by Rae Foxx
It was better than a bath and much more effective. My legs were slowly getting less shaky.
“Perhaps you should sleep more, honeybee,” Finn whispered in my ear, even Saxon nodded in agreement.
Howl let a low growl free from the base of his throat, the sound pulling everyone's focus.
“You know that’s not possible. Not after last night. We don’t have enough time,” he didn’t have to remind me. I already knew. Finn was looking too much like a ruffled mother hen, though. His eyes were narrowed at Howl, his arms clamping against me to hold me in place.
“Howl’s right,” I sighed, prying myself away from Finn’s vice grip. “We have to do this. I’ll be fine.”
Saxon escorted us from the vampire Keep that had only gotten creepier the longer I’d been here. The news of Saxon’s guests had spread, with more vampires hovering around the doors in the hope of a bite. There weren’t as many that morning as there had been last night, but the few that were there were licking their lips as they watched their hopeful buffet strut by.
Well, Howl strutted; I tried to use Saxon as a human shield.
Fight Pater? Sure.
Face a hallway of vampires like I had accidentally wandered into that the other day? I had no interest in repeating.
Prodding the tip of my thumb between Saxon’s shoulder blades, I pushed him along, forcing him through the cold steel doors and out to the same clearing we had been using as a training ground.
It was also the same clearing where Howl and I had consummated our mating.
‘Don’t use that word, little wolf. It makes you sound like a genteel lady from the 1800s.’ Howl’s voice filled my head and I flushed. I should probably figure out how to block him from my thoughts at some point.
‘Maybe I am a genteel lady from the 1800s,’ I teased. He winked at me, the powerful growl of his wolf vibrating in my mind.
‘Not with the way you screamed my name when I fucked you.’ He was smiling, my stomach was swimming gleefully. I needed some kind of distraction before I lost control of myself.
“Okay,” I said, clapping my hands together. “What’s first on the agenda?”
“I say we focus today on mastering that magic of yours,” Finn said, his perfectly straight teeth flashing mischievously. “I was told there was an incident with throwing Selene into a mat yesterday?”
“It was an accident. Not that I wouldn’t have done it otherwise.”
“And we would gladly support you in all Selene-bashing activities,” Saxon drawled, finding safety in the shade to hide. “But throwing things is a step up from unlocking doors. If you want to be safe--”
“What did you guys do, have an ‘Ivy’s Mate’s Pow-wow’ after I fell asleep last night?” I interrupted him, popping my hip as I threw my arms over my chest.
“We prefer to call ourselves ‘Ivy’s Intimates’,” Finn said with a wink. God, if his face wasn’t so damn pretty, I would have punched him or something.
Instead, I threw a stick at his perfectly sculpted face, which promptly changed directions and hit me right between the eyes.
“Why do I have a feeling that learning magic with you is going to be just as bad as sparring with Howl?'' I sighed, rubbing what I was sure was a red mark.
“Anything to keep you alive and safe,” Howl whispered, placing a chaste kiss on the tip of my nose.
Saxon leaned down and after licking my neck from base to earlobe, whispered, “Life is not always sweet. We don’t want anything to happen to you. You have to be able to defend yourself against anyone. Pater is the beginning, I fear.”
Great. More bitches.
Their love surrounded me. I knew they were right. “Fine. What did you have in mind?”
“Come on, honeybee,” Finn stood at a distance, rocking back on his heels. “Let’s find that magic of yours. I want to see what my mate can do and teach you not to accidentally use that power of yours.”
I rolled my eyes, “You realize how dumb this is, right? I could end him in two minutes if I could use magic… and control it, of course.”
“It wouldn’t be winning,” Howl interjected, sinking into the dirt beside Saxon. “It would be considered cheating and would get you booted from the pack regardless.”
“Yeah, but,” I fought back. He was a fool if he thought I was going to give up that easily, “what if I find a way to use my magic so that no one can tell I have it. I mean, I have already shown I have immense skill in throwing shit at bitches. Pater kind of counts as a little bitch so it shouldn’t be a problem. Tree to head. Bam. Done.”
All three of them chuckled, Saxon’s low dark laugh mixing with Finn’s titters and Howl’s single guffaw in a way that twisted my stomach happily. I could pick their laughs out in a sea of men.
“It might be possible, but it would take an immense amount of power,” Finn’s laugh had already faded. “That is not something we can learn in one day, I’m afraid.”
“Fine,” I conceded, even though I had no intention of giving up that easy. I’d show him what I can do in a day. “Where do we start?”
Finn pointed to the rock formation at the edge of the clearing, the small outcropping looked like something you’d find in a child’s playground. It stood twice as tall as me and was a bit too perfectly built.
“What? Do you want me to add a stone to the top? Is that a Fae thing?” Finn chuckled at me and took one step forward
“No, I want you to jump off, see if your magic catches you.”
“Catches me?” My voice caught, my mind screaming that a twenty-foot tall stack of gray rocks was a good way to kill yourself.
He shrugged. Mo-fo shrugged like possible death was nothing. “It’s worth a try.”
“Please tell me you’re kidding. You think I can fly? Tossing an exercise mat and opening a door is a far cry from zooming around in the air like Superman.” I was quickly approaching a panic attack; my voice was reaching an impossible octave. I might have been squeaking, which would make sense as to why Howl and Saxon were snickering.
I shot them a ‘don’t-mess-with-me look,’ and they both shut up like they had zippers for lips.
“I just want to ‘accidentally’ throw a rock at Pater’s temple. I don’t see how this is going to help.”
“If you can control objects, then there’s a chance you can fly,” Finn said, “after all, it’s a different kind of gravity manipulation.”
“Gravity manipulation?” I was clearly on the wrong side of Tenth-grade physics class, which I had failed, by the way.
“Okay. Let’s go,” Finn practically hauled me to the top of the thing, which I had decided was far more than twenty feet tall. Considering that the stones had actual steps built into them, I had a feeling that Finn had made it specifically for this purpose.
Placing my toes on the edge of the structure, I looked down and about passed out. Or I guess stumbled back, being up there had made me a tad bit dramatic. I had never been scared of heights before, but standing there, looking down and knowing I was expected to jump off, was certainly bringing on a new kind of terror.
“This is a bad idea,” I mumbled. Finn ran his hand over my back. For the first time, I could have sworn his touch was cold.
Saxon and Howl were at the bottom, I assumed, to catch me. That was, until I saw Saxon reach into his back pocket and pull out a phone.
“You’re going to take pictures of me? Are you expecting a lot of blood or something?” This conversation was not helping the swooping panic that was taking over. “I can think of a lot better ways to get your rocks off than that.”
“I’ll let you get my rocks off later,” Howl snickered. Saxon rolled his eyes and aimed his phone.
“I am not taking pictures,” Saxon said, still staring at his phone. “I am taking video--for...research purposes.”
“Fine, but I swear if you try to blackmail me later you are going down,” I warned, wagging my finger at him. He just smiled. Smug vampire bastard.
“Okay, let’s beg
in,” Finn soothed, hand leaving my back and taking any sort of calm with it.
“What am I supposed to do? This?” I put my arms straight out and tried to mimic one of those movie superheroes. Damn, I needed a suit.
Pink lycra with SB on the front, you know, for Super Bitch.
“Whatever you think will help, honeybee. You can even flap your arms like wings if you find it makes you more comfortable.”
“I bet that’s what you do, isn’t it?” I asked. Finn smiled and nodded toward the edge of the stone.
“Okay, fine,” I tried to exhale, but it came out like a groan. “Here we go.”
There was no point in second-guessing this. I either flew or I didn’t. Both would get me closer to learning how to throw rocks at Pater’s head. Aiming my sights for the clouds, I leaped, moving in a high arc like the divers I had seen on TV. I waited for the air to catch me, for gravity to change, for my magic to do something… anything.
There was nothing. I was barreling to the ground like a stone.
Howl was running, trying to catch me from below, but in his watching me instead of watching where he was running, he ran smack into a tree trunk and was flat on his ass in seconds.
Saxon, the super-fast vampire, didn’t even move from the shade he was standing in.
This was going to hurt.
Like a metal ball in a pinball machine, I plinked from a set of tree branches to a bush and finally landed in a patch of dried pine needles, the sun hitting my back.
“Fuuuuuuccck,” I groaned but didn’t dare move. My legs were splayed in different directions, looking like I’d broken them both. My arms were limp and scratched up from landing on the bed of needles.
“I might be way off base here, but I’m pretty sure I can’t fly,” I groaned, pushing myself to sit. “But I can bounce off shit like nobody’s business.”
Howl and Saxon were racing to me now, Saxon still staring at his phone although he held a jet-black umbrella in his other hand. I’m glad he didn’t try to save me. Knowing my luck I would have impaled myself on the umbrella.
“Some parachute you two are.” My laugh was swallowed in a grunt as I tried to move.
Howl helped me to my feet, his hands lingering on my ass as he wiped away the layer of pine needles that had attached themselves to me.
“My rose, that was…” He gave up the ruse and began smiling, all three of them back to chuckling, “Horrific.”
“Stop laughing, you ass. That fucking hurt.”
“It’s okay, Ivy,” Finn said, doing a shit job of concealing his grin. “Let’s try something on the ground from now on. Once you’ve mastered that, then we can try the bouncing...I mean, flying again.”
“You’re all asses,” I said but kissed him anyway. “And I’m not doing that again. You have to find a different way.”
Howl rubbed his forehead. “Both times you used your magic, you were desperate and angry, correct?”
“I wouldn’t say desperate, but I was pissed as hell…”
“Then we need to make you angry,” Finn provided, rubbing his neck as he paced. “I think once you understand where it comes from, you can better conjure it. Think of someone who pisses you off to no end.”
I cocked my head at him. Did he really have to ask? “Easy. Nicky. Bitch kicked me out of school. She wanted to kill me. Oh, and she wants to use me as bait to find my father and called me trailer trash in front of everybody.”
My brows furrowed more with each memory, my stomach clenching, my chest tightening, my fists burning… and the rock on top of Finn’s pile zoomed right into the middle of our little group, showering us with dirt as it soared through the air like it had been pulled on a string.
“Holy shit,” Howl yelled, wiping dirt off his face as he stepped back, watching the sky in case more were going to follow.
Another one. I kept that heat in my hands as I thought about Nicky, as I stared at the pile of rocks, as I mentally begged a medium-sized grey stone to come my way.
It did.
With a zip and a crash it arced through the air, right into the other stones.
All three men’s eyes widened. Finn looked like he was about to birth kittens he was grinning so big.
“Nice!” Howl exclaimed, giving Saxon a high-five like he had done that. For being mortal enemies, those two sure were sure getting along. “One step closer to not outing yourself. Plus, if you master this and can move things like stones, then you can move things like legs, arms--maybe even force them to stop. In a fight, no one would be the wiser that you were using magic. It might be just the way to keep you alive.”
“What happened to not cheating?” I quirked a brow at him.
Howl shrugged, “He will be cheating. We might as well have something in our arsenal too.”
I nodded. I knew I should be excited about using magic to send Pater’s wolf face planting into the dirt, but Howl’s words were hitting a little bit too close to home.
Pater would be cheating.
It was going to take more than magic to win this fight.
I was going to have to bring out Nevada desert survival skills, nip slips not included.
I could have sworn my wolf chuckled.
Chapter 7
After a full day of magic training, I wanted to scream and jump into the nearest ice bath. Fuck, it was hotter than the devil’s dick out there. I had sweat on my upper lip, although that may be less from the summer sun that was pounding through the trees as it was more from Finn, who currently had me trying to redirect all the boulders that he was throwing at my head.
He grabbed another and lobbed it my way. I barely caught it and sent it into a tree, right to where Saxon and Howl were chatting.
“Hey, watch it!” Howl said playfully, throwing some of the boulder rubble that had fallen on his shirt after its tree smashing back to me.
“I’ll watch it when I can see straight,” I said, chest heaving. I didn't even try to catch the next boulder. I just dodged. “I’m exhausted. Can we take a break?”
I didn’t even wait for an answer. I made my way toward my water bottle, wishing I had the power to shrink myself down and go for a swim in the ice water.
We’d tried out a ton of comic book-type-powers, but that wasn’t one of them. I did seem to be quicker than most, although I was still not faster than Saxon. Flying was a no go, although fire was a yes. We already knew that after I accidentally lit the headboard on fire.
I hadn’t made more than a few sparks, but all three of them had hinted at testing my limits later.
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to it.
All of that didn’t matter seeing as I couldn’t use fire magic in a fight. I could trip him.
And unless he was a rock, I still wasn’t sure how to do that.
“You are doing wonderfully, honeybee,” Finn said, coming up behind me as I chugged water like it was a stolen beer.
My hair was stuck to my head, the underarms of my shirt were turning yellow, and Finn looked like a god. A God standing on the mountain like Zeus or some other deity. Powerful shoulders, blazing blue eyes. Yummy. The look was complete thanks to the longer strands of his hair that were blowing in the wind.
“Uh-huh,” I said between huge gulps. “Forgive me if I don’t believe you, Mr. Fae God.”
“I’m not a god.” Yeah, the wink he gave me was totally believable. “I’ve been doing this since I was a baby. You are just learning.”
“And a day away from the ultimate battle, which I can’t throw rocks during.”
“We need to master--”
“I know the basics are important,” I interrupted, holding up my hand. “But I can’t use them. I need to practice something I can use. Because I am sure it won’t make it otherwise.”
My voice caught and Finn swallowed so slowly that I could practically hear the motion of his Adam’s apple.
“I know, honeybee,” Finn whispered, his hand drifting to my sweat-soaked hip as he stepped closer, that sam
e hand moving up my back. “I won’t let you get hurt, this I promise.”
“Then stop making me throw rocks.” I snapped more forcefully than I had expected, my hands firm against his wrists as I stopped his hopeful attempt at a make-out session.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to make out with him. I think my nerves about tomorrow were starting to kick in--fight or flight ramping up.
I was all fight.
“Okay. Why don’t we see if you can make a shifter move subtly enough that no one can tell?” I nodded eagerly at him. This is exactly what I wanted. “The motion needs to be backed up by the force of your magic, even though it looks natural.”
“Shouldn’t be much harder than the rocks.” I was determined, but that bit of fear that was pooling in my spine was doing weird things to my confidence.
“Howl!” Finn called, pulling the attention of the two on the other side of the clearing. Howl jogged over, while Saxon moved slower, keeping to the shadows.
Instead of running to the guy who called him, Howl ran right to me, pressing his lips against mine. “Mmmm salty.” I didn’t know whether or not to be disgusted.
“Lip sweat is my life now.” I rolled my eyes and pushed Howl away from me, practically running for Saxon. Forget swimming in ice water, I already had a cooling box readymade. Saxon smiled and welcomed me in, his hand moving right under my shirt.
“Ahhh…. Ice hand.”
“Anywhere you would like me to touch, my rose.” Damn. Lip sweat and underarm sweat rings and the guys still wanted me. I was definitely not going to lose any of them.
“We need to start trying to subtly move a wolf,” Finn said, ignoring the weird guttural sighs I was making as I attempted to join every inch of my skin to Saxon’s.
“Got it,” Howl said, stripping down and shifting into his massive wolf.
I didn’t know what it was about that, but it would never get old. My wolf pulled me away from Saxon, growling appreciatively at the massive beast that was before me. I was boiling, covered in sweat and didn’t want to be anywhere near fur. But I couldn’t stop myself.
In two steps I was on him, face against his muzzle before he pulled away and gave me one big lick up the side of my face.
