Page 35

Thank you. Anything I should know about Genie?

She’s unsteady. It’s possible some food might help more than the smoothie. If not, we’ll do a guided meditation with all of you together and see what that does.

Elijah went into the bathroom first, and when he crossed the threshold from bedroom to bathroom, Genie cried out in pain and went stiff in his arms, and Elijah came right back into the room.

“The power between us is like a stretched rubber band,” Elijah said. “Or like we’re inside the same balloon, and I pulled it into a wrong shape when I tried to leave the room.”

He crawled onto the bed and sat in front of Dev, who was cradling Genie to his chest.

Brooke moved away from them, but he could sense that she was in everyone’s head, listening. Feeling. Sensing.

“Join them on the bed, Ezra,” Brooke said.

Elijah was in spotted boxer briefs — jaguar, in honor of the J in his name. Ezra was in striped boxer briefs, zebra, in honor of the Z in his name. Rather than tell them they couldn’t swap shorts, Brooke had told them if they wanted to play a practical joke on someone, and if swapping clothes was necessary to do it, they had to get the approval of either Brooke or Dev to do so. Swapping without prior approval would mean punishment. It still meant they weren’t allowed, but it gave them a path towards being allowed under the right circumstances. The idea was to help guide them through appropriate jokes versus inappropriate. Brooke didn’t want Elijah to lose his sense of adventure, but he’d need to learn the acceptable social norms.

Within moments, Dev had a cougar on each leg, and the two cats were holding Genie between them. He wanted to hold Genie, but this configuration clearly worked better for her. She was also sitting up now, and it was easier for her to drink the smoothie.

“I don’t recommend testing the limits of how far apart you can get from each other at this time,” Brooke told them. “I think you should all go to the restroom together, do your business, wash your hands, and then come out and eat your breakfastwhile it’s warm. Once that’s finished, a shower together would seem to be in order, and then a day of sex. Genie does everyone, Dev does everyone, and the twins get done or get to watch, depending upon what Dev decides.”

Brooke met Genie’s gaze. “For today’s purposes, you should defer to Dev. I understand you’re only submissive during sex, but I think it’ll be easier for the energies to balance if everyone is following his orders. If and when no one is interested in sex, I would recommend a five-to-ten-mile run, andthenmore food. Fill up now, and then let your energy reserves get depleted with the sex and the run, and then fill back up. You have a few days until you need to go to work, so let’s see what we can do to get you straightened out enough you don’t need someone at work with you to balance your energy. I can send a vampire no one will notice to help, if we aren’t certain of your ability to maintain, but we’ll make today a crash course and see how things go. This evening, I’ll work with all of you in a guided meditation.”

Before Dev could issue orders, Ezra was standing beside the bed with Genie in his arms, and he told them, “I’ll carry her to the bathroom, the two of you can go, then she can go, then I’ll go, and we’ll see if she’s up to walking back.” He looked at Dev. “Unless you’d like us to do it a different way.”

“Thank you for doublechecking with me, but that will work.” In truth, Dev wanted to carry her, but she seemed fine in Ezra’s arms and he thought taking her from him would send the wrong message. Genie washis, but this new bond between the four of them meant she was a little bit Ezra and Elijah’s, too. That was okay, but only because Ezra and Elijah were already his.

Thankfully, the toilet had its own little divided area, so they could use it without being seen. The twins would be accustomed to not being allowed privacy, but he doubted Genie would appreciate it. Dev didn’t think it could be helped, though.

* * * *

Genie was a little mortified, having to pee with other people in the bathroom, even if they couldn’t see her, they could stillhear. But she didn’t want them to leave if it was going hurt like it had when Elijah left the bedroom earlier. It’d felt like her soul was being decimated. Strangled. Stretched until it was too thin and nearly gone. She wasn’t certain there was a word for it. When you can’t breathe and you’re suffocating, your cells scream for oxygen. Hersoulhad felt the same, but it clearly wasn’t oxygen it needed.

When they’d all used the toilet and washed their hands, they made their way back to the little table with everyone walking this time, though she was between Dev and Ezra.

Dev broke her biscuits up and put gravy on them as she’d done the day before, but she was too busy eating bacon and eggs to bother fixing her other food. She speared a bite of biscuit when he finished.

“Thank you,” she said around the food in her mouth. It was rude to talk with your mouth full, but it wasmorerude not to thank him, she thought.

“Not a problem. I’m happy to see you have an appetite.”

“Apex predators,” Ezra told her, “have to learn to balance their animal and human selves. If we are startled, our cats want to come out, and I imagine Dev’s snake does, because our animals are better suited to handle an attack than our human forms are.”

“Ezra is exactly right,” Dev said. “But you carry a weapon, plus you’ve had some self-defense training, so your owl is never going to try to take control and pop out when you’re afraid or startled or attacked, because it can’t defend you as well as you can keep the two parts of yourself safe with arms and legs rather than beak, wings, and claws.”

“What self-defense training?” Elijah asked.

“Krav Maga,” Dev told him, “but stay on point, please. And the point is,” he told Genie, “you don’t have the same experience dealing with the magic of who you are as the rest of us.”

“How often do youchange?” Ezra asked.

“Sometimes I go months and months withoutchanging, but usually Ichangeevery three to six weeks. If I’m stressed, a few hours in my owl form can even things out.” She put her fork down and picked up a piece of bacon. “But it’s hard to make sure I’m safe if Ichangeoutside. I usually just put a mouse or frog into my bathtub, and thenchangeand eat in there. Means I don’t really get to fly, but it’s better than nothing. I probably onlychangewhere I can fly around outside maybe once or twice a year.”

She shook her head. “But I use who I am all the time. At work, I know where the blood vessels are under the skin — not the really deep ones, but the surface stuff. I know when someone is lying or not telling me the whole truth about an illness or injury. I’m stronger than most humans. Also, it really helps in the ER when I can hear their heartbeat and breathing before we get them hooked up to the equipment.”

“That’s sensory input, and it’s physical. You aren’t using the magic necessary to…” Ezra looked at Dev for help.

“It’s okay, Genie,” Brooke said from her perch on a tall chest she’d levitated up to, so she sat looking down at them. “We’ll get you balanced out, and I’ll take you away from the other three for a trial run the night before you have to go to work.” She tilted her head. “Tomorrow night. Sunday night. We have today, tonight, and then tomorrow after you awaken to get this sorted before our little test.”

* * * *