Page 89 of Hybrid Heroics

She cupped my cheek. “That won’t stop. I’ll still push and test my limits.”

“I know,” I admitted, frowning at her. “But test yours, not mine.”

“I might be testing them today,” she confessed. “That’s why I won’t tell you what you’re cooking.”

I rolled my eyes, backing away to readjust my pants as I recited, “Cook it like pork. If it doesn’t taste good, that’s on you.”

“I’m confident in your abilities.” She gently tugged on my beard, bringing her mouth to mine for a quick but thorough kiss. “It’s time, Briggs. We clash tonight.”

With that, we trudged up the stairs of the basement, stopping in the pantry to adjust the paper clips holding the front of Barbie’s tattered dress together. Where she got them from, I couldn’t begin to guess. But they were working in a grungy sort of way that suited her.

I stood in the pantry, snorting at her as she searched for her chocolate stash. I had moved it to the top shelf just to watch her stretch the length of her body to reach it. Her curves were a guilty pleasure that I would soak in however I could.

I had my shirt in my hand, claw marks tickling down my back as they finished healing when a breeze hit me.

The pantry door opened, and Sloane rolled her lips in, hiding a grin. I spun on my heel to find Amelia staring wide-eyed at the two of us.

“What are you doing in the pantry?” she asked slowly, cataloging our appearance as a blush crept over her cheeks.

I cut my eyes at Barbie.

“Looking for spices,” my mate answered, skimming her finger over the containers.

“Both of you?” Amelia inquired.

“It’s a two-person job,” Barbie replied. “I told you I can’t cook. Briggs knows his way around a feast.”

I half-scoffed-half-choked, then cleared my throat as she jerked a container of fresh thyme from the shelf.

“Got what we needed. If you find any buttons in the basement, would you put them on the desk for me?”

Amelia squeezed her eyes shut, expressions rippling across her face, unable to settle on just one. I felt the same. It was hard to fault her.

Sloane chuckled, snagging my hand as we brushed past her mother. I went straight to the sink to wash my hands, while Barbie leaned against the island, sighing heavily.

Out of curiosity, I asked, “Was that the vision you saw?”

“One of them with two ending paths…”

“And?”

She smiled, though it wasn’t joyful. Her fearlessness in the face of uncertainty stole my breath. Determination was etched across her features. Her multi-colored irises were blown wide, glowing with eerie calm and explosive chaos that shouldn’t mix.

But they did.

My Barbie was receding with every minute that ticked down on the clock.

In her place, the reclusive and detached Sloane King stood.

This persona was where the rumors came from. The body count that had grown to outrageous numbers, the devastation that refused to even whisper her name, and the reputation that afforded her more terrified enemies than caring friends.

Gone were her emotions.

The only thing left was a cold psychopath wearing the mask of my mate.

The one who protected her treasures by leaving a trail of mutilated corpses in her wake.

We had all heard the stories of what she’d done for Hyde in the Underworld, but this was the first time any of us would look her in the face.