Page 28

Tier One Collateral Event

“We need to decide what to do. As a group.”

It was Kalen who broke the spell, jolting Isobel out of her pensive silence.

“Is there really any option here?” Kilian asked.

“Honestly?” Kalen scowled at the blankets. “I think someone didn’t want to hand over the USB, so they gave it to Ivan. But he didn’t want to hand it over, either, so he gave it to us. We could pass it to the next person, whoever that person is, but each pass increases the risk of discovery.”

“And this is a decision we can’t make for everyone,” Mikel added.

“It’s too dangerous, and there’s simply too much to consider.

Oscar’s sister needs the money he sends home.

So does Niko’s family, even though the assholes aren’t talking to him right now.

They run that settlement clinic on donations.

Without Niko’s money, they won’t be able to keep it going, and a lot of people will suffer.

And the rest of your families? What if this puts them in danger?

What if Amina Al-Fahim is discovered before she publishes, and we don’t get a chance to run?

What if we’re stuck hiding for months? What if it takes her months to pull the trigger on this? ”

“I’ll do anything to keep Lily safe.” Oscar worked his jaw, eyes dark and furious.

“That includes blowing up the Stone Dahlia before they get their perverted fucking hands on her. Ironside has changed the world’s view of Sigmas—Isobel made them desirable, and their rarity only fuels it.

I used to worry that people would bully Lily.

Now I worry they’ll traffic her. We need to take them down before she’s old enough to qualify for this fucking hellhole because she has no idea what’s waiting for her. She idolises Ironside.”

“I’m in” was all Niko said.

“In,” Theodore grunted against her hair. He was being uncharacteristically quiet, the faintest thrum of pain vibrating from his chest to her back. He was the only one she could still feel; the others had all managed to wrangle themselves fully under control.

“In,” Moses parroted Theodore.

“In,” the others all agreed, seemingly at the same time.

They turned to stare at her, but she was frowning. Distracted. Staring down at the two arms wrapped around her, the sleeves of his navy shirt shoved up his forearms just like Kilian’s had been, revealing muscles wrapped tightly in golden skin.

“You took it away,” she said, floored.

The pain from her chest was gone. Not soothed. Not muted.

Gone .

“Guess so,” Theodore rasped.

She spun to face him, eyes wide, hands fluttering over his chest, tearing her limbs from the grips of the others. Theodore gave her a tight, exhausted smile.

“Bond,” he grumbled. “Two-way thing. Probably …” He slurred the word. “Probably won’t do that again, don’t think … was natural.”

His body loosened like he was relaxing, but then his eyes fluttered shut, and she realised he had passed out.

“Take him back!” she demanded, grabbing Kalen’s strong hand and tugging it over Kilian to press it to Theodore’s chest.

“That would send it back to you,” Kalen said with a frown. “And piss him off to an unimaginable level. He’s been sitting there working on that all goddam night.”

“Just let him sleep,” Gabriel said, shaking his head.

“He probably won’t be trying that again.

We’ve all tried it, by the way. We’ve done it accidentally with no effort at all, but to do it on purpose feels like trying to suck a huge, solid mass through a tiny, fragile straw.

Makes you feel like your chest is going to explode.

If you reverse all that work, you’re throwing his achievement back in his face. ”

She stared at him, and then at Kalen. “You all knew he was doing it.”

“Yeah,” Moses drawled. “Look how proud he is, though.”

“He’s passed out .”

“Proudly.”

“I’ve never seen someone fall unconscious so victoriously,” Niko said, with his eyes closed.

Mikel pinched the bridge of his nose. “The real question here is, who’s going to carry him to bed? It’s not his night.”

“Who cares whose night it is,” Oscar snarled. “I’m not leaving.”

“I care,” Cian and Niko said at the same time, both of them raising their hands in the air, though Niko still did it with his eyes closed.

“Oh, I wonder whose night it could possibly be,” Moses drawled sarcastically.

Isobel bit back her smile, peeking at Kalen and Mikel, who both seemed to be suddenly staring at her. She had a punishment incoming. She could see it in their eyes. If she thought they would forget about it once they calmed down, she was wrong.

“In light of recent, um, events,” she began with a wobble in her voice.

“No,” Kalen grunted immediately .

“Um,” she continued anyway, “maybe we can postpone?—”

“No,” Mikel agreed with Kalen.

She tried to control the pout that wanted to tug at her features and wasn’t sure that she succeeded. “You don’t know what I was?—”

“You’re still going to be punished, Sigma,” Kalen growled, pushing up from the bed and stretching out what appeared to be sore muscles. How he made stretching appear threatening, she had no idea. But he did.

She wasn’t giving up that easily. “Don’t we have more important things to?—”

“More important than reminding you to keep what’s ours safe?” Kalen’s voice was almost a snarl. “Don’t push me on this. You’re going to be punished.”

The other Alphas were stirring, some of that dangerous energy swirling back into the room.

Even Theodore gave an unconscious twitch, his arms still circled loosely around her waist. She glanced around at their faces, trying to find an ally.

Cian shook his head at her, features tightening, his stunning aquamarine eyes hardening into sharp sapphires.

Oscar licked his lips like he was already salivating, thinking of how he might personally punish her.

Moses couldn’t muster an expression of pity to save his life, and he currently demonstrated his inability to the best of his ability.

Elijah and Gabriel both shook their heads at her, indicating she wasn’t going to find any help from them.

Niko didn’t budge. He might have been asleep if not for the tension lining his body. Even Kilian shook his head at her.

She scowled at the lot of them. “You all need therapy, just so you know. I’ll let Theo know later.”

“Oh, don’t worry.” Moses waved a dismissing hand. “He knows.”

She rolled her eyes. “What’s my punishment, then?”

“To be decided.” Kalen tore his eyes from her, running twitchy hands through his hair. “Tonight … I think we should sleep. Process. Digest. First thing tomorrow, we’ll make a plan on how to contact the journalist. Everyone agreed?”

They all quickly assented. Kalen strode to the door. “I need to change, but I’ll be back.”

The others all began slowly filtering out of the room to shower and get ready for bed.

She was under no illusions that they were going to stay in their own rooms, so it wasn’t surprising when they began to drag in couch cushions, pillows, and blankets, creating makeshift mattresses on the rug by the fire, by her bed, and around the sitting room.

Kilian dropped a pair of navy cotton boxers onto the end of her bed before ducking into her bathroom to take his own shower.

She sat back on her heels as she surveyed Theodore, her heart aching as his head flopped forward, messy dark hair falling to almost obscure the fan of his sooty lashes against his cheeks.

His colouring was healthy and flushed, but his breathing was a little choppy.

She checked his pulse, unable to quash her worry, and then began wrangling his clothes off his oversized body.

She was out of breath by the time she finally had him dressed in the boxers, the blankets pulled up over his bare chest.

Since there was a thin sheen of sweat on her skin, she padded into the bathroom, kicking the door shut and tugging off Oscar’s dress shirt before poking her head into the shower. “Do you mind?”

Kilian started, turning to eye her. He had been leaning his forehead against the tiled alcove wall, his eyes closed. “You worked up a sweat,” he noted, suddenly smiling.

“That man is too absurdly large,” she said, offended by the humour in Kilian’s pale eyes as she jabbed an accusing finger at the door to her bedroom.

Kilian turned, putting his back to the wall and holding out a hand for her. “Get in the shower and stop talking about some other guy’s size before I get insulted.”

She placed her hand in his, allowing him to draw her inside. He pulled her against him immediately, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her feet clear from the floor. The hug was sudden and surprising, his hands shaking slightly where they gripped her.

“I can’t keep going if this is how it’s going to be,” he whispered against the skin of her neck, the falling water almost drowning out his words. “If they’re going to use you like that, I can’t do it. I can’t be here anymore. Nothing is worth that.”

She ran her fingers through his pale, white-blond hair, saying nothing as he clung to her.

She couldn’t take back the agreement. He knew that.

When he lowered her to her feet again, he caught her chin, tugging her mouth to his.

His kiss was a soft, drugging pressure that immediately twisted deep into her belly, but he pulled away too soon.

“None of us are allowed to touch you.” He backed up an inch. “Not until the punishment. Kalen and Mikel’s orders. They want us all to watch, think it’ll stop any of us from trying to take our own pound of flesh.”

A choked sound escaped her. “What?”

“It kind of makes sense.” Kilian looked a little sheepish as he eyed her.

“Even I feel like I need to spank you. I mean seriously, Illy. You traded your body so that we wouldn’t have to go on dates.

Obviously, we would have done the same, but then you’d be allowed to punish us.

If you could catch us. Which you can’t.”