Page 27 of Tethered Souls

“But –”

“You know how dangerous transformation magic is. I’m not risking my balls just so you can’t get laid.”

“Not just laid, Dayne.Ripped apart from the inside out.Like an xenomorph is popping out of me. Oh gods.” Both hands press over my stomach. “I bet if he rammed into me hard enough, his dick would actually pop out of my belly.”

Laughing, he grabs both my shoulders and shakes me. “Calm the fuck down, Micha.”

“I don’t want to die from a dickomorph,” I whisper in utter horror.

Collapsing against me, he starts to howl. It takes me a moment, but then the annoyance comes. Here I am spilling my greatest fears, and mybest friendis laughing. At me.Hard.

Shoving him off me, I snap, “You’re an ass.”

He wheezes, shaking his head. “Oh girl, you so lucked out.”

My eyes narrow. “Um, hello?” I wave a hand at my side. “How is being forced to endure intense painluckingout.”

Lifting his head, he then straightens, the laughter gone in an instant. “Any other Boss would’ve killed me,” he says simply.

I hate that he came to the same conclusion I did. I don’t want to like the man who’s practically kidnapping me. Who bought me and took my freedom.

“What’s happened has happened, Micha,” he says gently. “You need to make the best of it so you don’t do something stupid liketry to kill Varius.” His voice rises on that last part, and I hit him in the arm.

“Shhh.” My eyes dart over to the reaper. Khalid holds my stare, and I break it immediately. “Why the fuck did you do that?” I hiss.

Dayne looks at me in exasperation. “So Khalid knows to keep an eye on you and not let you do anything stupid before you do something stupid.”

Crossing my arms, I glare at my so-called best friend. “I don’t need a babysitter. I’m an assassin.”

“Oh, yes, that mentally stable profession.”

My eyes narrow on him. Then I growl and huff out a breath. “Fine. I’ll try to give him the benefit of the doubt.” I lower my voice to a whisper. “But if I rock up in the middle of the night, you’ll hide me, right?”

His smile shines in his eyes. “Obviously.”

Grinning, I throw my arms around his waist. I don’t want to leave him, the only rock I’ve ever built a foundation on, but just because I don’t want to do something doesn’t mean I can avoid it – story of my fucking life.

Blowing out a breath, I pull back a little. “So… Aaron has just lost his partner.”

Dayne’s face sours as he shoves me away. “Stop trying to set me up with your brother. He’s an ass.”

“True, but you can marry him, kill him, and then we can be siblings.”

Laughing, he ruffles my hair like my older brother never has. “We’re already family, Micha.”

My chest squeezes. “Yeah. Yeah, we are.”

With a final hug, he turns and gets into his car. I can feel Varius’ eyes on me as he walks towards me, but I don’t look at him, keeping my gaze on my best friend as he starts the engine and pulls away, a small wave his last parting gift. Hoping like hel that isn’t the last time I see him, I breathe out and try to stop the ache in my chest from spreading.

“Get in the car,” Varius says.

My legs root in place, that instant defiance my father accidentally beat into me rearing its head. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him draw close, and electricity buzzes along my spine. Logically, I don’t know him well enough to think he won’t hit me, but there’s a part of me that already knows he won’t.

Maybe Dayne was right. Maybe he could be a lot worse…

But just as I start to turn towards the car, Varius steps in close behind me, his body heat warming me from the cold wind. “Get in the car, little monster, or get on your back and spread your legs.”

My pulse jumps. My mouth dries. “Not get down on my knees?” It comes out sarcastically, a default setting as my mind struggles to do anything other than spasm out. “Please yourself if I don’t listen?”