Page 33 of V for Vilified (Hunter V #4)

Holy Polyamorous Batman!

I t really felt like an ambush when Cash and Jo teamed up to discuss Kate’s return.

I’d been blindsided by the sudden comradery between them, enough to agree without having fully understood what they meant.

Now, I was connecting the dots as Kate dragged me along to meet the others, her soft arm locked with mine.

They totally brought her back to keep me on the path of righteousness. They didn’t trust I’d be able to refute Aram’s charms. Assholes. Why did they have to buddy up over my systematic betrayal?!

Big was in pixie form, hitching a ride on my friend’s shoulder like it was completely normal. Guess he’d insisted on being here, a surprise to everyone including the mutinous team of Fae.

Wings generally stayed out of sight and out of mind.

They had history with both the Chaos Fae and Nether Royals, and not a good one.

Based on how we met, it made sense. Dust was insanely powerful from what I’d been told.

It wasn’t a limited ability like Fae magic, but it wasn’t infinite either. If wrung dry, it would kill them.

Had I not been in a whole world of what the fuck, Big could’ve been my ticket home without a portal, but unfortunately not anymore. Nothing was safe until these terrifying assholes were six feet in the ground.

The group was waiting for us in the receiving room, and Kate’s eyes went all glitter and sparkle the second they landed on a whole room full of hotties. “Holy shit, are you collecting idols in here, V?!”

“Something like that,” I complained.

“Monsters, more like,” Big murmured from her shoulder, and I cut a scathing look at him.

Phillip cocked an eyebrow at me, and Sloan gave the two of us his thousand-watt smile, bewitching my bestie on impact. Kate swooned on her feet, and I tightened my grip on her arm with a sigh and head shake.

No hope for this one. Even disillusioned she couldn’t be trusted.

Cash still made her blush and trip head and foot over her words.

Unlike me. I’d built effective shields for all their swoon-worthy charms. I was immune to them, in fact.

Something I repeated over and over in my head like it wasn’t a bold-faced lie I told myself every day as we strolled into the room.

Don’t judge this girl. I’m manifesting.

Big was suddenly a thousand times bigger and towering over the rest of us, his smile much darker than anyone had any right displaying around me. He collapsed onto the only available armchair, and I watched with nothing short of confusion as Kate wandered to stand next to him.

I didn’t have time to contemplate the weird tension between them because Phillip made damn sure Kate didn’t have to ask what the nature of our relationship was or wonder why he’d chase me all the way to another realm.

He grabbed me the minute I was within reach and made me sit on his lap, next to Sloan on the couch.

As if they’d all conspired against me, Sloan leaned over and kissed me directly on the mouth for the others to watch.

It wasn’t my fault that I immediately responded.

It was a knee-jerk reaction to a delicious pair of lips pressed against mine.

But it was over before I could react and…

probably still kiss the gorgeous Brit silly, because just look at this handsome asshole.

Apparently, charm was being handed out by the liter when it got to my group of supernatural baddies.

Jo peered over from her spot on the wall before our eyes found each other the way they always seemed to. As if we were magnets forever drawn to each other. Every time I thought of her mouth, her fingers, that lethal body, it was every memory of the pleasure she gave me invading my head.

I was so damn obsessed with her it was tragic, and it’d only appeared to have gotten worse, not better, after exploring each other’s bodies for several days.

Smirking, the sultry vixen snaked her way over, in another tight one piece that caught ambient glows and stray light. Her dark hair was pulled up, but quite a bit of it had fallen out and framed her face, around her cheeks and eyes. Dark eyes burned amber before she bent over to give me a kiss.

Then Cash huffed and stood like the sight of their kisses had summoned him. He flicked his wrist in annoyance and ghosted over.

His off-the-shoulder shirt was uncomfortably hot on him in those glossy black pants and knee-high goth boots.

He’d fit into any K-pop boyband looking the way he did as he sashayed his way over, painted black nails lifted like he was about to perform an act of magic.

Instead, he went down on one knee, gently brushed my cheek with his knuckles, and leaned in to give me a kiss that lasted longer than the rest.

It was soft and tasted like high-quality sweets and annoyingly perfect. I missed it when he pulled away and got to his feet, practically daring the others to do better.

I opened my mouth, suddenly annoyed. “Hey—”

I was cut off by a hand that twisted my head back Phillip’s direction. Our eyes met, and I immediately recoiled at the sight of his devious grin.

“Don’t—”

His mouth was roughly devouring mine before I could finish my threat. Not one to be outdone, Phillip made sure his kiss was the most explicit and blood boiling of the lot.

I surrendered too quickly, it was pathetic. I always did. Every part of me enjoyed being dominated by him, and I never fought him long. His stare was mischief personified when he pulled away and sent a smug look Cash’s way.

Built an immunity, my ass. I was still that same high school girl Phillip bewitched the day he moseyed his criminally sexy ass into my Biology class.

My head and body were in total chaos when I snuck a look at Kate, who was presently blocked by my Fae Karen. I could only imagine what she’d think of a display like that. I seriously considered freezing time to get my revenge on every single one of them. The assholes deserved it.

Well, Jo I’d forgive, but the rest could get fucked.

“Holy polyamorous Batman!” I heard her cry out in glee before seeing the exuberance all over her face. “My girl went from dating noob to relationship queen! I’m so damn proud of you.”

Yeah, what was I thinking? Of course Kate would be nothing but supportive.

Heat crept into my face as Cash leaned over and swiped my mouth with his thumb, cat eyes glaring at Phillip behind me. Then he took his seat as if the exchange had been totally normal and not the most fucked thing they could’ve done to me in front of my friend.

Jo was back to leaning against the wall.

She watched over the rest of us like nothing and no one could ever bother her.

Aside from the squeeze of my thigh, Phillip didn’t react more than the click of his tongue.

He kept his words of annoyance in check, though his elevated pulse suggested it was an effort.

Sloan was Sloan, so none of it phased him.

He simply collected my hand in his and kept it on top of his lap.

“Well, now that that’s out of the way,” I grumbled with a glare at each one of them, “we have some things to discuss.”

Cash flicked back his platinum hair with a little grin and crossed one obnoxiously long leg over the other. “I suppose we do, my dove. Particularly how we won’t be discussing them much at all.”

My brows pinched together in confusion, and the hold on my hand and thigh tightened. “What are you talking about?”

“Your bond poses the most risk to us at present, so we’ll need to treat it as an unknown and volatile variable we have no hope of controlling and act accordingly.

You’re infinitely clever, love. I’m sure you’ll figure out how to address everything without being clued into what I have planned until the very moment it needs to occur. Do you trust me?”

Phillip made a little noise but stopped himself. At least he was trying. “Will the rest of us be brought in on this little plan of yours, or is it your intention to leave everyone out of it, too?”

“Why bother asking the question when you know perfectly well what the answer is?” the blonde snipped.

“Because it’s stupid and isn’t likely to work,” Phillip rebuked with a snarl. “Thought you were supposed to be clever, old friend. Are you losing your touch? Need me to step in so we don’t all die at the end of this?”

“I beg your pardon!” Cash cried out, and Kate giggled after a shared smile with Big.

I hated that Cash was right. My bond was a problem.

We couldn’t be certain what Aram could gather from it, but at the very least we knew he wouldn’t hurt me.

And if the bond had any influence over me, I couldn’t be trusted to carry out acts of violence against him or the people he cared about.

Without knowing for sure, we were walking a tight rope all the way to the end, so keeping us out of it was safer.

Phillip was crafty, but he got a bit emotional when it came to me, and he wasn’t exactly a team player.

He might say something in a misguided attempt to protect me, and unless I knew for a fact Aram couldn’t read my thoughts, it’d ruin everything.

Cash knew these assholes better than us, and with our bond, I didn’t question what he’d do to keep me safe.

He'd never put me in harm’s way if he could help it, and it wasn’t just our bond that had proved it.

“No, Cash is right. We can’t be sure what might happen with the bond, so the less I know—or the less we know—the less he’ll know,” I finally said to the room.

Phillip growled under his breath. “Winging it with someone like that isn’t smart either, lass. What are his abilities, anyway? What are we up against here? I’ve brought all my usual tools and tricks. Doubt his kind have come up against anything like that.”

He’d fought off Eros for long enough that I didn’t underestimate what Phillip had in his bag, but I wasn’t sure if they’d work with the Nether Royals. It was another risk we couldn’t take unless there was no other choice.