“So, you’re going to be out of my hair soon?” Matthias asked, leaning against the door.
He’d mainly stayed out of our way while we were here. It would have been suspicious if he was suddenly spending a ton of time in a room that should be empty. Oswald, Nolan, and Emmett were on the opposite side of the room; listening, but not involved in this conversation.
“We’ll be done sleeping on your couches, one way or another,” I confirmed. “I appreciate you letting us stay here, even though it was a risk.”
My former boss snorted, shaking his head. “This is the first time in the years I’ve known you that you’ve ever asked for help. I’ve been trying to offer it to you for fucking ever. Of course I let you stay.”
“I like doing things by myself,” I said.
Instinct said to go on the defensive, but my brand new rational side said I deserved to be called out for that.
“It’s a good thing you’re not by yourself anymore, because it was slowly killing you. You know how many times one of the employees asked if you had some kind of terminal illness? I wasn’t the only one who noticed your situation.”
I’d been intentionally ignoring how horrible I’d looked in the past year or so, but in the aftermath of getting a mating mark I’d realized just how bad it was. The improvement in my physical health had been so steep I occasionally looked in the mirror and saw a different person.
“Thank you.” I ran a hand through my hair, tugging at the straight silver strands. “You fielded those questions for me and no one else ever caught on to what was really happening.”
“You’ve also never thanked me before, so I should thank your mates for instilling some gods damned gratitude in you.”
“Hey!” I protested, smacking his arm. “I’ve said the words.”
“Never meant them. They were always a brush off so I would stop bothering you.”
I couldn’t deny that. “Whatever. Thank you for this, and when I’m less of a wanted criminal I’ll come and visit you again. I hope by then you’ll have Gemma marked, claimed, and in your bed.”
Mattie was going to object to my assumption, but I didn’t give him a chance. Reaching beyond him I opened the door and gestured out into the empty hallway. The club crowd was arriving, so he would be needed soon, and we needed to go to Zemterra. By now, Grey would have given up on us arriving where we said we would.
If I’d done my job right, that meant we were minutes away from having a conveniently unlocked door into the well-guarded mansion.
Muttering under his breath, he tugged me under his arm in a hug. I stiffened and there was a growl from across the room, though I was unsure which one of my mates made the sound. Mattie laughed. “Still not a hugger? Fine. Don’t die. It would be a damn shame if you did while looking like you’re finally not on death’s door anymore.”
“No plans to die,” I said, ducking out of his hug.
“I’m holding you to it.”
He turned on his heel and strode across the hall to his office, where Thereon was likely waiting for him. All the Omega did was hang around Mattie’s club and fuck him in his office, the definition of a trophy husband.
I closed the door with a soft click and walked back across the room to my mates. Tension radiated from all of them, but I’d expected Emmett’s to be the worst. My assumption was incorrect. Nolan was the worst, stretched taut with his jaw clenched. I hated to see him not smiling or smirking.
“Ready to go?”
They nodded.
I drew the runes for the portal, expending energy I couldn’t afford to lose. My head still ached from the mind magic, and the short nap I’d caught hadn’t been enough to replenish everything I’d used up.
When Nolan tried to go through the completed portal first, I caught his arm. Emmett and Oswald took the hint, quickly slipping through. “You’re wasting magic,” Nolan said, avoiding eye contact with me.
“Why are you panicking over this?”
“We need to go through the portal, so you don’t drain yourself more.”
“Tell me what’s in your head. I’m not going to let you go into this without knowing, and if I have to blackmail you for information I will. You are my mate. Neither of us is going through that portal until you talk.”
He raised his eyes to mine, surprised by my vehemence. I wasn’t sure why. Being a stubborn bitch was kind of my calling card. “Fine,” he said. “I’m nervous about this. Last time we tried to kill Kylan, we almost died and two of your mates were taken. That was my plan. This is more collaborative, but I set up plenty of it. What happens if we lose them?”
I pinpointed the emotion underlying his nervousness.
Guilt.
