“What happened?”Bria shrugged. “I waited until I was sure there was no one else around who could get hurt, then threw my coffee in the bastard’s face and took away his gun. While he was screaming from the pain and the second-degree burns, I cuffed his ass and hauled him down to the station. End of story.”Fin gave my sister a warm, admiring look. “Nice takedown, detective. Even if you should have found another way to do it. Don’t you know that you never, ever waste a cup of coffee like that?”

“Finn had finished his coffee run and was strolling back down the hallway, a mug of his steaming chicory brew in his left hand. He saw Vinnie heading toward him, sighed, and reached around behind his back with his right hand. Finn came up with a gun, which he leveled at Vinnie’s head.The Ice elemental froze in the doorway.“Why don’t you be a good boy, Vinnie, and go sit down,” Finn said in a pleasant voice before taking a sip of his coffee. His eyes never left the other man, and his gun never wavered. Finn could be a bad-ass when he had to, just like me.”

“Any chance of getting something sweet to go with my coffee?” [Finn] asked in a hopeful voice.I arched an eyebrow at him. “You mean all those pieces of strawberry pie that you ate for lunch weren't enough?”“I’m a growing boy,” Finn said in a sincere tone. “I need my vitamins.”Bria snorted. “The only thing that’s growing on you, Lane, is your ego.”Finn sidled up to my sister and gave her a dazzling smile. “Well, other things of mine also tend to swell up in your presence, detective.”

“That's why you look so tired, isn't it?" I murmured. "You used up all your magic to find me last night."Owen shrugged as though it was nothing. But it wasn't nothing to me. Besides Finn and the Deveraux sisters, I couldn't even remember the last time someone had cared enough to come looking for me when I was in trouble. I was so used to being on my own for so long, always being the tough, strong, capable one, that I'd forgotten how nice it felt to have someone else look out for me.To have someone else care about me.And just like that, the fragile strings of my feelings for Owen joined together, all the tangled threads wrapping around and weaving their way through my heart. Scary and painful in some ways, but necessary in others too.”

“You picked that out?” Caine asked. “That pink, plastic toy?”I turned to look at him. “I happen to have been a little girl, once upon a time, detective. I know what they like. Every little girl wants to be a princess.”A thoughtful frown overcame the angry tension on Caine’s rugged face. “And what happens when they grow up?”I thought of my mother and sisters and all the horrors that had happened the day they’d died. A bitter laugh escaped from my tight lips. “Then they just want to be little girls again.”

“Finn raised his coffee öug to me. "That's my girl. A bitch to the bitter end."I saluted him with my sadwich. "Always”

“I’ll give you this, Spartan. You sure can kiss. Feel free to lay one on me anytime you want to."“Well, I do aim to please,” he drawled. “You should see what I can do with my hands. And other parts of my body.”I rolled my eyes. “Seriously? You’ve been cut open like a fish, there’s a psycho-killer Reaper after us, and you’re still hitting me up for sex?”Logan shrugged, but the devilish light didn’t fade from his gaze. “Hey, you can’t blame a guy for trying.”