Chapter 25

We gather in a small room that once served as the guards’ break room. The sparse area is lightly furnished with a single table that can fit up to twelve and a collection of mismatched chairs—plastic, a few wooden ones, and even an armchair covered in a variety of holes, the fabric weathered away by age.

I sit directly at the head of the table with the twins to my right and Damien to my left. Next to the mage sits Rion, his gaze downcast as he stares intently at the table. Bronson has decided to take Nina on a date…though that’s more so she won’t bear witness to these proceedings if things take a bloody turn.

Across from both of us rests Logan, a decidedly nonchalant expression on his pretty boy face. His arms are crossed over his chest as he reclines back in his seat, his legs kicked out. Normally, I would’ve cut him a new one for showing me such disrespect, but that’s not the point of this meeting. For today only, we’re on the same team. How could we not be when he saved Nina’s life?

“You wanted to see me, my lord and grace?” Logan quirks a light blond eyebrow, his lips twitching with a smile. I try to remind myself to remain calm, to not attack, but it’s so fucking hard when he’s sitting across from me, looking for all intents and purposes like an angelic sculpture warped into a sadistic demon. Asshole.

“As you know, we were able to hear from Nina herself what transpired a few days prior,” I begin formally, and I can’t help but note that Rion goes rigid on the other side of Damien. His hands curl into fists where they rest on the table.

I haven’t talked to Rion since the incident, and not for lack of trying. He’s been avoiding everyone, including his second-in-command, Braelyn. A part of me wants to blame him for allowing Nina to be injured, but the more logical part of me understands that it wasn’t his fault. He was nothing more than a pawn in the siren’s malicious game. There would’ve been no way he could’ve resisted the siren’s song, even if he had been conscious. I may be a lover and a mate, but I’m also a leader. And a leader knows when the blame has been misplaced.

“So does this mean I’m free to go?” Logan maintains that cocky smirk as he holds up both of his hands, which have been tied together with barbed wire in place of handcuffs. Damien glares at the other man silently, tilting his head to the side so a lock of black hair falls into his eyes. Why does he look so…disheveled? He’s another member of my inner circle I need to speak to. Soon. What secret is that analytical mind of his hiding?

“It depends.” Damien slides a dagger out from his jacket’s sleeve and rests it calmly on the table in front of him. The damn thing is already coated in a fine layer of blood, the blade glinting menacingly in the hanging bulb of the room. Fucking psychopath. I have no doubt that before Damien entered this room for the meeting, he stabbed some poor soul just to get his blade wet. He sort of treats it like a cock in that respect—it must be dipped into a wet hole every few days in order to keep him sated.

“Depends on what?” Logan tries for another broad grin, but it wavers as his blue eyes lower to the bloody dagger. He gulps before quickly smoothing over his expression.

“Depends on what you are.”

Silence descends as all five of us stare at Logan with varying expressions of distrust and suspicion. Abel seems more curious than anything, an easygoing grin plastered on his face. Cain appears murderous, though that could be his standard expression. Some people have resting bitch face, while others, like Cain, have resting “I want to murder you in your sleep” faces. Rion is still staring at his hands on the table, his face shadowed, while Damien regards Logan with cool indifference. That’s a lie, though. I know my assassin well enough to detect the barely veiled chaos lurking just beneath the surface, waiting for a chance to be set free.

“What am I?” Logan tilts his head to the side, though his apathetic front does very little to hide his growing panic. “I’m just a man. A man without a plan. A man who wishes to stand?—”

“Is this a joke to you?” Cain cuts in, his tone dangerous. Tiny fissures of lava erupt on his skin as his demon comes out to play. Only Abel’s hand on his shoulder prohibits him from launching across the table and wrapping his hands around Logan’s throat.

Logan’s tongue darts out to wet his lips. His discomfort shouldn’t amuse me as much as it does, but I can’t deny that I receive immense pleasure from watching him squirm. I half wonder if I should just kill him now and rid us of his presence once and for all. But alas, I have a woman to think about now, and she doesn’t take very fondly to murder, especially the premediated kind. Shame.

I sigh heavily as my eyes lower to the ring on my finger. I can feel my lips begin to quirk into the beginnings of a smile, though I quickly blank my face.

Soon, my beloved. Soon, you’ll be my wife.

The thought makes me fucking giddy, like cannons of confetti and glitter are being detonated in my stomach. It’s sickening and horrifying, and I fucking love it.

Logan seems to be hesitating, his eyes flickering from face to face, before Abel says, “You know we’ll be able to tell if you’re lying.” He leans across the table to boop the other man’s nose. “We’re very, very good at what we do.” And then, just because he’s an asshole, he gives Logan’s nose a sharp twist, and the other man releases a pained hiss. “Whoops.” Abel reclines back in his chair, still maintaining that bright smile. “My hand slipped.”

“Didn’t you say that last night when you fingered Nina?” Cain whispers, too low for our unwanted prisoner to hear.

“It was an accident,” Abel counters, aghast. He places a hand to his chest in mock horror. “One second, we’re in bed. And the next, my fingers are beneath her panties. It could’ve happened to any of us.”

Great.

Now I’m interrogating the prisoner with a boner. He’s going to think I’m like Damien, who gets off on pain and torture.

“I’m a…” Logan trails off, forcing me to tune the twins out.

“Yes?”

Logan seems to decide something, and I watch all of the tension drain from his shoulders. He reclines even farther back in his seat, uncrossing his arms so they’re draped lazily over the armrests. “I’m a cupid.”

We all blink at him, at a loss for words.

“You’re a what now? You’re stupid?” Abel squints at him.

“Impossible,” Damien says with a huff. “Cupids are extinct.”

“Actually, they’re not.” Logan gestures vaguely down his body with a salacious eye waggle. “And I’m proof of that, big boy.”

Damien’s eye twitches. “I will stab you and eat your innards for breakfast,” he deadpans.

Logan shrugs casually. “Figured my mojo wouldn’t work on you. It never does.” The last statement is said almost bitterly, and instantly, my curiosity is piqued.

“You tried to use your powers on us?” I demand…though I still have no idea what powers he even has. Hell, I don’t even know what a cupid is. All I can think about are babies in diapers with bows and heart-shaped arrows.

“It didn’t work,” Logan murmurs, not at all affected by my ire. “The mate bond is too strong between you guys and Nina.”

Is that…?

Is that jealousy I detect in his voice?

“Mate bond?” Cain’s voice has turned quiet, almost somber, but his eyes are glimmering with something akin to hope. “Wh-What do you mean?”

Logan rolls his eyes, seemingly more comfortable now that we haven’t made a move to kill him. “That’s part of my cupid power. I can sense mate bonds between species. And the bond between all six of you and Nina? It’s stronger than I’ve ever seen before.”

Cain and Abel have gone rigid, their eyes wide and their mouths agape. Damien is also deadly still, only his eyes moving to pierce Logan with an unreadable look.

So it’s true, then—Nina is able to have mates of her own. Which means that Cain, Abel, and Damien are also her mates, along with Bronson, Rion, and me. I try to bite down on the smile that wants to escape, but fuck, I’m happy for them. I honestly didn’t think I would be, mainly because the thought of sharing Nina made me want to vomit at first, but there’s a lightness in my chest that wasn’t there prior. They needed to hear this, needed to know that they’re just as loved and important to her as we are.

Cain reaches for his brother’s hand and clasps it tightly, both of their eyes sparkling with endless emotion.

“So what else can you do?” I ask, clearing my throat to redirect Logan’s attention to me. He’d been staring at the twins with an almost curious expression, his head canted to the side to display the tattoos on his neck.

“Well,” Logan smirks once more, “I’m also capable of traveling inside of people’s heads. Creating illusions. Reading their desires. It’s not that different from what your girl can do.”

“And why is that?” Damien finally seems to have pulled his head out of wherever it was. Probably up his ass, alongside the twins’.

Logan shrugs with a wry twist to his lips. “Probably because a cupid is a nearly extinct branch of angels, but our powers are considered more demonic in nature. And at the same time, we spend the majority of our lives in the human realm.”

His words make sense, but…

Icy fear skates down my spine. “How do you know the truth about Nina?” I demand. All eyes turn to stare at me.

“What?” Logan’s brows furrow.

“I hear what you’re implying. Don’t try to deny it, runt.” I sneer at him, my anger rippling across my body. “How do you know the truth about Nina’s lineage?”

“Oh, that she’s part demon, angel, and human?” Logan questions casually…not at all like he just dropped a bomb the size of Kansas in our laps. We’ve been so diligent in keeping the truth about Nina a secret. How did he discover it? How the fuck did he— “Calm down, dragon breath.” He rolls his blue eyes and straightens in his seat. “I can sense the power in her. It’s another gift us cupids have—being able to tell what species a person is. I mean, hello. We’re the ideal matchmaker. Our entire job depends on creating couples that can procreate. We usually need the couple to be the same species for that, but not always.”

Once more, Damien has turned rigid, even more rigid than when he discovered the truth about his mate status with Nina. “Procreate? What do you mean?”

“It means that my magic encourages little babies to be born,” Logan replies dryly. “Among other things.”

“Among other things,” Abel mutters with a grunt.

Logan gives him a narrowed-eye look.

“My powers are similar to Nina’s,” he reiterates, “and as such, I’d be willing to train her myself. For a price, of course.”

“What makes you think we’ll ever work with you?” I growl out, though I can’t deny that the idea holds merit. I want nothing more than for Nina to be able to understand and control her powers. To protect herself. And though Damien is a patient teacher, he doesn’t understand everything Nina can do. Fuck, none of us do. But if Logan can teach her…

“Because you want the best for your mate,” he retorts immediately. “And all I want is protection.”

“Protection,” Cain repeats, shoving a hand through his blond waves. “In exchange for helping Nina with her powers?”

“Correcto!” Logan throws his hands up into the air like his favorite team just scored a touchdown. “Score one for the sexy demon.”

Cain scowls. “Fuck you.”

“Ohh. You offering?”

“If we agree to do this,” I interrupt, knowing a fight will break out at any moment, “then you’ll be under our protection. The prison will know that any harm that comes to you will be retaliated tenfold. But that also means if you betray us?—”

“Then death, pain, and an eternity of torture will befall upon me, blah bah blah.” He waves a hand in the air dismissively, but I’m not done. I’m determined to drill this point home so he knows the consequences of his actions.

“And if you hurt Nina?—”

“I won’t.” Some of the carelessness dissipates from his eyes as he levels me with a dark glare. “I’ll train her to the best of my ability and protect her, just like I did when the siren attacked. You have my word.” The sincerity in his voice is impossible to deny, though another sliver of unease skitters down my spine. I can’t quite put my finger on why. “Besides,” Logan reclines once more, “I can guarantee you that I’ll never actually be alone with the queen. One of you assholes will always be around to supervise.”

“Damn right.” Abel lifts a hand for a high-five from Cain, but the sex demon simply rolls his eyes. Instead of being discouraged, Abel places his palm against Cain’s forehead and whacks him.

“Fucking hell, Abel,” Cain gripes, rubbing his head and glaring daggers with his eyes at his twin.

“My hand slipped,” Abel replies unrepentantly.

“Your hand can slip with me anytime,” Logan responds coyly, and all five of us glare at him.

“And that’s another thing.” I make a face. “Stop with the fucking flirting, man.”

“Can’t really help it.” Logan shrugs. “I’m a cupid. Flirting and love are all I’m good for. But rest assured,” he swivels to meet each of our eyes, “I’m not into any of you.”

His tone implies that there is someone he’s into, and I have a horrible feeling that I know who she is.

Fuck.

I’m gonna have to keep a close eye on the bastard.

“Okay.” I squeeze my eyelids shut and take a deep breath. “That’s all I wanted to discuss today. You guys can go—” Rion is off his chair and out the door before I can even finish. “—but Logan?” I turn towards the cupid, allowing him to see my distrust. “You’re on thin fucking ice. If I catch even a whiff of deceit?—”

“You’ll tie me up like a bad boy,” Logan finishes, winking. “I get it. But trust me, the last thing I’ll ever want is to hurt Nina. She’s the only one here who has been remotely kind to me.” His expression turns wistful, almost dreamy, and I stalk forward before I can stop myself.

“And that’s another thing.” I lower my voice to a hushed murmur. “She’s not yours. She’ll never be yours. Get that out of your head, runt.”

The dopey expression vanishes as quickly as it appears, replaced by something cold and cruel.

“Trust me.” His eyes narrow into unforgiving slits. “I hear the message loud and clear.”

Without another word, he turns on his heel and storms out of the room, leaving me alone with the twins and Damien. Before the latter can leave, I lift a hand in the air.

“Damien? A second?”

The twins exchange a loaded glance but hurry out of the room. Damien, with heavy reluctance, stalks forward, his expression drier than the desert. He begins to flip his blade between his fingers as his icy blue eyes fix on me.

“Yes?”

“You’ve been acting weird.” There’s no point beating around the fucking bush. “I noticed it. The others noticed it. Nina sure as fuck noticed it.” He blanches, a reaction that would’ve been imperceptible if I didn’t know the sadistic fucker as well as I do.

“I’m handling it,” he responds curtly, turning to walk away. My words stop him cold.

“If you’re having second thoughts about her?—”

My back is against the wall with a blade at my throat before I can catch my breath. For the first time in forever, Damien’s gaze isn’t hewn from ice. It’s pure fire, sparking with all of the madness he contains inside of himself.

“Never say that again,” he says in a low, deadly voice. “Never question my love for my mate.”

“Dam,” I growl sharply, reminding him that I’m the alpha of this pack. I’m the leader.

Though if there’s anyone who wouldn’t give a damn, it would be Damien.

“I told you,” Damien continues, “I’m handling it.” He shoves me away from him, his breathing erratic and his shoulders heaving. “Now get the fuck out of my sight before I gut you.”

I bare my teeth at the challenge in his voice, my dragon demanding that I put him in his place. But I know that fighting Damien is the last thing any of us need. He’s not naturally disrespectful to my authority. Whatever is weighing on him must be beginning to take its toll. For now, I need to give him space, allow him to gather his own thoughts.

And then I’ll kick his ass.

I watch the mage storm out of the room, his power crackling around him, and wonder once more what could’ve happened to have brought this meticulous, apathetic man to ruin.