less loved. No less important.
Jett stretched out beside Az and tugged on Addie’s hand. Exhausted from sharing energy to heal Az, she let Jett pull her down beside him. Before long, Ukopach and his buddies joined them in the big bed, curling up beside Locan on one side, Addie and Jett on the other, and filling the empty spaces near the foot.
Addie’s last thought as she slipped into sleep was how right this felt. How good it was to love and be loved.
And how she knew she’d do everything she could to fight for the right to keep them all together.
Chapter 8
She’d never been summoned before. Had no idea that’s what had happened, at least until Jett whispered in her ear that yes, the boss had summoned them, and no, that probably wasn’t a good thing. Then he took hold of her right hand while Locan held her left. If nothing else, they were going to show solidarity.
She didn’t see Azrael anywhere. That worried her. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in the big bed with all three guys as well as Ukopach and a bunch of his buddies. Azrael had been weak from blood loss, but she was certain he was strong enough to make it.
What if he hadn’t? She glanced at Jett, but he merely shrugged. Locan just squeezed her hand, and the three of them stood there in what felt like an endless room of white marble floors and walls so far away it was hard to tell what they were made of.
And while they couldn’t see anyone else anywhere, Addie was quite certain they weren’t alone.
“You defied me.”
The voice, when it finally came, was the same one they heard in their heads. Except now it sort of echoed off the nonexistent walls and rippled through the air. Addie stood tall and stared straight ahead. “It was not meant as an act of defiance. I was doing my job.”
“How can you say that? Your job was to wait until Azrael completed his task. It was his job to kill the demon. To do it without help.”
“My job, sir, is to provide balance to my team. We had already discovered that the addition of Azrael to our team made us stronger. More capable of completing our assignments. If Azrael had died or if he’d been reclaimed by the demon, it would have thrown us out of balance. I would have failed at my duty.”
“What do you have to say? Jett? Locan? How do you feel about adding a third man. Another male who wants to share Addie’s attention. Her love.”
Jett glanced at Locan, who nodded. “Locan and I love Addie, just as we love each other. In the few weeks we’ve known Azrael, we’ve grown to love him as well. Adding a third man to our team merely makes us stronger. Makes us a better fighting unit.”
“Are you saying that every team should have three men? That the formula we have used for millennia is somehow wrong?”
This time Locan answered. “No. It’s not wrong, but neither is ours. We are unique, and we owe that to Addie. She’s changed the dynamic. Made it work better, and made us better. You can’t deny that we’re an effective force, even stronger with Azrael. Where is he? Is he going to survive? We need him.”
There was no answer. Instead, in a whirl of wind and a flash of lightning, the three of them were back in the big bed, lying beside Azrael. He blinked, opened his eyes and gazed around. Ukopach and the guys were gone, but Addie took Az’s hands in hers and glanced at Locan and Jett before she spoke.
* * *
Azrael knew he’d been dreaming, but waking beside Addie and the guys was even better than the dream. It had felt so real that he had to admit a night spent defeating Naburus was an amazingly satisfying dream. And now this—Jett and Locan beside him, and Addie holding his hands and looking at him as if he mattered.
“Are you okay?” she asked. “Do you remember what happened?”
He glanced from Addie’s dark brown eyes to Jett’s brilliant green, to Locan’s icy blue. “It wasn’t a dream, was it? We fought Naburus, together. We won.”
“That
Jett stretched out beside Az and tugged on Addie’s hand. Exhausted from sharing energy to heal Az, she let Jett pull her down beside him. Before long, Ukopach and his buddies joined them in the big bed, curling up beside Locan on one side, Addie and Jett on the other, and filling the empty spaces near the foot.
Addie’s last thought as she slipped into sleep was how right this felt. How good it was to love and be loved.
And how she knew she’d do everything she could to fight for the right to keep them all together.
Chapter 8
She’d never been summoned before. Had no idea that’s what had happened, at least until Jett whispered in her ear that yes, the boss had summoned them, and no, that probably wasn’t a good thing. Then he took hold of her right hand while Locan held her left. If nothing else, they were going to show solidarity.
She didn’t see Azrael anywhere. That worried her. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in the big bed with all three guys as well as Ukopach and a bunch of his buddies. Azrael had been weak from blood loss, but she was certain he was strong enough to make it.
What if he hadn’t? She glanced at Jett, but he merely shrugged. Locan just squeezed her hand, and the three of them stood there in what felt like an endless room of white marble floors and walls so far away it was hard to tell what they were made of.
And while they couldn’t see anyone else anywhere, Addie was quite certain they weren’t alone.
“You defied me.”
The voice, when it finally came, was the same one they heard in their heads. Except now it sort of echoed off the nonexistent walls and rippled through the air. Addie stood tall and stared straight ahead. “It was not meant as an act of defiance. I was doing my job.”
“How can you say that? Your job was to wait until Azrael completed his task. It was his job to kill the demon. To do it without help.”
“My job, sir, is to provide balance to my team. We had already discovered that the addition of Azrael to our team made us stronger. More capable of completing our assignments. If Azrael had died or if he’d been reclaimed by the demon, it would have thrown us out of balance. I would have failed at my duty.”
“What do you have to say? Jett? Locan? How do you feel about adding a third man. Another male who wants to share Addie’s attention. Her love.”
Jett glanced at Locan, who nodded. “Locan and I love Addie, just as we love each other. In the few weeks we’ve known Azrael, we’ve grown to love him as well. Adding a third man to our team merely makes us stronger. Makes us a better fighting unit.”
“Are you saying that every team should have three men? That the formula we have used for millennia is somehow wrong?”
This time Locan answered. “No. It’s not wrong, but neither is ours. We are unique, and we owe that to Addie. She’s changed the dynamic. Made it work better, and made us better. You can’t deny that we’re an effective force, even stronger with Azrael. Where is he? Is he going to survive? We need him.”
There was no answer. Instead, in a whirl of wind and a flash of lightning, the three of them were back in the big bed, lying beside Azrael. He blinked, opened his eyes and gazed around. Ukopach and the guys were gone, but Addie took Az’s hands in hers and glanced at Locan and Jett before she spoke.
* * *
Azrael knew he’d been dreaming, but waking beside Addie and the guys was even better than the dream. It had felt so real that he had to admit a night spent defeating Naburus was an amazingly satisfying dream. And now this—Jett and Locan beside him, and Addie holding his hands and looking at him as if he mattered.
“Are you okay?” she asked. “Do you remember what happened?”
He glanced from Addie’s dark brown eyes to Jett’s brilliant green, to Locan’s icy blue. “It wasn’t a dream, was it? We fought Naburus, together. We won.”
“That
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