I have every intention of changing that though.
Malix turns away from me to address Frost in a low voice. “She was poisoned too?”
Frost nods. His pale hair shifts with the movement, and I can’t help but imagine that hair like spiderwebs over my stomach. My thighs.
Fuck, I hate this.
Malix lets out a long breath and rubs his hand over his cropped hair. “Shit. She’s never been able to use shadows like that before.”
“No.”
“That’s something else, man. And her timing was impeccable.”
“A little too impeccable,” Frost agrees. His black tattoos do that odd shimmering, wavy thing I saw last night, as if reacting to his inner emotions. Then they settle again on his golden skin.
They’ve both apparently forgotten I’m even still in the room. And I don’t think I’m the person they’re talking about, except for Malix’s reference to me being poisoned. I lean against my restraints, cringing at the raw pain in my burned wrist. “Hello? Who’s she?”
Neither one of them acknowledges me.
Malix sighs and claps a hand to Frost’s shoulder. “We told you not to go.”
“You did.”
“You didn’t listen.”
Exasperated, I snap, “Will someone please fill me in on what’s going on? All this cryptic talk isn’t telling me why I’m here or why I’m poisoned or what the fuck I’m supposed to do about it. Unless you intend for me to just die.”
Malix and Frost turn to look at me at that, their faces expressionless, but it’s neither of them who speaks next.
“Nobody’s dying.”
Heat flashes over me at the familiar voice. Malix and Frost are new to me—my mates, all the same, but not quite on the same level as Kian. I know him intimately. My fingertips know the satin of his skin and my mouth remembers the hard planes of his body. His smooth voice like hot caramel, his whispers in my ear, his body inside mine…
And here they are. All three of them. Just like Gwen said.
Kian stops between the other two, and I’m reminded just how big he is. He’s taller than the others, his muscles brawny. Even his presence is intimidating. Frost is an inch or two shorter and more wiry in his strength, while Malix is a couple inches shorter than that but built like a Greek god.
They’re all insanely beautiful. My heart races at having all three of them here, but I firmly tamp down on my desire. I know they can hear my heartbeat. Sense my emotions. I’ll pretend like hell that I’m angry and afraid and only those things.
Anything else is unacceptable.
Kian levels his gold-ringed brown gaze on me. “You should have stayed away. I warned you to stop following me.”
I jab a finger at Frost. “Your boy here showed up in my motel room last night. That wasn’t on me.”
Kian shoots a pointed glance at Frost, but then looks back at me. “I knew when I met you last night that you’d be trouble. I just didn’t know how much.”
I blink at him. Met me… last night?
He hasn’t told them about Montana.
A sudden certainty rushes through me. The way he phrased his statement is subtle but clear, obviously meant to make it sound like we met for the first time last night. I know that’s not true, and so does Kian, which means his phrasing can only be for Frost and Malix’s benefit.
The two of them have no idea that Kian and I met before. That we fucked. That we forged a bond connection.
Interesting. I’m too intrigued by why he would keep such a thing secret to call him out on it. Instead, I fall back on my usual tactic for dealing with stressful situations—shit talk.
“You don’t know trouble yet, you son of a bitch,” I say, letting a vicious smile curve my lips. “But untie me, and I promise I’ll show you.”