Soră would think this was a fun game. Fable thought of silver magic and touched the reindeer’s nose.
Zax laughed and pointed the pen at Fable. “Were you testing me? Because I’m pretty sure if Soră is your friend, you already know what silver magic does. Try again.”
Fable smiled and touched the reindeer’s nose again and again, while Zax wrote in the book. The red magic kept showing off and making the reindeer’s nose its color, but Zax didn’t get mad.
“Don’t worry about it. Leave her nose red. Santa will totally freak out. Won’t that be great?” Zax closed the book and handed it back to Fable. “We’d better get out of here before we get caught. Otherwise, it’s going to be Zax, murdered in the library by Seshat with the reindeer. Nobody wins that game.”
You say funny things like Soră.
“Yeah. I get that a lot. Let’s take the reindeer back to her friends.”
THE STABLES WASN’T a building like Fable thought. Zax didn’t lock animals in stalls, each one had a habitat. None of them were in cages. Eagles perched in trees. Some reindeer had a green meadow. Dragons lolled in piles of treasure. Crocodiles basked near ponds. Huge holes in the ground led to burrows. A barn loomed ahead of them for creatures that preferred an indoor climate.
Zax stood next to a man she called Santa. He was supposed to be jolly, but he was mad. Face red, arms waving, he yelled and pushed past her, big black boots stomping towards the stables. She let him go until a sound that was a cross between a neigh and a growl rumbled from inside the building. Darting in front of Santa, she pushed him to the ground and turned back to face the stable in time to catch the full brunt of a gout of flames as it engulfed her head to toe. But Zax didn’t scream.
A grey parrot and two ravens perched on a tree branch. The big black birds hopped up and down on their perch in excitement, wings half outstretched as if they liked seeing Zax on fire.
Fable clapped her hands over her mouth.
When the flames disappeared, Zax was fine and had her arms crossed. “We’ve talked about you setting people on fire before. It's not polite.” She glanced back and saw them. “Look, we have guests and you just terrified a little girl.”
A big red horse with long, flaming hair on his neck peered out, a small reindeer stood under his chest. When he saw Fable, he dropped his head and stared at the ground.
“We need to get home,” Santa said. “We’ve got a lot to do by the twenty-fourth. She can have the rest of the year off, but I need her for the next two weeks.”
“Even I can't fight love.” Zax grinned. “You’ll just have to take Ares’ horse too. He can fly. I don’t see what the problem is.”
Santa sighed. “You never do.”
“Well, I can see when I’m not appreciated!” Zax held out her hand to Fable. “Come on. Your mom and Norrix should be along soon. We’ll go wait for them in the lobby.”
CHAPTER FIFTY SEVEN
MYTH
MYTH BARELY REGISTERED landing with a thud on something hard yet yielding. Norrix. He was trying to reach her through their bond. Worry and fear. But it was too much.
All the sensations. All the magic. Conflicting energies surged wildly inside her, pulling her body, soul, and mind in different directions, threatening to tear her limb from limb, soul from body, and break her mind.
Fable. Fable in pain and shaking uncontrollably. Where was Fable?
Seeking magic exploded from her. Norrix hissed as it dug into his memories for the answer. He had one job! That was why Myth went first. Why was he here and not with Fable?
The answer wasn’t readily available.
So many memories. But everything was fragmented and jumbled. One image blurred into another, no rhyme or reason leading from one to the next.
Norrix yelped as she sank her nails into his shoulders. A ripping sensation in her hands and feet as her claws broke free, and she tried to keep the demon in. She didn’t want to hurt him, but she had to know why he’d left Fable!
“— safe! Fable is safe! Myth!”
The words were far away. She needed to see. Using her Seeking magic, she followed the strygoi bond deeper into his mind. The pieces of Norrix’s memories whirled and spun out of control, all random and unconnected. How could she find anything in here? Her other magic pushed, flowing from her into him. He tensed, shoulders bunching under her fingers.
The outpouring of magic into him eased the shredding feeling in her. “Let me help.” Her magic and insatiable yearning for stories longed to sort through everything Norrix had ever Witnessed. “Unless you don't want me to see...”
“I won't hide anything, but some of the things I’ve Witnessed... They’re not all pleasant.”
“I want to live in all your worlds.”
“Then I’ll show you everything.”
Given free rein, her Seeking magic swept out of her in a rush so enormous she worried it would of never return. The lilac wave flowed through Norrix’s mind like a tsunami, sweeping over his memories like they were grains of sand on a beach. Millions of glittering points, each a separate memory. Where to start?
Beaches...
The magics mixed. Lilac and gold combined to show sunrises and sunsets, most of them in monochrome tones. That wouldn’t do. Orange swept in and added light. A coil of lilac and red lifted hundreds of tendrils, each holding a splinter showing a battle fought on golden sand turned red. Lilac and purple displayed shifter magic as sea creatures turned human and back again. Lilac and green revealed creation of worlds while new beaches formed.
Myth pulled back, overwhelmed at just the sample she’d seen.
Now that she had the memories, what should she do with them? Norrix had given her a book to write stories in. Maybe she could do the same thing for him. Like her encyclopedias.
A book formed in her mind and she urged the memories onto the pages, then pulled them back as she froze. How should they be ordered? Chronological? Alphabetical? Event taking place on the beach? Color mixed with her Seeking magic?
She needed more books and... a legend.
“Tell me about each one.”
He did. Not in words, but in senses — with each visual he gave her the sound, smell, taste, tactile feeling, and emotions.
One by one, she held up each memory and entered it into one book, then wrote how to find it in another.
Wars.
Queens.
Forests.
Inventions.
Animals.
Apocalypses.
Civilizations.
He’d seen so much on so many different worlds. She needed an entire index for those alone. But he took her through them with his steady patience, answering all her questions and letting her do what she wanted.
It seemed like weeks later when Myth sat back, and opened her eyes. All the Seeking, sorting, and organizing, left her exhausted, but euphoric, and all the unaccustomed magics were under control.
She smiled down at Norrix, and her sense of well-being vanished. Norrix’s white cloak was stained red where her claws had torn his skin. Severe black and red burns marred his normally golden-hued skin. She jumped to her feet to take her weight off his injuries. “Norrix! What happened to you? Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt?”
“We had to fly into the sun to open the portal to get here. I only had my cloak and there was some wind.”
Myth ran her hands through her hair as she paced. “And you held Fable. She was thrashing. I’m so sorry.”
He held out a hand for her. “Don’t be. It wasn’t her fault. She’s with Zax, by the way. Perfectly safe. Going into the sun is the least I would do for her or you. I didn’t burst into flames or turn into ash. I’ll heal.”
“With all the time I just spent in your memories, I know now how to heal you faster.”
He waggled his fingers. “I’m interested to hear more. Come over here and tell me.”
Flirting was still a new concept for her, but it seemed like fun. She backed away from the bed. “Well, if you don�
��t know, why should I tell you?”
Dropping his hand, he flowed over the bed toward her. “Do you remember how vampires apologize to their Dragăs?”
His deep, growly voice, and the memories of exactly how he’d apologized sent a hot flush over her skin.
He inhaled, making her flush a deeper red. “I can smell that you do. You should see what a vampire does when he’s especially grateful and wants to thank his Dragă. My mind had always felt too crowded for as long as I can remember. Now I feel like I have room for more memories. And everything is ordered. I can recall what I like on demand. I don’t think I can ever thank you enough.”
She backed away another step and her back hit the wall. “It’s still not fair that you can smell me like that. It’s... it’s cheating!”
Norrix surged off the bed to his feet, his lips curving in a smile. “Myth, are you trying to get another apology out of me?”
There was nowhere else to go. “What if I am?” She took a step to the side, but he moved faster than she could track and caged her in, his arms on either side of her.
His golden eyes darkened, the edges turning black.“Well, if you think you are owed an apology, you should definitely have an apology. I would never argue with my Dragă about that.”
She tilted her face up. “I don’t want to be fragile. I don’t want gentle this time. You can tell things about me before I even know I feel them. I trust you.”
Myth lost her ability to breathe as Norrix claimed her mouth in a searing kiss that rocked her to the center of her soul. The desperation, the hunger, the love were all things she’d felt with him before, but her lack of trepidation this time made everything so much more intense. The wet heat between her thighs, a familiar sensation now, amplified as his eyes darkened all the way to black and her vampire emerged.
Norrix made her feel loved, but the vampire made her feel protected. He was the first one to stand between her and those who would harm her. Iqiohr had tried, when he first turned into the Scorpion Mage, but that was for him, because he thought she belonged to him. Norrix saved her before she’d chosen to be with him. She needed Norrix and his vampire.
His hands held her face, and he stared into her eyes as he slid his fingers back and entwined them in her hair. She sucked in a breath and he paused, waiting for a cue from her. She gave him a slight nod, and he wrapped her long tresses around one of his wrists, cinched it in his hand and tugged.
Myth kept her eyes on his as she resisted. He was being gentle again. She pulled against his hold, testing his resolve. For a second, he let her hair slip through his fingers, then they tightened, and he yanked hard enough to arch her neck.
A spike of arousal shocked her, and his sharp inhalation let her know he knew she liked that.
Her mind spun. She couldn’t think as his fangs pressed against her throat. The thin material of her dress, already barely hanging on, ripped, fell to her feet, and cool air flowed over her skin.
Norrix slid his fangs into her flesh and sucked. His venom washed away her exhaustion, and she melted against him. Under her fingers, the gouges she’d inflicted on him with her claws healed as he drank from her throat. He took another swallow, venom flooding her system. It heightened her sensations, but this was the good kind. Licking her neck to seal the bite, he trailed kisses up her next to her ear. “I’m feeling much better now.”
“Good.” Her flesh electrified as he grazed the underside of her breast.
Moaning, her hips pushed forward to rub against him. His erection pressed into her belly through the thin covering of the loin cloth he wore as his thumb stroked her nipple to a taut peak.
His tongue slid over her lips and plunged into her mouth. Unable to stop them, her hands pawed at the cloak tangled around them, but couldn’t get it off him fast enough with human fingers. Skin. She needed more skin. Letting her strygoi side out a little more, she clawed the fabric, ripping it away. Sighing into his mouth, she flattened her palms against his chest, silver magic sparking.
Pushing his body against hers, he let her feel all of his front as her hands traveled over his back. He slid his arm under her thighs and lifted. She wrapped her legs around his waist.
Norrix wasn’t taking her to bed? They were going to have sex right here? Somehow, that made her burn hotter. He wanted her so much he couldn’t even wait long enough to get to the bed only a few steps away.
She dug her claws into his shoulders and kissed him, licking at his lips, sliding her tongue in when he opened to her.
The hand wrapped around her hair pulled. Her back bowed as his other hand slid between her legs. His gaze held hers as he glided his hand up her thigh, scraping his nails against her flesh. Her breath came in small pants when his eyes ran hungrily over her body. Everywhere they touched, her skin prickled with sensation. She squirmed when he stared at the juncture of her thighs, but his hold kept her in place.
“Patience.”
“Fuck patience.” She flushed as the defiant, naughty word escaped her, but meant it.
Startled laughter burst from him as he spread her wetness, giving her clit a stroke that nearly had her coming already. “Better?”
If she'd been able to form words, she would have yelled at him, begged him to put her out of her misery as he stoked the fire in her until she thought she’d explode.
Myth spread her legs wider and reached between them to his loin cloth. She ripped at it and it slid down, his erection springing free, thick and hard, with pre-cum already beading on the head. He froze as her talon-tipped fingers gripped his shaft.
“Nervous, vampire?”
“Not enough to stop.” Norrix rubbed the large head of his cock up and down her sex, but didn’t enter, leisurely tormenting her. He gave a sharp tug on her hair that caused her to cry out. “What is it you want, Myth?” he demanded.
“You,” she panted. “Inside of me.”
“Like this?” He pushed his head against her, parting her folds but going no deeper. “Or do you crave more?”
“More,” she breathed, unable to tear her eyes away from the predatory beauty of him as he finally pushed in, stretching her around him.
His body shook from the self-control it took for him not to thrust, but he continued to hold back. She didn’t know how he could stand this when all she wanted was for him to move.
“Norrix,” Myth groaned. “I don't want gentle.” She swiped her claws across his chest, deep enough to draw beads of blood. The sight of his blood made her lick her lips.
His eyes went completely black and his fangs descended. He bent his head to run his tongue around her nipple, sinking his fangs in and sucking. Venom flowed into her, a hot rush that sensitized her body from the inside out.
Her fingers threaded through his hair, holding him close as sparks flashed across my fingertips, illuminating his bronzed skin and muscles.
“More!” Myth demanded.
Releasing her nipple from his fangs, he swirled his tongue over it and lifted his abyss eyes to look at her as he slid his thumb over her clit again. “Tell me what you want more of, Myth.”
Why was he always talking and asking questions at times like this? “I want you inside of me.”
“I am inside of you.” He moved his hips in a way that caused the tip of his erection to rub in all the right ways. Not enough.
The vampire stilled again. “What do you want me to do to you?”
“I want you to fuck me against this wall!” This time, she felt no embarrassment as the words came out as an order.
With vampire speed and strength, he released her hair, withdrew, pushed her thighs apart and buried himself in her with one thrust. She cried out at the exquisite sensation of finally having him filling and possessing her again. Her back bowed as he sank his fangs into her shoulder and liquid heat flowed into her blood. Withdrawing until only his head was inside, he held her hips as he thrust deep.
The slick feel of his skin against hers aroused her. Consumed her. He released his bite on her shoulde
r, bit down on her neck, and sucked. Confused pleasure ran rampant in all directions through her body. His corded muscles under her hands, his bite, the delicious feeling of him stretching her as he plunged deeper and deeper until he touched the very core of her, became all she knew. When he lost control and took her wildly, she came apart with a loud cry.
Silver magic encircled her wrists and spread up her arms as waves of bliss spiraled through her limbs, and her legs gave out. Strygoi magic enveloped them, pulsing from her in an explosion of energy. Her back burned in two lines, one on each side of her spine. “Wings!”
Holding her up, he remained buried within her, but spun from the wall. Her obsidian bat wings burst from her back. He carried her a few steps and sat on a chair, letting her lean against him.
NORRIX
NORRIX RAN HIS HAND down Myth's delicate spine, savoring the curve of her back and silky skin between her shiny, sharp-edged obsidian wings. Her scent of molten apple cider filled his lungs, and the sweet taste of her blood coated his tongue. He drank in the sight of her full curves and the firmness of her ass as he squeezed it and guided her against him.
The exquisite sensation of her wet sheath clenching his dick as she rode him had him on the verge of coming. The pressure building in his cock became almost too much, but he wasn’t ready for this to be over.
The vampire in him needed to be in her, possessing her until nothing separated them. His gaze latched onto the bites he'd already left on her. His fangs ached with venom and the compulsion to leave more. Leaning forward, he sank his fangs into the other side of her throat and smiled when her head tipped back, her body bucking against his. Unable to help himself, he touched her wings. Under his fingers, the deadly edges smoothed, the obsidian shards retracting to leave warm skin under his hands. She moaned as he traced delicate veins.
Placing his hand on the small of her back, he urged her to move faster.
He eased his fangs out and ran his tongue over the marks.
Reclaiming her hair with one hand, he drew her up and watched her breasts with their pert nipples rise and fall. A bead of sweat slid down her skin in a tantalizing trail between them and he lapped it up with his tongue. He'd Witnessed the most beautiful women in history, but none of them rivaled Myth as strygoi and lost in passion.
Myth's Legend: Norrix Page 33
