Rolling onto my back, I stare at the ceiling as relentless sobs wreck my body. My heart aches and tears stream down my cheeks as I contemplate my miserable existence. For the first time in my life, I feel like giving up and wish for death to come and take me.
Wind whips across my skin, rippling the feathers that decorate my head and wings while I fly through the bright blue sky in search of my team. I try to ignore the pain in my chest that’s grown the farther I get from Trinity and focus on how eager I am to get to see my brothers again. A grin stretches across my face. I’ve missed my friends and can’t wait to tell them the good news.
Lachlan, Orian, and I grew up together as kids. We trained together during our teenage years and now our trio is a top ranked team of warriors, sanctioned by King Ignatius himself to find his lost daughter and only child. Over the years different trios have formed, in hopes of finding the lost Princess. Unfortunately none were successful... until now.
Princess Trinity has been missing since she was a baby, stolen from her crib while she slept. There was no evidence pointing the King in the direction of her kidnapper. One morning she was just... gone. Shortly after the sudden disappearance of her daughter, her succubus mother died, presumably from a broken heart.
The absence of Trinity has plagued the Phoenix empire. Without the royal female bloodline to ignite the fertility fires, our females became barren. Unable to have pure blood Phoenix offspring any longer, the males looked to non-phoenix mates for breeding. Most of the younger generation are of mixed blood, and only able to partially shift. My team and I are mixed, with Phoenix fathers and human mothers.
The color of our Phoenix feathers matches our hair in human form. My hair is blue, so my phoenix is also a bright blue. Even my eyebrows are blue, contrasting with the golden color of my eyes. From years of training to gain muscle mass, I have a large build which aids in giving me the commanding presence necessary to act as the leader of our team of phoenix warriors.
Before entering this mission, we agreed we would meet in a secret cave we found years ago exploring the Connemara mountains, County Galway, Ireland. Spreading out, we went our separate ways to explore Germany and agreed to meet back at the cave in two weeks. After finding the Princess, I am a few days late, so I’m sure my brothers in arms are a bit worried about my safety.
Spotting the cave’s entrance, I stretch out my wings and start my descent, gliding on the air currents while I float down to the small ledge that juts in front of our cave. The others are still here, I can smell them.
I shift just before I land on my feet and enter the tunnel that leads to the inner chamber of the cave. Spotting the nook where I had previously hidden some clothing, I shed my dirty clothes in favor of clean ones and make my way down the tunnel. Running my fingers down the cold veins of Connemara marble that decorate the tunnel walls, I quicken my steps as the anticipation of seeing my brothers allows me to forget the ache in my heart for just a moment.
I hear their voices deep in conversation and lean against the entrance to the inner chamber for a moment to watch their interactions. I smile while they banter back and forth, sitting on the cave floor in front of a small fire. Their familiar tones remind me of home.
Lachlan is leaner and taller than I, with shoulder length, stark white hair that is currently pulled back into a man bun and icy blue eyes that remind me of a frozen sea. Swirling tattoos decorate his back, arms, and chest. The dark ink decorates his skin like a coat of armor. The sharp contrast of the black tattoos to his pale hair and arctic eyes gives him an almost demonic look. His stern face and chiseled features give him an intimidating look, one resembling those old greek statues. An adonis if you will. Lach has never had problems with finding females for company.
Lachlan is a weapons specialist, a highly trained warrior, and extremely knowledgeable in battle planning. However, he is quick to anger with a short temper and a fondness for profanity, something Orian and I have dealt with and tried to curb since we were kids.
Orian is the opposite of Lach. He is smaller in size and stature than both Lachlan and I. His coloring makes for a striking appearance, with his blood red hair that he styles spiky but close to his head and emerald green eyes that hold a depth of knowledge. With a lean muscular physique and prominent dimples, his boyish good looks tend to make the females swoon. Orian could have been a model in the human world, but we were fortunate when books became his passion.
What he lacks in size, he makes up for in intelligence. Orian retains information like a sponge. This quality has helped our team out of trouble on countless occasions. He’s always ready with a cure, an antidote, or a solution to every problem presented. He carries a backpack wherever he goes that he keeps loaded with supplies, ensuring he is always prepared for any situation. He’s an optimist, always smiling and trying to lighten the mood, raising our spirits after our countless failed attempts at finding the Princess.
Unable to wait any longer I throw my hands up and announce my presence, entering the inner chamber of the cave. “Lachlan! Orian! How the hell are you guys?”
Keegan's thunderous voice echos off the dark cave walls, startling me and bringing my conversation with Lachlan to a halt.
“Holy shit you’re back!” Lachlan says with a grin on his face as he stands up and embraces our leader.
“We were beginning to worry,” I comment, following right behind Lach, anxious to see if he has found anything.
Standing in a circle, Keegan grips Lach and I on a shoulder, an eager look in his eyes.
“Well? I take it by the shit eating grin that’s smeared on your face that you have good news for us?” Lachlan asks, his expression hopeful.
Keegan pauses for a moment, hemming and hawing while rubbing his chin in thought as he gives us the side eye. The suspense is killing me but I force myself to wait patiently for our leader to speak.
A toothy grin spreads across his face and his golden eyes sparkle. “I found her.” His voice is almost a whisper, like if he speaks any louder someone could overhear the important secret he is sharing.
Lach and I still in disbelief for a moment before we celebrate the good news. “I can’t fucking believe it!” Lach shouts.
Keegan’s face turns somber. “Please, take a seat. There’s more I need to tell you.”
We sit around the small fire while Keegan tells us the events of the past few days. Lachlan and I are rapt with attention as Keegan recounts the details of Princess Trinity’s enslavement with Exotique, the Auction, and how he won her. So many emotions course through me as I listen. Relief for finding the Princess and fury at her captivity and treatment. I’m exasperated to learn that royalty from several races attended the Auction, including King Malachi of the Griffins and King Romero of the Incubi. Such behavior should be considered abhorrent by any respectable male.
Then he describes something I find very interesting. An intuition that guided him on his search for the Princess.
“It was like she was a beacon and I the ship she was guiding.” Keegan's eyes light with wonder as he talks about this connection. “The closer to her I got, the stronger the sensation grew.”
My mind spins with ideas of what this could mean, the most obvious being that she is his fated mate. Fated mates are rare but not completely unheard of, though they’ve happened less and less often in the wake of the Princess's disappearance.
I’ve known Keegan my whole life and can sense that there’s something else he’s holding back, something he’s not telling us. I intend to get to the bottom of it.
Narrowing my eyes, I look at him. “What happened after you won her, Keegan?” I press with suspicion lacing my words.
“Uhh.” He’s stalling, I can tell. His face blanches, and I see his Adam's apple bob in a forceful swallow. Lachlan notices it, too, and crosses his arms over his broad chest, his arctic eyes staring expectantly at Keegan.
“Well guys, there’s no easy way to say this, but...” Keegan looks down and avoids our eyes. “I might hav
e slept with the Princess.”
Lachlan roars in a fit of anger, and his fist connects with Keegan's face, the force tossing him across the cave and into the rock wall. Lachlan paces around the cave, his arctic blue eyes filled with rage, anger maring his features.
“What the actual fuck, Keegan?” Lachlan slams his fist into the wall. “You fucked the Princess? The King is going to kill you for this! I should kill you for this!” He spins away from me and grips his long white hair, pulling it out of the man-bun that sits atop his head in his frustration. Speechless for the first time in my life, I can only stare at Keegan in shock as a bruise starts to form on his cheek.
Keegan holds his hands up in surrender. “Well, if you assholes would stop and fucking listen to me for a minute, you also would have learned that we mated. Actually mated. Complete with mating fire and everything.” He pauses and rubs his chest, grimacing as if in pain. “It ignited our souls as it burned around us, merging us together. It was amazing! I know it’s hard to believe, but Princess Trinity is my fated mate.”
My jaw drops to the floor, and for the second time today, I find myself without words. I know I considered this as a distinct possibility after he described the draw he felt to her. But to discover a member of our team is in fact the fated mate of the Princess of the Phoenix empire? It’s mind-blowing to say the least.
“Wow, Keegan.” Lachlan pauses before speaking again, trying to gather his thoughts, his white hair now disheveled from all the pulling. “Part of me wants to lay into you for having no self control and sleeping with the Princess, but the other half wants to congratulate you. It is not often a Phoenix finds a fated mate anymore.”
The anger now erased from his face, Lachlan grins while walking over to Keegan, extending his hand. Keegan accepts the offer, and Lach pulls him to his feet then wraps his arms around him in an embrace. “Congratulations, man, that really is awesome.” Lachlan says as he pats him on the back.
“There’s more to this story.” Keegan walks over and sits back by the fire, then looks at us with a gleam in his golden eyes. Lach and I join him and look at him expectantly. We give him our full attention while he tells us about her blood, how she insisted that he drink it and how good it tasted, how addicted he felt to it. Most would find that disgusting I suppose, but I find this information quite fascinating. I’ve heard of blood lust before and studied what little information I could get my hands on. The rest of this story should be very educational, so I continue to give him my complete attention.
Keegan blabs on about her special blood or whatever, but I’m not really listening. My mind wanders, not able to focus on any one thought as he drones on and on. As a warrior specializing in weapons and strategy, I start compiling the information he’s provided and begin to devise our battle plans. How the fuck are we going to get her out of there?
I rub my eyes and think about how difficult this mission is going to be. Together my team and I have fought many battles, infiltrated numerous lairs and nests looking for the Princess. But something tells me this fight will test the limits of this phoenix warrior trio. From the way Keegan describes Exotique, it seems almost impenetrable. Maybe if we use a distrac-.
My head snaps forward as something bonks me in the back of the head, breaking my concentration. I look up to see Keegan looking at me with a grin on his face, like he’s waiting for me to react to him.
“What?”
“Weren’t you listening, you ass? Her blood has magical properties!”
I burst out laughing, gripping my stomach. My abs hurt from clenching so hard and tears leak from the corners of my eyes.
“Magic blood! That’s a good one, Keegan. Fucking magic…” I can’t even finish my thought without cracking up again.
“Watch and learn asshole.” I hear Keegan say as I swipe the tears from my cheeks. Then a blazing heat rushes past me. I feel it before I even see it and duck down as it slams into the wall across from me.
“What the fuck was that?” I ask, my voice pitching as I look up at Ri and Keegan with my eyebrows raised in question. Keegan smirks at me then raises his hand, and fire explodes from his fingertips. I jump back in surprise and glance back at Keegan. As serious as possible, he holds up his pointer finger to his lips and blows on it.
I can’t help the giant smile that plasters itself on my face. Fire power! What the fuck!
“How did you discover this… fire power?” Orian asks, his voice inquisitive. His brows furrowed in thought when he grabs Keegan’s hands, turning them over like he's searching for clues as to how this power works.
“I was attacked when I left the auction. An Eagle shifter launched himself at me. I threw my hands up in self defence and the fire just shot out. Lit his ass up.” He laughs at his own joke. “Get it? Anyway, I was able to purposefully call the fire again shortly after, scorching a boulder.”
“Magic fingers… I can’t believe it. Magic has been lost in our Kingdom since the Princess was taken,” I say in wonder. Taking my hair tie out of my hair, I run my fingers through the long white strands then redo the bun that was holding it up. “We need to start planning. This is one mission in which we can not fail. No matter what it takes, we need to get her back.” I look to Keegan. “Do you have any useful information regarding the structure of the compound, any weaknesses you noted during your visit?”
“I’m not sure I do.” He shrugs his shoulders and hangs his head. “Exotique is no ordinary place. It’s an underground prison buried beneath the Black Forest. It has limited points of entry and guards everywhere. It’s not going to be easy, and quite frankly, I’m not sure where to start. I was lucky enough to get in the first time.”
We sit quietly, each lost in our own thoughts, trying to come up with a solution to this problem. In our haste to recover the Princess, I worry that we might rush in unprepared. We need to evaluate the situation first, really see how Exotique works if we are to find a way inside without being caught. We need to be smart in our decision making and thoroughly plan out her rescue. “First things first,” I announce. “We scout.”
Waking is becoming increasingly difficult as I lose the will to live. Sinking deeper and deeper into the darkness that clouds my mind, I struggle to get through every waking moment. My head hurts, my heart aches, and I can’t stop the onslaught of tears that drip continuously from my lavender eyes. Nothing holds even a semblance of joy for me anymore. The little things that used to make me happy, like clean sheets or a shower, even the sight of a small meal don’t have the same effect that they used to.
Sinking, like a damaged ship lost in a raging sea, I feel myself slipping. Whoever I was, I am no longer. All that remains is a broken shell, empty and devoid of light. So when the shimmery purple and silver outfit is presented to me through the opening in the metal door, I find that I don’t even have the strength to care.
Parade day used to fill me with such anxiety, my body would tremble with trepidation. Now? I just don’t give a fuck. They can have me, use me, fuck me, whatever. I have no will to fight it anymore.
As I put on the outfit and walk over to the circle platform, I no longer feel the impending doom that used to fill me while standing here. Instead it gives me hope, that maybe this time I won’t survive the session.
Securing the enchanted shackles and placing the blindfold over my eyes, I straighten and wait for the parade to begin. The sound of the door creaking, followed by a single set of footsteps alerts me that an Enforcer has come to restrain me. I don’t fight him as he chains my ankles and wrists to the d-rings on my shackles. I don’t fight him as he cops a feel, groping my breasts beneath my robe. I just don’t fucking care anymore.
Usually when the parade begins, I open my senses, trying to pick up any useful detail about those interested in my purchase. Today however, I close them off, repressing the flood of information. It’s not like anything I learned ever helped me in the past.
In the background, I can hear the voices of the different shifters that filter in and ou
t of my room. All of them come close to inhale my alluring scent. Their rank breath churning my stomach. Some pay the extra fee to see me disrobed. What once made me feel so exposed, I now have no reaction to. Let them look. Let them see what their money will buy them. Maybe they are my destiny, the Handler of the one final session that can aid me in finding my infinite dark end.
The parade lasts longer than usual, the Auction having stirred up interest in me I suppose. Purchase agreements are discussed as they mull over dates of availability. Lost in my dark thoughts, I’m initially unaware when a familiar presence enters my room. The scent of power, lust, and leather quickly fills the tiny space and for the first time in days, my heartbeat quickens in my chest.
“Hello, poppet. It’s so nice to see you again.” The way he says the term of endearment, it drips with sex and tingles something low in my body.
Deciding I will no longer be unresponsive, in hopes to encourage his wrath I respond. “I wish I could say the same, Romero,” I sneer, saying his name with disdain. I instantly regret my words when a large hand connects with my ass, and I can’t hold in a whimper. What the fuck? They can’t touch me during the parade!
“You will show respect when you address me, female. The rules changed after your outburst with King Malachi. I can discipline you now if you choose to step out of line again. You have been warned.”
“Do your worst, Romero. I can take it. In fact, I want you to.”
He chuckles then, the sound dark and sexy. “I have plans for you, poppet. You would do well to learn your place and play nice.” He spanks my ass again. “Turn her around.” Romero commands the Enforcer who quickly does as requested. “Disrobe her! Now!”
Bound For Blood (Feathers & Fire Book 1) Page 9
