Page 53 of Liberty

“She’s very knowledgeable on this world,” I backed Oak on this. If anyone knew something, it would be her, or she would know where to direct us.

“Did you used to have relations with her, too?” she asked.

“No.” I tilted my head and looked at her. “Are you jealous?”

“Why would I be?” Her tone told us all we needed to know.

Oak and I both pulled out a chair. He draped his arm behind her back. “You’ve got nothing to worry about, mo chuisle. We go back many years, and a good portion of them has been a solo relationship.”

She crossed her arms. “If I recall, there was some mention of a mutual benefit arrangement.”

Oak only shrugged, neither denying nor confirming her suspicions. Instead, he elaborated on our thoughts regarding bringing her in, “We trust her. Plus, she has a lot of ancient knowledge, and she’s a witch. We are working against one of those unless you forgot.”

I pulled a book forward, and Oak did the same. Each of us continuing where we had left off. I glanced at her, almost pouting, and it was fucking adorable. “We are getting nowhere with these books, Liberty.”

She grumbled and crossed her arms. “But does it have to be her?”

“She’s nice.” I offered, and Oak agreed.

“I know I don’t have any ownership of any of you.” Ha. That’s where she was wrong. She one hundred percent owned all three of us, and none of us actually could figure out why. “But I also don’t want to have to share you.”

“That’s called jealousy, sweetheart,” Sterling chimed in, earning a glare.

She pointed at him. “No more special favors for you.”

Um, I was curious what sort of special favors she was handing out and how the hell did I get on the recipient list. I scooted closer to her, wanting to be near and earn her favor now that Sterling dropped out of the race. She glanced at me and gave a tiny smile before she turned back to Sterling. “Besides, even if it was jealousy, and I’m not confirming it is, I’ve never felt this before. I need you close.”

“No one would leave you. Hell, we are about ready to lock you in the basement for an extra protective measure. We were just going to have her come here.”

“To my house?”

“Technically, you have another day before you fully own this place,” Sterling chimed in.

Her eyes shot him warnings. “Damn it, Sterling, if you weren’t so hot and didn’t have an excellent –” I cleared my throat, not wanting her to continue along that line of thought. I didn’t care what about him she thought was excellent; I didn’t want to hear it. “I would have ditched you already.”

She finished her threat lamely, with hardly any force behind it. Oak turned the page of the book and chimed in, “We don’t want you to leave.”

“I just –” She paused, staring at Oak’s finger as it welded blood from a paper cut he just received. “I –” she began again, but her train of thought was lost, her attention fixed on Oak.

“Shit,” Oak, Sterling, and I mumbled under our breath because we knew. We knew without a fucking doubt what we had suspected was true, but no one wanted to voice it.

She reached for his hand, and he pulled it out of reach, his voice a mix of warning and arousal, “Liberty.”

Her eyes flitted to his for a second, then back to the blood that was running down his hand. “Oak. I need it.”

“No. You don’t.” Oak tried to convince her, but it was useless; we all knew she did.

Her eyes welled with tears, honest to god real fucking tears before they streamed down her cheeks. “Please.”

Her begging was so pitiful; it was nearly impossible to resist. But Oak was a stronger man than I was, so despite the near impossibility, he tried anyway. “Liberty, you’re human, you don’t need blood.”

Technically, this was a fact, but with each moment that went by, I suspected that it was less accurate than we initially thought. “I don’t need blood, just –” She licked her lips. “Just your blood.”

“My blood will do nothing for you, Liberty. The composition is altered. If you did, in fact, need blood, which I don’t believe you do,” Oh, he totally believes it, “you would need human blood.”

“No,” The words sounded so broken. “Please, Oak. Just a little taste. All I need is just a little taste.”

“I’ll get her some blood then,” Sterling volunteered before he got up and walked to the fridge. After removing a bag, part of a drop off we received this morning, he heated it in the microwave before pouring it into a mug.