by J. L. Weil
My body quivered when he lowered his head and ran his tongue over the side of my throat, opposite of the one Devyn had claimed.
“Mine,” he rasped. Lacking his usual stealth and grace, Kai didn’t hesitate. With a harsh growl, he plunged his fae fangs into my skin.
Raw power and cool darkness slammed into me, but there was also unimaginable pleasure. My head fell back as Kai’s power merged with my human body, and my blood filled his mouth. The presence of his magic in my veins was like a call to my inner fox, an invitation she couldn’t refuse. Blocking the Kitsune, I banned her from my thoughts, sending all my concentration to the darkness that swirled inside of me.
Having shared his powers before, I recognized Kai’s magic, and feeling it swimming through every crevice of my being now was a breath of fresh air—it was like finally jumping into the ocean after a long, hot day in the sun. I bathed in his magic, let its twilight wash over me before I brought my face to his level, seeing the bond between us shine bright and clear.
Kai raked a nail down the side of his neck, a mere scratch, but enough to coax a few drops of his Unseelie blood.
My gaze flicked from his neck to his eyes, finding his focus had remained fixed on me. I had to take his blood to complete the bond.
“You are mine,” I whispered and dipped my head. My tongue darted over his skin, lapping up the pearls of blood and letting them trickle down my throat.
Air expelled from my lungs once the sudden awareness of Kai became present within me. Just like that, the bond to another fae snapped into place. This time I recognized it, welcomed the pieces of Kai that were now a part of me.
“I was always yours, little queen. You just didn’t see it,” Kai murmured against my lips, and I was sure he would kiss me. The threads of his Unseelie magic shimmered between us like a glittering web.
I had mated twice.
Each fae. One golden. One dark. One Seelie. The other Unseelie. Both of them mine.
Chapter Twelve
DEVYN
My heart gave a wild jerk in my chest.
Karina.
Her name a whisper across my mind. It happened whenever the queen was in trouble, my Shaman abilities sending me a warning, spurring a need to rescue her. It pounded in my blood trying to overtake Talin’s command that gripped.
It wasn’t our mating bond that thrummed and pulsed, since I had closed myself off for fear of Talin finding out the truth. It was my Shaman connection to her that raced and thrashed inside me.
And so, the internal struggle began, yet no one around me was the wiser. Despite my fists curling, my fingers digging into my palms, I kept my features blank. However, if Talin had been at my side, he would have gotten a whiff of my Shaman magic—sensed that tie to Karina.
I couldn’t let that happen.
What had she gotten herself into?
Where the fuck were Kai and Reilly?
Something was wrong.
Something was happening.
It fucking killed me to be so close, yet unable to help, not without abandoning everything I’d sacrificed these past couple of days. It was all for her. I had to fulfill my promise to her. This was the only way Karina would ever truly be safe.
I was close—so fucking close.
The castle loomed in the distance, its gold towers jutting into a sky cloaked in misery and the promise of death. The wards were still intact, but not for much longer. Talin had a plan for that. It wouldn’t take much, not with the blight chipping away at it day in and day out, never resting.
Part of me wanted to break through the ranks of warriors, charge into the castle, and scream her name. If she was hurt… If she was in trouble, scared, or alone...
I didn’t know what I would do.
No amount of revenge would ever satisfy the lust for payback that would ignite within me.
I would use that primal need inside me to tear apart the world, and I would kill the one responsible for her pain. Because... it all came back to one person.
My eyes cut through the darkness, the shadows under our feet rolling in turmoil.
Talin.
You have no idea what’s coming, but I promise, you will get what you deserve.
Chapter Thirteen
KARINA
I waited for Kai to join our lips, seal them in a kiss we were both starved for. The anticipation killed me, so much so that I started to lean forward, growing damn impatient. Why wasn’t he kissing me? His hands still held me in place, snug against him.
As my lips moved to close the distance and kiss that fucking smirk off his face, a pair of hands grabbed me, tugging me off Kai’s lap.
“The deed is done,” Reilly growled with such a gruff textured that I, at first, hadn’t heard what he said.
Kai stood with lethal grace, his fingers refusing to budge—to let me go. The flames in his eyes flared to life, roaring as if someone had doused them with gasoline. I hadn’t even seen the switch. The Unseelie was suddenly this imposing force of shadows, smoke, and black fire. His perpetual smirk gone, replaced by a scowl so deep that I trembled in his arms, clinging to him.
“Touch her again, shifter, and it will be your life.” The tone in Kai’s voice sent chills prickling over my arms. I shuddered, but Kai’s arm drew me closer into the folds of his embrace.
“Fuck, I hate newly mated males. You are all such touchy assholes.” Reilly held up both hands in the air, showing them to Kai. “Look, I’m not touching her, but the truth of our situation remains the same. You might have mated with her, Kai, but you don’t have the luxury of indulging in those first days of mated bliss. War is on our doorstep. Karina saved your ass from a—”
Kai reached out with his other hand and grabbed Reilly on the shoulder, cutting him off. Not because Reilly was surprised or felt threatened by Kai, but because he was suddenly no longer there.
Reilly was gone.
Just gone.
Like no longer in the library. He vanished in a whirlwind of shadows.
I blinked, a fragment of the mating haze Reilly mentioned clearing. “What did you do?” I asked, still staring at the spot where he had been seconds ago.
Kai seemed unconcerned. His hand moved to the end of my hair, pulling out the twist tie that secured my braid. “I sent him to his room.” It was as if he was talking about a five-year old that needed to be sent to bed for a timeout.
My gaze ran over his features. Only a glimpse of the ruthless Unseelie remained. “You can do that?” I muttered as my brain attempted to catch up to all that happened in the last few minutes.
He smiled, tangling his fingers into my braid as he worked the dark hairs free.
I sighed as the hair spilled onto my shoulders, falling down my back.
“There are a great many things I can do, little queen.” The pad of his thumb traced over my bottom lip, parting them slightly. “I have dreamed of this moment often, of the day you became mine. And I plan to show you just how fun it can be to be wicked.”
This time I shivered in pure, delicious delight.
A part of me registered that I shouldn’t be indulging Kai. That Reilly had been valid in his worry. War was on the horizon.
Literally.
And I was far from ready.
Yet, I couldn’t stop myself from leaning into him, into his touch. Just another few minutes. Or so I told myself. My curiosity had been aroused, along with other parts of my body. What would it be like to kiss Kai, to have his hands touch me? I’d be a liar if I said that I never thought about it. That I’d never had a dream of him, or a fantasy, but before, those had shamed me.
I had Devyn. How could I possibly want another when I had someone like him? Devyn was everything. Still, it took me up until this moment to realize they were separate.
My feelings for the two fae were different.
I thought back to the girl with four dragons, Olivia. The idea of being with four different men, of loving them had been fathomless to me, but suddenly, I had an idea of how she might fee
l. Four was still beyond my mind, but two…? Perhaps I could handle two…
Who was I kidding? I had no idea what I was doing. Two fae males were very different from four dragon shifters. I didn’t know much about dragons, but fae, they took possessive to heights God couldn’t see. I had my hands full with the two I had.
Besides, currently, they were full of Kai.
He brushed his lips across mine, just a teasing hint that felt like moonlight on my mouth, and just when I thought he would actually kiss me, his lips moved to my temple, then to my eyes, trailing to the side of my cheek and jaw. In an exploration of my face, he kissed all of my features as if he could spend hours alone worshiping me with his lips.
“Kai, are you going to kiss me now?” I whispered.
His eyes flared. “You don’t ever have to ask me that again.”
Finally, he claimed my lips, just like he had claimed me, thoroughly and without hesitation. His mouth slanted over mine, and as before, he took his sweet ass time drawing it out and savoring each touch, as if he was memorizing the taste, the feel, and the shape of my lips.
I needed more. My fingers fisted his hair as a tiny sigh of pleasure escaped me. His tongue swept in between my parted lips and deepened the kiss. I saw stars. Like actual stars.
He tasted of cold fire, if there was such a thing.
The combination of his lips, the desire he enticed, and the licks of his magic were intoxicating. A perfect, lethal mixture meant to seduce, to make me whimper and beg him not to stop…
And all Kai had done was kiss me.
Skilled fingers roamed down my body, edging up the hem of my shirt. I gasped into his mouth at the touch of those fingers splaying over my belly and brushing the undersides of my breast.
I felt his need, his desire to sweep off my feet and lay me down on one of the library tables. Everything after a claiming was heightened, and it was easy to forget about what waited outside this room, but my fox wouldn’t be shoved aside any longer. Not when Devyn was still out there with the enemy. I might have stopped Kai from the same fate, but that didn’t mean Devyn wasn’t in danger.
Unwinding my fingers from the nape of his neck, I dropped my palms on Kai’s chest and gave a mild push, just enough to get his attention.
“Hmm,” he purred, easing back to look into my face, but not enough that we lost contact with our bodies. He searched my eyes. “You’re going to ask me to stop, aren’t you, little queen?”
“I’m sorry. It’s not that I don’t want to keep going, because I do, and I know you can feel that, but I can’t. Not right now. I need to finish this thing.”
Also, I needed to talk to Devyn. This wasn’t just about Kai and me. Honestly, if my back hadn’t been pressed to the wall, I would have asked Devyn his opinion before binding myself to another. Then again, if we weren’t in this situation, I might never have bonded with Kai.
Heat and flames still lingered in his eyes. “And what if we never get the chance?” he asked, his fingers gliding to the small of my back, still under my shirt, teasing a bouquet of tingles over my bare skin.
It was strange, so strange having Kai’s emotions mixed with mine. I imagined it would take some navigating, trying to decipher between the three of us, but I did notice that like our voices, our feelings seemed to have distinct traits, which was why I found it so weird. There was no sense of despair or hopelessness coming from Kai. Only, shimmering love and a surge of protectiveness, and of course, possessiveness. I sensed nothing that would suggest he thought we were fighting a winless war.
“Do you believe that? Believe that we are doomed? That there is no hope of defeating the blight, or Talin for that matter?” I asked regardless.
He didn’t respond right away, and trepidation danced into my gut. Was there really no hope of winning the war that was just miles from the front gates? Had I worked this hard, giving up my human life for nothing?
Kai finally shook his head, brushing strands of my hair behind my ear. “No. He isn’t going to win, little queen. He doesn’t stand a chance against you, and not just because you have me by your side.” His lips curved. “But that does tip the scale. I know you. Know what you are capable of. There is no way you could be my mate and Devyn’s,” he added with a wrinkle of his nose, “without being a righteous badass. Talin doesn’t have a clue what he is up against. If my words aren’t enough to convince you, then feel it here.”
He took my hand and lay it over his chest, where his heart beat.
Under my palm, his Unseelie heart beat with the same rhythm as mine—as his stepbrother’s. We were all connected now, in a way, through me. As unsure as I had been before, I now knew, staring into Kai’s eyes, that this was right. He and I, we were right. Our bond was as destined as Devyn’s and mine had been. One was not stronger than the other. Each had their place in my life, and I was starting to see how that might be possible. I needed them both; I just didn’t know what I did to deserve them.
Nevertheless, I would find a way to make them happy... once happiness came back into the world.
“As far as pep talks go, that was pretty decent,” I replied, grinning. The hope Kai gave me burst out of my heart and spread throughout me—into my arms, legs, fingers, toes, every part of me filled with determination. Kai gave me that. A fae deemed lesser by some, but not to me.
I embraced all of Kai. The good, the bad, and the questionable.
The smile on his lips widened. “You bewitch me, little queen.” His head jerked toward the door. “Leave, before I’m tempted to change your mind and have my way with you against these damn bookshelves.”
“I could think of worse places to explore you.” I couldn’t seem to stop myself from flirting with him.
“Karina,” he rumbled, the floor under my feet quaking. He held me in his arms another few moments before they dropped to his sides.
“You aren’t coming with me?” I asked, lifting a brow. Just because now wasn’t the time to rip his clothes off, didn’t mean I still didn’t long for his company. I didn’t want to be alone, not so soon after the joining of our souls. It might be selfish, but I wanted Kai with me every second from now until the blight was destroyed and Talin took his last breath.
“I will follow you until the end of this world.”
I held out my hand to him. “It won’t end. We won’t let it.”
I didn’t know how it was possible or why I was able to have two mates. I was only grateful that my human soul and fae soul were each allowed to choose one, for without that choice, I wouldn’t have been able to save Kai, or be honest with my heart and who I truly was—a halfbreed.
Chaos bustled in the halls as Kai and I left the library. I don’t know what I expected or how I hadn’t noticed all the activity going on outside the walls. Part of me suspected that, somehow, that was Kai’s doing.
Every one we passed carried a weapon, wearing fighting leathers with the Katsura crest sewn into the right shoulder or right breast, depending on the type of clothing.
With a gentle hand on my back, Kai guided me through the castle, toward the tower where Fyson gathered with Niklaus and Reilly. It was a circular room, with arched beams that framed the dome ceiling in a geometric pattern. Various weapons that ranged from archaic to modern lay on tables, hung on the walls, and were stuffed in wooden chests.
My eyes collided with the dragon shifter’s, and I gave him an apologetic look.
Surprise flickered through them, and then a glint of respect, until they shifted to the Unseelie who stood close to my side. We didn’t have time to deal with personal feelings, and although I could see that Reilly had a lot on his mind, he bit his tongue for most of it. “Karina, you’re here.”
“Where else would I be?” I retorted, my lips curling slightly.
Kai smirked. “I could think of one place,” he muttered under his breath, and I poked him in the side, shooting the Unseelie a sidelong glare.
Perhaps I should have just been grateful he hadn’t mumbled where that place
was. Like his bed or on that library table he had previously mentioned. My cheeks warmed at the memory.
His laughter rumbled through our newly formed bond, and I suppressed an eye roll, which I was positive would only entice another chuckle from him.
“Good,” Fyson interrupted the mounting tension between Kai and Reilly. “We can quickly go over the layout. I don’t want you to get caught in the crossfire. Then we’ll get you suited up. I can’t send you out into battle in…” Fyson eyes took a sweep over me, taking in the thin fabric that fell around my legs and the leather pants. If he noticed the slightly crooked top, he didn’t let it show. The arm’s master cleared his throat. “You need to be protected.”
I casually tugged on the band under my chest. “Seeing as this is my first battle, I trust you.”
Fyson gave me a brief nod. “My men will protect you with their life. They will give you the opening and time you need to embed your essence into the land.”
Right. That was my whole purpose in being here. No big deal.
It wasn’t like I didn’t have my last tail yet or anything.
Except, that was the problem. I didn’t!
Of course, I had another stupid, reckless plan for that, and Kai was just the Unseelie to help me see it through, assuming his newly mated pride wouldn’t get in our way. This should be fucking interesting, to say the least. A moment I’d never forget, that was for sure.
I wondered if Fyson knew that I didn’t have my final power—the one that truly counted. Based on his strategy, I was going with no. Perhaps Niklaus had kept that information to himself? It would keep the fae within the castle from panicking, giving them a semblance of hope if they believed that I had the power to save them.
However, the two sentinels, Mykel and Zaire knew. Had they been sworn to secrecy?
My lips curved into a weary smile. “Thank you, Fyson. I don’t know what Halcyon would have done without you.”
