Page 21 of The Last Aether

“You’re going to wear a hole in that floor,” Kai chided as he sat up and pushed off the couch.

I jerked in his direction. “Lay down. You need to rest.”

He grinned at me. “I’ll lay down if you lay down.”

I scowled at him, but he just arched a brow. Sighing, I moved to the plush sofa. “Fine.”

Kai pulled me down onto the comfy sectional with him, shooting a look at Atlas. “You’d think I was asking to pull her fingernails out with a pair of pliers.”

Atlas looked up from his phone. “Laying with you might be the same thing.”

Kai kicked Atlas’s thigh. “Uncalled for.”

I snuggled down between Kai and the couch’s back. “What are you doing?”

Atlas had been intently focused on his phone since we’d made our way down here. “Ordering bulletproof glass for all the windows in the house and our vehicles.”

My eyes flared and I sat up. “Are you serious?”

His lips pressed together in a firm line. “Better safe than sorry.”

My heart clenched as visions of Kai’s blood pooling filled my mind.

Kai sat up, curling himself around me. “Just a precaution.”

I let his warmth seep into me as I stared at the entryway. “Shouldn’t they be back by now?”

Atlas lowered his phone. “They would’ve gotten in touch if there had been trouble.”

Unless they couldn’t. My stomach twisted. “When do I start combat classes?”

Atlas blinked at me a few times. “This week, I think. Why?”

“I’m so damn tired of not being able to defend myself to help protect all of you. I want to learn.”

Kai kneaded my neck and shoulders. “You’re new to all of this. It’s going to take a little time to learn.”

Time I didn’t have. “I’m ready to get started.”

Atlas frowned. “You will, but I don’t think the answer to all of this is to start combat classes in the living room three days after you were shot.”

My fingers dug into the couch cushions. “I hate feeling so useless.”

He leaned forward, his fingers tangling in my hair as he pulled me to him. Atlas’s mouth brushed against mine. He was warmth and safety. “I know. But we have to wait. There will be enough battles to fight tomorrow.”

I groaned, letting my head fall to his chest. What I wanted was all my guys under one roof with no one trying to kill us. And then I wanted to sleep for a week.

A knock sounded on the front door.

I was on my feet in a flash, running to the entryway. Atlas grabbed me around the waist and hauled me against him. “Wait until we know who’s there.”

Kai circled around us, sending me a scathing look. “Assassins, remember?”

“I don’t think assassins knock, Golden God.”

His lips twitched. “Who’s there? Friend or foe?”

“Uh, friend?” Kerry said through the thick wood.