Page 9

KHALIL

I n case it isn’t already clear, I think I should clarify something.

We are not good men.

Maybe we were once, but to survive out here, we had to give the mountain something in return.

Thorin came around like I knew he would. It probably happened when he got a whiff of the wilds mixing with her fading scent—peaches and daffodils.

The latter makes the most sense now that she’s conscious. Aurelia has this dual personality thing going on. She can go from delicate and sweet to spicy and bitter without anyone being aware of when it happened or why. Although, it’s said daffodils represent rebirth and new beginnings along with joy and good luck—none of which she’ll find here.

And then there are peaches, which are said to smell the sweetest when they’re ready to be devoured.

I can’t get a fucking read on her, and it should frustrate the hell out of me, but the truth is that I don’t care what she’s really like. It doesn’t matter if she’s a good person or the devil incarnate. There’s only one thing I want from this girl who literally fell from the sky, and it’s not her charm.

I’m going to fuck the shit out of Aurelia, and while I prefer for her to be on board, I plan to enjoy myself either way.

Thorin meets my gaze as he turns from the doors of the deck, and I know we’re both thinking the same thing. A few hours out there ought to be enough to make that stubborn wench run into our arms.

Thor keeps going, grabbing Seth’s arm and dragging him out as they leave the den and head upstairs. I spare one last glance at the deck door and Aurelia’s shadow on the other side.

Despite the fact that she tried to escape us, Aurelia pounds on the door, begging to be let back in. I wish I could say I don’t give her another thought, but as I close myself inside the bathroom, strip off my clothes, and step into the shower, her face—fuck, that body —is all I can think about.

When I take my dick in my hand, I don’t even try to deny that it’s because of her. Aurelia is, without a doubt, the sexiest, most infuriating woman I’ve ever met.

“God,” I strain to get out when I feel my balls tighten, “ damn you.”

My knees weaken the moment my dick finishes spurting cum on the shower tiles. I take my time showering the day off my skin, and when I step out and look in the mirror, I can still see Aurelia’s handprint on my cheek.

I wonder what other marks she’ll leave.

Ignoring the incessant pounding coming from the deck, I grab some sweats from my bedroom to wear and then make my way upstairs. When I reach the kitchen, I walk in on Seth with his mouth open wide and Thorin peering inside. There are several pill bottles and a half-empty glass of water resting on the counter next to them.

I see another cup on the other side and walk over to inspect it. Thorin is already watching me and shakes his head at the questioning look in my eyes.

“She really made herself at home, didn’t she?” I say with more amusement than the situation calls for. We still don’t know if she’s telling the truth, and with no way to verify…

Well, we can’t let her go until we know for sure, can we?

I don’t try to fight my smile or hide it. Whistling, I make my way to the fridge, where I take out the rabbit meat I left inside to thaw. If I’m stuck up here for God knows how much longer—until Zeke gains control of his alters or his brother keels over—then a little entertainment is needed desperately, or I might go insane.

“She ate our food from this morning, too,” Seth helpfully supplies.

“Shut up and stick out your tongue,” Thor orders grumpily. The dude seriously needs to be fucked more than the rest of us.

Seth does as he says and waggles it at him.

My chest tightens at seeing him be so playful. It’s not unusual for Seth—though his brand is more mocking since he hates us—but it’s just that Zeke used to be playful, too. The class clown, if you will. And even though Zeke is adamant that he and Seth are not the same, sometimes it’s easy to confuse him with the friend I remember.

Maybe there’s hope for Seth yet, or…maybe we’re the problem—Thor and me.

Once Thorin sees that Seth’s taken his meds, he storms off to his room. I hear him return minutes later and leave the cabin, slamming the front door behind him. I know he’s planning to take his restlessness out on the doe he caught a few days ago, not the one that’s currently marooned out on our deck.

Thorin has always been a moody son of a bitch, but these days, he stays prickly.

And yet, he can’t see that the cure is literally beating down our door.

Seth also leaves to go sulk in his room when I tell him that Aurelia has to stay outside a little longer. While the two of them act like bitches, I start dinner since it’s my turn tonight. Eventually, the smell of burning food and the sound of me cursing lures my brothers from their hiding places.

I can smell the dead deer on Thor, and one look from me has him pivoting on his heel before he can step one foot inside my kitchen. He heads for the shower while Seth sneaks over to the wood-burning stove and sticks his finger in the pot of stew. I send a jab to his ribs, but he dodges it, dancing out of reach with his finger in his mouth.

“Mmm, overcooked and flavorless,” he hums. “Your specialty.”

“Laugh all you want,” I tell him, “but you just lost dessert.”

Seth scoffs as he reaches for the bowls in the cabinet next to him. “Fruit is not a dessert, or so I’m told. Your training days are over, dick. Live a little.”

Ignoring him, I partially close the air vent on the stove so that the wood burns a little slower while keeping the cabin warm. I then reach for the bowls Seth set out on the counter, filling each of them with the rabbit stew, but I pause when I see there’s a fourth one.

I glare at Seth, who is watching me out of the corner of his eye while he drowns his portion with salt.

“We’re not feeding her.”

“Why not?” he immediately demands, setting down the salt. “We have plenty.”

“Actually, we don’t,” I remind him. “Our extra stores are for emergencies, not some entitled little songbird who made herself our problem.”

“Sounds like an emergency to me,” Seth mumbles.

“If Aurelia wants food, she can earn it.”

“Fine. Then she can have mine.” Seth storms out of the kitchen, passing Thorin as he goes before I can argue.

There’s a towel draped over Thorin’s wet hair while sweatpants cover his legs. “What’s up with him?”

“Nothing. Seth’s being rational for once and couldn’t have picked a worse time to be the sane one. We’ll be waiting on that girl hand and foot if he has his way.”

Thorin says nothing as he grabs his bowl and starts eating while leaning against the counter. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was secretly on board with the idea. His face is carefully blank, which means he’s more affected by Aurelia’s presence than I thought.

We don’t hide from one another, so if he’s keeping his thoughts to himself, it must be bad.

“How much longer do you think she has out there?” I can’t stand the silence.

It takes me a moment more to realize it’s a little too quiet.

I don’t hear Aurelia banging on the deck door anymore. And then I remember Seth’s last words before he stormed out. My gaze flies to where his bowl of stew should be, but the counter is empty.

Fucking Seth.

I put down my dinner and leave the kitchen.

Unsurprisingly, Thorin follows, still slurping his rabbit stew like he doesn’t have a care in the world. He never seems to mind how awful my cooking is, but I’m sure it has to do with him suffering worse when he was a Marine.

Together, we quietly descend the winding stairs into the basement, and soon after, I hear voices speaking low.

Thorin and I pause at the bottom of the stairs.

From here, we can see Aurelia dusted with snowflakes and shivering violently on the sofa where she and Seth are sitting closely. There’s a heavy blanket around her shoulders, and Seth has a fire in the wood stove burning already while Aurelia clutches his bowl of rabbit stew. She’s pretending she doesn’t feel him playing with her hair and staring at her like an obsessed maniac, but every so often, she shifts a little further away, and he follows.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay?” Seth asks as he leisurely twirls a curl around his finger. “We could have fun together.”

“Thanks, but I’d rather be two ships passing in the night.”

“What about a train wreck?” Seth’s dumb ass retorts. “I hear those are fun.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“On second thought, that might have been a roller coaster.”

Feeling Aurelia’s astonishment, I curse under my breath. I have a feeling explaining the horde living inside Zeke’s head with our already terrified guest was coming sooner rather than later. “You’ve never ridden a roller coaster?”

Seth shakes his head with a melancholy look in his eyes, and I can’t tell if it’s real or an act. Either way, it’s so convincing that I almost feel sorry for him until I remember that time he tried to set me on fire. The only reason he hasn’t forced us to tie him up again is because of her .

Seth’s too distracted by the novelty that is Aurelia to bother with trying to kill us. We still don’t know why he doesn’t like us. He just doesn’t and refuses to explain.

“You should,” Aurelia suggests almost affably. “I haven’t been on one since I was twelve, but I remember liking it. The best part is stuffing yourself with enough junk food in between rides that you want to puke while you’re on one.”

“Really?”

“Mhmm.” Aurelia lifts the bowl and slurps some of the stew. I don’t think she notices the taste. The warmth it provides is enough to satisfy her after being stuck on the deck for over an hour.

“I think I’d like that,” Seth says slowly. “But I don’t think I’ll need a full stomach to puke.”

Aurelia makes a face. “Really? Why?”

“I’m afraid of heights.”

But Zeke isn’t. In fact, Zeke’s a bit of an adrenaline junkie, something Seth didn’t inherit. It’s the strangest thing how they occupy the same body and possess the same mind but are wildly different.

Seth hates height, while Zeke would backflip off a bridge if you bet him five bucks.

Zeke is horrible at math, while Seth is damn near gifted.

Seth is convinced he wants to be a fucking rapper, while Zeke prefers alternative metal and indie rock.

Zeke loves broccoli, while Seth will gut you for even suggesting he eats it.

The list goes on.

“That does pose a problem,” Aurelia says.

“You could come with me and hold my hand,” Seth suggests. “Make sure nothing happens to me.” Aurelia doesn’t respond, but it’s kinder than the answer I’m sure she’s thinking.

I would have wagered Seth didn’t stand a chance of wooing this girl or any other because he hasn’t had the practice, but I was wrong. While Aurelia is wary of Seth, waiting for him to pounce and demand payment for rescuing her from the deck, her claws aren’t out.

She seems as curious about him as he is about her.

When Seth realizes Aurelia isn’t going to answer him, he lets her finish the stew in silence. “Want some more?”

“Are you sure Moe and Larry would approve?”

“I guess that would make me Curly, huh?”

“Seriously? You know who the Stooges are but never rode a roller coaster?”

“I got a crash course in the classics when I left the Seeds of the Undying.”

“The what?”

“It’s um…where I was born.”

“Oh.” Aurelia frowns but thankfully doesn’t pry—likely because she doesn’t give a shit.

“So, more stew then?”

“Thank you, but no. If the only currency I have to offer in this hellhole is my body, I’d rather starve.”

Seth stares at her for a while, and I already know what he’ll say before he shakes his head and turns it to stare into the fire. “Then you don’t know what it’s like to be hungry, Sunshine. Not really.”

“Look,” she says coolly. “It’s not my fault I don’t have anything else you and those creeps-in-arms want, okay? All I have is my voice. It’s all I know. All I’ve ever been allowed to be.”

Next to me, Thor slurps his stew… loudly .

Before I have a chance to hide and pretend I haven’t been eavesdropping, Aurelia and Seth’s gazes snap toward us. Only Aurelia looks surprised to see us standing here.

“So, sing us something, songbird.”

Aurelia’s lips part at Thorin’s demand. “What?”

“I want to hear the voice that made you such a big deal.” A bratty little bitch is what he doesn’t say.

She thinks about it for a moment—too fucking long considering the alternative—and then a cunning gleam enters her eye. “Sorry, but I don’t sing for free. If you want me to perform, you’ve got to earn it.”

“You’re fun,” Seth praises like their best fucking friends. “What’s your fee?”

“For a private show?” She taps her chin and pretends to think about it. “How about a million dollars?”

“How about another bowl of stew and a bed for the night?” Thorin counters with a sneer.

“Just one night?” Aurelia sputters.

“We haven’t heard you sing.”

It’s a reasonable offer and better than we’d give anyone else—which is a bullet to the brain—so imagine my surprise when Aurelia says no almost immediately.

“Why the fuck not?”

“Because I said you’d have to earn it, not pay for it. Because you’re all swine, and I don’t like you very much. You don’t deserve to hear me sing. You deserve to be neutered .”

Before I realize my feet are moving, I’m across the den and gripping her golden curls in my fist. I yank her up and over the back of the couch while she screams before turning her around to face me. “I’m getting really sick of your shirt, you ungrateful brat.”

She glowers back up at me. “You’re pronouncing it wrong. My name’s Au-re-li-a. And what exactly would I have to be grateful for? You expect me to fuck for watery stew and a hard bed with scratchy sheets. I’m Aurelia . I don’t bend for anyone, so decide what you’re going to do about it and take it up with management, pumpkin.”

“Excellent advice.”

I shove her away, and she stumbles right into Thorin’s arms. He catches her, and I hold my breath as I wait for him to decide. Will he finally admit he wants her, or will he continue to pretend he hasn’t been hard ever since we found her?

“Take your hands off me, and I’ll think about forgetting you exist when I’m rescued.”

“It’s unlikely,” Thorin returns.

“I swear on my parents’ graves—”

“I have no doubt you’ll try to forget us, but it’s unlikely you’ll ever succeed, Au-re-li-a.”

Thorin brings her closer and then closes his eyes as he buries his nose in her neck. He inhales deeply, and his next breath rushes out so harshly that Aurelia releases a terrified whimper. I’d bet my left nut she can feel his ire and desire skating over her bare shoulder and down her spine.

She pushes against his chest to get away, kicking, punching, cursing, and growling. Aurelia’s giving him everything she has, and while she’s fierce, it’s not enough.

Shushing her, Thorin palms the back of her head and presses it into his chest. I can see the answer in his gaze the moment he opens them and meets mine. For years, Thorin tricked himself into thinking he likes his women soft and pliant, but this is what he really needs—someone he can bend just to the point of breaking, someone who will break and then ask for more.

He shifts his hold to Aurelia’s waist like they’re lovers, but she’s too busy scouring her nails down Thorin’s bare arms to notice Seth and me tightening the kill circle.

“Looks like we’re going with door number two, boys.”