I stared at his 6’6” frame and his shoulder-length white hair that loosely rested against his black shirt sporting an XO symbol in white.
His black joggers completed the almost all black look; he seemed to be the skinniest in the bunch, but from his battle stance I witnessed on the roof that night of the mission, it was a big advantage to his agility skills.
He walked back to where I sat, my tears still running down my cheeks. He settled down on the seat next to me and turned so he faced me in the same sideways position I currently sat in.
Reaching out, he ever so gently wiped the tears that escaped my eyes and spoke softly.
"Give this lifestyle a chance. Even if it's scary."
"What if… it gets one of you guys hurt… or killed?" I had to ask the question. I didn't 100% trust Master, and even if his words sounded genuine, I couldn't risk letting my guard down.
I couldn’t forgive myself if they killed one of them. They don't deserve such a fate.
"We can take care of ourselves, and I wouldn't let the others die. The mission shifted entirely because our magic reacted. I won't freeze up like that again." He meant every word in his declaration, and I could see the deadly conviction that haunted his pink eyes.
"Our magic isn't reacting now," I mumbled. He moved up close to my face, and the sudden shot of energy that wrapped around me shut me right up as my eyes widened slightly. His lips were inches away from mine, and his calculative stare landed on my lips.
If I thought the intensity between Xander and me was bad, the blazing warmth that began to boil inside me made it hard to think straight.
We stayed just inches apart for a full minute, and I struggled not to move forward and close the distance between us.
In a flash, the pulling urge cut off, and I needed a few seconds to blink and breathe.
Shit...
“I closed my magic off." He pulled back to sit straight once more.
"Must be nice," I mumbled.
"You can turn your magic off."
"It's annoying and makes me antsy," I replied earnestly. Ruby moved from my legs and began rolling back and forth in the tiny space between us; the distance was enough for her to roll once and hit Ace's leg and roll back to hit mine.
"Won't I be a bother?"
"You don't realize you mask your energy all the time, do you?" he asked.
"I… do?" I hadn't really thought about it. I usually tried to stay hidden all the time at the shrine just in case there was a surprise attack or ambush.
"You do and have scared Dante and Silas a few times."
"I don't remember scaring them," I mumbled. It wasn’t like I'd been paying attention.
"You do it in your sleep."
"I do not."
"How would you know?"
"I don't know. I would," I argued, but a slight grin formed on my lips. "Did either of them freak out?"
"Dante thought you were dead." Ace shrugged. "You sleep like a log."
"Thanks," I replied, not even hurt by the comment.
"Try," Ace mumbled, and I noticed his focus was on a certain picture on the gaming stand. Following his stare, I saw the picture of five guys; all four roommates and their fifth addition that was no longer among the living.
Arrow...
"If you try and hate it, I'll escort you back. Don't worry about anyone but yourself," he whispered.
"Meow."
"And Ruby," Ace added. Ruby stopped at his side to nudge her head against his leg; her soft purrs contributed to the smile on my lips.
"You're not as dangerous as the others make you out to be," I commented. "Hmm. I guess with your clothes on," I mused, remembering his naked figure and how every water droplet rolled down the lines of his muscles.
And that very dangerous manhood of his. I wonder if any girl has been brave enough to handle all of that?
When he didn't reply, my brain caught onto what I'd just said out loud.
My cheeks grew hot and I slowly lowered my gaze to witness the first smile that had ever descended upon Ace's smooth lips in my presence. If I thought he was attractive before, that level of sexiness had amplified a couple of levels.
"Good to know." He winked and rose from the couch. "Are you still hungry? I bought red velvet ice cream."
"Red… velvet ice cream?" I stared at him in awe, and his smile fell which only made me frown as well. "No, smile come back."
He blinked, and his lips curled slightly. "You're weird."
"But that's fine with you," I stated innocently.
"Hmm. Ya. You're easier to get along with. I don't like most girls."
"Really?"
"Hassle. Rather be gay."
"Are you?"
"No."
"Hmm. Has anyone given you a blow job and if so, did it all fit?" The question came out before my brain caught up, and I mentally cursed at my utter stupidity.
I shyly glanced up at Ace and his broad seductive smile was back. "A blow job, yes. Did it all fit? No. Maybe that will change." He shrugged and walked away, heading to the kitchen.
I licked my bottom lip, and a smile formed on my lips.
Try, Xia. Maybe this side of the world won't be as scary as I thought it would be.
"Hey, Ace. You never properly introduced yourself to Xia," Dante pointed out with his mouth full.
"Stop spitting food everywhere." Xander huffed, rolling his eyes that were currently silver, thanks to the rather quick kissing session we'd shared in the laundry room before being called by Silas for dinner.
It was officially six weeks since the mission and I was finally trying to integrate myself into this new lifestyle.
I wasn't back to my usual self, and I was still dealing with sudden bouts of sadness, usually leading to me breaking down randomly, but none of the guys had reacted negatively about it.
In fact, they had been very accepting of me. All four of them were currently off from work and wouldn't be returning until the following week.
Seeing as today was Sunday, that meant I had a full week to chill with each of them and get to know them a bit more.
When they did return to work, it wouldn't be full working hours, and they decided one of them would be around at home, at least until I fully recovered from my remaining injuries.
I'd been healing well so far, having no major side effects. I did feel weak at times, losing my balance at least twice last week, but nothing over the top.
My headaches were a bit annoying though, and I had to be careful of not falling and hitting my head. The crack in my skull was healed thanks to Amy's magic, but another hit would knock me right out.
At least I wasn't clumsy, and even during the times I'd lost my balance, I'd easily corrected myself.
Or I tried, but Xander caught me the first time, and Silas used his magic to levitate me before I'd even hit the ground. I did try. That's what matters.
As for the serum that currently ran in my veins, I hadn't experienced anything different. I didn't see what the benefits were, to be honest.
The increase in power, skills, and enhancement through sexual encounters had all been proven false so far.
I felt exactly the same; my skills were slightly slacking due to not training for six weeks, which I planned to change starting tomorrow, and the whole enhance others with sexual encounters, that was utter bullshit.
I hadn't had sex yet because I hadn't been in the mood, and Amy said I needed one more appointment with her to heal the remaining wounds I had, but the passionate kissing moment I'd had with Xander proved that it was bullshit.
Aside from his silver eyes and my wild pink ones, nothing changed. No boost or amazing enhancement of magic.
B.U.L.L.S.H.I.T.
Anyways, either way, it wasn't too big of a deal. I was strong on my own, but Amy cautioned us to watch out for some signs and symptoms that would show the drug was having a negative reaction on my body; information they had secretly obtained regarding the last trial patient who'd apparently died from the drug
shortly after they assumed it was successful.
Bloody nose, racing heart rate, extreme thirst, nausea, vomiting, hallucinations, dizziness, unconsciousness, panic attacks, seizures, and of course, death.
That was essentially the summary of it all, but I didn't want to go through the other 45 signs and symptoms noted in the "private" health record.
"Dante’s got a point, Ace," Silas noted before he began drinking the remaining soup from his ramen bowl.
"Ace Endo," Ace muttered, looking like he didn't have a care in the universe as he started picking out the seaweed bits in his bowl. "And stop giving me seaweed."
"You still a seaweed hater?" Silas shook his head. "It's good for you."
"I'll have it," Dante offered and Xander groaned, tapping Dante's chopsticks that were reached out for the pile of seaweed.
"You eat too much," Xander snarled.
"I do not! I'm a growing man, I need nutrition."
"Growing my ass," Ace mumbled and returned to eating, while Silas choked and began to laugh.
"All that's gonna grow is your stomach if you keep stealing Ace's leftovers."
"Poor guy," I stated and began to nibble on a piece of meat.
"Xia, don't feel pity for him. Dante, if you gain weight, I swear I'll make sure Silas puts your ass on a diet," Xander warned.
"I'm not gaining any weight," Dante argued.
"Let him gain. I wanna see him cry when he steps on the scale," Silas replied. He returned to finishing the rest of his soup, the steam beginning to fog up his silver spectacles.
"Why are we friends again? You guys are all haters. No wonder why Xia feels pity for my soul," Dante whined.
"She feels pity because you can't admit you eat too much," Xander argued. "And I'm serious. Don't come crying to me when you gain five pounds tomorrow morning. I won't care."
"Unsupportive friends," Dante mumbled, pouting his lips as his blue eyes lingered on the pile of seaweed.
Ace put one last piece of seaweed on the small white plate and picked it up.
"Meow!"
"Here you go, Ruby. You can eat as much as you want." Ace leaned over to place the plate next to his feet.
I smirked and lowered my chopsticks, not having much of an appetite.
"That's just rude," Dante grumbled and looked over toward my food that was practically untouched.
"Xia, you're not hungry?"
The others glanced my way and I gave them a small smile. "Not really. It's delicious, I just don't have an appetite right now."
"It could be because her schedule has been all over the place," Silas suggested as he pulled off his glasses. He got up and walked over to where I sat next to Xander and picked up my bowl.
"Why don't I make you a light dessert instead? If you get hungry later in the night, just wake me up. I'll warm it up for you." Silas gave me a wink that made me blush slightly.
Damn, he's really hot without his glasses.
"I need to work my charm on Xia like that," Dante whispered and Xander sighed.
"You have no charm. Accept it already."
"Rude," Dante grumbled.
"You three should just get a room," Ace muttered, and the four of us stared at him with gawking expressions.
Silas leaned over to whisper in my ear.
"So, do we count as one? If so, I get first dibs on going out with you this week."
"Maybe so," I replied. "And I'd be happy to go out with you."
"Hey!" Xander and Dante said together while I noticed the slight smirk on Ace's lips.
"Guess I'm next." He shrugged.
"How the fuck are you next? You tripped us up on purpose?!" Dante argued.
"And you didn't ask Xia," Xander commented.
"Right," Ace replied and glanced up at me. "Let's go out, Xia."
"Sure," I replied automatically.
Xander and Dante whipped their heads towards me. "You're not supposed to agree!"
"Why?" I asked. "And do you guys read each other's minds or something?"
Silas chuckled and whispered, "It's a couple thing. They're still in sync."
Xander and Dante blushed, and Xander rose up. "I'm gonna go shower."
"Take a nice cold one," Silas teased. Xander looked like he was gonna walk over to Silas who turned my chair slightly in defense. "Xia. You have to protect me."
"You have gravity powers. Just lift him up somewhere." I brushed off his concern.
"See? Someone else who uses logic." Ace sighed.
"When do I get to go on a date with Xia?"
"On Thursday," Xander replied. He walked over to me, leaning down to give me a gentle kiss. "I'll take you out on Wednesday." His husky voice made me tingle in anticipating.
Silas smirked. "I can see who's the dominant one in your past relationship."
Xander pouted his lips and gave Silas a glare. "Go away."
"I'll be kind enough to wash your bowl. Go shower," Silas replied.
I glanced at Dante who was looking elsewhere, and I noticed the hint of hurt in his eyes. Hmm.
I need to speak with Xander about this.
"Dante," I said his name sweetly enough to catch his attention. "Thursday it is. We can go to an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet."
"Score!" Dante replied, looking as happy as ever, and the others groaned.
"Xia." Ace looked depressed for me. "He'll get you kicked out."
"Kicked out?" I asked.
"That one time doesn't count!" Dante defended.
Silas reached out for Xander's bowl and sighed. "Last time we went to All-You-Can-Eat, Dante ate so much the Boss wanted to start charging us."
"Then Dante got upset and got us all kicked out," Xander added as he headed to the hall. "That's why we leave him behind."
"That's intriguing," I replied, and Dante stood up to stretch.
"I train hard. I need to fuel this body to take care of your ass!" Dante called out to Xander who quickly shot back his reply.
"You still suck as a bodyguard." With that, Xander closed the door to the washroom.
Silas snickered, and Ace sighed. "You two never stop."
"I don't know what you're referring to," Dante grumbled as he crossed his arms.
Silas walked over to the sink and I rose from my chair to check on Ruby. She was still working on her seaweed, munching away.
"So the plan is, Silas Monday, Ace Tuesday, Xander Wednesday, I'm Thursday, and then what on Friday?" Dante questioned.
Ace looked at me. "How about we do a training session? You're going to need some physical activity after Amy heals you up."
"True. I'd really like that actually. Perhaps could we do something earlier this week? Like running?" I questioned.
I was already getting stiff with my lack of training, and waiting another five days before getting back into the groove could potentially kick me in the ass.
"Xander always runs in the morning," Dante commented.
"He hasn't recently, has he?" I inquired.
"He has," Silas replied, drying his hands with a cloth. "He goes two hours earlier when you're deep asleep."
I blushed and shrugged. "I don't hear him."
"You sleep like a log," Ace reminded.
"Do not," I grumbled.
"You've been feeling okay, Xia? No weird symptoms, right?" Dante asked.
"I'm fine," I assured him and the others. "If I feel weird, I'll let you guys know for sure."
They nodded, and Ace began to wipe down the table while Silas put away the extra food. Dante walked over to me and smiled. "Want to play some video games?"
"Um… I haven't really played any video games," I admitted.
"What?!" Dante exclaimed. "Not even Mario Kart?"
"Is that the guy who’s always saving that princess who can't save herself?" I questioned with an eye roll. "He should dump her."
Silas laughed, and I glanced over to see the small smile on Ace's lips.
He's been smiling more.
"I agree," Ace replied.
; "Mario Kart and wine. Coming right up." Silas chuckled.
Dante grinned and headed to the TV. "I'll set it up."
I grinned back at him and looked around. "Do you guys want me to clean anything?"
"Nah, nothing left to do. We have a cleaner coming in tomorrow morning anyway," Dante assured me.
"You didn't even clean shit," Silas commented.
"I got teased by you guys all day long. I deserve a break." Dante huffed.
"You can go change into comfortable clothing, Xia," Silas offered.
I was wearing leather tights and a crop top since we'd originally planned to go out for dinner but changed our minds.
"Alright, I'll be back."
I headed down the hall to my room, and after a brief search, found a pair of shorts and a loose crop top. I left my bra on, which was a tad annoying, but so far, I was only officially dating Xander and didn't want to draw too much attention. Silas and Ace were really intriguing to me. Dante was fun to hang around and seemed funny, but I didn't have a strong urge to date him yet.
I just needed some time with each of them and was glad I'd have this week to go out with each. I didn't think one date would give me enough assurance that they were all interested in me, but from the two times I'd been "unconscious" and overheard their conversations, it seemed they were interested.
I'd have to play my cards and see, but now that I was essentially a free Reaper, I guess I could bend the "moral" rules and date all of them.
Not like it would hurt anyone.
Tugging the hair tie out of my hair, I ran my hands through my black locks and looked in the standing mirror in the corner of my room.
I glanced at the bandage that peeked out from beneath my bra and the visible ones on my stomach and legs.
I had a few discolored spots that were once wounds that Amy had healed with her magic and herbal medication, but at least they didn't hurt.
As for my pain meds, I realized I hadn't taken any yet.
There was a knock on the door, and I turned to see Xander in a towel with a glass of water and my pain meds in his free hand.
"You forgot to take them during dinner."
"Did you get out of the shower just to give me my meds?" I grinned and gave him a suspicious look. He entered the room with a broad smile on his tempting lips.
One Thousand and Two Lies (Reapers of Beauty Book 2) Page 6