They were hanging back now as I waited.
The keys in my hand would damn me to losing a finger if Tyler wasn’t in a good mood today—and he wouldn’t be. Not when they’d been locked out of the library all day, hunting down anyone who might have stolen from them.
They hadn’t checked with us yet—likely because they thought we wouldn’t be this fucking reckless mere days out from our appeal.
They’d underestimated our new thieving omega.
“What?”
My eyes snapped open to spot Jared on the other side of the threshold, his face reddened.
I cleared my throat. “Uh, heard your keys went missing.”
Jared’s aura went wild, and his hand darted out to grab the collar of my shirt. I fought not to react, but my aura pulsed a bit in response, my gaze narrowing.
“The fuck do you know about that?” Jared demanded.
I strengthened my aura and widened my stance, shoving his hand off me with a loud rip of fabric. Then I held the keys out in the palm of my hand for him to see.
Tyler pushed past his alpha and snatched them from me with a sour look, examining them for any small dents or scratches—though he would find none. Crescent took good care of the keys she’d taken.
“Are these right?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Where is the keyring?” Jared demanded.
I winced. “She… got attached.”
“What?”Jared narrowed his eyes.
“The ring is sort of…” Her nest, she’d said. Better than any other ring she had. Thick, and shiny, and satisfying to hold. “...Important…” I trailed off at his expression.
I was so dead.
“She said,” I muttered, unable to believe what I was saying, “and I quote:if they ask for the ring, you can deliver my fingers if that's okay with them.”
The ring wasn’t just important to the nest.
Itwasher nest.
“But she did give it some thought,” I added with a weak attempt at humour. “She prefers the pinkies because the index fingers are good for turning book pages.”
Of course, I wouldn’t be cutting off my omega’s fingers—I’d be offering up my own.
The silence was deafening as they gaped at me, and I could almost feel the stares from Finnian and Lucian on the back of my head as I said it.
Finally, with a huff, Tyler shoved the keys into his pocket.
“She was borrowing them, and… she apologizes,” I added weakly.
Well.
If I had brought her, I was sure shewouldn’thave apologized.
She would have forgotten all about the threat to her fingers, and her entire focus would have been on the keys and how important they were to the sanctity of the nest.
But I would lie for her.