Page 54 of Failed State

The poor dude is repressed as fuck because his sleuth leader is a stodgy dick when it comes to sex.

I blink as it strikes me that the gorgeously bulky bear next to me might be a virgin ineveryway, not just the dirty thoughts I’ve had in the past. That’s… well, appealing isn’t the right word, but the vision of my sweet pea and me initiating him together makes my entire body sing with excitement.

“Why do you look like someone just handed you a ‘get out of jail free’ card?” he says as he eyes me suspiciously.

“No reason.” I beam at him, shrugging as I take a sip of my whiskey. “I just enjoy your company, brother bear.”

“Huck,” Thad grinds out as he gets comfortable. “Come on, man.”

Touchy, touchy furry man.

“Fine.” I grin and take another sip before I continue. “We need to know more about the new guys. They’re definitely trying to worm their way in with our girl and the shit they’re sharing puts our lives at risk even more than the Games themselves do.”

Thad taps his fingers on his stomach, his expression turning thoughtful as he contemplates my words. “You’re probably right. I didn’t expect the vampire to unload that much truth ever, much less so soon.”

Pressing my lips together, I think about how much I want to share with him after the shit dropped this evening. The bear can handle more than Sydney, but most of the lesser supes have a limit. Sebastian’s information was alotto process for the beings who really didn’t pay much attention to global hierarchy and systems. Shifters aren’t known for doing so, which means Thad won’t have a damn clue about any of this shit. When I’m ready, I look over at him.

“I knewsomeof his shit—not all or even a lot. Demons, deities, Fae, and demis stay pretty dialed into global supe politics. Non-mythical shifters don’t and only the most connected of the magical humanoids do. So, yes, I knew a fraction of that, but the vamp shit? No clue, man.”

Thad frowns, groaning softly in a way that makes my cock twitch. “Syd is gonnamurderyou when she finds out. She’ll be pissed at all of us because you held back.”

“What good would it have done to tell you two what was going on before the sweeps. Before Taterman, and before I came to live in a camp? How would it have helped either of you?” I shake my head, scoffing softly. “It wouldn’t. There was nothing we could do about the bigger picture once we were imprisoned, and frankly, species groups can’t communicate between camps. And I didn’t know shit about the assumptions made about her father. He’s dead, so pissing on his memory wouldn’t do her any good.”

He nods slowly. “I suppose that’s true. Until the Games shit came about, we were living in this massive bubble where hurting her wouldn’t have done any good. Whether she was mad at the world in general or mad at them plus her dad wouldn’t change the situation. But now… Now, we have to be more honest because the secrets could get us fucking killed.”

“I know,” I say as I sip my drink again. “Which is why I’m here in the middle of the night chatting you up about how we’re going to keep our girl safe now that the others seem to be sniffing around her.”

His growl tells me exactly how his bear feels about that and I wing a curse to the depths before I broach the harder topic. I’m going to have to talk to Thad about what he and I feel, what we believe, and what might be the truth in the future. If he’s having trouble while we’re alone, he’s going to need to get hisshit together. I know what I’m afraid of, and what I believe to be possible. He needs to know it, too.

“Thaddy, I know this is gonna make you madder’n a wet hen, but we gotta beard the lion.”

“That’s a lot of metaphors, Huck. What the fuck are you talking about?”

Swallowing hard, I blow out a long breath then continue. “Thad, I know you think Syd might be your mate and fuck knows, I didn’t think I’deverhave one, but the minute I met her, I did, too.”

Thad sits up straight, his eyes flashing with the gold of his bear, and he grips the comforter with his big fists. “Shut your mouth, Huckleberry Monroe.”

I chuckle, giving him a sympathetic smile. “Thad, she doesn’t know, but I’m far too fucking old to pretend with you. I can tell when someone is pining, and even more, I can see it written on your face now. We have to be honest, remember?”

“Fine.”

That’s all I’m getting, I suppose, but he’s a stubborn son of a bitch sometimes. “Well, our fighting group is about as disparate as one could get. It’s full of strong, even royal, dudes and centered on a girl who we can’t verify the lineage or species of. Doesn’t thatsoundlike something only destiny or Fates or some shit could plan for? I mean, it’s like a goddamn plot line on a TV show or in a book.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

Ignoring his pout, I go on. “Which means that it stands to reason that the others are here for a reason, too.”

His eyes widen and he snarls, “No fucking way. The vampire? The playboy mage? Asea dragon royal?”

I shrug, looking at the bottom of my glass as it gets closer. “If she’s even more special than we thought, she’d need fierce protectors around her. Her destiny might be to break the supesfree. There’s probably a reason why she hasn’t been able to access her powers, why she ended up in our camp, and why we were drawn to her immediately, man.”

“She’s going to fuckinghatethe idea that her life might have been planned by something out of her control.”

“Uh, I don’t know that we need to tell herthatjust yet. Maybe we just need to check these fuckers out before she gets closer to them?”

“Why does that matter if you think they could be fated?”

I forget sometimes how dense the shifters can be.

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