Page 106 of Tethered Souls

Locking down the rising sense of betrayal, I head out of the room. If she’s fucking him…Shit.I growl. Her or him, I’m not sure which one of them I’d fucking kill.

I take the stairs four at a time and reach the landing just as she’s coming out of my brother’s room. She sees me, and her face lights up. Then falters as I march towards her.

“Varius?”

“What were you doing in there?” I demand.

She’s standing in the doorway, not yet having closed it, and I peer over her head. No one else is in there. A small movement to the right catches my attention, but I ignore it.

“Maddox was a dick earlier, so I am pranking him, but did you know he has a shapeshifter in there?” Her eyes are wide as she turns her head to look behind her. “He’s keeping her in a fish tank. She’s like five inches tall!”

“That’s Marrabelle.”

“Um, okay. Cool. That’s cool.” She looks back at me. “So he’s turned her into what, a pet?”

She doesn’t seem worried about being caught out. She isn’t trying to block my gaze inside the bedroom. All I can sense off her is genuine surprise and confusion. The knot in my chest eases a little.

“You didn’t answer my call,” I say, ignoring her inquiries about the tiny woman in Maddox’s room. She’s a brownie, a species from the plane of Gaera, and she’s a total weirdo. Even more so than my brother.

“Your call?” Her brows bunch together. She checks her pocket, then shakes her head. “I must’ve left my phone on the counter. I took it out while I was putting away the food. Sorry I missed it. Did you want something?”

“When did you get back?”

“Maybe an hour ago?”

Not long after I left. If Aleric lured me out to come here, would she know? He can’t get past the ward, and the house is far from the edge. Unless… Would drinking from a witch, draining them dry, allow him to phase in? “Was there ever a moment you thought someone else was here?”

Micha tenses. Something flashes through her eyes before she looks up at me. “No. Did you see someone when you got back? Recognize them?”

Her questions are too direct. There’s no surprise in her voice. No question about how they would’ve gotten past the ward. Like she already knows someone is here. Is she trying to hide Aleric? Or is it just her assassin training, gathering all the intel she can before she reacts?

My chest squeezes with instant denial that she would turn on me, but I lock it down. I’ve only known her for four months. I knew Vinny and Uncle Myers for decades, and my judgment of them was still too fucking blind.

“I was supposed to meet Aleric,” I say slowly, watching her carefully, “but he never showed.”

Her eyes light up as she smiles coyly. “So you thought he was coming to grab me?” She reaches forward and runs her hand down my chest. “So you came racing all the way back even though I’m safe behind the ward?”

My cock jerks as she brushes her fingers over it. My flare of jealousy is still pounding in my chest, demanding I take her rough and hard until she can’t remember her own name.

“I guess I should thank you for saving me,” she purrs as she ducks past me, perhaps to lead me down the hall to my room. But I grab her arm and push her back.

Her eyes widen. She takes a step back as I advance, my intention clear in my eyes. In my hands as I undo the button of my pants.

“We can’t have sex here!”

I pull down my zipper.

“But what about Marrabelle?” she tries.

“Oh, don’t mind me,” the brownie says with an off-world accent. “I can take care of myself.” I am smart enough not to look over. Brownies are utter sex fiends, Marrabelle having mentioned coming from a free-use cult. The reason she’s on Earth is because it was her job to inviteeveryonehere to an orgy. When she bumped into Maddox, he decided to keep her as a pet.

But Micha is not aware of what a brownie is. She looks behind her at the waterless fish tank. Blushes hard. Her eyes damn near pop out of her skull. Then she whips her head back to me, looking traumatized. “She’s fucking the tower,” she whispers. “Like, it’s actuallyinher.”

I dig into my boxers and fish out my cock. Soft moans start up from the tank, and Micha turns bright red. “Can we put a towel over her at least?”

“No. Because she’s going to tell Maddox just how much you’re mine.”

“Maddox?” She swallows as she keeps stumbling back. “He absolutely knows. He’s your brother. We would never –Iwould never –”