A Crown of Shadows and Secrets

by Sloane Murphy

  When his thumb begins making small, circles over my clit, a scream threatens to escape my mouth, but Creek places his other hand over my mouth, pulling me up against his body so we're both kneeling on the bed.

  “Shh, beautiful. This is just for us.”

  I nod, my eyes closed as I chase my orgasm with every thrust of his cock. Creeks slows his movements, a way to tease me, to drive me to the brink of my sanity.

  “Please, Creek,” I whisper, starved for more.

  “I’ve got you, Remy. I know what you need;”

  The minutes that follow remind me of the sexual prowess of my men. Of Creek. His cock is relentless. His finger applying the perfect amount of pressure every time he bottoms out at my core.

  I'm breathless, my knees are weak as I reach over my head to hook my arm around his neck for better leverage. With one hand cupping a breast and the other making my clit sing, Creek brings his mouth to my ear.

  “I will fuck this pussy every day, for the rest of my life.”

  And I know he'll keep that promise as much as he can, it doesn't surprise me that he says it but the intensity with which he speaks generates an orgasm I wasn't yet expecting.

  “Oh god, I'm going to…” I don't finish that thought because he squeezes my nipple and pinches my clit setting off an eruption of pleasure that starts deep in my core and flies off to every extremity.

  With his face buried in my neck, I can feel him climax Inside me, our juices mingling as they escape down my thighs.

  For a couple of minutes, we just sit there, our breathing the only sound in the room, and wait for the dopamine to clear our sex-fogged heads.

  “I love you, Remy.”

  “I love you, Creek.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Remy

  Breakfast, is well, it’s different to how I expected. It’s not tense at all.

  The guys are all kicking back and making jokes like yesterday never happened, like Roman and Bryce didn’t beat the crap out of each other last night. Morgan is still quiet, reserved, but she seems okay. I mean, I’ve been quiet too, readying myself for one of her guys to flip a switch and turn on me again.

  We’re just finishing eating when a young girl, who looks no more than eight or nine appears in the room, sudden enough to startle everyone at the table. My guys go on alert, despite Caleb and the others relaxing once they see who it is. Her dark curly hair and bright amber eyes make her seem even younger than she appears.

  “Morning,” she says brightly, waving at Morgan and the guys. “There’s a visitor insisting on seeing you,” the young girl says confidently, looking between Morgan and Caleb.

  “Who is it, Mireya?” Caleb asks her gently, his face softening as he smiles at her.

  “A Demon from the sixth level.” She smiles when she answers him and it’s like her whole face lights up. She’s obviously a Demon, but I’ve not seen one so young before.

  “If you’ll ask him to wait, I’ll be out in a moment,” he tells her and she pops out of sight again.

  “Who was that?” I ask him, watching him closely.

  “That, is our daughter,” he says quietly and my eyes go wide. “But that little fact doesn’t leave this room.” His pointed tone brokers no argument, but I wouldn’t have said anything anyway. He likely knows that which is why he told us.

  “Of course. She looks like your mini, Morgan.”

  “She does, she brings such joy in some very dark times, but we try to keep her hidden from as many people as we can. Even most people who stay here do not know she is ours, despite the resemblance,” Morgan says sadly. “There are too many here who would hurt her just to get to us.”

  “I can’t imagine many people wanting to incur your wrath,” Levi says lowly.

  “The few are enough for the measures to be necessary.” Caleb tells us, while the others remain quiet.

  “Who is her father?” Kain asks from further down the table and Bryce is the one to answer him.

  “We all are. A small part of each of us, of our power, created her. Another reason to keep her hidden.”

  “Holy crap, that’s a lot of power in a tiny package.” Creek laughs.

  “Something like that,” Killian agrees solemnly.

  “I’ll go see who it is that wants an audience, and then we’ll head out to the final levels today,” Caleb says, wiping his mouth with a napkin and standing before disappearing from sight.

  The guys talk amongst themselves, discussing who will be checking where, and with who, while I push my breakfast around my plate, still feeling off.

  “Are you okay?” Morgan asks me quietly and I give her a tight smile as Levi squeezes my thigh, without missing a beat in his conversation.

  “I am, I just… I’m sorry about yesterday,” I tell her quietly.

  “You have nothing to be sorry about, Mara. I knew the risks going in, I should have prepared myself better. Prepared us both. But I’m fine, Malik shouldn’t have reacted the way he did, but that’s for you and him to talk about.”

  “It’s fine, I get it. My guys probably would have done the same if it had been the other way around.”

  “Oh I know, I heard about the alpha face off.” She chuckles as she takes a sip of her coffee. “But it is what it is.”

  Caleb reappears with another guy beside him, a giant smile on his face. “You guys are going to want to hear this.”

  “Deacon, what the fuck are you doing here?” Bryce asks, tensing all over, while Deacon glares at him. There’s obviously some sort of history between the two of them, but Morgan rolls her eyes and I try not to laugh at her. Apparently this tension is nothing new.

  “I’m guessing that you’re Remy,” the new guys says to me, and I feel the tension in the room increase as my guys go on alert again.

  “Who wants to know?” Roman asks, his voice practically lethal.

  “I’m Deacon, Azriel's second on level six… I’m also Fallon’s keeper.” His face contorts, as if he’s ashamed of his words, but my heart races.

  “You’re fucking what?” I gasp. “Where is she? Why didn’t you bring her with you?”

  “Mara, you’re going to need to prepare yourself,” Caleb says softly, taking his seat opposite me, while waving his hand and another seat appears between him and Bryce, which Deacon sits in, almost begrudgingly.

  “What the fuck does that mean?” Creek asks, his shoulders tensing while my heart sinks.

  “It means,” Deacon sighs. “That Azriel did what he does best. He made a deal for his own gain. The Hunter he’s working with delivered him a package to tip his hand.”

  “The human who entered the realm?” Caleb asks and Deacon nods.

  “Who was it?” Kain asks, while Levi stays silent, watching the Demon intently.

  “Her little sister, Rebel.”

  “Fuck!” Creek shouts, standing and shoving his chair back with enough force it clears the room, but disappears before hitting the wall. “What the fuck did he do to Rebel?”

  I sit in stunned silence. I can’t believe Archer stooped so low. I knew he was a monster, but Rebel is eight. Eight. Children are off limits. Always.

  “He didn’t do anything, he just made Fallon think he did. She bound herself to him so that he would release the child.” Deacon’s voice is almost a whisper, and I swear he seems almost as devastated as I feel.

  “And did he?” Kain asks gripping the table, his knuckles white, while Creek paces.

  “Yes, I returned the child myself. She is safe and back with her mother.”

  “Holy fucking shit.” The words are barely a whisper as they slip from my mouth.

  “What does the binding mean?” Roman practically growls as his eyes dart between me and the Demon, while Levi still stays quiet, holding my hand.

  “It means, she agreed to stay here with him, until he releases her,” Caleb confirms and Deacon nods.

  “Can we break it?” I ask, looking to Morgan, because she won’t try to make me feel better.

&nbs
p; “Yes. But it could kill her,” she tells me straight and my heart sinks.

  “I knew this all took too long,” I say, dejected. “I was too late.”

  “How do we break it?” Creek asks, his voice cracking. Fallon is his friend too, and what the fuck am I going to tell Colt and Marie? I promised them I’d bring her home.

  “We need to persuade Azriel,” Bryce says, still pissed off as he looks to Deacon.

  “Or we kill him,” Caleb adds with a shrug.

  “Is that even possible?” I ask.

  “Him breaking it…unlikely. He’s a selfish bastard, he’s not Greed for nothing.” Deacon sighs. “But, if you can offer him something he wants more than her, potentially.”

  “Wouldn’t killing him solve the issue with Archer too?” Roman weighs in.

  “It would,” Levi finally speaks up. “But, we don’t know what else that could set off. Does it cause massive back lash down here?”

  “It’ll be a headache, but it won’t be the end of the world, as long as Deacon here is willing to step up,” Caleb says to Levi.

  “I’ll do it. She doesn’t deserve a life with him. I tried…I tried to get her out before all of it, but Azriel caught me.” He winces while Bryce laughs.

  “Oh I bet that was fun.”

  “Not exactly. You know how Azriel likes to punish.” Deacon shudders and I decide I don’t want to know. What I want to know is how the fuck we kill him and save my friend.

  “Will killing him hurt Fallon?” I interrupt their talks of his punishment, and my guys all still.

  “Not if we do it right.” Malik grins.

  “Her bond would pass to me. And I can release her from it,” Deacon tells me with a wince.

  “What about Archer?” Creek asks. “Won’t he retaliate harder if we do this? How are him and Azriel communicating? Is there a way for us to contact Colt to warn him?”

  “They speak via the Angel glass,” Deacon says, grimacing. “Azriel is due to contact him later today, but I can tell him that I found you guys, that I’ve captured you, so he’ll let his guard down a little maybe. As for contacting whoever Colt is. He’d need a decent amount of the glass for it to work.”

  “Shit.” Creek sighs.

  “What was that about Archer?” Levi asks. “Why would he relax if you had Remy?”

  “Because Remy is the key to what they’re trying to do,” Deacon explains. “I don’t know everything, but I know they wanted you to open the portal from this side, it’s why they took Fallon. Archer knew you’d come here rather than dealing with him directly. The plan was to use Fallon as a lure, so that Azriel could capture you. Then he could use your blood to open the portal…”

  “And a portal of that size could bind her to the realm, trapping her here,” Killian says and Deacon nods.

  “Holy shit.” I let out a deep breath trying to process everything.

  “Okay, so we need to work out three things, how to get Archer to back off a little, how to get Fallon, and how the fuck to kill this Azriel dick? Sounds simple,” Roman says rolling his eyes and the others, except for Morgan and Deacon around the table chuckle.

  “I could take Remy with me,” Deacon offers. Shouts go up around us and he raises his hands in submission. “I just mean, if I have her, I can take her to the Angel glass portal, show her to Archer, so he believes us. That way, Azriel should get cocky enough to let down his defenses. They don’t know that she’s friends with you four.” He motions to the Horsemen.

  “Hell I had no idea until Caleb brought me in here, I just wanted to get some fucking help getting Fallon away from Azriel.” He runs a hand through his hair and sighs.

  “You like her,” I say to him and I almost burst out laughing when the Demon blushes. He blushes. I didn’t even think that was a thing.

  “She’s nice.” He shrugs. “She doesn’t deserve the shit Azriel will put her through.”

  “Okay, so say Azriel lets down his guard because you take Remy. How do we get to him?” Levi asks, looking to Caleb then Deacon.

  “Deacon here is going to help with that too. We can’t just have Remy captured. He’ll know you’re with her. You’ll all have to go, but with Deacon in charge of the prisoners, he can make sure nothing happens to you. Once you’re on the level, and in the palace, then we can infiltrate, but we’ll need you guys fighting, because if you think he doesn’t have a battalion stationed at the palace you’re insane. He’s the most paranoid Demon I’ve ever met,” Caleb tells us, and I stiffen.

  “You can’t put the guys in cages. What if something happens to them? No offence Deacon, but Azriel caught you once trying to help, why would he trust you with us?”

  “Because of Fallon,” he says softly. “He knows I’ll do pretty much anything to make sure she isn’t harmed.”

  The table falls silent, and I realize Morgan hasn’t weighed in at all. I look at her, and she looks like her thoughts are going a mile a minute.

  “It could work, but it’s not without risk,” she says. “We’ll need to strategize, luckily, we have the Archangel of War alongside Conquest. There isn’t much between them that I doubt they can’t figure out.” She smiles, and it’s so cold I almost shudder.

  Caleb grins at Levi who nods. “I’m on board to work with the Angel. Not every day you get to work alongside the guy who almost destroyed our world.”

  The guys disappear to talk strategy, and Deacon goes with them to work out exactly how to “capture” us, leaving me alone with Morgan again, which Malik seemed uneasy about, but after a dressing down from her, he left with the others.

  “Are you okay?” She asks, waving her hand and clearing the table. I freaking wish I had her powers, I can just imagine how much easier cleaning my house would be. Sigh.

  “I’m fine, like it’s a lot, and I am beyond pissed off about it all, but I trust you guys when you say it’s fixable. I can’t lose hope now, because if I do, what was the point of any of this?”

  “Okay, well then, let’s actually unlock the power inside of you, because with everything you just found out, you’re going to need it,” she says and I nod.

  “If it helps us with Azriel, then it’s worth a try,” I agree.

  “Perfect, let’s get to it.” I close my eyes and open my shield to her. This time I feel her as she enters, but this time she’s more cautious.

  “I’m going to need you to take the lid off of your power slowly, Remy,” she says inside my mind, and as uncomfortable as I feel because of what happened before, I trust her when she says she can handle it this time.

  I reach deep inside of myself and pull at the box I buried the seed of power in, but when I lift the lid, I shove Morgan from my mind. I hear her gasp as the power rushes through me. The seed grew, so fucking much, and when her and Caleb were looking, I didn’t know. I didn’t feel.

  But opening that box myself?

  It feels like my insides are on fire as it tears through me. I hear myself whimper as tears run down my face.

  I can’t handle this.

  Not yet.

  I’m not ready.

  So I shove it back inside the box, with every piece of strength I have, and when I open my eyes I’m panting, with sweat running down my back and face.

  “Holy shit,” I wheeze.

  “You could say that,” Morgan says, still a little breathless herself. “You need to learn to control it, to harness it. You let it overwhelm you. The lid wasn’t lifted slowly, but I appreciate the evacuation,” she rasps. “Now, let’s try again.”

  We spend what feels like hours as I try to get a grip on the power inside of me, and I fail, epically.

  I groan in frustration. I’m tired and hungry, and we’ve gotten nowhere.

  “It takes time, Mara,” Morgan says, trying to reassure me.

  “We don’t have time.” I sigh when doors appear to the room and Roman storms in with Caleb on his heels.

  “I fucking said no!” Roman roars as he rushes towards me.

  “What’s going
on?” I ask, confused.

  “His fucking plan is fucked, that’s what. You are not being carted off there alone while the rest of us are passed out. I am not leaving you alone with those monsters.” He growls and his eyes glow. By the time he reaches me, I can see his fingers turning to claws.

  “Roman, it’s going to be okay,” I say, soothing him. “Whatever it is, we’ll work it out.”

  I look back to Morgan, a smile dancing on her lips as Caleb rolls his eyes.

  “Why don’t we go somewhere we can talk?” I say softly to Roman, wrapping my arms around his waist so he can feel that I’m okay. So that his wolf knows I’m here and still in one piece. I feel as his breathing slows and evens out, and his claws retract.

  “Let’s do that,” he says pulling himself from my arms and taking my hand, pulling me from the room. I look back and watch as the doors disappear from sight, then he opens a door in the hall and pulls me into a fucking closet.

  “What are we doing in here?” I ask softly, trying not to sound as frustrated as I feel.

  “We need a different plan, Remy,” he growls, and his eyes glow again.

  “No, we need to get Fallon back, Roman. I’m happy to be taken if it means we can get her back home and out of Azriel’s grasp.”

  “And what if something happens to you?” His voice is low and gravely as he asks the question, and goosebumps ripple over my skin.

  “Nothing is going to happen to me.”

  “You can’t know that!” He roars.

  I capture his face and kiss him, hard and full of fire.

  The easiest way to calm and reassure his wolf is to let him know I’m okay, and sometimes the best way to do that is to fuck the worry right out of him. I figure it's a win-win. He's calmer, more collected and I get an orgasm or three out of it.

  But my kiss only exacerbates his mood. He turns that fire right back on me and garners complete control of the situation. With his hands one on each of my cheeks, he pushes his tongue inside my mouth and punishes me with a kiss so violent and full of love that it makes me weak. Powerless.