Daniel was at the head of the line as we followed Linford through a garden that was even lusher than I’d imagined. Everything from trees with spiky bark to overflowing bushes of what looked like succulents. They had huge, bulbous flowers on them, so large and red that they looked like grapes.
When a house appeared in the near distance, it caught my attention. Low slung, it was larger than the bird’s eye view indicated, but because it was one story, not as expansive.
The white stucco walls belonged on a beach somewhere, and the decking was set with several kinds of swinging chairs. Anything from a hammock that drifted languidly in the breeze under a large palm umbrella to clusters of sun loungers that were aerial.
The sight wasn’t that unusual. We preferred to be airborne as a rule, and that kind of seat was something an aging Fae would prefer. I could already tell from his bowed back and his drooping wings that hung low to the ground that Linford was not as young as he appeared.
The truth hit me that I didn’t know Gabriella all that well. We’d been strangers until recently, and I didn’t know if she’d like the hammock or the swinging sun lounger. Maybe she’d have preferred the shell-like bed that would have seated all four of us beneath its arching canopy, or the gathering of bean bags that were slung haphazardly around the infinity pool that peered off into the garden with the ocean breeze sputtering in, bringing a floral scent from the garden. And it stung. The lack of knowledge? It made me ache.
We’d known each other such a short time, and yet, my whole world was suddenly shifting, morphing into one that had her at its epicenter. But I didn’t know her. How could she mean so much and still be a stranger to me?
I felt the lack like a hole in the heart, and knew that, even if this bond confused the Sol out of me, what mattered most was coming to know her. Something I intended to get started on the second she was awake and functioning.
When we’d finally crossed the garden and were on the decking, Linford led us around the side of the house. When I saw a small building, it didn’t come as a surprise considering I’d seen there were several roofs as we’d descended, but it was cute nonetheless. Thatched with straw, the walls weren’t straight, if anything, they were skewed. There was a set of French doors that were open and some white linen curtains swung in and out, drifting on the wind.
He waved an arm and murmured, “These are her… your quarters during your stay here.”
“Thank you,” Daniel rasped, taking me and the older man aback by grabbing Linford’s hand and pumping it. “Thank you for keeping her safe for us.”
The somber lines on the man’s face eased up at that. “It’s my duty. You don’t have to thank me for it.”
“Duty needn’t always be thankless,” Daniel countered, and before Linford could argue, he twisted around and stalked between the doors.
I dipped my chin in farewell, as did Seph, and we parted ways in silence.
Seph moved inside first and I hesitated outside the doors for just a handful of seconds. It was strange, knowing your life was going to change, and knowing exactly when and how.
We weren’t supposed to be aware of our fates, only Sol and Gaia knew of our life paths, and until I’d met Riel, I hadn’t known much of mine. True, I’d been working toward becoming a warrior, but that hadn’t been the goal. To bring honor back to the family name, to dedicate myself to that cause had been my sole intent.
Instead, I was a Virgo.
I had a witch born Fae for a mate, and I knew the direction my life was going to take was whichever path she was on.
Maybe it shouldn’t have been an either/or situation, but… and from what Dan had said back on the plane, I got the feeling he and I thought the same way—Riel was not made to be normal. She wasn’t born to be a warrior, wasn’t made to help out governments in crisis. What she was born to be, I’d yet to figure out, but average definitely wasn’t it.
That was what I’d wanted.
Way back when I’d known she was witch born, I’d thought only of how this ‘new’ hybrid would bring us to fame, how she would right my uncle’s wrongs and bring my family back from exile. Now? I knew otherwise, but that knowledge didn’t clue me in on all the changes that were heading our way. Those were still in Sol and Gaia’s hands, as they should be.
The scent of her filled my senses the second I crossed the threshold, and my heart thundered in my chest as I heard her squeak, “Daniel?”
Stepping deeper into the quarters, I saw Daniel sitting on the side of the bed, half-twisted so he could hug her. His wings ruffled every now and then as his agitation began to lessen thanks to her presence, and I could even see from how they shifted, that he was taking deeper breaths, as though he’d been unable to breathe freely without her.
The sight, so unexpected to behold, floored me, but what floored me more? That I understood. That I got it. I’d been restless on the plane, unable to focus on anything other than her and what had happened. I was usually good at compartmentalizing, but on that flight? That had been impossible.
My own throat felt thick as Seph clambered on the bed and grumbled, “My turn.”
Daniel grunted but released her with a scowl he shot Seph’s way. As she tunneled into his embrace, I marveled at how he was so obviously unhappy at sharing her, but also how he gave in without a fight.
With sharing lovers viewed as perverted in our culture, that we weren’t ripping into each other, came as a huge surprise. We’d spent the last few days tearing one another apart if we happened to hurt Riel during training, but today? We’d forged into a unit, into a working troupe whose focus had been her.
For the first time, we’d been streamlined, and it was because of her.
When she squeezed Seph then released him, I saw her look for me. Her eyes softened as she caught me and her arms beckoned me home.
I swallowed as the emotions she stirred in me rushed forward with the force of a tidal wave intent on decimating anything that was in its path. I wasn’t used to feeling this much. Wasn’t used to feeling anything other than a stalwart resolve as I went about my days.
But here?
Now?
Nothing mattered but Riel and the bond flaring to life between us.
5
Riel
The bed was huge. Back when Cribs had made watching people’s mansions exciting, I remembered seeing Shaq O’Neal’s custom bed and thinking it was epic. For a dude that large? It made sense to have a bed the size of an ocean.
But if that was the Atlantic, this bed was the Pacific.
It was quite telling that Linford had lived as a Virgo at some point in his life, that was for damn sure.
All night long, I’d slept fitfully. Not really getting any rest, just tossing and turning in the huge expanse of space. But processing everything Linford had told me hadn’t made things any easier, and just being away from the guys had made it a thousand times harder.
How had things turned out this way this fast?
How was it that I needed them at my side after only a handful of days?
And, the most important question of all, how had my grandmother survived without them?
How had she carried on?
That she’d been in great pain was evident to me now, and that I hadn’t known of her suffering? That our family hadn’t either? It made me respect her and feel for her all the more.
Sure, she’d lied to us, and I was pissed at that, but fuck, she was dead. What use was there in wasting my energy on being angry at a dead woman I’d loved, who’d loved me, and who’d spent her life trying to rectify the mistakes of her past? Those mistakes were many and varied to be sure, but they’d brought me to this point. A point where three strange male Fae who should have been my enemies were the only things I needed from this life.
I hadn’t stirred when Daniel had come into the room, having managed to doze a little, but when he’d whispered my name?
It was like stepping into a room on your birthday and everyone you gave a shit about hollering
, “Surprise!”
I wanted to cry at how good it felt having them with me now, but as big a pussy as they were turning me into, I wasn’t that bad.
Not yet, at any rate.
I had a feeling that soon things might change, but for the moment, I was still me. Still a snarky, sassy cubana who had hips that wouldn’t quit, an attitude that made a man sit up and beg, and a capacity for love that couldn’t be equaled.
First Daniel hugged me, then Seph, and finally Matthew. Then, they shifted around, moving and taking it in turns to hold me. Eventually, they settled, an inner peace forming now that we were back together again, and I clung to Daniel and Matthew’s hands while Seph inveigled himself behind me so I was leaning into him. It felt good to be surrounded by them, and I knew this feeling would only grow with time. Would only expand and deepen.
It should have been a terrifying prospect, but it just felt so fucking right that I didn’t have it in me to give a damn.
“Everyone else feel like they can breathe again?” Daniel queried as he squeezed my fingers.
“Yeah,” I admitted, unsurprised when Matthew and Seph murmured their agreement.
“This bond is weird,” he muttered. “I’m not complaining, but it’s—”
I tugged at his fingers. “You don’t have to qualify that for fear of hurting my feelings. This is just as nuts for you as it is for me.” My cheeks puffed as I gusted out some air. “You have to bear in mind, guys, that I wasn’t exactly a… Well, let’s just say I was a love ‘em and leave ‘em kinda girl. I didn’t want a relationship because I thought it would fuck with my career. I’ve never been one for hearth and home, and Sol, I never wanted a life like my mother.
“Eight boys in an attempt to have another girl?” I shook my head. “My idea of hell. If we never have kids, I won’t care. I wiped enough babies’ asses and tossed enough diapers in the trash to make even a nanny whimper.
“I never, ever wanted to feel this way for a man. Never mind men. Yet here I am… craving the three of you like—” I broke off, because I couldn’t even begin to describe how the craving for them was consuming me.
If someone had told me about this insta-lust bullshit before, I’d have told them to fuck off.
This stuff just didn’t happen.
Until it happened.
Then, it became worse. Insta-lust morphed into something I just couldn’t begin to define yet. There were two ‘L’ words that mattered in a relationship, after all.
Seph cupped my shoulder. “It’s okay.”
“Is it?” I whispered, my gaze on my knees. “It might be right now, but what about—”
“What about what?” Daniel growled. “If we’re like your grandparents? Fuck that. I’m my own man. And I know, like I know my Gaia-given name, that these feelings aren’t going anywhere, and I don’t want them to.”
Seph’s breath whistled from him as he whispered, “He’s right, Riel. It’s crazy. We don’t know each other, but I’m not willing to throw this connection away.
“I’m not a romantic man. I’ve never thought about love or shit like that, never even wanted it. I always knew I was made to be a warrior—that’s about it. But this? It’s blindsided me, and I’m—” Seph blew out a harsh breath. “—okay with that.
“Some things are just meant to be, and if denying this bond turns me into my father? Well, Sol, let’s just say I’ve had a glimpse into a future where a Virgo denies his witch the claim and it isn’t pretty.”
I twisted to look at Matthew, needing him to reassure me too. I’d always hated insecure women, had always thought they were pretty pathetic, but Sol, that was nothing compared to how I was feeling right this second.
Pathetic was my middle name.
Matthew’s eyes clung to mine. “We tried to find you. We contacted Noa and he helped us. We traveled to Seph’s home, and we saw his cirque du freak. Riel, those witches were… they were living half-lives. They’d lost their Virgo, so if ignoring the claim brings me even a fraction of their misery, if, potentially, that’s what the rest of my life is going to be like because I don’t have you in it? Then I don’t want it.
“I’m like Seph. We weren’t raised with love in mind. We’re from noble stock, warrior lines. We were born to fight,” he stated, his tone passionate and free from the clinicalness that usually lingered in his voice. He twisted to face me, clinging to my hand and squeezing it so I could feel his passion—an emotion that was aimed at me. “We weren’t born for love, and yet, I know I can feel that for you. I know that this bond is something truly worth fighting for.”
I gnawed on my bottom lip as I processed their words, their earnest responses couldn’t be denied. They meant it. Even though we were so close to the beginning of our journey that we’d barely stumbled out of the starting gates, they meant what they were saying… and so did I.
It seemed like none of us had ever expected to find someone to love, and instead, we’d found one another.
“What if you piss me off by leaving dirty towels on the floor?” I rasped, my feet shuffling together as I processed my nervous thoughts. “My dad does that all the time, and my mom hates it. And don’t get me started on the stubble he left in the sink. Plus, what if you hate the fact that I barely ever cook, just magic up food that doesn’t taste as good because I can’t be assed—”
Matthew shushed me by reaching over, cupping my chin, and then drawing my face to his. As his lips ghosted over mine, he dropped a tiny kiss on my mouth. “I’m sure there’s a crap ton of stuff we do that will piss you off, and I’m sure that there will be things you do that irritate the Sol out of us, but we’ll talk about it, right?”
My eyes flared wide. “You mean, you want to communicate? You are guys, right?”
Daniel laughed. “You saw the evidence the other night.”
“True,” I mumbled, still agog. “But men don’t want to talk about shit like that.”
“That’s where you’ve been dealing with the wrong kind of men then,” Seph said gruffly. “We’re not humans. We’re not fools like them. We’re Fae.”
Well, Sol, I didn’t have a comeback for that, so instead, I gave it one last, final shot and warned, “The connection is changing us.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Daniel groused. “I used to be chill as fuck and now look at me. Gaia help me, I make the Hulk look like he’s on Valium.”
My lips twitched at that. “Just don’t turn green on me.”
“You’d love me when I’m angry,” he teased, and I laughed.
The laughter amazed me. That I could feel such buoyant amusement at this moment? After hours of misery, after hours of heart-wrenching worry? It made me feel like this, like we had a chance…
Wishful thinking? Maybe. But I’d take a wish with intent any day of the week.
“I’m hoping that the claiming will stop us from devolving further. It’s disconcerting, that’s for sure,” Seph said dryly. “I’m used to being in control of my emotions, not them being in control of me.”
“Aren’t we all?” Matthew retorted with a smirk. “But I think whatever we were, we’re no longer going to be. We need to embrace what’s going to happen to us, and just take it one step at a time.”
Daniel cleared his throat. “Stupid question but… I know screw all about Virgos. How does the claiming work?”
“I asked Linford,” I mumbled, my cheeks burning hotly at what his answer had been.
“You did?” Daniel snorted out a laugh and shook his head. “Only you’d ask a grandfather you only just met about that.”
“Never let it be said you don’t have big balls, Riel,” Seph agreed, making me laugh too. “What did he say?”
“Did he tell you?” Matthew asked insistently.
That all three spoke at once had me laughing again. But I quirked a brow as I asked, “How do you feel about anal?”
❖
Daniel
“Anal?” I quirked my brow right back at her. “On you or me?”
&
nbsp; She sputtered out a chuckle. “You don’t have to claim each other!”
“Well, how the Sol do I know?” I grumbled, but it made me feel good to see her laughing, especially after the time apart—though short in the grand scheme of things—was evident in the fatigue that was written into the lines of her face.
There was something so right about this madness, something that felt so good now we were all together again.
It had barely been any time at all since we’d last been in a unit, and yet, in those hours where we’d lost her, it had felt like a lifetime.
“It’s like something from a porn movie,” she stated, a warning in her tone. “I know how you Fae are about shit like this.”
“And the stuff we did the other night wasn’t like a porn flick?” Matthew queried, and I could tell the bastard was intrigued. He was leaning into her, practically licking his fucking lips at the prospect.
She grunted. “Well, yeah, but… think the three of you on me at the same time.”
I cut Seph and Matt a look as we winced all at once.
Blowing out a breath, I asked, “And that’s how it works?”
“That’s the first phase,” she mumbled. “You have to come inside me.”
“And?” Seph prompted when she hesitated.
“A few days later it will trigger something Linford called the Rut.”
“Sol, you actually talked about this stuff, in detail, with a straight face with your grandfather?” I shook my head at her, detangled our fingers, and raised my fist to her. When she frowned at my hand, I snorted. “Fist bump. That merits a definite fist bump.”
“Oh.” She bumped fists with me before bridging our hands once more.
“The Rut, well, that sounds pretty self-explanatory.”
She gulped, her chocolate brown eyes huge in her face. “Yeah.”
Faeling Hard: An Eight Wings Academy Novel: Book Two Page 9
