Page 91 of Harmless
Fuck. How to explain the visions I had of them and that I had been talking to…some entity? An entity that wanted to recruit me, by the sounds of it?
I blew out a breath and tried to shift to a more comfortable position, thinking of how to explain myself without making them panic.
“The cult worships a goddess, right?” was the best my exhausted, blood-deprived brain could spit out.
“Yeah, they call it the Dark Mother,” Santos confirmed.
“Well, I think their belief has become so potent that it’s…real. As real as Astarte or Tezca. And it talked to me.”
The two of them immediately stiffened. Torr cursed and brought his face close to mine. “What did it say?”
I shook my head. “A bunch of bullshit. It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that these guys were right, and we have to listen to them.” I nodded at Tezca, who was ambling over toward us. His coat had a glossy sheen in the bright sunlight, the spot pattern appearing and disappearing with his graceful movements. Astarte was hitching a ride, perched on the big cat’s shoulder blades.
“Right about what?” Santos scratched under his jaguar’s chin, and Tezca emitted a low rumbling purr.
“This whole fight started with humans, but it has the potential to get out of hand quickly,” I remarked. “Especially now that they have a god on their side.”
* * *
An eternity later,we finally made it to the safe houses. It was nightfall by the following day, and everyone was practically falling off their bikes by the time we arrived. I’d have to hold church and talk to everyone at some point, but that could wait until I’d slept for a solid day or two.
Santos and Torr had both fallen into bed with me, and I was too exhausted to even celebrate that fact. When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was that my leg no longer hurt, except for some twinging soreness.
The second thing I noticed was that I wasn’t boxed in by two bodies, but three.
My foot hit something warm and furry at the foot of the bed as I turned over, and then I yelped as something hot and scratchy slid over my ankle.
“Jesus fucking Christ, Tezca,” I gasped, bringing my hand to my chest as I sat up. “Warn a girl before you start licking her feet.”
The jaguar just stared at me through half-lidded yellow eyes, then stretched out long across the bottom of the bed, paws and tail dangling off the edges.
All the commotion had roused my guys and they both stirred, turning in towards me as if their first instinct, even half asleep, was to protect me.
Since I was sitting up, the two of them nuzzled up to my waist. Torr threw an arm over my knees and Santos rested his head on my thigh.
“How you feelin’?” Santos asked sleepily, his eyes still closed as he stroked down the side of my leg.
“Better.” I reached down and dragged my hands over both of their heads, enjoying the two different textures—Santos’ buzzed scalp and Torr’s longer strands. “Good as new, almost.”
“Thank fuck.” Torr planted a kiss on my hip and hugged around my legs tighter.
“And I’ve decided I want Hudson gone,” I announced.
That got both of them stiffening and then sitting up.
“Can I shoot him first?” Torr rubbed sleep out of his eyes and then stretched. “An eye for an eye and all that shit.”
“You want him gone…where?” Santos asked at the same time.
“I don’t know yet. But I don’t want him near me, and especially not near other women like Val and Paige. Actually, I’m not too worried about Val, but I don’t want him in the same territory as Paige.”
“He’s…not well.” Santos rubbed his face and looked tired enough to fall back asleep. “Not just in the head, that much is obvious. But physically, he’s not doing great either. I haven’t talked to him, but Dev says he looks malnourished.”
“So when the doctor comes out to look at my leg, he’ll be examined too.” I sat up straighter. “Did anyone else get injured?”
“No.” Torr shook his head. “Those sentries had big guns but obviously weren’t trained on how to use them. You were the only one who got shot.”
“Lucky me,” I said drolly, and leaned back against the headboard. “Obviously, we need to ensure it’s a male doctor we get out here.”
