by Meg Xuemei X
Reys helped Amber onto the carriage and sat across from me with her, but his attention remained on me the entire time. I beamed at him. I believed it a nice, bright smile because my lips were no longer split. My eyelids fluttered healthily, no longer swollen shut.
Reys smiled back, but there was also a well of sadness and rage simmering beneath the relief in his blue eyes. I would wipe away the lingering sorrow and guilt from all of my mates when we got home.
Alaric signaled Arion with pressure from his thighs, and the beast gave a loud sigh and took off. He ran straight in the center of the slipstream, which formed before us amid the clouds.
Amber stretched out her small hand to touch the cloud, and I leaned toward Pyrder, wanting to do the same. Lorcan pulled me back to his chest gently, and Pyrder helped him to settle me on the High Lord’s lap, looking alarmed. Reys also looked concerned as he scanned the clouds around us.
They were afraid that something might be lurking in the cloud. They were terrified of something snatching me away from them again.
Lorcan’s arms around my waist tightened, taking a shuddering breath and holding me as if I might be ripped away from him at any moment.
I wanted to protest that I wasn’t suddenly made of glass, but I understood where they came from, so I didn’t pout.
I gave Alaric and his broad shoulders an envious stare. I wanted to ride with him on Arion’s back, to feel the wild wind and crisp, icy current, but I knew my mates wouldn’t let me. I’d seen the looks in their eyes when they found me strung up by those chains, naked and bloodied.
Lorcan pressed my palm over his chest, and his powerful heart thumped against my skin. “It started beating again, dulcis,” he said. “When you were taken, it stopped, and I was more dead inside than ever. You make it beat; it’ll always beat for you.”
My free hand played with his hair. “You guys all need haircuts and a shave as well,” I said. It was probably my job to keep reminding them of that from now on. “It looks like none of you have slept or eaten. That’s unacceptable. Hygiene is a necessity.”
“We’re sorry,” Reys said. “Do we all smell?”
They still smelled good. Their immortal power probably had something to do with that.
“But you still need to shower,” I said, shaking my head.
“We will bath together when we get home,” Lorcan promised. “We’ll take care of you.”
Amber’s face turned as red as a tomato, and I gave her a puzzled look. My mates didn’t ask her to join our bath.
I smirked at my friend. “I’m mated to all of them, pip. So you need to get used to our adult talk, but don’t use too much imagination.”
Amber rolled her eyes, and then she started sobbing. “I told you to stay away from water with sound.”
“I thought you meant the shower,” I said.
“They tortured you. The brutal gods hurt you,” she cried. “It’s my fault. I should have figured out that it was a waterfall and told your mates not to let you near it.”
She’d seen me beaten to nothing more than a meat pulp, and the horrific, violent sight had rocked her world. But war was brutal, and she’d be with me in the center of the coming conflict. I hoped I could spare my mortal friend, but war had come for all of us.
I’d still try my best to shield her.
“Look, pip, I’m fine,” I said. “I’m here with my mates and you now, and I’m healing. I’m no fucking victim. I broke free and my mates came for me, and we’ll strike back harder than the gods’ collective asses can take. I’m not a victim, but a defender. For what I suffered, for the nightmares I lived through, I’ll make sure others don’t experience the same. My vows stand. I’ll defend those who can’t defend themselves, with my mates at my side. And in order to do that, I need all of you to help me dig out the deeper, latent goddess’s power within me.”
It was the first time I’d acknowledged myself as a goddess.
Amber nodded, blinking back tears, and her hand squeezing mine carefully. “That’s why I was sent to serve you. My life is yours to command.”
I squeezed her hand back while giving my mates a pointed look. “No one should blame themselves for my being taken and beaten. It was meant to happen. If not, I wouldn’t have gotten this.”
I extracted the white eagle feather from under my curly hair.
Reys took the feather from my hand and read the glowing inscription on it: Down the rabbit hole.
He raised an eyebrow, and Amber peeked at the writing.
“Where we can find the tool to kill the major gods,” I whispered. “Let’s talk more when we get home.”
A slice of hope rose in Reys’s eyes. Lorcan clutched me tighter.
We finally had a breakthrough.
My mates would do anything to protect me, and they knew only when we either drove away the gods or destroyed them, would I be safe, would any of us be safe, and would the mortals and immortals have a chance at a free life again.
Pyrder leaned in toward me, nuzzling his nose against my neck, inhaling deep.
His scent of rich spices and forest sun and rain wrapped around me, pumping longing into my soul. Then Lorcan’s scent of ancient wine and pine invaded my senses as well. I drew all of my mates’ scents into my lungs, wanting more.
Reys watched us, his eyes bright with longing and dark with desire. I knew he wanted to join us. His hungry look told me that he wanted more than anything to tear me away from Lorcan and press me against him, but he restrained himself. He was more concerned with my safety just now, as we were still in the sun god’s realm.
“Cass,” Pyrder whispered my name against the hollow of my neck.
I half shut my eyes at the sensation while Pyrder and Lorcan touched me tenderly. They were still convincing themselves that they’d gotten me back.
Then our mating bond swirled to life, as if intense sunlight suddenly flooded in, shining on every corner. It was a beautiful and intoxicating feeling, but I rushed to raise a shield against the light, to filter it so it couldn’t expose the deep shadow and darkness in me.
My mates had gone through enough pain when they had seen me taken away. Their agony was still palpable, despite how they tried to conceal it.
I wouldn’t let them see my internal wound. My pain might just tear theirs open again and break them. The truth was, though I was free from the imprisonment, chains, and torture, though I seemed to have healed while I drank from the two gods, the unspoken pain buried deep in my tissue hadn’t left me.
The pain and horror had become an embedded memory in my bones. I had no idea if all the invisible scars would ever leave me, but what I could do was to hide this burden from my mates so it wouldn’t hurt them, too.
I wouldn’t drag them down.
“Give, Lorcan,” Pyrder said. “It’s my turn to hold our mate.”
“I haven’t warmed her yet,” Lorcan said.
“She isn’t only yours,” Pyrder said, his voice gaining edge. “I need to hold Cass!”
“You can hold her hand,” Lorcan said.
Pyrder growled. “I thought we had an understanding.”
“Hey,” I called. I didn’t want them to fight over me when they’d just gotten me back.
“Fine, we take turns.” Lorcan conceded with reluctance and passed me to Pyrder. “And then she shall return to my side.”
Pyrder pressed me against himself as if he could never bear to lose me again. I planted a kiss on his eyelid, and his smile grew warmer than the summer sun. I couldn’t kiss him on the lips right now because once I did, I wouldn’t stop. He wouldn’t stop, either, and we were still in the open and vulnerable.
“The first thing you all need to do when we get back is to eat and then take a nap while I bathe,” I said.
“Not a chance,” Pyrder said. “We have forever to eat and sleep. I’ll help bathe you. It’s my favorite thing in the world.”
This time my face flushed, and I didn’t even need to peek at Amber.
“My turn
,” Reys said, quiet but demanding, across from us.
Only Alaric remained aloof. He rode the winged horse, the wild wind dancing in his hair, his back stiff. Usually when I was on an outing, he was always the one to pick me up and carry me home.
He hadn’t said much to me since they found me, except when, in misunderstanding, he had accused me of showing sympathy toward the two gods who had tortured me. He hadn’t comforted me like the others. My demigod was shut down, the agony, guilt, and shame close to breaking him, and he carried so much rage in him.
I wouldn’t allow him to break. I wouldn’t let him shut me out. I would get through to him and knock down his walls when we were under a safe roof.
He was mine, as I his.
I was theirs.
Just then, Arion snapped his head and sent me a mischievous glance as if he could read my mind. I bet it isn’t that peachy to have four overbearing mates. I’m sorry for what you have to endure, he said in my head.
Oh, you have no idea, I returned. I wouldn’t trade them for the world.
The winged, golden stallion sighed in disappointment.
I ignored him and napped in Reys’s warm arms.
13
__________________
We didn’t return to the Academy, Lorcan’s court, or the Spring Isles over the shiny sea.
Arion dropped us off in the old ruins of Misery Twist, then he returned to the sky without glancing back.
“Why are we here?” I cried.
Had they forgotten this was where we’d fought three gods and Lorcan had almost died?
“The ward is still strong here,” Lorcan said. He had gathered me up in his arms again. I pressed against his length. “The gods won’t be able to trace us from here after we step through the portal.”
Just then, Alaric produced a thumb ring and tossed it into the air. The ring expanded, transforming to a liquid shimmer the size of a double-door.
“What is that cool stuff?” I asked, walking around the shimmering substance. “I must have missed out on a lot. How much do I have to catch up on this time?”
“Alaric stole the ring from Zeus when he went to see him,” Pyrder said beside me.
I blinked. “He went to see his dad? But I thought—” Then I clammed my mouth shut. If it weren’t for me, he would never have gone to see the King of Gods.
Alaric trained his gaze on me. “I’ll see you on the other side, sweetheart. I’ll make sure you’re safe in my realm. No one will dare try to hurt you in Australia.”
He hadn’t spoken to me after my rescue until now. My heart fluttered at his endearment for me. He’d be mine again. Soon.
The demigod stepped through the shimmer, followed by Lorcan, who carried me with my legs wrapped around his waist, then my best friend Amber, with my twin fae mates bringing up the rear.
As soon as all of us walked through, the shimmer vanished. A ring appeared in its place, floating in the air. At Alaric’s summoning, it flew back to him and became his thumb ring again.
Well, that was handy. I would borrow it from Alaric when he was in a better mood.
The sound of waves lapping at the rocks and shore hit my sensitive eardrums first. We stood on a cliff facing a dark expanse of ocean. Moonlight reflected off the cresting waves and white-foam tide.
“I’ve always wanted to see the ocean,” I said.
“We’re in Alaric’s safe house, dulcis,” Lorcan grunted.
Fine, it wasn’t what I expected. I’d thought we would go to a military compound in Sidney with at an army to welcome us, since Alaric was the King of the Hybrids. Or at least we would settle in a grand mansion fit for the demigod son of Zeus.
However, I was staring at a cluster of cabins atop the cliff, thin clouds floating by, and the ocean wind whipping at my cloak.
“This is the most secure place for you now, sweetheart,” Alaric said, leading us toward the largest cabin in the middle of the woods.
“Obviously, we’re cut off from civilization.” I let out a bereaved sigh. “Who will cook for us?”
There would be no supply of cakes in this remote place.
“I will,” a familiar voice said, and then Hector, followed by the other fae warriors, and Xihin moved out of the shadows toward us. “I’m glad you’ve returned to us, Cass. Without you, our chef wasn’t in the mood to cook for rest of us.”
“Hector!” I cried in joy and grinned at all the warriors. “But no, thanks, but no! I don’t want to eat anything you make. We need professionals to bake edible cakes!”
“How about I do the baking?” Boone asked, also walking toward us. “You’ll never lack for cakes, Cass. That I can promise.”
Shan and Frances stood behind him and waved at me, smiling.
My eyes moistened.
“Boone! I’m so glad they shipped you here, too, and Shan and Frances!”
My mates got all of my old team in here for me. Deep gratitude swelled in my chest. I realized that I still clung to Lorcan, my legs clamped like a vice around his waist.
My face flaming, I wiggled out of his arms. He didn’t want to let me go, but I had a public image to maintain.
I didn’t get to hang out with everyone since my mates whisked me away, into the main cabin before everyone had a chance to greet me, wanting me all to themselves. I didn’t protest since they’d promised to bathe me.
As soon as we entered the well-furnished cabin, I saw a variety of cakes on the dining table.
My eyes brightened in excitement and a grin overtook my face. “Cakes! Lots of cakes!”
Reys chuckled. “You want cakes first or a bath?”
I gave the dessert a longing look then turned back to my mates.
I bit my lip. “Bath?”
“Our mate has chosen us over cakes,” Lorcan declared with pride and approval.
Reys and Pyrder smirked. The heat in their twin turquoise eyes could easily cause me to combust.
My heart beat wildly at the thought of all the wicked things they were going to do to me. I bet they could all hear it pounding within my chest.
Our separation had taken a toll on me. I needed them. I needed to press myself skin to skin against them. I wanted nothing between us. And I wanted the world to be just us for now.
In no time, the males undressed me and put me in a vast tub. Large, powerful hands were on me everywhere. I was hyper aware of their every word, touch, desire, and emotion, yet it still wasn’t enough.
Not until I melted into them.
Without realizing it, I was leaning into Pyrder, weeping, since he was right in front of me. Pyrder was most skilled at snatching the spot beside me in any setting. It was no different in the bathtub. Lorcan considered it beneath him to fight for the spot, but he’d changed a lot. He was catching up, yet he was still nowhere near as aggressive as Pyrder.
“I got you, Cass baby,” Pyrder said, pulling me closer to him.
“Dulcis, it’s all right,” Lorcan cooed in my ear while massaging my bare back.
Reys wiped my tears from my cheeks. “We got you, Cass baby. We’ll never lose you again. We’ll never let you be taken again.”
Then I caught a glimpse of Alaric leaning against the door of the bath chamber. He watched us, his eyes dark and brooding. Before I could twist my torso and beckon him to join us, he was gone.
He remained distant, but I knew that was only because a weight bore down on him. Before I could jump out of the bathtub to chase him, Pyrder pressed his warm, sensual lips to mine and made my toes curl. When he kissed me deeply and thrust his tongue into my mouth, claiming me again with his male demand, I was lost to him.
Then Lorcan’s hands cupped my breasts from behind, as half of my ass was on his legs and the other half on Pyrder’s, and then Reys’s fingers slid down my valley between my thighs, and I became all fire and steam.
I wanted to fuck them. I wanted to fuck them all at the same time.
I untangled my tongue from Pyrder’s and gasped over his lips. “I need—”
/> “We know what you need, baby,” Reys said. “We’ll take care of you. We’ll fuck you good and hard, re-stake our claim on you.”
Heat rushed through my veins, singing in my blood with desire for my mates.
Then I was out of the water. My mates dried me and placed me on the center of a vast bed that could fit us all. But only Reys and Pyrder got in bed with me. Lorcan let his hungry gaze linger upon me for a moment, and then exited the room.
The three of them must have reached a silent agreement. They’d let Reys and Pyrder fuck me first, then I would be Lorcan’s, for he would need to feed from me, which would be too intimate for others to watch.
I’d learned that, while I had stayed in Apollo’s realm for only a few days, Earth had rotated through weeks. The High Lord of Night had no blood in all that time. He wouldn’t drink from anyone else since we mated.
Reys stared at my bare pussy, his beautiful blue eyes darkening in thick lust.
“The loveliest sight ever,” he murmured, shaking, as if fighting a battle not to leap upon me and devour me.
But I wanted him to. I wanted him to do all sorts of dirty things to me. I wanted all of my mates to do all sorts of naughty things to me.
I didn’t want any inhibition.
Fire coursed in me, all the way to the tender flesh between my thighs, under the weight of my mates’ desire.
I writhed a little just to sunder their control.
Reys cursed and palmed my pussy roughly. I thrust my crotch toward his hand, rubbing my silken sex against his palm.
Pyrder also cursed as he watched, lust burning so intensely in his darker turquoise eyes that I felt like melting wax exposed to an open flame.
They were identical twins with the same red-golden hair. While Reys’s flowed down to his broader shoulders, Pyrder’s was tied in a man bun.
My lustful gaze traced from their enticing, cut chests down to their six-pack stomachs, then their powerful legs. Both of their bodies were perfectly proportioned. The only difference was Pyrder had the tattoo of a magnificent panther inked on his forearm and half of his chest. Reys was all smooth skin rippling with well-defined, steely muscles.
My eyes dipped to their massive cocks. They also had the same straight, beautiful cocks. I licked my lips, picturing how they would make me feel when they filled my pussy. They were both steel rods wrapped in velvet-fine skin, but I remembered the differences when they fucked me.
