by Elena Gray
“Then quit fighting what you feel for me. It’s the only way we’ll resolve this.”
“Is that what Jax did?” Roark asked. “I’ve noticed how close you two have become since you began training together. Your bond with him pulses stronger than Quinn’s or mine.”
“Jax has never resisted me as much as the two of you. I think that our first kiss may have had something to do with that, but yes, he quit denying what was between us. Our bond is stronger because he trusts me. We’ve even been practicing balancing his dark magic. When I’m around, he’s able to rein it in.”
“Say what?” Quinn’s body tensed. His eyes locked on mine as I noticed his brows furrow.
“Katarina, you did this alone?” Roark growled.
Quinn threw up his hands. “Do you have any clue how much danger you put yourself in? Look how he lost control when we were at the veil. If Roark and I weren’t there to assist, he could have destroyed you.”
“That time was different. When my magic got out of control, it had already drained me. When we practice, we keep it controlled. The bond we share is powerful. My Nona confirmed that I’m the one meant to balance and ground him. Did you forget that I was the one who dragged him back from the darkness in the bar? Isn’t that proof enough?”
“I don’t like the fact that you did this on your own,” Roark confessed in a soothing voice, much to my surprise, “but I’m not going to lecture you about it. I made that mistake with Samara. It’s where I went wrong.”
“What happened?” I asked.
He closed the space between us and rubbed the back of his neck. “I spent my time and energy arguing with her instead of actually listening. If I’d been more understanding and accepting…”
When he couldn’t finish, I released Quinn’s hand and reached for Roark’s. The instant we touched, the lights in the house flickered. As soon as he eased his hand away, they returned to normal.
“Whoa. Did you feel that?” Roark asked.
When I nodded, he looked at my hand and then his own. It was the tangent energy I heard Nicholai mention when he referred to his ability to touch Samara.
Roark’s lips curled as he studied me and then his brother. A second later, his smile faded. When I glanced at Quinn, he didn’t appear as happy as we were about what just happened.
Quinn said, “I, uh…I need some air.”
“What?” Roark’s voice rose as he squinted at his brother. “You can’t leave now.”
“Watch me,” Quinn retorted, not once looking back.
I didn’t know whether to be angry or upset that he’d decided to leave the conversation. It wasn’t until I tuned into his energy that I sensed a pang of jealousy. Yet, there was no hostility toward his brother. If anything, he felt defeated.
Defeated by what, I didn’t know, but I’d find out soon enough. Right now, I needed to finish my conversation with Roark. He was the one who’d resisted our connection from day one. For him to remain in the room, willing to talk, spoke volumes.
“So, you’re really not going to lecture me about helping Jax control his dark magic?” I asked.
“I hope that next time, you’ll wait until Quinn or I can be there.” He stretched a shaky hand toward my face and cupped my cheek. “What if something had gone wrong?”
“It didn’t.” I covered his hand with mine and focused on our bond, the way it wavered from need and desire to fear and resistance. After the progress we’d made in the last few minutes, I worried it would come to an abrupt stop. Just the thought of it made my heart thump harder.
Roark noticed. His eyes followed his hand as he pressed it to the left side of my chest. “Your heart is racing, just like it was the day we kissed in Samara’s room.”
“It’s because of you,” I confessed. “Whenever you’re near, it’s like an invisible thread is wrapped around my waist, reeling me toward you. You resisted our bond for so long, but now… I’m just happy you’re willing to talk about us.”
Holding my face in his hands, he stepped closer, closing the small gap that remained between us. “I’ve made too many mistakes when it comes to you. After losing Samara, I feared I would be distracted by my feelings for you, so I resisted you as much as I could. It’s made matters worse. The truth is, from the moment I carried you into our house in the Witch Realm, I’ve been unable to think about anything else. You hold a power over me, Katarina. One that I can’t explain.”
I couldn’t hold back my tears. They burst from my eyes, leaving a warm, wet trail over my cheeks. Hearing him say these words was like a dream come true. I prayed I wouldn’t wake and learn this wasn’t real.
Roark swiped my tears with his thumbs and leaned his face closer to mine. “Please don’t cry. Every tear you shed is just a reminder of what a fool I’ve been. It kills me to know how much I’ve hurt you with my callous attitude.”
I shook my head. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.” When his eyes lowered and his grip on my face eased, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him to my lips. I feared he would push me away and reform the wall between us. Instead, he gripped the back of my head and slid his tongue inside my mouth.
My energy zinged in response as goosebumps cascaded over my skin. Roark only pulled away long enough to gauge my emotions. I saw the way his eyes scanned my face and body, as if he were searching for a sign of my resistance. He didn’t need to bother looking. Right now, he was giving me everything I wanted.
Nipping my bottom lip, he swept his mouth down my neck, to the sensitive spot below my ear. As soon as he bit the skin there, my body shuddered. I couldn’t stop the moan leaving my mouth, and I sensed his energy responding to it.
For the longest time Roark stared at me. I couldn’t get enough of his blue eyes. The storm that always brewed there was absent. Now they were full of wonder, anticipation, and devotion. The wall between us had finally collapsed.
My fingers swept across his abdomen before dipping into the waistband of his jeans. When I brushed the head of his cock, he sucked in a breath. He was already hard and ready for me.
Wasting no time, he tore off his shirt and shucked his pants, then gripped my hips and lifted me. I wrapped my legs around his waist, waiting for him to lay me on the bed. Instead of a soft mattress, the wall met my back.
I pressed my mouth to his, seeking out his tongue as he tugged at my clothes. The fabric ripped, and buttons popped loose. I heard them hit the floor, but didn’t care. All that mattered was Roark stripping me down, removing every piece of clothing I wore. He was like a feral beast, ready to shred anything that got between him and my skin.
When I slid up the wall and gripped his upper arms, I felt his muscles flex. His shaft throbbed against my clit and I whimpered. Roark smiled at the sound before he leaned his forehead against mine. With his hands on my ass, he thrust himself inside me.
I cried out, the pleasure too much to contain. Every inch of my body felt like it was on fire. Just one touch from his hand, and I came alive. I rolled my hips when he thrust again, and this time, he sank to my core.
The more I writhed against him, the harder he gripped my ass. The friction brought me even closer to release. The fire inside me consumed every rational thought. All I wanted was to satisfy the ache inside me, the one that had been building since the day we met.
Roark moaned against my lips. He worked his hips back and forth, pulling out to the tip before driving his cock deep. The sweet sensation I craved began to build between my legs, stirring my soul. The bond between us pulled tighter. The harder he pumped his hips, the stronger it pulsed.
He buried his face against my neck and lifted my legs higher. My body folded between his and the wall, and every time he plunged his cock inside of me, I thought I’d lose control.
“Roark…” I cried his name. “I’m almost there.”
He growled in response and accentuated his movements. Each time our bodies collided, the pressure inside me heightened. I arched my back, trying to get closer,
to build the friction over the mound at my apex.
My muscles locked, and I clung to Roark. My body racked as wave after wave of the most divine pleasure spiraled through me. I cried out as my body trembled in his arms.
Roark showered my face with tender kisses as his grip on my bottom tightened. He pumped his hips a few more times before his body jerked. He locked eyes with me as he released his seed inside me.
The bond between us thrummed in a strong, steady rhythm. Our connection was flooded with his emotions. Every doubt I had about his feelings for me disappeared. Roark kissed my forehead, my eyelids, even my nose, then he brushed his lips over mine once more.
The wall disappeared from my back as he carried me across the room and lowered me to the bed. He scooted me to the middle and remained between my legs.
When I lifted a brow at him, he smirked. “This is far from over.”
With one quick thrust, he filled me again. I tossed my head against the mattress and fell into a haze of desire. The wait had been worth it. Our bond was finally completed.
I dug my heels into his ass and pulled him deeper. Then I submitted to my gargoyle, letting him love me like only he could. I dared anyone to come between us now.
Chapter 14
~Katarina~
Uncle Mathias’s intense gaze had me fidgeting with the hem of my shirt as I sat between Jax and Roark on the sofa in the den. The fact that he’d made a special trip to the Stone Isles to meet with us was an indication of how serious our impending conversation must be. Still, the way he studied the two guardians flanking my sides, worried me. Did he somehow sense that things had changed between us? That should be a good thing, right?
I wished I could say things were better for all of us, Quinn included. I felt like he had been keeping his distance from me this morning. Or maybe it was my own insecurities making me paranoid. I still didn’t know what happened last night that had caused him to storm out of the room, and when I tried to ask him this morning, he’d avoided my question.
The rest of the day had passed in a blur. My combat training with Jax began after breakfast, followed by my lesson with Nicholai. I rushed my way through lunch so Samara and I could discuss the location spell.
My Latin was still shaky and I worried that even if I did pronounce it correctly, I would say it in the wrong order or leave a word out. I even joked that maybe I would need a cheat sheet just in case.
Realistically, I needed to get a better handle on my reaper powers, so I could use them to track Slade’s soul through our bond.
By late afternoon, I’d received my uncle’s message, alerting me to his arrival. Roark, Jax and Nicholai had been waiting in the den when I entered. Quinn followed right after me.
Even being in the same room with Quinn now, every time I looked at him, he averted his gaze. I’d thought we were making progress last night, and now it felt like we’d grown even farther apart.
Uncle Mathias’s scrutiny shifted to Quinn. He stood by the window, looking toward the horizon. Wasn’t Quinn even the slightest bit worried about why my uncle was here? I could barely swallow the lump in my throat. Jax and Roark must have sensed my anxiety through our bond. Jax rested his hand on my knee and Roark threaded his fingers with mine, causing some of the tension in my shoulders to ease.
An exaggerated sigh drew my attention back to my uncle. He drummed his fingers over the arm of the chair. “I can list several things I’d like to address in this conversation, but I simply don’t have time. Let’s stick to what’s imperative.”
“What’s going on, Uncle Mathias?”
“My reapers and shades have been actively searching all of the realms, including the human one, for the missing witches and your guardian. Have there been any reports of missing shifters lately? I know that you said there was a wolf shifter who was helping you?”
Roark glanced at Jax and shrugged a shoulder. “I haven’t heard anything from Zander, have you?”
Jax stared off into the distance for a moment, then shook his head. “No. But that doesn’t mean anything. There are factions of shifters that choose to live outside the pack. I could have Zander send scouts out to check on them.”
“Uncle Mathias, please don’t tell me there are missing shifters connected to Slade, Rose, and Natasha. That would mean that whoever is behind this didn’t want just Samara; they’re targeting all supernaturals.”
My uncle dropped his foot to the floor and leaned forward, his hands clasped between his knees. “I wish that I could say no, but it’s starting to look like that might be the case.”
“What’s happened to make you think this?” Quinn finally joined the group. So he had been listening all along.
Roark and I finally made peace, but now Quinn had taken his place as the brooding guardian. Awesome.
“One of my reapers had just collected a soul at the northeastern perimeter of the faerie realm. He was heading back to the underworld when he thought he felt the pull of a dying soul. But when he stopped, the sensation was gone. He was about to leave again, when something made him go back the way he came. As he retraced his steps, he felt the pull again. When he stopped, it was once again gone. He went back one step at a time until he felt the soul. He couldn’t figure out why it was concentrated in that one spot.”
“We all know that unexplainable things happen in the faerie realm. Was it possible that the sprites were up to their tricks again?” Jax asked.
How had the topic of faeries not come up until now? I had been obsessed with faeries growing up and I was dying to know if they resembled the pictures in storybooks. I had so many questions that would have to wait until all of this was over.
My uncle shook his head, his lips pressed into a thin line. “My reaper thought the same thing until he remembered another reaper talking about a phantom soul that had called to him. He’d spent an hour trying to find the body it was attached to with no luck. He’d felt it on the northwestern shore of the Paltin Sea.”
“That borders the faerie realm,” Quinn said as he grabbed what looked like a tablet off the bookshelf. He swiped his hand and pulled up a holographic map. None of the landscapes looked familiar to me. Next on my list of study topics was the geography of the supernatural realms. How was I ever going to learn all of this?
Jax squeezed my knee. He must have sensed my distress through our bond. “Don’t worry. I’ll teach you how to pull up a smaller map. It’ll be similar to the maps you use on your phone.”
I rested my hand over his, then addressed my uncle. “So, what does it mean that they both felt this phantom soul?”
“It means someone is keeping souls from moving to the underworld,” Nicholai said. His body was so tense that his shadows flickered around him. “You saw what can happen to a soul when it’s trapped in a body that has lost its life. It turns into those creatures that attacked you outside of your uncle’s club. It’s forbidden, and whoever is responsible will be imprisoned in Tartarus for eternity.”
I sucked in a breath as the realization slammed into me like a freight train. “Do you think you found where they are holding Slade and the girls?”
My uncle smiled and gave a slight nod. “There is no other reason for a reaper to feel the call of a soul and not find it. It’s too much of a coincidence to ignore.”
“There,” Quinn shouted as he pointed to a spot on the map. “Do you see that?”
We all stood from our seats and gathered around the map. I had no idea what I was supposed to be looking at. Quinn’s finger traced a circle on the map.
He glanced at me, the light in his eyes made my pulse quicken. Whatever happened between us earlier was forgotten. His excitement over what he’d found spilled through our bond. “This image is similar to the satellites in the human realm. The High Council has been working on a way to keep the feed live, without requiring an extreme amount of energy. Until then, we have to rely on these snapshots. This is one of the resources the guardian council has been using to locate Slade. I can’t believe we misse
d this.”
“There’s a blur, right on the border.” My uncle leaned in toward the spot that Quinn had circled. “Son of a bitch. How has no one noticed that before?”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It means there is a ward in place that can conceal what appears to be the size of New York City.” Jax replied. “It would take very powerful magic to do that.”
“Who has that kind of power?” I asked.
Jax crossed his arms over his chest as he continued to study the map. “Possibly a dark mage, but I’ve never heard of one harnessing that type of power. There have been rumors of mages practicing dark magic in secret. It would make sense that this could be their compound. They could be fueling the ward as a group or using an object to harness the power.”
“Then we need to tell the council. They can send help,” I said. Rayna would be relieved that we solved the problem for her, since she had zero leads finding Slade and the girls.
“We can’t tell anyone outside of our group.” Roark glanced at each of us. “We still don’t know who else is involved. If we tell the wrong person, we may lose our only shot at finding Slade and the girls. If shifters are missing too, who knows how many supernaturals they are holding prisoner?”
All of my hope for rescuing them vanished. My shoulders slumped in defeat. “So how are we supposed to go up against mages using dark magic?”
“Well, it’s a good thing that you have a god on your side,” my uncle said.
I stepped around Roark and wrapped my arms around my uncle. He’d already done so much for me. I needed to find a way to repay him. Leaning back, I asked, “You’re really going to help us?”
“Even if you weren’t involved in this, I can’t ignore the fact that someone is keeping my souls from crossing over. I need to go back to the underworld and alert my father as to what is going on. Then I’ll grab some reinforcements and meet you at the northeastern border of faerie at dusk tomorrow night. Nicholai will keep you concealed until I get there.”
