“Fuck the bracelet, Monday.”
“Monday?”
“I’m mad at you right now, and no one likes a Monday.”
That got my back up, but Alek spoke before I could say anything. “Hey, now, witch. She almost died, and she’s clearly upset. Leave her alone.”
“No, she’s right. I ignored the warning signs. I was reckless.”
I narrowed my eyes at my mate. “What warning signs?”
Alek, Caleb, and Noah were also looking at her with matching expressions of disbelief. She glanced between each of us, not finding a single ally. Even Moira stared her down with her hip cocked and her arms crossed over her chest.
“The bracelet, uh, sort of went off while I was downstairs getting a snack. But I couldn’t figure out what it was trying to tell me because it was so sporadic.”
“And you just wandered off on your own without letting anyone know? Sunshine, come on. You’re smarter than that.”
“I didn’t want to wake you up. It was the literal middle of the night.”
Caleb gave a long-suffering sigh. “Two of us are fecking vampires. We’re awake by nature, Miss Fallon.”
“If any of us can afford to lose a little beauty sleep, it’s obviously me,” Alek said, tossing his mane over one shoulder before he closed the distance between them and took her hand. He may have been playing, but I saw the barely restrained berserker flashing in his eyes.
Not to be outdone by these showboats, I stalked toward her and took her face in my hands, tipping her head back and leaning down until our noses were nearly touching. “Exactly, you wake me the fuck up. I don’t care what time it is. I don’t care if you stubbed your fucking toe. You tell me, Sunshine. Or if not me, one of us. You are not in this alone. It is our job to keep you and that kid safe. Let us do our fucking job.”
God, I felt like a dick when her eyes filled with tears. She nodded, blinked once, and the twin tracks streamed down her cheeks.
I wiped them away with the pads of my thumbs. “Don’t cry, baby. I’m not mad, but I am fucking terrified. I can’t lose you. Ever.”
Her lip quivered, and she nodded.
Noah moved to stand behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist and pressing a kiss to her mark. “We all are, dove. Tonight was a close call. Too close. It never should have happened. We need you—all of us—to be on guard moving forward.”
Caleb turned his stare on Noah. “When can we expect the Goode witch to arrive?”
Moira gasped so loud I worried the dead vampire in the bathroom had reanimated.
“What the fuck, Moira?” I asked.
“The Goode witch? As in...Natalie fucking Goode?”
Noah frowned at her. “Yes. She’s my cousin’s mate. Why?”
“She’s only like a fucking rock star in the witch world.”
“I didn’t realize you had celebrities,” Sunday said.
“If we did, Natalie Goode is definitely an A-lister.” Moira lowered her voice to a whisper. “Do you think I could get her to sign my party tit?”
“Excuse me, your what?” Alek asked, peering at her like he hadn’t quite caught what she said.
“My party tit.” Moira pointed to her left breast. “You know, the fun one.”
“I’m pretty sure they’re both fun,” Alek said, his brow furrowed in confusion.
“They are.”
He shook his head, likely recognizing he’d entered a losing battle. “Never mind.”
Smart dude.That giant head of his wasn’t filled with wool after all.
“How long until this rockstar witch arrives?” I asked, desperate to move the subject off Moira and her tits.
Cashel stood in the doorway. “She won’t arrive for a fortnight. I just hung up with Silas. There’s nothing to be done about it.”
“What do we do until then?” Sunday asked.
I cupped her face, making sure I had her full attention as I answered, “Everything we can to keepyoualive.”