by Ophelia Bell
Gavra feigned a good-natured smile. “Try to look on the bright side. She wants us to service hundreds of nymphs. In our prime, we would have jumped at the chance.”
Aodh’s expression darkened further, his pale brows drawing together. “She wants us to impregnate them, brother. You know that means we must mate them. And we have no idea whether any of these females are even willing. Assana is convinced that her mother has mind-controlled the Thiasoi maidens. How do we know she hasn’t done the same to all the nymphs? She’s had time.”
Gavra’s false cheer fell away. He sighed and glanced at the depressing, muddy pit beside them.
“She’s had thousands of years to get over hating you. You’d think she would have forgiven you by now.”
“I think it stopped being about Neph and Meri a long time ago. If she’s willing to trust me to come to the Haven now, even under duress, perhaps she doesn’t hate me as much as she used to. I have to believe that the friend she once was still exists. The woman who once encouraged me and Neph to be together—to choose a female for our third so we could. I just wish we’d chosen more wisely.”
“You couldn’t have known that Meri would become the Lamia. If we fix this, at least you’ll get another chance. But I don’t want to waste time once we’re in the Haven.” Gavra’s gaze shifted to Assana, who had been facing him, but swiftly turned away and into Silas’s embrace. “I can’t let this go on any longer than it has to.”
Aodh followed his gaze and nodded. “She’s her mother’s daughter. They were always powerful nymphs and determined to protect what’s theirs, but that level of power comes with a price. It’s good that you have Silas as a buffer. I’m fortunate that Vrishti is my fated mate—I think Neph and I would implode if it were just the two of us … though maybe he’s changed after all this time.”
Aodh quieted, his gaze growing distant, wistful.
“He’ll return,” Gavra said. “He cares for the Haven and his family as strongly as his sister does. He wouldn’t leave it vulnerable by choice.”
“He did it for us,” Aodh said, his voice catching. “For our sister.”
“And his nephew.”
“He did it for Nicholas,” Assana said. Gavra’s body heated at the sound of her voice, closer now and with no barrier between them.
He looked at her, closing his hands into fists lest he reach out to touch her. All he needed to do was lift a hand and he could reach her skin, as close as she stood. He swallowed and his brows twitched as he forced himself to focus on what she’d said.
“Nicholas?”
Assana gave him a half-shrug. “Your sister and my brother weren’t the ones in danger. Mother would never hurt Calder. Aurum could’ve survived anything Mother threw at her. She knew who was the most vulnerable of the three … Nicholas was her target when she sent the Thiasoi after them. She would have had him killed if it hadn’t been for my uncle drifting them all away at the last second.”
“And she would have started a war with the ursa had she done so,” Gavra said.
“I don’t think she understood how important he is to everyone. All she knew was that he was instrumental in taking Calder away from his duty to the Haven … at least as Mother perceived it.”
Gavra snorted. “So now Aurum’s brothers get to take his place. I suppose it’s a fair trade, if you look at it that way.”
Assana’s sharp intake of breath sobered him. This was no laughing matter.
“I’m sorry,” he said, impulsively reaching out to her before dropping his hand by his side again and gritting his teeth. Sweet Mother, he wanted to touch her, to comfort her.
Assana shook her head, her whirlpool eyes glassy with emotion. She took a small step closer to him and Silas shifted with her, as though guarding her safety with his body.
She reached out and took Gavra’s hand, her touch sending a spark of profound longing through him. Her skin was cool and silken, but when she drew his hand to her lips and kissed his knuckles, he met warm, soft flesh. Then she turned his hand palm-up to press it to her cheek and let out a shaky moan as she leaned into his touch. He shivered with the pleasure of that simple touch, barely containing the need to pull her against him. She contained her madness well, proving how strong she was, but her aura didn’t lie. She was hanging on by a thread.
“The idea of you with anyone else makes me ill,” she said in a brittle tone. “But if this is something you want … something it would please you to do, I understand. You can’t deny your own needs for my sake.”
“Assana, I don’t need to fuck another woman. I haven’t since the day I found you. And if I’m being completely honest, the last person I fucked was Silas. I hope you don’t have any issue with that, because he’s all we have.”
Silas gave him a withering glare. “Are you regretting the moment we shared earlier?”
Assana shook her head, cutting off any response Gavra might have had. “I’m not talking about Silas. He’s the only way I can stay sane around you, Gavra. Without him, I couldn’t go through with this.”
“But you’d be my wild nymph without him,” Gavra said.
“You know it’s more complicated than that,” she said. “And I know how much you want him, too. I just need to know what else you want … if it’s a female you crave, I can’t be yours yet, but the others will be happy to bed you and I can’t stop that.”
With a growl, he slipped his hand away from her cheek to the back of her neck and pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her. She shivered against him, her aura flaring as she looked up into his eyes.
“You’re the only female in the fucking universe I want, Assana,” he said. She pressed her hands to his shoulders and tilted her head back. Her eyes were feral and fearful and on the verge of panic. Despite that, her body melted to his and her pelvis pressed hard against his growing arousal.
“Gavra …” Silas warned. The large ursa stepped closer and rested both hands on Assana’s upper arms, ready to pull her away.
Gavra was playing with fire. Despite the fierce control he kept on his powers, his desire for her was innate and something he couldn’t fully deny. Assana responded to that pull as surely as iron filings to a magnet, but her entire body was charged with a desire even stronger than his and her restraint was wavering with every second he held her.
Still, he bent his head, reflexively needing a taste, just one small kiss. She let out a soft moan when his lips brushed hers and her fingertips dug hard into his muscles—partly clawing to get closer and partly pushing to get away. The way her body twisted in his arms was a maddening contradiction, as though she were split, but he couldn’t get enough, even after that soft kiss.
He groaned and held her tighter, brushing his mouth down her neck and shifting his hands lower, seeking to cup her ass and pull her even tighter against his erection.
“The fuck, man, let go of her!” Silas said. He clasped Gavra’s shoulder with one large hand and pushed. “She can’t deal with you, all right?”
Something in the ursa’s touch snapped his control back into place. Abruptly, Gavra let go of Assana and she twisted back into Silas’s arms, burying her face against his neck and wrapping her hands around his shoulders, gasping for breath as though she’d nearly drowned.
Gavra stumbled back, shaking his head, and his brother was there with a strong arm to steady him.
“Give it time,” Aodh said. “I’m here to help. We’ll get her mother under control and then you can be together. I promise.”
Shaking himself, Gavra turned away. He didn’t know how he would manage this trip. The only female he wanted, he couldn’t have until this was fixed. He stared up at the sky, impatient for midnight to arrive. They couldn’t fucking get there soon enough for his taste.
Only a few moments later, the air grew thick with damp mist that seemed to coalesce from nowhere. The dark pit of the empty lake seemed to shimm
er with rippling liquid and was suddenly filled with water once more, the sound of it first a tinkling trickle, then a rush, then a roaring flood again as Gaia’s falls resumed flowing.
“It’s time,” Assana said, but Gavra was already running toward the edge and leaping over. The chilly water of the falls did nothing to cool his burning need for her.
Chapter Fifteen
Aurum
The moment Aurum flew past the shimmering barrier protecting the turul Enclave, she reached out with her mind, broadcasting her arrival to her siblings. Nicholas clung to her back like his life depended on it, though he hadn’t gotten airsick, which was some consolation. He wasn’t possessed by the same crippling fear of flying he had been when they met, but he still didn’t love being in mid-air if he could help it.
Calder flew beside her, having taken the shape of a huge, graceful water bird with long legs and pristine white feathers. He was completely unsuited for the gusting winds of the blizzard they’d flown through to reach this mountainside hideaway where the North American turul had retreated.
The fierce winds and snow had broken abruptly and the air was still chilly but calm, though eddies of cold wind tickled beneath Aurum’s wings, reminding her how flirtatious the North Wind could be. He whispered in her ear as she flew toward the Enclave, speaking of ancient dalliances they’d had when she was young, but it had always been her sisters the Winds loved the most.
“Welcome, sister.” Her brother Ked’s deep voice reverberated in her mind, filled with more happiness than she’d ever heard. She banked abruptly, causing Calder to squawk in annoyance and Nicholas to curse from her back, his legs tightening around her flanks.
She craned her head around, looking for the source of the voice.
“West entrance,” Ked said. “Look for the three of us.”
She turned, flying around the massive mountain peak covered in platforms and scaffolding and huge stone buttresses that had been haphazardly built on over the centuries. It all looked like some strange, misshapen beast that had grown organically out of the mountainside, half the posts of the buildings having rooted and grown branches covered with deep green needles.
Finally she saw them, standing at the edge of a sturdy wooden deck. The two big men waved, and the petite woman between them beamed and bounced excitedly.
She shifted as she landed, conjuring warm clothing for Calder first, who was far more sensitive to the elements than she was. Nicholas had dressed before they left and carried an overstuffed pack filled with necessities that Aurum wouldn’t be able to conjure on the fly.
Once dressed, she rushed into her brother’s arms, hugging him fiercely.
“What the hell happened to you?” she demanded, pulling back and staring up into his mirthful gaze. “Who are you, and what have you done with my brother?”
Ked laughed. “I could say the same to you, sister. Had I known these two were yours, I’d have brought them out kicking and screaming that night I saved Evie.”
Calder and Nicholas flanked her, each man reaching to accept one of Ked’s proffered arms and grasping firmly in greeting.
“You know we wouldn’t have gone,” Calder said. “Evie needed you more than we did. Besides, you did come back, and for that we’re grateful.”
Evie squealed and rushed into Aurum’s embrace. “I’m so happy for you!” she said. “I love that your dreams came true. And didn’t I tell you? There were two! I knew it!”
Russet-haired Marcus stood back from the group, smiling, though wary. Aurum had only known him from the point of Ked’s rescue more than a month ago, but was aware that he had a much longer, more complicated history with her two mates.
“Marcus,” Calder said, breaking the silence that lingered between them once Ked and Evie had completed their greetings. “You look well.”
Marcus’s green eyes studied the satyr for a moment before he nodded. “Now that I’m clear of him, I am.”
Aurum frowned, sensing a deeper, lingering hurt in the man that didn’t seem to exist in either of his mates. Evie gripped Marcus’s hand and looked up at him, her gaze filled with love and concern.
“You know Nikhil’s at the Enclave now, don’t you?” she asked.
Marcus nodded and pressed his lips together. “I know.”
“My sister’s forgiven him,” Aurum said gently. Marcus only responded with a pained look.
“You don’t understand. The man was in control of my mind for fifty years. Even knowing he was as much a victim as I was doesn’t make it any easier to face him. Evie’s forgiven him too. Ked’s seen all his secrets and has no issues anymore. I didn’t have the luxury of a one-on-one with him to help me get over it. He was the man who forced me to be a monster for five decades.”
Nicholas finally moved, stepping toward Marcus and holding out his hands. “You and the other Elites were always good men,” he said. “It wasn’t lost on us that you were forced into the role.”
Marcus stared at Nicholas for a moment, blinking in confusion as he took in the big ursa’s black, shoulder-length waves and dark beard. The last time Nicholas was in the Ultiori compound, his coloring had been drastically different. Finally Marcus’s eyes widened, and he let out a loud laugh.
“Nick? Holy shit, is it really you? Oh my god, man. This is …” He paused, dumbstruck, then reached out and pulled Nicholas into a tight hug. “You made it out. How’s the real world treating you?”
“Ah, aside from the lingering fear of falling into the sky, pretty damn great. Except I almost got skewered by nymphs a few days ago … and Nikhil’s our best hope to fix things. We need his help, and yours, if you can.”
“I’ll think about it,” Marcus said, glancing back at Evie and Ked. “It’s not really a good time to leave.”
“You can still drift,” Calder said. “That ability in itself is valuable enough to give us an advantage. With you and the other Elites and Nikhil, we can go places the Ultiori will least expect. We can find where they’re keeping my father and the rest of our Thiasoi squadron. Please think about it.”
“Come inside and rest,” Ked said. “We can talk more by the fire while we eat. Perhaps my sister will even honor us with one of her famous meals.”
“Where is Belah? She didn’t respond to my call when we passed the barrier,” Aurum said to her brother as he led them into an expansive apartment that reminded her of her home in the Glade. Her eyes drifted around the comfortable interior, lingering on the polished stone floors and counters of a kitchen that even had modern appliances installed. The turul had always been more immersed in human culture than the other higher races. She took a step toward it, itching to get her hands on the goods as she turned back with an expectant look at her brother.
Ked’s mouth twitched. “She’s a bit tied up at the moment,” he said.
Aurum rolled her eyes and sent her sister a mental message. “Any time you’d like to come and say hello …”
“I just got the love of my life back, sister. Don’t rush me,” came the impatient reply.
“Fine. When you are done working up an appetite, come to Ked’s apartment. I’m making dinner.”
There was a pause, and then Belah answered eagerly, “We’ll be there.”
Chapter Sixteen
Nikhil
Nikhil’s wrists ached despite the fact that the skin hadn’t been broken. When Iszak unbound him, he managed to support himself and was grateful that the two men stood back and let him stand on his own. He struggled to stay upright, though, and Belah slid in and wrapped her arm around his waist, her warm curves a welcome presence after her mates’ rough treatment.
She led him past the fireplace and through a doorway back into the mountainside. Despite the wood paneling and hanging tapestries, he saw dark granite through the gaps, betraying that this entire Enclave was built right into the rock.
After a few steps they reached
a cozy room lit with candles and filled with a moist heat that smelled just like her.
He let out a low groan of gratitude when she led him down into a wide, recessed tub filled with hot water.
“Do you need my breath?” she asked in a worried tone. The truth was Nikhil felt a profound sense of wellbeing now as he sank deeper into the water. Belah descended beside him, her silk gown dissolving as she went, and urged him to immerse himself to the shoulders.
“No, little beast. My conscience is the clearest it’s been in a very, very long time.” Glancing at the doorway, he saw her two mates standing just beyond in the shadows. “Thank you,” he said to them.
Lukas smiled, but Iszak averted his gaze. The sadistic brother’s dark brows twitched with some inner conflict before he looked up again, meeting Nikhil’s eyes directly.
“I think I need to thank you,” Iszak said. “I know what was missing now. What was holding me back. I forget sometimes how strong she is … it always felt wrong to take things that far. She’s the mother of our child …”
He trailed off as Belah slid onto the bench behind Nikhil and poured fragrant soap onto his shoulders.
“I’m also immortal,” she said, looking over at her mates while skillfully working the soap across Nikhil’s shoulders, digging into his abused muscles in a way that provided both pain and the best kind of pleasure.
Nikhil let out a long groan and tilted his head back against her bare shoulder.
“She’s always been the one in command,” he said, watching the other two men through low-lidded eyes. “The moment I understood her desires fully, it freed me to be what she needed. You both need to trust that she needs you as you are, and I mean as you truly are. Don’t hide from your darkness. Give it to her.”
The pair of them came farther into the room, but Nikhil was too drunk from Belah’s expert touch to object to their nearness again. He wasn’t bound by ropes this time; now he was held prisoner by the hypnotic working of her thumbs into his muscles and the slide of her thighs at his sides under the water.
