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I drew out a long-held breath. “I don’t want you to go.”
There, I said it out loud. I couldn’t bear the thought of not having them here with me.
Grim’s shoulders’ heaved. “We have to go… but no one can stop you from coming with us. If you want…”
Saint growled. “No. She has her life to live.”
“Wait, you’re suggesting that I go back to Wickford with you? It’s condemned. The city is tearing it down next week.” I hadn’t even thought about what would happen to them when that happens.
Saint gave Poe a look as he protested. “You’re such a good girl, little fox.”
“The best girl,” Grim added.
Poe leveled his gaze on me. “Once the house is destroyed, there will be no reason for us to stay. This is it, little fox. Our one last hurrah. I’m happy it was you…”
Fuck. This was crazy. I’ve spent less than twenty-four hours with them, and I was already growing attached. I let these monsters in my bed. In my house. In my life. I made that decision when I broke into Wickford. Despite my skepticism, a small part of me knew the superstition could be real.
Ever since I was a kid, strange things happened around me. I always had a sixth sense. Crows and black clouds seem to follow me everywhere I went. While my family has long since passed away from this life, my connection to them has remained. They come to me in dreams. A part of me wanted to awaken something last night.
I was tired of being alone…
“What if I was able to stop the city from tearing the house down, could you stay?” I finally understood everything that has led up to this moment.
“And how would you do that, Bailey?” Saint growled.
“I could buy it,” I replied.
The three of them exchanged a worried look. Grim rested a hand on my waist. The warmth from his fingers tingled my skin. “Can you?”
My heart was racing. I nodded. “When my parents died, they left me a pretty good chunk of money. I haven’t touched any of it. Was saving it for some reason. Now I know why. I could buy the house and have it restored. We could live there… together.”
Poe ran a hand through his dark hair. “You would do that for us? Why? We came in here and defiled you.”
I choked back a sob. They had no idea. “No. You liberated me. Set me free. Now that I’ve tasted it, I want more. I don’t want it to ever stop.”
Saint laced his fingers through mine. “You’re young, little fox. Your tastes will change. And when they do, you’ll wish you hadn’t kept us.”
I shook my head. “No. I will always be happy I kept you… But maybe, you’ll grow tired of me. Is that what’s holding you back? Will you grow bored of me?”
The three of them rushed forward at the same time, each placing a strong hand on me. Grim cupped my chin in his hands. “Never. In the hundred years we’ve been imprisoned, not a single person has seen us the way you have. You have given us so much more than flesh, little fox. Your warmth and care are more than we’ve ever known.”
My chest ached. “You said you were poisoned. What happened? I think I’ve earned the right to know.”
Poe motioned for me to take a seat on the couch. “We were tricked,” he murmured.
I tucked my legs underneath me, pulling my robe down around my knees. Goosebumps pebbled my flesh. “Who did that to you?”
Grim sat on the coffee table across from me. “We worked for Mrs. Wickford. She was a widow who lived there all by herself. I maintained the house while Saint oversaw the grounds and Poe cooked all her meals. She gave us room and board, and a small weekly salary.”
Saint sighed as he sank into the seat next to me. “She was a reclusive woman. No one ever visited, and she never left. She spent most of her time in the garden, humming to herself.”
“But after a while,” Poe interjected, “she took more of an interest in us, inviting us to eat dinner with her and joining her by the fire at night for drink and conversation. She was a lonely woman.”
“And she was very beautiful,” Grim added.
A slight twinge of jealousy panged me as I imagined my guys doting on this woman. It was silly, but my heart had started the process of claiming them. And I couldn’t stop it.
“It wasn’t long after that she started visiting us at night in our rooms as we slept,” Poe continued. “Her carnal appetite was insatiable. She grew very attached to all of us. And we attached to her. But something snapped in her one day…”
