Queen of Death

Chapter 3

Solana

Hunter maintains physical contact with me all the way down the stairs and pulls me into his lap once we join everyone in the living room. All eyes are on me and I'm not sure if it's the bites and bruises or the way I'm sitting on Hunter or maybe just the fact that I'm here. I wouldn't blame them for thinking I'd take off.

Dean takes a seat next to Hunter and me and lifts my feet into his lap. Slowly and methodically he massages my legs from my knees down to my toes. He grins victoriously when he manages to extract a moan from me as his fingers work magic against my flesh. "Good morning, Sunshine. How are you feeling?"

"Better than yesterday," I answer honestly. Physically I was and am fine — Ace made sure of that. The blush that stains my skin tells Dean everything he needs to know about how I'm feeling.

Ace and Eli sit across from us, each in their own armchairs. Ace's eyes follow the movements of Dean's fingers as they continue to knead my muscles. Tate's lean frame leans against the wall behind Ace and Eli, his inky black hair hanging low enough to cover his icy blue eyes, regarding me just as studiously as Ace.

"We have a few things we need to address," Ace says with no preamble.

"Like why Sunshine looks like she got mauled by a bear?" Eli teases Ace but one sharp look from Ace has Eli swallowing his tongue and Hunter placing fresh kisses on each and every bruise and bite of mine.

"A wolf would be more accurate," I mutter cheekily, unable to prevent my body from responding to Ace's dilating eyes when he throws his focus to me. His lips lift with a ghost of a smile which he quickly smothers into a thin, flat line.

"With our other contracts closed out we only have two jobs to focus on, protecting Sol and finding Nightshade." Ace pauses to scan the room, lingering a fraction longer on me and Hunter. Any concern I had about staying with him and Hunter under the same roof vanishes when he sends me a quick wink and devastatingly handsome grin.

"Then we'll have to go back to the city, we can't hunt and hide," Dean says. His fingertips gently trace the tattoos and scars on my legs.

"Right now this is the only place where we can guarantee Sol's safety. It's still unclear who the poison was meant for — her or us. If it was us, then the city house isn't safe. If it was her, then nowhere is safe. Nowhere but here."

"She had to have been the target. No one knew we'd be staying in her room until they showed up at her door," Hunter posits.

"And now that they know, each of you will have a target on your back," my voice sounds small, even to me. I'm used to protecting people, finding them justice, revenge, or both. I've worked hard and built enough walls to make sure no one gets close enough to me to be used against me, to be a casualty in my enemy's efforts to hurt me.

I don't want that kind of blood on my hands. The blood of people who I care about, suffering for no reason other than because they're important to me.

Eli hums thoughtfully from his chair, "we can handle the heat. But it will make hunting Nightshade more difficult. Not impossible, but difficult."

"Maybe we don't have to hunt him," Dean says. "Tate named Hunter, isn't Nightshade honor bound to kill him? Maybe we can use this to our advantage, lure him here where we have the home field advantage."

"As appealing as it is to dangle myself as bait, he's already had his opportunity to take me out. Instead he left us love notes and flowers." Hunter scoffs, dismissing Nightshade as an illegitimate threat.

"Nightshade is smarter and more resourceful than that. For now, we're not going to pursue him." Ace says and it's not so much a suggestion as it is a command. While the other guys look around at each other in surprise, Ace looks directly at me with that same ghost of a smirk.