Page 4 of Property of Crypt Keeper

Mako sat on the edge of the couch with Lyra tucked tight against his side. He looked like he’d carved her straight out of his chest and didn’t know how to breathe without her there now. Lyra’s gaze was distant—still haunted, still raw—but she didn’t flinch when he shifted. She was learning what she’d become. Learning what it meant to be held by a creature like him and not shatter.

Lily knelt on the cushions behind her, peering at the tattoo at the base of Lyra’s neck, centered over her spine. The kid traced the air above it like she wanted to touch but didn’t dare.

“Be honest… how bad did it hurt?” she asked.

Lyra softly giggled. “It wasn’t a picnic, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” she replied. They continued talking about it, but I tuned them out.

I didn’t need to see it up close to know what it said.

Property of Mako.

Vaguely, I heard them say something about the shape of a shark around it, but that part wasn’t what mattered.

Lily said something under her breath, and Lyra’s smile cracked wide. I could tell it hit Mako like a bullet. His eyes softened in a way that made me want to look away again, but I didn’t. Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to watch everything.

That was how you stayed alive.

Across the room, Dexter practically hovered like a damn shadow.

If he could help it, he hadn’t left Lily’s side since Zeus and Thing Three dragged them back from that impossible detour to Fontainebleau State Park. The kid took a damn sip of water, and Dexter’s hand twitched like he was ready to snatch the cup away and check it for poison. She shifted on the couch, he adjusted his stance, body angling between her and the door without even thinking about it.

Not possessive.

Not inappropriate. She was just a kid, and he wasn’t a fucking perv. It wasn’t that kind of obsession.

It was more… protective. Perhaps a little too protective. Which made me wonder why.

His eyes tracked every brother that got within ten feet of her. Not because he didn’t trust us—but as if his body didn’t care who we were. Like it reacted on primal instinct.

Like he was guarding something sacred.

Mako clocked it too. The tension in his jaw was unmistakable. The subtle way his gaze flicked to Dexter, then back to Lyra to see if she noticed. Then he shook his head like he was trying to file it away for later. Like he had enough problems already and didn’t have room for another.

We never did.

Things found a way in anyway.

Boomslang’s voice cut through the music and laughter from where he stood near the table, hands braced on the wood like he was holding the clubhouse together with sheer will. “Listen, everyone… Thane’s dead. That doesn’t mean this is over. We need to stay vigilant, but we need to live our lives. Today is for family. Let’s try to enjoy the day.”

A low chorus of agreement rolled through the brothers. Boots shifted. Glass clinked. Someone muttered what sounded like a curse.

Bait stalked past me with a rag and a bottle of disinfectant, still pissed about having to help Dexter patch up Bugsy again. Bugsy sat propped in a chair, skin still pale under his bruises, jaw clenched like pain was something he’d simply deal with in a mind-over-matter type thing.

Killswitch, hands still ink-stained despite scrubbing them in the bar sink, flicked open a lighter and snapped it shut without lighting anything. He’d quit ages ago from what I’d been told. Nervous habit. He wouldn’t admit it, though.

Zeus leaned against a support beam, arms crossed, eyes hard. A warrior waiting for the next war.

And through it all, despite Boomslang’s words… every single one of us was unsettled.

I felt it, and I knew the others did too. It crawled under my skin, the same way it did when a storm rolled in from the gulf and the air went heavy. But this was more than what was going on with the club. This wasn’t simply weather.

This was the moon.

Fuck, it was close. I could feel it like a hook in my spine, tugging. My Rougarou stirred, stretching, scraping at the inside of my skull like it wanted out now.

Not yet, I told it.

Not here.