Page 120 of Demons In My Head: Exposing the Exiled
"I love you," I told them, pushing the emotion through our bonds so they could feel the depth of my meaning. "All of you. My demons. My mates."
They responded not with words but with feelings—waves of devotion and possession and pride washing over me through our connections. I basked in it, finally whole, finally home.
The power that had brought us together settled into a steady hum, a constant reminder of our bond. I knew there would be challenges ahead; there always were in our world. But now we would face them together, bound by something stronger than blood or magic.
We were family. We were mates. We were one.
And gods help anyone who tries to come between us.
Epilogue
Palmer
Ikicked my feet up on Felix's desk, ignoring his annoyed huff as I scrolled through the latest security reports on my phone, spinning one of my bunny blades in my other hand. Port Black was running smoothly, our territory expanding after taking over what used to be Scorpion turf. My mates had been hesitant at first to let me take such an active role in gang operations, but I'd quickly proven myself invaluable. That and the fact that the gang members themselves threatened to mutiny if they didn’t agree to let me participate.
That was my favorite part. I knew they would’ve given in eventually, but seeing the looks on their faces, especially Rhodes’ and Ash’s, when Rooster straight up ignored their orders and instead looked to me for confirmation. Priceless.
"Get your boots off my desk," Felix grumbled, but I could feel his amusement through our bond.
"Make me," I challenged, not looking up from my phone. A chill brushed against my neck, which was Jasper's way of warning me that Felix was about to pounce.
I rolled out of the chair just as Felix lunged, laughing as he crashed into his own desk. "Thanks for the heads up, Jasper."
Jasper stepped beside me, solid and real now thanks to our resurrection mating ritual. His auburn hair fell in his green eyes as he smirked. "Always happy to help thwart my brother's plans."
"Traitor," Felix muttered, but there was no heat in it. We'd all grown closer since the bonding, our emotions and thoughts intertwined in ways I was still getting used to.
My phone buzzed with an alert from one of our street crews. "Heads up—possible Scorpion activity in the warehouse district."
Felix's playful demeanor vanished, and Snake rushed into the room, hopping up onto the desk, nosey as ever. "Details?"
"Some of their old enforcers were spotted meeting with new faces. Could be recruiting." I pulled up the surveillance photos our people had managed to snap.
Jasper peered over my shoulder, his presence solid and warm against my back. "They're getting desperate. Eight weeks without leadership has fractured them."
"Good," I said coldly. After what Scorpio had done, I had zero sympathy for any of his remaining followers.
The mate bond hummed with protective energy as my demons sensed my darkening mood. Misha appeared in the doorway, drawn by our emotions. "What's wrong?"
"Scorpions are scurrying," Felix explained out loud and through the link, moving to the wall of monitors that tracked activity across our territory.
I felt Talon and Ash tune into our mental connection, their attention shifting from whatever they'd been doing. Rhodes wasalready on his way down from his office upstairs. Now that we’d all bonded, we were all able to communicate telepathically. It was awesome, although there had been some learning curves to it.
Like the mortifying night when Rhodes, thinking he was only communicating with Jasper, sent a detailed, explicit play-by-play of exactly what he wanted to do to me later. I'd been in a meeting with our street captains when the images flooded my mind, making me choke on my water so badly that Felix had to pound on my back. The knowing smirks from my other mates told me they'd received the same mental pictures.
The worst had been three days after the bonding, when I'd been soaking in the bath and idly thinking about each of my mates, comparing... certain attributes. I hadn't realized I was broadcasting until Talon burst into hysterical laughter somewhere in the house, followed by several male voices shouting various versions of "I knew it!" and "Told you so!" I’d simply slid beneath the hot bath water and contemplated just remaining there. Forever. But I couldn’t help but laugh about it now.
Ash had since instituted what he called "mental manners training," which basically involved Rhodes lecturing everyone on maintaining proper psychic boundaries. Talon, of course, deliberately violated these at every opportunity, usually by sending random animal noises or snippets of annoying songs at three in the morning.
‘We should hit them now, while they're weak,’Talon suggested through the bond.
‘Agreed,’Ash chimed in.‘Better to crush them completely than let them rebuild.’
I pushed away from Felix's desk, already planning. “I'll take a team to scout the warehouse district. If they're really recruiting—”
‘No.’Six voices rang out simultaneously, both aloud and in my head.
I winced, rubbing my temple.‘Indoor voices in the mental link, please. We talked about this.’
