POV: Zaire
The elevator doors slid open with a familiar sigh.
I stepped out — and walked straight into a crowd forming in front of 26C.
Her door.
Seraphine.
A slow dread slithered into my chest. Were they part of her harem? Victims? Worshippers? Cult members?
I scowled. The doubt coiled tighter.
Had she manipulated me and my brothers somehow? That would explain the way we'd reacted to her — the raw pull, the absurd craving for her presence. But why? She didn't feed off us. Wasn't after money — she had an enterprise of her own, and it was clearly thriving. So what was it, then?
I turned to our unit — 26B — and froze.
The door was wide open. The apartment was dark.
Inside, I heard thumps. Grunts. A body hitting the wall.
I moved.
Silent. Swift. On instinct.
I flicked the lights on, ready to plant the image of our intruders' faces into memory before I broke their kneecaps.
But what I got instead was a blur of blond, muscle, and brotherly idiocy tangled in a wrestling match.
Kaiden had Theodore in a chokehold.
Theodore had Kaiden in a partial suplex.
They froze when they saw me.
Theodore pointed accusingly, "He attacked me for no reason."
Kaiden huffed, "You were looming at the door like a serial killer. What did you expect me to do, give you a hug?"
I exhaled hard and walked past them toward the kitchen. Let the idiots bicker.
At least I had groceries. Dinner was salvageable.
Still, the scene at 26C gnawed at the back of my mind.
"They were surrounding her door," I muttered, opening the fridge.
Kaiden leaned against the wall, still breathing heavily. "You think she's got a spell on them too?"
"She fabricated our feelings for her," I said flatly. "She manipulated us."
Kaiden's eyes narrowed. "Oh yeah? How many others have tried to do that to you? And how many are still breathing?"
I stilled.
He had a point.
"And what's the endgame?" Kaiden went on. "She hasn't even let us get close. No feeding. No moves. Nothing."
"Maybe she's playing the long game," I muttered.
"Oh come on, Zaire. For what? Money? That woman lives like a velvet-wrapped hurricane with a credit limit bigger than ours combined. Did you see her place?" Kaiden crossed his arms. "You weren't manipulated. You were lovestruck."
"And what would you know about that, Mr. Wait-for-the-One?" I snapped. "None of us understand these feelings. None of us have experience with— with this. Whatever this is. You think there won't be consequences?"
Kaiden stepped closer. "Feelings aren't a lab experiment, Zaire. You don't study them. You feel them. That's the damn point."
"Exactly!" I barked, voice sharp. "And I don't get feelings. I don't understand feelings! Because when you feel, you— you hurt! And if you show them, people— they will—"
My breath caught.
Too tight.
Couldn't breathe.
"Zaire! Hey—hey! Look at me. Just breathe!"
Kaiden was suddenly right in front of me, pressing a glass of water into my hands.
I drank.
My pulse slowed.
"Thanks," I muttered, voice hoarse.
Kaiden sighed, ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, Theodore. Your turn. Thoughts?"
"She called me her teddy bear," Theodore said quietly, smiling like he'd just won the emotional lottery.
Kaiden blinked, then grinned. "Gods, we're doomed."
"And yet," I said dryly, "a crowd is forming at her door."
Theodore, as if summoned by fate, opened our door and stepped out.
"Where are you going?" Kaiden and I chorused.
"You both have a lot of questions," Theodore said calmly. "Maybe we should ask the people outside. Or her."
All three of us leaned out to peek.
Nine men stood outside 26C.
One was pacing tight laps like a wolf barely containing itself.
Another leaned against the wall with arms crossed, glancing at his watch every few seconds.
A third muttered heatedly into a phone — or maybe to himself — in a language I didn't recognize.
One guy had a bouquet. Actual flowers. He looked nervous enough to drop dead.
Another sat on the floor cross-legged, meditating?
Two were arguing in hushed tones, pointing toward the door like they were planning a heist.
Another was typing furiously on a tablet, stylus tapping like a heartbeat.
The last one… just stood there. Perfectly still. Eyes closed. Like he could sense something from the other side of the door.
I blinked.
"…This looks like a hospital hallway for nervous dads."
Kaiden groaned. "This is a love triangle Octagon. We're in a damn tournament arc."
Theodore just folded his arms.
And for once — we were all thinking the same thing.
What the hell had we walked into?