Cato’s face burns tomato red as Sakane fails to hide his snort of laughter.

  “You’re not winning this one, my friend,” I say, chuckling.

  Cato’s jaw ticks, but he plays it off as he flexes his chest. “You’re all delusional. I’m the gold standard.

  “Gold standard?” Xeni repeats as he leans forward, casting a haughty once-over down Cato’s frame. “You’re a walking red flag.”

  Ego cackles. “Red flag? More like red carpet for drama. Roll it out, Cato, we’re all here for the show.”

  Cato glares at her. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”

  “I’m on the side of truth,” Ego says with a shrug. “Sometimes it hurts.”

  Cato throws his hands up. “You’re all the worst. I hate every single one of you.”

  “What did I do?” Sakane demands.

  I choke on my laugh and get ready to butt in before this escalates further, but footsteps approach, and we go back on guard.

  Sovran walks into view, followed by two others.

  “This is Chakri and her mate, Johannes,” he says as he gestures at the couple.

  The Lu’Mite nods her greeting as her black, scaled tail flicks anxiously, and beside her is a stout human man. His salt-and-pepper hair is cut short, and a trimmed beard covers his chin.

  Johannes assesses us for a moment before turning back to Sovran. “They won’t bring trouble?”

  Sovran shakes his head. “As I told you, they are hunted, but only within the city.”

  “We aren’t seeking permanent lodging,” Xeni says as he takes a step closer. He’s wearing another of his smiles—the disarming one I’ve seen him use so many times to calm others. “I have a village a few days’ travel from here, but my vehicle broke down on the drive to Atlanta. We only need to rest and devise a plan, and then we will be on our way.”

  Johannes scratches his beard thoughtfully as his posture loosens. “We owe Sovran, and this is a haven for those on the run like yourselves.”

  “Is that why you stay so close to the city?” I ask.

  Johannes nods. “Sovran has a habit of finding strays. We wouldn’t be much help if we were further away. It’s a risk, true, but we’ve got systems in place. We’re well hidden, and if they find us, we have a plan.”

  “We appreciate your hospitality,” Xeni says, his smile more genuine now.

  Johannes takes his mate’s hand and waves for us to follow. They lead us into the clearing and along the building. Doors are numbered, though everything is painted in that same shade of green that blends with the surrounding evergreens.

  Chakri notices how closely I’m inspecting their setup, and offers a timid, razor-toothed smile as she gestures around the estate. “Back before the world went to hell, this was a remote traveler’s stop. There was a small community, mostly shops and gas stations with a sprinkle of restaurants, but those were raided and torn down long ago. The roads leading here were destroyed in the war.”

  She gestures at the building as we approach the far corner. “This was a motel. It had been looted, yes, but it didn’t hold the same appeal as those places that had canned goods and fresh clothing. Basics were left behind… beds, furniture. The solar panels were stripped of their copper, but over the years we’ve been able to repair them.”

  “Let me guess,” Ego says with an approving grin. “That secret exit isn’t only used for getting people out.”

  Chakri returns her smile with a nod. “Yes. Not everyone here is hunted… though many of us are. Some just wanted to leave the confines of the city and live without oversight. Over time, we made enough supply runs for this place to become functional again, but the first several years were rough.”

  “Oh, gods, I can take a hot shower?” Sakane whines.

  Xeni scoffs as he turns to him. “It’s been how long, exactly, since you had one? Twenty-four hours?”

  Sakane frowns and gestures down his thin frame. “I don’t do well without pampering. This skin is not meant for harsh temperatures.”

  “And here you are, headed into the wilderness to live in a remote village,” Xeni reminds him.

  Sakane’s eyes widen as he registers that information. “Are there… showers there?” he asks with a cringe.

  “There are, yes,” Xeni says behind an unsuccessful attempt to hide a smile, “but they aren’t always hot.”

  “They… aren’t?” Sakane’s throat bobs in a heavy swallow.

  Xeni’s grin spreads. “Don’t worry, if the solar’s on the fritz, you can bathe in the creek. Water’s warm there.”

  “The creek,” Sakane squeaks, glancing over his shoulder like he’s considering risking it in the city to keep his modern conveniences.

  Our new hosts chuckle as they open a door and lead us into a room with an assortment of chairs and loveseats spread in a random pattern. Johannes flips a switch up and down three times, but no lights come on overhead.

  “A warning system,” he explains. “Each area has a hidden shelter, and if anyone unexpected ever shows up, everyone hides until this switch is flipped. It operates a bulb inside the shelter that tells them it’s safe to come out.”

  “That’s genius.” I glance around, wondering what else they’ve done in this place. “Simple yet effective.”

  Johannes looks pleased as he opens a cabinet and glances over his shoulder. “I can spare two rooms while you’re here.”

  “Anything you have is appreciated,” Xeni says, and we all nod our agreement. “We’re grateful for whatever help you can give.”

  Johannes grabs two keys and leads us back outside. Where before it was eerily quiet, signs of life are everywhere now. Curtains flutter inside windows as people peek through, voices carry from somewhere in the background, and a few people stand at the far end of the building. They keep their distance but don’t hide their curiosity, and Johannes chuckles as we walk into a rear courtyard.

  The building forms an L shape, and back here in the open space is a garden surrounding a series of solar panels. A few picnic tables sit in the shade, and a swing set waits beyond, with wooden swings swaying in the breeze. My attention moves back to the building as Johannes unlocks a door and pushes it open.

  “Shower’s mine!” Sakane shouts as he runs inside, and Ego chases him inside with a screech.

  Cato shakes his head, sunlight turning his beard a brighter copper as he drags his hand over it with a sigh. “I guess I’m rooming with the two of them?” When I offer him an apologetic shrug, he only scoffs a quiet laugh. “Fair. I suppose I’d rather be trapped with them than whatever debauchery is about to happen inside your room.”

  “Cato!” I hiss, my cheeks burning as they darken in a flush.

  Johannes and Chakri chuckle as Cato thanks them once more, and he tosses me a smile before he closes the door.

  It’s genuine and familiar, and it says that no matter how much things have changed, we’re still okay.

  Chakri leads us a few doors further before passing me the key to our new room. She tells us they’ll come by to check on us in a few hours after we’re rested and will make sure we’re fed.

  As she walks away, a new voice calls from behind us.

  “Well, lookie here. I didn’t expect to find you as my neighbor, pretty.”

  Xeni

  A tall man saunters toward us with a little too much pep in his step, and my stomach bottoms out. I’d know that blond knot of hair anywhere after staring at it for hours, and the scar cutting across his cheek is unmistakable. His face looks different in the daylight, harsher and more real, but I recognize him in a heartbeat.

  The memory of that night on the road flashes unwelcome in my mind. I glance between Bash and the approaching man, discomfort swelling in my gut as I take a take step back.

  “Pretty?” Bash repeats

  Jealousy brews in a storm behind his eyes. It’s low pressure and sharp edges… the kind that rolls in slow but hits hard. His jaw tightens until the muscle flickers, but the man isn’t paying him any attention.

  He strolls closer, pinching his lip as his eyes rake my body. “Never thought I’d see you again, honestly, but this is a delightful surprise. Shit, you’re even prettier in the daylight, aren’t you?”

  Completely ignoring Bash, he leans in and drags a finger over my forearm, oozing confidence and ill-placed presumption.

  “What the fuck?” Bash snaps as he grabs me by the arm, yanking me back against him protectively. “Who the fuck are you, and why the fuck are you touching him?”

  The man looks at Bash for the first time, giving him a judgmental sweep of his eyes. “He’s a jealous one, then, ain’t he? You’ve gone and got yourself a man, then, I suppose. Guess seeing them pretty lips stretched over my cock was a onetime deal. That’s alright. Would’ve been nice to have a repeat performance, but my imagination has worked just fine until now.”

  He winks at me before shooting a leering smile at Bash, then disappears into his room.

  Bash’s hand tightens around my arm as he throws the door open, and I’m hauled inside. Darkness swallows the space as Bash slams the door shut with enough force to rattle the frame. He releases me and drags a hand over his hair as he paces, tension radiating off him in waves.

  “Bash, it isn’t what it sounds like.”

  “So you didn’t suck his dick?” he snaps, then shakes his head before I can answer. “Nope. Nope, I don’t want to know. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t. We weren’t together, and I wasn’t there, and you’re allowed to—”

  I grab his upper arms and stop him. “Will you look at me?” I ask softly.

  Bash purses his lips as he turns to face me, eyes stormy but searching.

  “I didn’t touch him. He just… thinks I did.”

  Bash’s gaze moves toward the wall with his jaw tight, like he could stare through at the guy on the other side. “Explain.”

  “You already know about my vehicle breaking down on the way here. A guy—that guy—pulled over and offered me a ride. It saved me several days of walking out there on my own, and he didn’t seem dangerous, so I agreed… with the caveat that he expected… payment for the trouble.”

  Bash’s lip twitches as he glares at the wall again. “Piece of shit.”

  “Pretty much, yeah,” I agree, then shrug. “He was nice enough. He didn’t force himself on me or anything, but I didn’t want to risk making waves.”

  Quieter, I admit, “I used my powers on him.”

  The anger on Bash’s face shifts to calculation as he processes my words.

  I nod toward the bed, needing to keep him from bolting. “Can we sit?”

  A heavy exhale pushes from his nose, but he nods and slides his backpack off his shoulders. He drops onto the end of the bed, still stiff, but I climb on with him and loop my arms around his waist. He grunts when I pull him against me but doesn’t fight it, and we curl up against the headboard with his head on my shoulder.

  “You’ve seen what both my father and I can do,” I say. “We can control multiple people at once, and we don’t have to touch them. That isn’t… normal.”

  Bash glances up at me but doesn’t interrupt.

  “Most of my kind can’t do that,” I continue. “They need intention already there. If they want someone to eat a meal, that person has to be hungry… or at least open to the idea. They can’t take someone who’s full and convince them to go back for seconds, especially not from across a room.”

  “But you can.”

  “But I can,” I confirm, the admission tasting bitter on my tongue. “It’s easier if I’m touching them, but I’ve always known I could do it. After I moved out of my parents’ house, I only used my powers when it was necessary, but then I got attention from what I was doing for the project. I started using them again… forcing people to share their secrets with me.”

  Those memories come to light, and the guilt is rancid in my stomach.

  “Xen,” Bash breathes, knowing exactly where my mind has gone.

  I shake my head, staring at the wall. “I swore to stop after that. And I did. It should’ve been harder, Bash. Rebuilding that strength after so many years should’ve felt impossible, but it wasn’t.”

  A heavy breath escapes me.

  “It was so fucking easy.”

  Bash’s hand lands on my stomach in a touch that feels like a truce, fingers splayed across the fabric. He traces little circles over the top of my shirt in slow, absentminded loops, each one loosening the knot in my chest just enough to breathe.

  It’s not demanding. Not urgent.

  Just there.

  A quiet reminder that he’s staying.

  “You aren’t him, Xen,” he says. “If you hadn’t been able to do what you did, we wouldn’t have made it out of there.”

  I nod, forcing myself to let the truth settle. “My father was a ruler for a reason. His powers were stronger than the world had ever seen. He could force someone to drive a blade through their own neck without touching them, or push an image into their mind until they believed it was real. People feared him, and they were right to.”

  My gaze drops to Bash’s hand, still drawing those gentle circles over my shirt. “I never wanted that kind of power.”

  “I’m sorry,” he whispers.

  Old pains ache inside my body. The familiar, dull throbs used to demand release, but with him beside me, that old urge to purge them is muted. It’s softened at the edges, like a bruise finally starting to fade.

  It’s manageable.

  For the first time in years, the hurt doesn’t feel like something that needs to be cut out to survive. It just… exists.

  Quiet.

  Tolerable.

  Eventually, a hateful snort leaves my nose. “Father loved to claim he was touched by the old gods, but from what I’ve learned, my grandparents were nothing special. My powers were never anywhere near his. I was stronger than others, yes, but it took so much out of me, I could never maintain it for long.”

  Bash’s hand keeps tracing shapes over my stomach as he sighs. “How did he feel about that?”

  “That, my darling, is a very complicated answer. He was disappointed in me, but part of him was thankful I would never be strong enough to overpower him.”

  “Well, he was wrong about that,” he says with a touch of heat.

  That silly flutter in my chest stirs to life again, blooming under my ribs after a lifetime in the dark. Bash says it like he never doubted it for a second—like it was always obvious, always true—and the quiet certainty in his voice brings with it a sense of appreciation I can barely interpret.

  Something warm and fragile and almost too big to hold.

  “That he was,” I whisper, the words slipping out thicker than I intend, and more than a little raw around the edges.

  Bash glances up at me, and I give him a small smile as I press a kiss to his forehead.

  “You’re making it really hard for me to stay mad, you know,” he grumbles.

  I grin and kiss him again. “I don’t want you to be mad.”

  “Hard not to be when the asshole next door thinks he knows what it feels like to have those pretty lips around his cock.”

  I groan as my gut tightens, a bolt of lust rushing through my core at his words.

  “It seemed innocent enough at the time,” I say, twisting my hands. “Payment for driving me to the city. I told you, I didn’t touch him. I just… put the image in his head that I was on my knees in front of him.”

  Bash growls low in the back of his throat as he glares at the wall again. The sound is possessive and unmistakably jealous.

  “I could show you,” I whisper, my fingers teasing along the nape of his neck.

  His eyes snap to mine, pupils swallowing the color in his irises. “Show me what?”

  “What he saw.” I slide out of my position beside him and climb onto all fours over his reclined body. “Do you want that?”

  “Yes,” he whispers, his breath coming heavier.

  “You’ll have to stand up,” I tease as I crawl backward, kissing a path down the front of his torso. My lips skirt over his nipples, flicking my tongue over the peaks underneath his shirt before moving lower. I kiss along his sternum and down his stomach, stopping to nip at the soft flesh under his navel that forms when he sits.

  Bash’s mouth drops open, and by the time I reach his cock, it pushes against his pants.

  My lips surround his bulge through the rough fabric, and Bash groans as his hips flex. Saliva pools on my tongue before I drag it along his length and darken the material. I lick and suck, teasing him until he’s breathing hard and rocking his hips. My thighs squeeze together with the wet drip of slick down my skin.

  “Come on,” I say as I pull back, staring at the way his cock fights his jeans. “On your feet.”

  Bash stands as I slide onto my knees, and his eyes are dark as he looks down at me and reaches for his button.

  I click my tongue. “No, darling, keep your pants on. I didn’t allow him to get naked.”

  His eyes flare hot with that jealous heat, and he tugs on his zipper instead. Every single tooth clicks as he inches it down, and I squirm as I fight the urge to do it myself.

  “What’s wrong, princess?” he asks. “Impatient?”

  I nod as my gaze drops from his face back to his crotch, where he works his cock from the fly of his pants. A quiet moan leaves me at the drop of pre-cum glistening on the metal stud of his piercing. He catches me by my horn as I try to lean forward, and another electric rush of sensation shoots straight to my cock.

  “This is what he saw?” he asks as he holds me with one hand and strokes himself with the other. “You, desperate to taste him?”

  “Yeah,” I breathe, shifting my hips so the seam of my pants gives me some friction. Wet warmth spreads across my panties, and my needy hole clenches.

  “Did you suck his cock, or did he fuck your mouth?” he demands.

  “I was in charge.”

  Bash grunts as he releases my horn. “Show me.”

  My palms land on his thighs, and I don’t break eye contact as I hinge my jaw and stick out my tongue.