of my life tonight.

I started to laugh, and my mates looked at me like I lost my marbles. But I couldn’t stop the laughter bubbling up through me.

“What’s so funny?” Ban asked.

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