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Silla’s eyes cut over to Andrya, Sidney, and Ayden who meet her eyes unblinkingly. I know there has to be a story there.

“We took the information Zachary gave us and used it against Silla,” Andrya rasps. “I had her put in a vent, ignoring when she begged me not to. It was stupid.”

I’m surrounded by psychopaths. Fuck me.

“My step-sister had Zachary planted at the reform camp for months before I arrived, but he told her that I was getting closer to my instructors in a romantic way. He let Cinder into the camp, and she arrested us all. We spent months in her dungeons being punished for treason,” Silla says in a dead tone.

“How is falling in love treason?” I ask, still kneeling at their feet.

“Love made me protect her when the Queen’s Mission wanted to rape her and Section B for sport,” Grayson grunts. “Love made us all take a deeper dive into her supposed crimes, and the Queen is obsessed with her step-sister in a very twisted way.”

“Cinder is no longer fit to be our queen,” Andrya says, bringing the lasagna in to place it on the table. There’s a small area between the living room and kitchen, which appears to be the designated dining area. “To be honest, she has been unraveling in her madness more and more in the past year, but it’s becoming more noticeable now.”

“I had no idea of any of this,” I whisper, shaking my head. “My reasons for wanting to remove the queen are because the people in the kingdom are starving, taxes are through the roof, and loved ones have been disappearing.”

“They’re either in prison, the reform camp, or dead,” Ayden mutters. “You’d think that they’d inform loved ones when a person is charged with a crime, but sometimes it’s in Cinder’s best interest for them to disappear. It’s easier to do intelligence work when people think you’re dead.”

“This doesn’t sound like something that happens in real life.” I sigh.

“Welcome to Hell, buttercup,” Andrya chuckles without humor. “Dogs don’t eat at my table. Everyone else, come eat.”

I guess this is my life for now, I’ll just need to suck it up. I’m intrigued by these people, and I own up to my mistakes.

I very much screwed the pooch this time. No pun intended.

AYDEN

Falcon kneels throughout our dinner without complaint. He’s listening to our conversations, and there are times where his forehead gets an adorable little wrinkle. The six of us together must confuse an outsider.

“So gym sex, Sidney?” Andrya prompts teasingly. Chuckling, he shrugs.

“I couldn’t help myself. She’s incredibly sexy when she fights. Silla mentioned that people tend to touch what doesn’t belong to them, so I want to add some knife training too,” Sidney says.

The dog on his knees swallows thickly, and I can tell immediately that he’s guilty of this.

“Sister, your lasagna is amazing,” I tell her, taking another bite. Everyone else compliments her as well, because it really is good.

Grayson rolls his eyes, and Andrya smirks. “Gray helped with assembly and the cake,” she admits.

“I’m really excited for the cake,” I admit. A timer goes off and Gray excuses himself to take it out of the oven. “So we know you two had fun at the gym, but once the dog takes his leave, I want to play twenty questions.”

“I was just thinking about this,” Sidney muses. “We’ve all changed a lot, and our kinks and needs have changed over the last few months.”

“And some of us haven’t really changed at all,” Grayson counters with a shrug as he sits. “I still enjoy watching, chasing, and spanking bad girls.”

“Can I be bad?” Isaac mutters, blushing a bit. Their relationship has been heating up since they took a shower together the other night, and I’m loving it.

Silla blushes as well, biting her lip. “Can I watch?” she asks huskily, instantly making me hard.

Forcing air into my lungs because they’re making me forget myself, I struggle to think. “This is why we need the game, no holds barred. We don’t want to trigger anyone’s trauma accidentally, which is why we’re so big on consent, as well,” I remind her.

“I appreciate that,” she says with a nod. Her eyes widen as she has a thought. “Sidney, the tea. I didn’t have any today, did I?”

“Fuck,” he mutters. “No, the tea I made you the other day is going to trigger your period early, though. It’s gonna be a heavier one, probably too. You should probably be getting it by tonight, so I’ll go on a run to the pharmacy for you.”

“Can the peanut gallery ask a question?” Falcon asks from the floor. He’s kneeling in front of the dining room table, so we can all see him.

“If you need to,” Silla acknowledges, taking a sip of water as she finishes her food.