Chapter 17

Moonlight beamed through puffy clouds, illuminating the ground with a silver glow. I rubbed my cheek against Tanner’s sweater, embracing the soft pets on the back of my head. Elliot sprawled on his back, one of his legs bent, the other stretched out. He clasped my gloved hand, and his warm fingertip caressed the side of my thumb.

The foggy sadness that had been coating my skin since I’d decided to find a way to break our mating bonds lifted. Because it wasn’t possible. Once again, fate had intervened and this time, I was glad for it. Relieved, if I was being honest.

I was so damn tired of being miserable; I wanted to hold onto the few tendrils of happiness within my grasp.

“I anonymously called the UB about the clean-up at Cynthia’s,” Beckett murmured. He and Enzo had been speaking in low voices. I’d been mentally floating and only half listening.

“Getting those fuckers involved worked like shit last time.” Enzo’s lip curled. “You should have let it rest.”

“Hiding our existence from humans is still a thing, you know. It doesn’t just go away because you’re no longer under someone’s thumb,” Tanner added.

Enzo grunted in response.

I wiggled my toes, trying to wake my limbs. If the UB came in for a clean-up, we needed to be far away from here, so we didn’t get dragged off for questioning. As new as the Unnatural authorities were, they were still an authority we didn’t want to get tangled up with since we’d killed Weber and her entourage.

Pushing off Tanner, I sat upright and pressed my forearm to my breasts. Beckett reached for the hem of his shirt and tugged it over his head in a smooth swipe. His abs flexed as he approached. Marveling at his physique should be a daily thing—and now I could do it whenever I wanted.

“What’s with the sappy grin?” Elliot asked, his tone sour.

I sucked my lips inside my mouth as Beckett crouched before me. Pleasure glinted within the blue depths and swirled with affection.

“Don’t let it go to your head,” I mumbled.

Beckett chuckled at my scowl and pulled the shirt over my head. “Oh, I’m letting it go to my head.”

I huffed and hair fluttered near my cheek. Smug bastard. A lightheartedness I’d not seen since we were kids surrounded him. My heart squeezed. So much had been taken from all of us.

Renewed determination rushed through me, and I wiggled my arms through the sleeves; the shirt fell down and pooled at my waist.

Climbing to my feet, I faced them. “I’m going after Osmodus.”

Silence.

Tanner paused in the middle of brushing off grass clinging to his trousers. An owl hooted from afar, and my gaze bounced off each of my mates. Okay, not gonna lie, I expected more of a reaction. “Nothing to say?”

“We’ve learned we can’t stop you, Maya,” Tanner said, swiping the last of the dirt from his pants. “All we can do is help you take him down.”

I stilled. “No.”

An immediate smirk graced Enzo’s lips, like he dared me to smack it off. I narrowed my eyes at him.

“What is it you Americans say? How the turn tables.” Elliot crossed his arms, biceps flexing with the movement.

“How the turn tables.” Beckett chuckled. “It’s ‘how the tables have turned,’ you French whore.”

“Imbeciles.” Tanner rubbed the bridge of his nose, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Now you understand our frustration with trying to keep you safe, yes, Maya?” Elliot continued, waving his hand in the air like he was batting away their words. “We say no, and you still do it.”

“Not the time,” I huffed before Tanner launched into a lecture. “You saw how Osmodus went through all of us?—”

“And you want your mates to let you fight him alone?”

Damn Tanner for making valid points. “That’s exactly what I want.” I tilted my chin up. Arguing was useless. Maybe I could find a way to lock them up somewhere. Matching expressions of determination settled over them. I worried my lip between my teeth. Shit, as much as I wanted to deny it, us working together gave us the best shot at survival. “I don’t want you guys to get hurt,” I said, my voice cracking.

Moisture sheened my vision, and I dropped my eyes to hide them. Grass crunched as their simultaneous steps approached.

“If you hug me, I’ll cry,” I threatened, putting up my palms to ward them off.

“We’re coming with you.” Enzo crossed his arms, standing a few feet closer.

“Even if that means death,” Beckett added.

“Are you guys finishing each other’s sentences again?” I muttered.

Enzo scowled and slammed his elbow into Beckett’s side who snarled at him.

Now that I had full senses, I needed to set something straight with them. I paced from one end to the other. Their gazes followed me.

“Fine, but this means things need to change.” I rounded back to my original spot. “Enough with you guys planning shit behind my back.”

“You’re one to talk.” Beckett’s quiet comment dragged my glare to him.

“When we fight Osmodus, he can’t get a hold of you guys.” I pressed my pointer fingers into my temples.

“Our bonds have a perk,” Tanner interjected. “We can’t die, Maya. At least not if you’re alive.”

I blinked.

“Beckett was dead.”

Dread balled my stomach and dropped it to hell. They never told me?—

“But your bond with him kept him tethered.”

My mind raced as I made sense of Tanner’s words.

“Why didn’t you clarify that earlier?” I croaked. The look in his eyes. The lifelessness—I had killed him.

“You haven’t been in the best mindset, Maya. You’ve also avoided serious conversations,” Tanner added gently.

“Oh . . .” Osmodus said I couldn’t die, that only one of our kind could kill us, which meant that only Osmodus could kill me and vice versa. In that case . . .

If we managed to get rid of him, we were as close to immortal as it came. Even my mates.

Bad. Ass.

“We need to go, now,” Beckett announced and by his tilted head, I assumed he could hear something. I focused but had no success.

Tanner’s palm pressed into my spine to corral me toward the car. They fell into place around me, guarding me. I scowled but didn’t put up a fight.

Did a small part of me like being at the center? Most certainly, but the other, instinctual part of me craved protecting what was mine.

We returned to the car within a minute. Keys flew at Tanner and smacked him on the chest, but he managed to catch them.

“You take over the driving, I want to rest.” Enzo squeezed between us. Tanner shot him a baleful look. “What? You want me driving around naked?” Speaking of nudity . . .

“Be careful,” I exclaimed and tugged him more toward me, forcing Enzo to move away from Tanner.

“He can’t permanently kill us anymore.”

Right. Even if Tanner’s deadly touch did them in, their bonds to me kept them alive.

They were my mates, but again I couldn’t help but wonder . . . was it just because of a stupid magical backlash? Did that diminish what we were to each other?

I looked at my toes wiggling in the grass.

“What is it?” Tanner murmured, the keys jingling in his hand.

Keeping my mouth shut would lead us nowhere. “Am I really meant for you four or is this just a twisted side effect?” The words came out in a rapid stream. “I mean, you’re all my mates but only because of what they did. If that had never happened?—”

Tanner cupped the back of my head and pressed his lips to my temple shutting me up. “Whichever it is, I am so fucking grateful for it.”

Elliot plucked the car keys from Tanner’s fingertips. “Agreed and I’ll drive,” he chimed in and retreated to the driver’s side. The lean muscles in his back rippled with his glide around the car.

“That’s coming from you, Mr. Philosophy? What happened to debating the meaning of life?” I muttered.

Tanner chuckled. “Being with you taught me that not everything has to have an explanation. I’m just grateful for whatever caused it.”

“What if you guys get sick of me—stop laughing,” I snapped. The corner of Tanner’s lips twitched, and I yanked away from him.

“Stop talking nonsense, pretty girl,” Enzo said moodily.

I huffed and slid onto the middle seat while Beckett settled in the back and Tanner in the passenger seat.

Enzo lolled against me, taking up two seats with his sprawl. His weight pressed into my side until I was flush against the car door. His head rested on my shoulder, and his hand wrapped around my thigh.

This new, relaxed side of Enzo did things to me. The change was slight, but still prevalent. His thumb caressed the inside of my leg.

“You’re going to crush her, asshole.”

“Shut it, mutt.”

I hiccupped a laugh and settled in for the drive. A balloon of happiness continued to grow in my chest. I’d sought out this wholeness encompassing me. After my arrival at Moretti Academy, never in a million years would I have thought I’d end up here.