"You guys too?" Valentino asked.
The dragon nodded, his eyes as gold as the bracelet around his wrist.
"But she's a tiny human." The ghoul scowled at me.
Shit, now he was begging me to gut him. "The 'tiny human' is right here you fucker."
"Careful with what you say, Malachi, she'll knee you in the balls." Valentino winced.
Alistar ginned. "Or decapitate you."
The ghoul, Malachi, frowned at me. "She can't be capable of that much damage."
Valentino winced, covering his dick. Alistar grinned at me, as if giving me silent permission to fuck Malachi up.
I'd let this one go, a free pass for being one of my mates. Only this once.
"Enough." The dragon huffed, running a hand over his beard. "Did you two finish what you were supposed to do, or were you too distracted?" He glanced at me.
I almost took offense until Valentino draped an arm around my shoulder, exclaiming, "Nah, we didn't do shit. This little badass decapitated him before we even got to gut him."
"Like you would ever risk getting dirty." Malachi scoffed.
I brushed Valentino's arm off my shoulder once more.
"What's your name?" The dragon looked down at me.
I tilted my chin up. I needed heels. "What's yours?"
A grin of approval stretched his face. "Brynjar Rune Halpain."
Valentino snorted. "And you make fun of me for arrogance when you're the one spouting your full name to her like a proposal." Valentino nudged me. "Just call him Rune, it's what we all call him."
Brynjar narrowed his eyes at Valentino, who wisely shut up. "Do you have any plans tonight . . ." He trailed off, waiting for a name.
"Token."
This was the part where I fucked up. They were trying for me, thinking I was human. I wanted it so bad, but I couldn't complete a mate bond with them. To reach that level of intimacy while they were oblivious to what I was, was cruel. It was best if I let things go sooner.
"Sorry to be the one who ruins things, but we better start heading home soon or find a place to crash." Malachi stared at the ground. Fear was still pouring off him, more than before.
I couldn't leave them, not when that exact fear was dripping off one of them. "You can crash at my place or, if you prefer, the hotel rooms here. If you want to go back to your homes, I get it."
"I'll crash with you." Alistar took a step closer to me. "Do you live nearby?"
I lived on the top floor of this hotel. "Yes."
Malachi tugged at a dreadlock. "I think I'll—"
Brynjar smacked Malachi's chest, smiling at me. "Do you have enough room for the four of us?"
"I have a spare room, couch, and floor." They wouldn't be in the same room as me when I slept. I wasn't that comfortable around them.
I'd need to shove another knife or gun under my pillow before I went to sleep tonight. They may have been my mates, but that didn't mean anything to some people. I didn't know their intensions.
"I call dibs on her spare room." Valentino tugged me to the entrance of my hotel. "Where do you live, Beautiful?"
I pulled him to a stop. "Wrong way."