by J. L. Weil
He nodded. “In a few days.”
While we’d been talking, the fae snakes had coiled themselves around our arms—one on each side. They seemed to be doing that more lately, linking us together, which I assumed was good. They were accepting me.
It didn’t really matter where we went as long as I was with Devyn, but running all the time was tiring, maybe more so than staying and fighting. I leaned into him because I wanted to be closer to him and because the snakes pulled us together, leaving us little choice.
We stood like that for a time, both absorbed in our thoughts and worries. Doubt made me seek the comfort only he could offer. I lifted my head from his shoulder and brushed my lips against his in what was supposed to be nothing more than a sweet kiss, but there was nothing innocent between us when my lips touched his.
He stared at me with wary eyes, and I saw desire churning in them. “Don’t,” he whispered weakly, even as his fingers laced through mine, keeping me right where I was. The snakes hissed as if arguing with Devyn. It didn’t really matter. I was powerless to stop, pulled to him as a magnet is to metal.
I pressed my lips to his again, and the world spun wildly out of control. I felt a tiny prick of pain at my wrist, but it was quickly overridden by the surge of heat swelling inside me. Devyn’s fingers tightened around mine, his mouth burned with urgency, kissing me deeper. The feeling was heightened by being linked, as the fae creatures kept our wrists twisted together. Emotions, touches, senses—it was all so much more intense. I’d never felt passion or need so swiftly, and it was torture to not be able to touch him. I tried to move my hands, but Wrath and Fury kept my arms bound to Devyn’s. “Do you really want me to stop?” I murmured against his lips, swollen from the kiss.
“I want more. So much more,” he said. And he took more.
A storm broke inside me, wild and fervent as it jolted through my system. His mouth wasn’t tentative or resistant now. Hard and hot, his lips took mine while he pressed my back to the wall. The scrape of his teeth on my lip had me gasping, and his tongue slid seductively over mine.
The change in his compliance rocked me, and I surrendered to the fevered urgency he enticed inside me. The need to be closer to him than I’d ever been with another person was so sharp that it pierced my soul.
“Leave,” Devyn growled at Wrath and Fury, commanding the snakes to release us. “You got what you wanted.” They listened for once, and Devyn’s hands roamed freely over my body. I was flush against him as he reclaimed my lips in a kiss that scorched all the way to my toes, making me completely forget about the fae snakes.
They didn’t matter.
All that mattered was that Devyn never stopped touching me. Kissing me. Loving me. For I wanted it all.
My heart beat so fast, I was certain it would burst out of my chest.
“Karina.” He drew in a gulp of air, looking down at me with yearning running through his eyes.
I didn’t want him to stop. I didn’t want to play it safe. The future was so uncertain. All I wanted was what I had here and now, the fallout be damned. Didn’t I deserve a moment of happiness? “I want to go upstairs.” My voice was husky as I stared at him with dazed eyes.
His possessive hands ran over my shoulders and down my arms, landing on my wrists. The pad of his thumbs ran over the inside of my hands, and I winced. A slice of pain akin to a paper cut hit me on contact. Devyn tensed, lifting both my hands up so he could inspect them. My eyes followed his to see what had caused his scowl to suddenly appear. On my right arm were two pinprick marks like a vampire bite, but it wasn’t from the fangs of a bloodsucker, but a snake.
“He bit me,” I said in surprise.
“Don’t freak out.”
“Me? Freak out. When do I ever freak out?”
Devyn’s lips twitched. “Wrath was tasting your essence.” He flipped over his own wrist, showing me two identical marks from Fury’s fangs.
“Why would they do that?” I asked.
“Because they’re assholes,” he replied, avoiding the question, which made me press him all the more.
“I’m being serious.”
“So am I,” he grumbled and then exhaled. “I don’t know exactly. Fae creatures are unique. They aren’t like the animals you have here where you know what to expect from them. The animals on the Second Moon have abilities that are unique to them, not to the species. Wrath and Fury are a set, like twins. Their abilities work together, and they feed off the sins of fae.”
“They must have done more than just bite us.” I had kissed Devyn countless times, and although each time had been mind-blowing, this was off the freaking charts. I’d never wanted to jump him outside in a chair before.
His brows were drawn together in a thoughtful expression. “It has been rumored that once their venom is injected into the blood stream, it amplifies what we desire most. They can sense my connection to you and must believe our souls are a match.”
“They can do such a thing?” I asked, dumbfounded and in awe of the supernatural snakes.
“It would appear so. And they aren’t wrong. We are linked. A Kistune and Shaman have been allied together for centuries. It’s our way.”
He was probably right, but damn if that hadn’t felt like something cosmic. Even now I wanted to pull his lips back to mine. I leaned forward.
Devyn put a hand up. “Don’t.” His voice was low, but unlike before, this time he was serious. “I don’t trust myself with you at the moment.”
“I’ve seen horror, destruction, and suffering. Tell me why we shouldn’t take a moment of pleasure. Tell me why I should abide by the rules of a world that is hell-bent on killing me.”
I could see him mulling over my argument in his head. “Maybe we shouldn’t care. Maybe this might be our only chance. But … this thing we’re doing—trying to save your mom and the Second Moon—it’s too important to take chances.”
Gah. I hated when he was right. I needed to put my feelings aside and concentrate on the sole reason I was here. I had sacrificed too much already to get distracted.
And if we survived, my feelings for the Shaman could be dealt with after the Second Moon was saved. My heart would just have to behave.
Chapter Ten
For the remainder of the day, Devyn and I kept to separate rooms. I heard him on the phone quite a bit, talking to someone, but even with my fox hearing, I only picked up pieces of the conversation. He seemed to be in better spirits by dinner.
The three of us hovered in the kitchen. Trying to make a meal was entertaining and lightened the mood. Belle took every opportunity to screw with Devyn’s cooking—adding extra seasoning when he turned his back, adjusting the heat on the stove when he grabbed something from the fridge, and on it went. He threatened to cut off her little fingers at least a dozen times.
Dinner was nice and normal, which was strange when you thought about it. “A Kitsune, a Shaman, and a pixie sat down to eat together.” It sounded like an opening to a really bad joke, and it kind of was. But no one fought or brought weapons to the table. And other than Belle spilling a glass of water, it was perfect.
The pixie and I volunteered for cleanup duty, and it turned out to be eventful. Belle more or less got a bath out of the deal. I’d never seen anyone—other than a three-year-old—get so excited over bubbles. They were everywhere. In her hair. In my hair. In my eyes. I basically inhaled soap for the duration of washing the dishes.
I had just changed into a dry shirt and was coming down the stairs when my phone rang. It was Mom calling for her daily check-in. “Hello,” I answered. The line was broken up and scratchy, cutting off Mom’s voice on the other end. “Damn mountains,” I grumbled, moving toward a window. “Hello, can you hear me?” I said again.
More static.
This whole house was a dead zone. Whipping the back door open, I stepped outside on the patio, searching for a spot with reception. I walked down the stairs, spinning around. “Mom?”
“Honey, how are you?”
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I sighed. Finally. It felt like weeks since I’d heard her voice, and it filled me with warm fuzzies. My father still wasn’t speaking to me, and I was pretty sure he’d kill Devyn if he ever saw him again. I’d failed to mention that little tidbit to the Shaman. “Good. Homesick,” I admitted. “I want to hear everything that is happening. Have you seen Jesse or Hannah?”
“Yes, they’ve both stopped by, and they miss you terribly,” she said.
Sure they did. From the texts I still received, they were pissed, but I didn’t correct her. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine,” she said in an upbeat voice. “How many times do I have to tell you not to worry about me?”
“At least another million more,” I muttered.
She laughed, the sound like sunshine.
I nibbled on my lower lip. “Can I ask you something?”
“Always. What’s on your mind? I assume it has something to do with a certain someone?” she concluded.
“Not exactly. What do you know about dragons?”
A moment of silence stretched between us. “Not a lot. They mostly stay away from Katsura.”
A biting chill slammed into my chest as my eyes looked over the yard. There was someone out there.
“Karina, is everything all right?” Mom’s voice called out at my lack of response.
“Uh, yeah. Everything is fine,” I assured her and turned back around.
Everything was not fine.
The phone froze in my hand as I stared into the golden eyes of a dragon. One puff and I would be barbequed. Keeping as still as possible, the air moving in and out of my lungs quickened. If I could shift before he opened his large mouth, maybe I could dart out of the way, avoiding the flames he might send at me.
A heavy weight settled in my stomach. On the count of three. One … two…
Thwack.
Pain exploded in my head, and my vision wavered. A hard fist had slammed into my temple.
Dizziness …
Blackness …
I fought hard to keep conscious, but it was a losing battle as the darkness overtook the light, taking the sound of the world with it. The phone slipped from my fingers with Mom faintly calling my name. My body crumbled to the ground, and then it was nighty night for Karina.
Waking up was harder than it had been being knocked out. It felt like I was trudging through a pool of tar. When I finally opened my eyes, I winced in pain, my hand flying to the side of my head. There was a decent sized lump and a patch of dried blood in my hair, and my head throbbed like it was stuck inside a jet engine at full throttle.
As my vision cleared, I focused on an orange spot that slowly materialized into a fire. So I wasn’t dead after all.
Thank God.
But that posed the question, where exactly was I?
The rock walls surrounding me on both sides led me to believe a cave. It was damp, making the chill in the air that much sharper, but someone had taken the time to start a fire. How considerate.
On the other side of the roaring blaze was the mouth of the cavern. The opening as well as the space inside was quite large, the air smelling of burnt wood and smoke.
Wonderful. Now I can scratch being kidnapped off my bucket list.
Dragon—the memory popped into my mind as I tried to make sense of my surroundings. Was that who was responsible?
I didn’t have to wait long to find out.
From the other side of the flickering fire pit, a dark figure emerged. My heart pounded in my chest, my fingers digging into the palm of my hand as I fixated on a familiar face. “Reilly?”
He laughed quietly under his breath. “Hey, your highness. Are you feeling okay?”
Stupid question. There was a throbbing ache in my head, and I was being held captive by a dragon. So no, I wasn’t okay. Horror thundered through me as I put together the pieces. The bastard had knocked me out. “What the hell? Why am I here?”
His whiskey eyes winced in the darkness, reminding me of the dragon within him. “Sorry about hitting you on the head. If there had been another way, I would have done it, but with Devyn, you can never be too careful.”
Devyn. He was probably wondering where I was. “He’ll find me, you know. And when he does, he’ll kill you.”
A dimpled grin formed on the man’s face. “Which is why we’re not sticking around, doll face.” Reilly was charming, a flirt, but was he really a kidnapper?
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I said, backing up, but I didn’t get very far. I bumped into something … or someone. My head whipped around, and I found myself face to face with another dragon. Just my luck.
Irim’s ice blue eyes were lighter when he wasn’t in his scaled dragon form. “I don’t see that you have a choice.”
Bastards.
“What is this? A shifter-vention?” I couldn’t keep the sarcasm from leaking out.
“This is for your own good. You need to face your destiny instead of running,” Irim said to me.
“Is that what you think I’m doing? I’m trying to save you all.” Ungrateful jackasses.
Irim raised a single brow. “The dragons can offer you aid.”
“What makes you think I want your so-called help? You haven’t exactly given me a reason to trust you.” The bump on my head was proof of that.
Irim and Reilly glanced at each other. “Believe it or not, we don’t want to hurt you.”
“Bullshit,” I coughed.
Reilly’s lips twitched. “I knew the moment I laid eyes on you that you’d be trouble. I thought my father was crazy to suggest I marry you, but when Devyn brought you into the bar, the idea suddenly appealed to me.”
“Marry you?” I choked. That’s how they were going to help me? By having me marry Reilly?
“Someone needs to brush up on their royal lessons. Reilly is the dragon heir,” Irim informed me.
“I thought you were a bartender,” I squeaked. What little I did know about the inner workings of the Second Moon was royals married royals, which meant Reilly was a qualified match if he was indeed from a noble line of dragons.
“I am, much to my father’s displeasure, but I’ve been summoned home … with you,” he added.
He was serious. Oh my god. “I don’t see how this helps me.”
“With Reilly as your husband, Talin and Ryker wouldn’t dare to continue to threaten your life or risk an entire fleet of dragons on their doorsteps. It would be a war neither Ryker nor Talin would win,” Irim said in his holier-than-thou voice.
Wow. Someone really kissed the ground Reilly walked on. “What do you get out of it?” I pointedly asked Reilly. Was I actually considering this, or were they even giving me a choice?
“The throne of Katsura,” Reilly answered.
So it was all about power. My knowledge of Second Moon politics was scarce. I needed to consult with Devyn, but I doubted the dragon shifters would agree. “And if I refuse?”
Reilly stepped forward, keeping his eyes pinned on mine. “It would be better if you came with us willingly. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“And Devyn? Am I supposed to just leave behind my Shaman?” Speaking of Devyn, where the hell is he?
“By the time lover boy wakes up, we’ll be in another world.”
Oh, he thought he was so clever. His joke was pathetic. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” I countered. Devyn had a way of defeating the odds.
Reilly shook his head. “You still think he is going to save you. Cute, but where is he?”
Pain pierced my chest as my eyes darted between the two dragon shifters. “What did you do to Devyn? So help me God, if you hurt him …” A bolt of white lightning cracked across the cave’s ceiling.
Reilly cocked a brow. “Someone’s control is slipping.”
Yeah, mine, which made me unpredictable and dangerous. This time I was glad. “Where is he?” I demanded.
“He’s a bit … tied up at the moment,” Reilly said.
“I don’t bel
ieve you.” There was no way some ropes would keep Devyn restrained, unless they hadn’t meant “tied up” literally.
Reilly took a step forward. “It doesn’t really matter. I’m taking you home.”
I flinched, forcing myself to remain planted when I wanted to put as much space as the cave would allow between Reilly and me. “Seaside Heights is my home.”
“Not anymore, your highness.”
I really wished he would stop calling me that. “If I agree to go with you, will you promise to free Devyn?”
He rocked back on his heels, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Do I look stupid? The moment he is free, he will come looking for you.”
I was banking on it. “It was worth a shot.”
A lock of hair fell over his forehead. “Get comfortable. It’s going to be a long night.”
Reilly and Irim turned their backs to me, huddling at the cave’s entrance. Dumb move. Calling on my fox, the tingles of the shift radiated inside me. I couldn’t leave here without Devyn, but I would be lying if I said their offer wasn’t a tad appealing. Could I marry someone I didn’t love to save a world? To save my mom?
Yes. I could.
“Psst.”
What was that? Am I hearing crap?
“Psst,” the noise sounded again. “Karina.”
Now I knew that wasn’t in my head. Okay … I was pretty sure it wasn’t. I flung my head around, scouring the darkened corner, perturbed someone had interrupted my awesome plan to get out of here. A plan I didn’t actually have. “Hello,” I whispered. “Who’s there?”
“It’s me.” A violet glimmer of light tumbled out of the black.
“Belle?” My eyes narrowed before widening. “Is Devyn with you?”
She shook her head and fluttered over so she was shielded behind my back. “No, I don’t know where the Shaman is.”
“How did you find me?” I asked, making sure to keep my face downward as if speaking to myself.
“I followed you.”
I needed to think quickly. “Do you think you can find Devyn?”
“And leave you here with them?” She sounded disgusted.
