Hours later, I’m still in the gym, working through several combinations on the punching bag and jamming to Trapt’s “Headstrong.” I love working the bags, and I always save them for last, like they’re my workout dessert. I’m sweaty and buzzing with adrenaline as I move into punch-kick combos. Some sweat threatens to trickle into my eye, and I pull up the bottom of my loose tank top and wipe at my face. That’s when I notice I’ve got company.

Four hulking figures stand by the door whispering to each other like they’re playing telephone. I run my finger over the runes on my ear so I can hear what they’re saying.

“Why is there a hot chick raging in your gym?”

The question belongs to a tall guy with buzzed black hair, mocha skin, and stunning gray eyes. He has a square jaw, thick neck, and if the rest of his body is as cut as his arms, then he is all hard angles and delectably chiseled muscles. He has a very hot jock vibe about him.

“Knox, seriously, do you ever pay attention? That is Lachlan’s long-lost niece.”

“You’re telling me she’s the one who did that to your face and ribs?”

The owner of that question is shorter than the others. He’s still taller than the average guy, but shorter than the group surrounding him. He’s blond with hair almost to his shoulders. His nose and jaw are angled, but his lips are plump and soft looking. He has a defined runner’s build, and I would suspect he’s fast and agile.

His eyes are a dramatic bright blue that reminds me of Laiken’s. She had pretty blue eyes just a touch lighter than this guy’s. Melancholy blooms in me as I picture her, and I embrace it like the old friends we are.

“She’s faster and stronger than she looks,” one of the twins defends.

The twins are standing shoulder to shoulder, their wavy hair past their collarbones. It’s the color of the most decadent dark chocolate, and my fingers twitch with the need to run my fingers through it. I figured one of them would be just as bruised as me, but neither one of them looks worse off after our run in.

According to Aydin, one of them is named Valen, but I haven’t the foggiest clue which one. They stop whispering when they realize I’m no longer punishing a punching bag but watching them instead. I disengage my runes, and my hearing goes back to normal.

“Ready for round two?” I ask, only half joking while scowling at the twins. I’m not sure which one of them tackled me, so they both get a crusty look.

“Um, yeah, I’m really sorry about that,” one of the twins steps forward looking adorably bashful. “I feel shitty about what happened.”

“You don’t look like you feel shitty about what happened," I say gesturing to where injuries should be visible on one of them.

He chuckles and points a thumb at the blond guy.

“That’s because Ryker fixed me up. You broke some ribs and my cheek," he murmurs, rubbing a hand against the latter.

“Well, don’t go around tackling unsuspecting women and maybe that won’t happen to you again.”

I use the bottom of my tank top to wipe more sweat from my face. When I pull it down, I watch as each of their gazes sweep back up my body and I fight a smirk. There are worse things than getting checked out by a bunch of stone chiseled eye-candy.

“You guys need something?” I ask.

“We brought Ryker to fix you up, and we thought we should introduce ourselves in a way that didn’t involve throwing punches,” one of the twins explains, finishing with a smile.

Holy shit! I thought they were hot when they wore angry or confused expressions, but a smile with full lips, straight white teeth, and a cheeky twinkle in the eye makes them worship worthy. I force myself to blink and start talking my libido down.

“I’m Bastien, the asshole who tackled you,” the twin smiling at me explains.

“I’m Valen, the better looking and less aggressive twin.”

“I’m Knox.”

“And I’m Ryker.” The blond with pillow lips takes a hesitant step forward. He holds his arms out non-threateningly like he’s approaching a wild animal. When I don’t move to bolt or hurt him, he continues to get closer. He stops about a foot away from me and pauses.

“Can I touch you?” he asks.

His tone resonates in me and goosebumps rise up on my whole body.

“That’s a loaded question," I reply, my voice sounding a bit breathier than I want.

What the hell is going on? I’m drooling like a teething baby all over these strangers, and I have no idea where that’s coming from. Your vagina, Vinna, it’s coming from your vagina. I wave off the unhelpful thought.

“It’s just to heal you,” Ryker explains, with a small chuckle.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that. I’m fine.”

I sidestep him and head toward the door. I grab my phone on the way out, squeezing past the others still grouped at the entrance of the gym. My arm just lightly grazes Valen, and it sends chills through my whole body.

I’m beyond grateful and a little surprised that I make it through the door without suddenly stopping and trying to lick one of these guys. I make it as far as the stairs on the second floor before they all catch up with me. Well…fuck!

“Why won’t you let him heal you?” Bastien--I think--asks me. He keeps pace with me as I increase my speed. Damn shorter legs.

“Because I’m not really hurt.”

“But you have scratches and bruises.”

“Yeah, just scratches and bruises, no big deal. They’ll be gone in a week.”

I step through my bedroom door and turn to close it, thinking they’ve stopped on the other side, but they brush past me and pile into my room.

“Well, why don’t you come on in fellas, don’t mind me.”

“Don’t mind if we do," a twin--I have no idea which one-- smiles at me. Throwing in a wink for good measure, he shuts the door behind him.

Fuck. Shower, I need a cold shower ASAP.

“Will you guys leave I... uh...need to clean up.”

“Let me heal you, and we’ll leave," Ryker counters.

“Why is this such a big deal?”

“You’re a caster. It’s what we do. We use magic to make our lives better.”

“I’ll remember that for next time," I say, opening the door and motioning for them to leave. I look up, and they’re all just staring at me.

Ryker steps toward me and the earnestness in his eyes makes me pause. I’m not even sure why I am fighting this so hard, other than it’s something they want me to do and I’m being stubborn.

“Tell me how it works?” I ask hesitantly.

Ryker steps closer and a flutter sweeps through my body.

“It may not even work,” I tell him nervously. “When I was fighting with the paladin, Lachlan tried to throw a couple of shiny orb thingies at me. They didn’t work the way he wanted them to. Which was good for me in the end, but…my point is…don’t get too excited about your magic working," I proceed to ramble like an idiot.

“There are so many things about that statement I want to know about. Starting with why you were fighting your uncle’s coven?” Knox asks me.

“That’s a super long story.”

“I’ve got time," Knox smiles.

My brain stutters and then freezes, as I stare at that smile. Luckily Ryker rescues me.

“Let’s focus on the healing first and then we can move on to the interrogation.”

I move past Ryker and the twins, but now I don’t know where to go. I spin around, stuck in between the side of my bed and the sitting area. I swallow as Ryker closes the distance between us, an excited light in his eyes.

“All I have to do is touch the areas that are injured and then use my magic to heal them,” he tells me casually, making it sound perfectly normal.

“Can I see your side?” he asks, gesturing to my ribs.

I nod, not trusting my voice with his close proximity. Ryker takes the bottom of my tank top and raises it up over my head. I wasn’t expecting him to take it all the way off, but he does, and the intimacy of it makes my breath hitch. I’m trying to ignore my body’s reaction to him, and I have to consciously slow my lungs as he leans in and looks closer at my side. He turns me just a fraction and looks at my back.

“Where did these come from? They look older.”

“Which ones?” I twist around to see where he’s pointing. I turn around, my back now facing the other boys and more than one of them hisses.

“Holy shit. What happened to you?”

I twirl back around and take in the shocked and angry looks.

I point to my side and then the scratches on my face. “This is from whichever one of you is Bastien," I point at the twins. “This is from some lamia," I point at the gouges on upper part my back. “And this...” I gesture to the rest of the bruises on my back and neck. “Is from Lachlan. The asshole blindsided me when he realized we were related.”

“He attacked you? Why?” Ryker asks quietly.

I look up into his bright blue eyes. “Your guess is as good as mine. He clearly has problems," I reply just as quietly, and I have to look away from the intensity in Ryker’s gaze.

He continues to look me over, running the back of his hand over the slight bruise on my knuckles. I look around, and everyone is watching Ryker examine me with ferocious intensity. Knox keeps leaning in closer, and the twins are absently running their thumbs over their bottom lips. The synchronicity of it is mesmerizing. One of them busts me staring and smiles.

“Why didn’t Evrin heal you?” Ryker asks me, his eyes growing stormy as he looks over the marks on my neck.

I shrug my shoulders, not sure of an answer. Why didn’t Evrin heal me? They told me he had Healing magic. I didn’t give much thought to what that meant, and he never offered. Ryker bends over and strokes the runes on my side, causing me to shiver. I look down at him as he looks up at me, neither of us saying anything. Slowly, he does it again and breaks eye contact to watch goosebumps trail his touch.

“What are these?” he asks, his breath caressing my skin.

“I guess they’re runes, at least that’s what the paladin said.”

The other guys get closer, running their eyes over my visible runes.

“They’re hot,” Knox declares, and I can’t help but laugh.

“Thanks.”

“Ready?” Ryker asks me.

I nod anxiously and wonder if this will actually work. Ryker places a large hand on my left side and another on my right hip. The air in the room charges and his palm heats up against my skin. After a couple of minutes, it cools down, and Ryker pulls his hand from my side. I look down, and the skin is unblemished, no bruises or scrapes in sight.

I look up into his eyes in awe. “Holy shit, that’s incredible," I stammer.

He rewards me with a gorgeous smile. “Next time you won’t fight me so hard," he teases.

Ryker takes his time and thoroughly heals all the marks and bruises on my neck and back. When he places his hand between my underwear and the sensitive skin of my hip and lower abdomen to heal a bruise, I almost lose all my self-control and start rubbing all over him like a needy cat.

The atmosphere in the room is intense. No one speaks or moves as we all watch Ryker put his hands all over me.

“Now your face,” he directs, tilting my chin back with one hand and putting the other on the scrapes on my cheek.

His touch on my face feels intimate and sensual. The way he positions his hands makes me feel like he’s going to kiss me. I stare unabashedly into his blue eyes, and I feel his hand on my scrapes heat up.

In less time than my side and back required, his hands cool. He grips my chin and his gaze morphs from something clinical to something curious and sultry. He lightly runs his thumb vertically down my lower lip. The pressure pulls my lips apart and opens them for the briefest of seconds before he steps back and away from me.

There is a sudden void where the heat and mass of his body once was, and my instincts urge me to pull him back into me. I look over to find the eyes of one of the twins, and heat banks in his gaze. I close my eyes to try to calm the overwhelming arousal and need that is inexplicably crashing through me, but I can feel the echo of Ryker’s hands on me, and the tiniest whimper escapes my lips. What the hell is going on right now?

“Did you do something else to me?” I accuse, my eyes landing back on Ryker who’s now sitting in a chair.

He looks at me unsettled. “What do you mean?”

I study his face, my eyes flicking back and forth between his ocean dipped irises, taking in the genuine confusion I see there.

“Nothing I just feel… weird. My body is reacting weirdly," I finish vaguely.

Ryker moves to get up, I’m assuming to come to see what in the hell I’m rambling about, and I panic. If he comes near me again right now, I’m done for. I will climb him like a tree, with no hesitation or apology.

“Never mind.”

I dash into the bathroom and close the frosted doors behind me. I start the shower and hear someone shout to come downstairs when I’m done. I look myself over in the mirror, marveling at my now injury-free body.

Holy shit what just happened? I strip down and step into the warm stream of water. How am I going to be around these guys when that’s how my mind and body reacts?

I scrub my hands over my face and notice that Ryker forgot to heal my knuckles, but there is no way in hell I am going to call him back and ask him. I consider that this could have something to do with magic, but I don’t know enough about any of it to tell one way or another.

I’m certainly not going to ask them why I’m suddenly so hot and bothered. I turn the water cold, hoping the icy bite will cure me of the heat I feel coursing through every inch of me. After fifteen teeth chattering minutes under the spray, I give up and get out.

I dry off, and for my own sanity, I decide to ghost their invitation to hang. I grab a book on elemental magic and choose to hide out in the safety of my room instead. I climb into the cloud that is my bed and fall asleep reading about fire incantations while trying not to recall every detail of these men and exactly what it felt like to have Ryker’s hands all over me.