Page 13 of Sin

“—and you all just barged in and hauled me to wherever the fuck this is. What is that if not kidnapping?”

“Nope, guess again, Red. We were charged with your care.”

“Really? That’s what we’re calling this?”

He just stared me down.

“Okay, fine. I’ll bite. By whom?”

“Lilith herself. God knows why she trusts us with you. Maybe she’s trying to weaken us. You clearly don’t understand boundaries.”

I took a step toward the hulk of a man but stopped when he stood to his considerable height. “She wouldn’t have me snatched out of my bed like this. Lilith would talk to me first, tell me what was going on.”

When I’d been sent to Blackwood, Lilith had kept me informed, sharing every pertinent detail with me so I could do what needed to be done. Why would she leave me in the dark like this? Had I made a misstep and become, exactly as they’d said, a liability? Our flight from Blackwood had been chaotic, to say the least. A war had broken out on the grounds, but before I could wrap my head around it, Lilith appeared in my room and told me it was time to go. Not one to question my benefactress, I grabbed the bags I’d kept packed and left without a second’s hesitation. After a brief reunion that mostly comprised her depositing me in my room with a hug and perfunctory kiss to my cheek, she’d assured me we’d talk later and left.

Sin shook his head, his voice helping to anchor me to the present. “Not if she needed plausible deniability. Or if she was in the middle of creating a distraction so we could leave with you with no one being the wiser.”

There was an unmistakable ring of truth to his words. And yet, there was also an uncomfortable niggling in my belly.

“But she only just got me back. Why bother bringing me toIniquityif she was never planning on letting me stay?”

“This was likely one of many contingency plans. You’re so much more important than you think you are. Now it’s up to us to keep you safe.”

The man in the shadows snorted but didn’t say anything.

“Have something to add, Malice?” Sin asked.

“You mean other than the laundry list of objections I’ve already raised? No.”

This guy was a real piece of work. Every time he spoke, my feathers got more and more ruffled. “Oh, I’m sorry. Is it inconvenient for you? Stealing me from my room and sneaking off into the night with me? Did I ruin all your big plans? Poor wittle baby. How hard your life must be.”

“Careful,” Sin warned as Malice pushed away from the wall and into the light.

I had to swallow a gasp at the sheer masculine beauty of him. Even with his face twisted in fury, he was stunning to look at.

“You have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about. None. I’d suggest you show some fucking respect before you learn the hard way who you’re dealing with.”

That should have shut me up, but I’d spent the last few months around men and women far scarier than him. “What are you gonna do? Spank me?”

“If he doesn’t, I will,” Sin interjected as Malice nearly burned a hole through me with his gaze.

“Take me back.” It was a demand, not a request.

“No,” Chaos said with such finality my throat tightened.

“We can’t,” Sin offered. “You’re ours now. Like it or not.”

Realizing I wasn’t going to get anywhere with these three, I cast my gaze around the room. “Where’s the other guy? The grumpy one. Maybe he will listen to reason.”

“Not bloody likely,” Malice muttered while Sin snickered.

“Clocked without even being in the room. Grim will love that.”

His name was Grim. How fitting.

“Wait, you said you’re keeping me safe? Safe from what? Myself? Because Lilith was doing that with no problems.”

The three of them glanced at each other in turn.

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