Page 33

Dove

My phone buzzed at breakfast and everyone at the table glanced up at me as I pulled it out of my hoodie pocket.

DAMON: Would you care to have dinner tonight? I would love for us to get to know each other better.

Rhys leaned over my shoulder and read the text. “No, absolutely not.”

“I don’t remember asking your opinion,”

I responded scornfully.

“No, Dove,”

Kairos agreed. “It’s not safe. You’re not having any one on one dates with that…”

Kairos hesitated, glancing around the table. “...rogue kitsune.”

Well, at least it was nicer than calling him a demon.

“He has never harmed me. Only protected me. The same as all my Fated. I have no reason not to trust him.”

Enko scowled. “Maybe he’s just trying to gain your trust before he betrays you.”

The day squeaked by, the minutes passing like hours as I skimmed through the closet for an appropriate outfit. While Kairos was trying to get me to wear more color, I selected the only dress that felt right for the occasion.

I slipped into black heels and checked the mirror again, touching up my red lipstick. It had been hard enough to get the others to agree to let me go, and I had the strong feeling that at least one of them would be coming with me tonight.

While I trusted Damon, it was clear that they did not. The little black dress Kairos had purchased for me fell just above my knees. The v-neckline was modestly appropriate and only showed a little bit of my cleavage.

“Absolutely fucking not,”

Rhys snarled from the door of my bedroom.

When I turned around, Kairos, Seven, and Enko joined him, their eyes going over the outfit.

“I didn’t buy you clothes to impress him.”

Kairos cleared his throat and stepped forward, “You have your phone?”

he asked as I began to head down the stairs.

I nodded.

“Don’t go anywhere with him alone,”

Rhys added.

“And if he makes you uncomfortable, just tell me through our mind link,”

Enko said.

“Most importantly,”

Seven began, “Have fun, Fated.”

“Gee, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to having four overprotective boyfriends,”

I said sarcastically. “Which one of you is going to be stalking me tonight?”

They all eyed each other until their gaze landed on Seven. “Of course, that way you can remain hidden in the Shadow Vale.”

“Where is he taking you?”

Rhys asked.

“A restaurant for dinner. Charburger.”

“Really? For a first date?”

“Well, he does own it,”

I said. “It’s probably safer than any random place.”

“Classy,”

Seven said sarcastically. “Really breaking out the big bucks for my Fated.”

The doorbell rang and all of us froze. Rhys cleared his throat and strode to the door. He swung it open and I could feel his glare at Damon through the back of his head.

“Good evening, Damon,”

Rhys greeted bitterly, finally moving out of the way so I could see Damon.

He wore a black suit, and his blond hair had been swept back and styled. His eyes immediately landed on me and he smiled. “Good evening, Dove. You look amazing.”

“We all know she’s beautiful, but there’s more to her than her looks,”

Kairos snapped.

Damon’s eyes went to my stormy Fated mate, curiously raising his brows. “I am aware of how special she is, Kairos.”

I budged past the wall of men blocking me. “Yeah…they’ve been like this all day. Shall we go?”

Rhys shook his head, pushing me back behind him and shoving a finger at Damon’s chest. “You’ll have her home before nine.”

I let out an exhale, feeling a blush rise. “Rhys, I’m not Cinderella.”

Stop embarrassing me! I screamed through the mind link at the four of them, feeling that I had accidentally let Damon in on the thought.

He smiled and let out a chuckle. “I got these for you.”

He revealed a dozen black roses from behind his back.

“Thank you.”

I grinned, taking a moment to smell and admire them. “Kairos, will you put them in a vase on my desk?”

Begrudgingly, he took the flowers and nodded.

Enko’s hands gripped around my shoulders and he stared down at me for a moment before pulling me into a hug. “Are you sure, little fox? We can all come with you.”

I hugged him back. “I’ll miss you, Enko. Besides, Seven is already coming along.”

“You weren’t supposed to tell him that,”

Seven growled, glaring at Damon. I pulled back from Enko and got up on my tippy toes to kiss Seven’s cheek, but my dark mate tricked me into a deep kiss, grabbing my ass, his teeth nipping at my lip gently when I didn’t let him deepen it immediately.

“Seven,”

I warned when he finally released me, and my face must have lit up like a mortified beacon as he glared at Damon for the entirety of the kiss.

Kairos kissed my cheek, and whispered in my ear, “Be safe, Dove. If he tries to move too fast with you, we’ll be here to back you up.”

Damon watched the interactions with a good measure of curiosity and a great amount of patience. Despite my own embarrassment, he waited politely just outside the door.

And lucky for me, I only had one more left. Rhys stepped forward. He tucked my hair behind my ear and kissed my forehead. “I’ll see you at nine, Dove. Not a minute later. If you want to stay with him past that, you can do it here. With us.”

I nodded and slipped past the overprotective Fated men and gave a small wave as I grabbed Damon’s hand and dragged him away from the four of them watching through the open front door.

“Sorry about that,”

I whispered nervously.

Damon cracked a smile. “Nothing to apologize for. It’s good to see you so well protected and cared for. You deserve it after all you’ve been through.”

There was a slight tug of a thought, but Damon quickly squashed it with his keen power of the Mind. So I asked, “What?”

He glanced back to the door, where the four of them still watched intently and we reached the vehicle. He opened the rear door for me and scooted in beside me, closing the door before he answered.

“I hope we can come to some measure of trust after I prove myself again,”

he remarked with a hint of dismal sadness. “Enko and I used to be very close friends, you see.”

I nodded.

The driver began to move and I saw Seven disappear from the doorway as I glanced back. “You don’t mind if Seven comes along? I think it’s the only way they would agree to this.”

“Not at all, Dove. You could have brought all your Fated mates and I’d be happy for your company.”

“I thought we deserved some time alone, after…everything. Not just in my nightmares.”

I hesitated. “Well, almost alone. But Seven is pretty good about keeping out of sight.” I hope.

He smiled. “It’s not easy after all we’ve been through and with all of us having to share your time. Thank you for giving me a chance. You look ravishing, by the way. The most beautiful Fated I could have ever asked the goddess for. I had hoped to tell you that very first night we met, but I didn’t want to scare you. You didn’t have your first tail yet.”

The driver pulled to a stop and Damon opened the door, holding out a hand to help me out. “I thought something casual would be best to start. I have no hopes of competing with the overwealthy Kairos Stryker.”

“There’s no competition, Damon,”

I reminded him. “I need all of you, just as the goddess intended.”

Despite what he viewed as casual, we were in front of a very nice restaurant. We entered and the hostess sat us at a private table near the windows in the back, with an amazing view of the sunset. Damon pulled out my chair and let me sit—like a true gentleman—before sitting across from me himself.

“What can I get started for you two,”

a waiter asked, passing over two menus. From what I could smell, he was human.

I quickly opened it as Damon waited for me. “I’ll start with a salad and a coke—”

Seven materialized next to him. “Don’t be polite, Fated.”

The waiter nearly jumped out of his skin, eyes shooting between Damon and Seven. “Oh, uh, shall I set the table for three?”

“You promised, Seven,”

I growled.

“I would never promise.”

Seven turned to the waiter. “She’ll have your fattest juiciest burger with extra fries. Make it extra cheesy and messy so that we ensure this one—”

He jabbed his finger in the direction of Damon. “—knows exactly what he’s in for.”

My face was a piping redhot color, I was sure of it, based on it feeling as hot as Enko’s flames. “Seven,” I begged.

“Okay, fine, have your date, Fated.”

He glared at Damon. “I’ll be right here.”

Seven disappeared once more.

The waiter glanced around, confused before settling down his nerves again and looked at me. “A burger, then?”

I’ll admit, it sounded delicious. But I wasn’t exactly ready to stuff my face in front of the overly polite, newly Fated mate of mine.

“Yes, a coke and a classic bacon burger for her, and a house salad as well. I’ll have the same,”

Damon swept in to save the day.

“I’ll have that right out for you, Lord of Nightmares,”

the waiter said, giving a small bow.

“Sorry about that,”

I muttered, glaring at where I felt Seven’s shadowy essence exhuming.

“No apologies, Dove,”

Damon said with a smile. “It’s for the best that I learn how we all get along. And I saw how bright your eyes got at the mention of a burger. My Fated mate will have whatever she wants.”

I might kill you later, I shot at Seven. Damon smiled as soon as I thought it and my blush deepened. “You can hear that?”

He nodded.

“Sorry, the others—”

“Do you always apologize this much? With my Mind powers, it will take you a lot of practice to be able to hide any outward thoughts from me. If I could block it out for your comfort, I would, but it’s quite like you’re screaming at me.”

“Right,”

I said, hushing before the sorry spilled out again. The waiter set a coke in front of both of us and I quickly took a long sip to cool off the heat of my embarrassment. “So what do you like to do for fun?”

“Not a lot of time for fun lately while guarding the Hellgate in Lethe. But when I have time, I enjoy music. Something to quiet the thoughts, you see. What about you?”

“Studying demonology, weaponry, training.”

And reading, Seven added very helpfully.

I rolled my eyes and decided to appease him before he intervened on his own again. “And reading.”

“Well, it’s perfect that you were accepted at Foxfire Academy, then.”

I frowned, the flood of shameful thoughts overwhelming me, wishing I knew how to hide them from Damon. I wasn’t sure I was ready for him to know every weakness of mine yet. “I wasn’t accepted. Not until the Elder found out who my Fated mates were. I grew up in a temple, Hawthorn, before it was destroyed by demons.”

Damon nodded politely, his expression twitching into a frown, and I wondered how much he already knew from my endless stream of thoughts erupting from my head.

The burgers arrived, and just as Seven had requested, it was loaded with cheese and too large to fit in my mouth and bigger than Damon’s burger. I cursed him silently.

Damon took a bite, somehow making it look easy, and I followed suit. But after a few bites, I felt the unmistakable dribble down my chin and quickly covered it with a napkin, like I was some cute fox who had been taught manners, instead of the one that could probably win an eating competition against Enko.

You are a cute fox, Damon’s voice came into my head. “You have nothing to worry about in that area.”

I smiled, trying to relax around the intimidating Lord of Nightmares. “And what area do you think I should focus on?”

“Probably how to keep five strong kitsune males in line,”

he joked. “But it seems you’re getting a fair amount of practice at that.”

I nodded. “How could I not?”

Desperate to check my makeup, I excused myself. “I’ll be just a moment.”

Once out of sight, I rushed into the ladies room and checked the mirror. I exhaled a sigh of relief. At least I hadn’t completely embarrassed myself yet. Not that Seven or the others had done me any favors. When I exited the bathroom, I turned back toward the table, but a cold hand grasped me, tightening over my mouth and dragging me away.

I tried to scream, but the noise couldn’t get through his hand. When I got a glimpse of my attacker, I saw the unmistakable face of Elder Allen underneath a hood. He wasn’t wearing his red Council robes.

Seven! Damon! I screamed, but I was already out the backdoor into a dingy alley of Lethe, being shoved toward a van by multiple masked kitsune, all much stronger than I was.