Three months later
Eve walked down the hall, arm linked with Meredith’s, both ready to do battle.
Meredith squeezed her hand. “I can’t believe Chaos went for it. You know, since the guy’s completely allergic to fun.”
Wasn’t that the truth. But Eve had been determined, and in the end, he’d relented. The guys had been fighting a lot, especially with the way the demons in the city had been behaving. They all knew something was seriously off and Eve knew how worried they were. She just wanted a night where they could relax, laugh. “You know we have to beat Chaos now, right? At everything, or we’ll never hear the end of it.”
Meredith laughed as Eve pushed open the door to the control room. “We’ll have to join forces…”
“Go long!” Kryos called and tossed a ball across the room and out the balcony doors. Rocco sprinted after it, jumped to the railing, and dove off the side, shifting into his demon form midair. His clothes disintegrated, falling from his body then he disappeared from view.
Lazarus strode over to her and tugged her into his side. Eve looked up at her grinning mate. “Um…this wasn’t the kind of games night we had in mind.”
He smirked. “No?”
A heavy thud against the balcony floor had them all turning back to the open doors. Rocco, ball in hand, and completely naked, strode back in.
Kryos growled and put his hands over Meredith’s eyes, and Lazarus curled his hand around the back of Eve’s head and smooshed her face against his chest.
“Put it away, asshole,” Lazarus growled.
“Bother, seriously. No one wants to see that,” Kryos added.
Rocco chuckled. “Feeling threatened are we, boys?”
Kryos snorted. “As if.”
Eve tried to move, but Lazarus wouldn’t let her lift her head. “Really?” she bit out.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Lazarus said. “But it’s just not done. A male does not flash his jewels at another male’s mate.”
“And if he does, he gets his ass kicked,” Kryos said. He sounded like he was gritting his teeth.
“Can I lift my head now?” Eve asked.
“No.”
“Okay, let’s all calm down,” Rocco said. “Instead of kicking my ass, how about you Kryos and Gunner, play me, Chaos and Zen…out there. First to miss a pass loses.”
“Loses what?” Chaos said, obviously now joining the ridiculous conversation.
“Their dignity,” Rocco said.
Meredith cursed. “You males are so juvenile.”
“This really isn’t what we had in mind for tonight,” Eve added.
“You’re on,” Lazarus said, ignoring her completely.
“Whatever,” Meredith muttered. “I just want my eyesight back.”
Lazarus tipped Eve’s head back and she blinked up at him. “You want to watch me play?”
His hopeful expression made her giggle. “Sure.”
“Teams are going to be uneven. Gunner’s AWOL,” Chaos said.
Lazarus frowned and Eve knew the guys were worried about him. He’d told her Gunner hadn’t been himself for weeks.
“I’m out,” Zenon said.
Eve hadn’t even realized he was in the room.
The male was so closed off, spent so much time alone, she hated that he was leaving. She reached out to touch his arms as he walked by, about to try and convince him to stay, but he jerked back like she’d stabbed him.
“I’m…I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” What? She wasn’t sure how to finish her sentence.
Zenon dropped his chin, letting his hair fall forward, covering his face, and strode from the room.
Lazarus curled his fingers around the side of her neck, drawing her attention back to him. “It’s not you,” he said. “He just…Zenon doesn’t like to be touched.”
What had happened to him to make him react like that? She hated to think. Out of all the knights, Zenon was the most distant, the one she wished she could figure out. But she got the feeling there was no getting through to him and that made her heart hurt.
“You ready?” Rocco called.
“I was born ready,” Kryos said as he stripped off, shifted, and dove off the side of the balcony.
“Nice work, Eve,” Rocco said. “Games night rocks.” He winked at her and shifted as well, joining Kryos and Chaos who were already passing the ball to each other high in the air, their massive wings working to hold them at the same height, five floors above the ground.
“Will you be here when I’m done?” Lazarus said, grinning down at her. “When I return victorious and ready to claim my spoils.”
Eve grinned back. “I told you, I’m not going anywhere. Not ever.”
His eyes softened and he tugged her close, kissing her slow and deep.
“Enough with the sucking face,” Rocco called out. “Your stalling tactics won’t save you.”
Lazarus lifted his head. “Oh, it’s on.”
Eve watched her mate shift into his demon form and join the others, the thunder of heavy bodies colliding and the ball being thrown hard, following soon after.
Meredith sighed and plonked down on a seat beside her. “Maybe we can get them to play Monopoly next week?”
A window smashed somewhere followed by hoots and cheers.
They both burst out laughing.
Eve wiped her eyes. “Yeah, I’m not liking our chances.”
Zenon was torn from his sleep as a wave of…fuck, he didn’t know what it was, sliced through him. He gritted his teeth, frozen in place as it smashed through him a second time.
Something he couldn’t name pumped through his veins, Christ, sank into his bones. His spine torqued and his eyes rolled back as the feeling grew and grew…then finally, released him.
He collapsed back on the bed, covered in sweat, heart pounding, mind racing.
Zenon knew pain, it was his constant companion, what he’d just experienced couldn’t be described as pain, though, it had almost felt, fuck, it had almost felt…good.
He shoved his long hair away from his face and stared up at the ceiling as it slipped away, leaving his limbs loose and warm, and a sense of…knowing filled him, like there was this thing, this big, important fucking thing, in the back of his mind, just out of reach. Something he needed to remember or know, but couldn’t get to.
Another wave moved through him, softer this time, like an aftershock after a colossal earthquake.
A demi.
He could feel one, new to their powers.
What the fuck? He’d never reacted like that before.
With a growl, he shoved the covers back and climbed out of bed, and as he dressed, as he headed to the control room, that feeling inside him pushed forward again causing tingles to dance along his spine, making his head tingle and fucking goosebumps to lift all over his skin.
It was that feeling that had him walking straight up to Chaos and insisting that he send Zenon on the retrieval—something he never did. Ever.
Chaos finally, reluctantly, agreed, then Zenon forced himself to stay calm while he waited for Roc and Gunner so they could leave.
Standing back from everyone, he ignored the worried glances his brothers sent his way.
“You’ll let Roc do the talking?” Chaos said again.
Zenon didn’t even bother replying. Of course, he would, because when he got close, when he tried to talk to people, they got uncomfortable. Another reason he shouldn’t go.
Chaos sighed and walked away. Yeah, he thought Zenon would fuck this up, and he was probably right. But Zen couldn’t make himself stay behind, not when that thing he’d woken with was pushing him on, when this sense of urgency was driving him forward.
Laz was about to head off on patrol, and Zenon tried not to watch as his brother leaned in and kissed his mate goodbye, but he couldn’t make himself turn away. It was a soft kiss. They kissed a lot. Sometimes hard and urgent, sometimes soft like now. So did Kryos and Meredith.
The affection they had for each other flowed from them, so visceral it had those tingles moving up and down Zenon’s spine up their efforts. Eve’s arms wrapped around her mate, her dainty hands against Laz’s broad back, her hold gentle, light brushes, soothing rubs.
That weird feeling gripped Zen’s gut tighter.
What would that be like? To be touched that way? Gentle. Not to cause pain or to humiliate. Not to control.
A growl tried to crawl up his throat.
“Yo, Zen, you ready?” Rocco called.
Zenon jolted, humiliation heating his face at being caught acting like a fucking creeper. He quickly dipped his head lower and nodded.
Yeah, he was more than ready to go.
Whoever this demi was, they were affecting him in a way he didn’t understand, a way he didn’t fucking like or want.
And he was going to find out why.