by Marie Mistry
He pulled away only when we were both gasping for air. Then, he let go of me fully and blushed slightly.
I swayed slightly, smiling up at him. “That was some kiss.” I pecked his cheek gently then took his offered arm and leaned into him, letting him steer me along the path and towards the light shining through the trees.
Daron’s smile seemed to diminish as we approached the stadium. “Are you sure you want to get involved with Sharax and Zenunim?”
“I’m not getting involved,” I argued. “I’m only going to this match to give back Doughnut.”
He raised a single brow. “If that were true, you’d have waited till tomorrow and handed it back to Sharax at the library,” he contradicted. “You could even have gone to the Idle Tower to drop him off with one of Sharax’s friends. No, you’re at this match because you’re interested in Sharax.”
I was silent as we walked towards the entrance. I never even considered waiting to give back the rat or going to the Idle Tower where the Sloth students lived. No, I’d just decided to come to a Lacrosse match after being invited by the biggest flirts in Vice, even though I had three mates who would do anything for me.
I shook my head. “You’re right. What am I doing?” I asked, looking up into those calm logical blue eyes.
He wasn’t much help. “I don’t know,” he admitted, hooking an arm over my shoulders and giving me a gentle squeeze. “But whilst you figure it out, what’s the harm in watching some lacrosse? I’ve got to check on some things for Blaze whilst I’m outside the school barrier, but I’ll be back to walk you home.” He turned to the doorman. “Lilith Carazor, guest of Kain Zenunim.” He gave me a gentle push forward before melting away into the darkness.
Chapter 25
“Lilith Carazor?” the man asked, looking apathetically at me. “Kain had a seat on turf row reserved for you.” He reached behind him and picked up a white paper bag that was resting on his plastic chair and handed it to me. “This is your VIP merch, free of charge. Please, let me call a steward to escort you to your seat.” He turned behind him and gave a sharp whistle.
A woman wearing a fluorescent yellow jacket over a dark tracksuit quickly appeared and led me down the tunnel and along the ground floor past people decked out fully in fan shirts and clothing. Wearing nothing more than my green coat over my uniform, I felt like a sore thumb amongst the deep crimson and red clothed supporters, all of whom were eying me hostilely. Then I spotted a poster for the match, and my stomach plummeted. Of course, the other team’s colours had to be the exact green of my coat.
“Do you want anything from the bar, ma’am?” The woman asked, sounding just as bored as the doorman.
“No, thank you,” I mumbled, peering curiously into the white bag. I found it full of black and red merchandise. I saw a striped scarf, neatly folded near the top and pulled it out to wrap around my neck loosely. This seemed to appease the aggressive onlookers who turned away, getting back to their own business. I looked in the bag again and saw a matching hat. I pulled it out and covered my horns for good measure.
Now almost completely invisible, I looked around for the steward and hurried to catch up with her. She held the large, fogged glass door open for me at the end of the room. As I passed, I saw the letters ‘VIP’ stamped into the glass with black letters. So Kain really had been serious, I mused, before shrugging off thoughts of the charming flirt, thinking guiltily of Daron and the others.
We walked down a corridor lined with gleaming trophies and bedecked in black and crimson, headed out of a door about halfway down, and came out at the pitch. The freezing air hit me like a smack in the face, and I pulled the scarf closer around me for good measure as I was led to the front row. I was so close to the pitch that I could reach out and touch the grass if I wanted to.
“Here is your seat, a cart will be around with complimentary refreshments shortly,” the steward informed me, gesturing to a seat with a piece of paper bearing my name in block capitals taped to it.
I smiled, but before I could thank her, she was gone. I looked around me, finding my row full of plenty of immaculately dressed businessmen in suits. Some of them sported coiffed women in perfect makeup beside them. For the most part, those women appeared bored out of their minds and were being ignored in favour of whatever the men were discussing amongst themselves. One or two people were the complete opposite, sitting on the edges of their seats, completely decked out in Vice Vultures regalia, clearly super-fans of the sport. A few of them eyed me as though deciding which of these two categories I belonged to. I never figured out what they eventually decided, because a loud whistle sounded, drawing my attention to the players already lined up on the field.
I don’t know how I knew that Kain was number thirty-two and Jin was sixty-six, but I did. Despite their helmets covering their faces, I could just tell it was them from the way they moved and worked together like a dream team. Over the next hour they dominated the field, making some incredible passes. I didn’t have to understand the game to comprehend that they were talented players. I understood why demonic sport had its own league when I saw how the players combined their powers with their play. PK enabled the players to pass the ball faster and harder than humanly possible, making the whole game into one tense, explosive melting pot of skill and brute force.
With half a minute remaining, the crowd was getting restless, as Jin lined up to take a penalty. I was on the edge of my seat even though the Vice Vultures were easily a handful of points ahead. In a flash, the ball was in play, before it was deflected by a player from the opposing team. Suddenly, the small, high speed, rubber projectile was zooming straight at me.
Without even really thinking about what I was doing, I summoned a shield of PK in front of my face. At the same time, I heard three voices calling my name and felt three energies soaring to protect me, one familiar bolt of electricity from Daron, and two unknown swirls of power. They bolstered my shield as I felt my chest tighten painfully. The sensation grew as the rubber ball bounced harmlessly off one, almost opaque, shield.
I was mating with someone, I realised, as my whole body shook with effort and I fell out of my chair to my knees. Only this time the sensation was so strong, my very bones ached with the strain that forming the bond was having on my body.
Daron’s hand landed on my shoulder, his worried eyes examining me as the shield dropped. I wanted to talk to him, to tell him I was okay, but the new bonds forming in my chest stole my breath. I looked past him, across the field where the game had resumed, only to see two players completely stationary.
My eyes met Jin’s and then Kain’s as the pressure grew unbearable. My whole chest felt as though it were being crushed under the effort of both bonds forming. I struggled to remember how to breathe in the final seconds until the mating bond released me in a whoosh, leaving me gasping in great breaths of air to my starving lungs. Whilst my body tried to remember how to function, my mind was captivated with the new sensations of sunbeams and lazy ocean waves in my chest. The two new bonds were close to one another, almost overlapping, and I got the sense that they were content like that.
“Lilith.” Daron followed my gaze, instantly comprehending the situation. “Oh hell, we need to get out of here.” He easily carried me away, muttering a vague excuse about shock and getting me checked over by a doctor as he passed the others on the row.
Once we were in the deserted corridor he put me down, only to pick me back up again as I swayed.
“Both of them?” he asked.
I nodded. “I didn’t mean to. I’ve done it again. I keep mating people who don’t want it. They never agreed, and you didn’t agree, and they don’t know any of…” I bit back my panicked tirade by force of will, looking up at Daron for reassurance.
“You need to take power from me, quickly. We don’t want to draw attention… Not any more than we already have anyway.”
I nodded. “How much can you give me?”
“Take what you need,” Daron insisted, be
nding down and sealing his mouth over mine.
The burst of lust from earlier returned full force. My nipples pebbled almost instantly, rubbing teasingly against the silken fabric of my bra. I wanted to jump Daron’s bones more than my next breath, but unlike previous times where my power had coaxingly teased power from Blaze and Aeron’s kisses of its own accord, this time I had to force my power out to take what he offered.
Daron’s power leapt for mine like an eager spark of energy, filling me slowly as his hands stroked up and down my back gently lulling me. When I pulled away, the dizziness had stopped, and I felt almost normal. Daron and I both knew I wasn’t taking enough, but he didn’t comment beyond a slight raising of his eyebrows.
“Oh hell,” I muttered, still panting from our kiss, “Can we get out of here?” I didn’t want to face my new mates.
“Don’t you think you need to explain to them what’s going on?” Daron asked as the crowd outside let out a mighty roar, followed by the blaring sound of triumphant music.
“They’ve just won their game,” I mumbled, recognising the Vice anthem. “They’ll probably be too busy celebrating.”
“Don’t be scared. I know you probably didn’t expect this, but it could be a good thing,” Daron tried to encourage me.
I stared at him wide eyed. “An hour ago, you were calling them the biggest flirts to ever walk the halls of Vice. Aeron apparently despises them, and they manipulated me into coming here in the first place. How is this a good thing?” I shook my head. “I just want to go. Please, Daron, take me home.”
“And Sharax’s rat?”
“I’ll drop him at the Idle Tower on the way back,” I insisted. “Please, just let me hide for tonight.” I knew my eyes were glistening, but I refused to let the shocked tears fall.
Daron studied me carefully, and I sensed that he didn’t agree with my plan to run away any more than he had supported my coming here in the first place. It seemed I was making mistake after mistake today.
Without waiting for him, I took off at a pace that was close to jogging. “I can’t.” I just couldn’t picture their faces.
“Lilith,” Daron called after me. “Give me the rat. I’ll talk to them both. Blaze is outside, we had planned… Never mind. He’ll take you home.”
I nodded, holding out Doughnut and letting Daron gently remove him from my hand before taking off, not even bothering to conceal my anxious pace. I sprinted past the gleaming trophy cases, my bag bashing against my legs as I pushed through the doors and past the bar, bursting out of the exit and straight into Blaze’s arms.
“Lilith, what the hell?” He caught me. “Steady, Sweetness.”
“Blaze, you have to take me home now,” I spluttered. “Please, Blaze. I have to go before they come and I have to explain all of this.”
He frowned. “If we leave, you’ll explain everything on the way?”
I nodded.
He scooped me up, pressing a kiss to my cheek as he did so, and jogged for the trees. The cheers of the crowd faded slowly behind us as his long strides put distance between me and the drama I’d accidentally created.
“You were explaining, Sweetness?” he reminded me, as the carpark, and behind it the walls of Vice, came into view.
“I mated Sharax and Zenunim,” I mumbled. “It was another accident. The ball was headed at my face, and I summoned a shield. Both of them sent energy to boost it, or it wouldn’t have formed in time. But it did, and by doing that they mated us. Daron got me away before anyone could question it, but they knew it was me.” I wiped an arm against my eyes. “I just can’t explain to them.”
“You’re overwhelmed,” Blaze observed. “Did Daron take care of you afterwards or do you need a top up?”
I shook my head. “I took from Daron,” I mumbled, not mentioning exactly how much.
Blaze slowed his pace slightly and pressed a soothing kiss to my forehead. “Good. I assume he’s staying behind to explain things to them?”
I nodded again. “I just can’t see their faces when they realise what I’ve done to them,” I mumbled against his chest.
“I don’t think you’re going to have much of a choice,” Blaze grumbled, slowing down as he approached the Gatehouse which was – thankfully – devoid of the woman from earlier. “I don’t expect them to just go out and celebrate their win when they figure out that they mated the same woman and she’s running away from them.”
The gravel of the school pathways crunched under Blaze’s feet for a few seconds before I heard the first yell of my name.
“Lilith!”
Chapter 26
It was, unmistakably, Kain’s voice.
“Oh, no,” I whispered, turning and burying my face in Blaze’s shirt for a brief second. “Please put me down, Blaze.” If I was going to do this, I wanted to at least do it standing on my own two feet.
I’d barely touched the floor when I saw the two men, still in their lacrosse uniforms, jogging up behind Blaze. I straightened my clothes and braced myself as they drew closer. Both men slowed down once they realised I wasn’t going anywhere.
Kain reached me first, and to my surprise, he didn’t look angry at all. Instead, he wrapped his arms around me, lifting me and spinning me around in a jubilant circle. “Where are you running to, Sunshine?”
I shook my head, disoriented by the way the bond between us was glowing in pleasure from our closeness.
“She’s having a tough time,” Jin observed, walking up beside us with a sleepy yawn. “She’s just figured out she’s stuck mated to your ugly mug.” He stuck his hand out towards Blaze. “Jin Sharax, Sloth.”
“Blaze Inferna, Wrath.” My other mate smirked. “I saw you both coming last week.”
I turned back towards him. “What do you mean?” I demanded. “You had a vision and you never told me?”
He shrugged innocently. “You said you preferred to have the future as a surprise.” He stuck his hand out at Kain. “You must be Kain Zenunim.”
“Yeah.” Kain put me down to shake Blaze’s hand. “And you’re the guy running off with my mate.” A flash of something like a challenge flickered in his gaze.
“Our mate,” Blaze corrected. “Lilith has seven mates, though she’s only discovered five.”
“The tall guy told us as much,” Jin admitted. “Come here, Pet.” He pulled me away from Kain and grabbed my hat. I didn’t realise what he was doing until I heard fabric rip and slide over my horns. He’d made rips in the fabric and poked my horns through. “Much better.” He gave my horn a stroke and I shuddered involuntarily. “Don’t ever hide your horns from me again.”
I shivered, pulling my coat closer around me. If touching Kain made his bond glow with warmth, touching Jin made our bond dance like an excitable puppy in my chest. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to mate you both without consulting you.”
Kain smirked. “I’m sorry, I think you’ll find that I did the mating. You just sat there.”
“Nope, it was me.” Jin raised a sleepy brow. “I am responsible for both matings and I’m not about to let either of you layabouts take credit for my hard work.”
He looked as worn out as I’d felt before Daron gave me a top up, whilst Kain looked ready to run a marathon. Obviously Kain had somehow found a source of power whilst Jin hadn’t had the chance to sleep. He almost looked ready to keel over right there, and I felt bad for making him run after me.
“You need sleep,” I murmured to him.
“Inviting me into your bed already, Pet? I thought you’d take much more convincing, but I’m game.”
“You’re dead on your feet and you want to sleep with me?” I asked, incredulous. “Are you insane?”
“Perhaps,” he admitted. “Although, I feel I should point out that your room is closer than mine right now.”
I raised a brow, wondering if he was serious. “Just because I’m a Succubus doesn’t mean I’m that easy.”
Jin was still smirking, and damn if the expression didn’t look good o
n him. “Unfortunately, it would just be for sleeping, you might not have noticed but I’m not quite fighting fit at the moment.”
Kain tugged me back towards him. “And when he’s had a snooze and we get our hands on you, we’ll show you what four hands and two cocks can do to you. You’ll be wishing you’d jumped us the moment you mated us.”
My eyes widened at the idea of two at once. I wasn’t naïve, Lulu had bragged about having multiple men and women at once on more than one occasion. One of our caste was an Orgy, literally unable to generate power without multiple partners. Somehow, it had never occurred to me that seven mates might literally end up meaning I needed a bigger bed.
