Outcast (Hunter: A Thieves Series Book 4)

by Lexi Blake

  Shame and guilt are heavy burdens to bear. I’d agreed to not push the subject but only if Christopher would meet with Felix Day once a month. The former angel now had a stop in Atlanta every fourth Thursday of the month.

  Gray put his hands on my hips and drew me close. “No matter what I said, I always knew we would end up here. After all, I saw it. It’s exactly the way I saw it.”

  A chuckle came from my right. “I bet you didn’t see me here.”

  Trent stood by the elegant sofa, his jacket and tie off.

  Gray still wore the tuxedo he’d worn to our wedding not four hours before. The royals had gone all out, pulling off a luxurious wedding in a matter of weeks.

  Luckily without the help of Myrddin. He was currently on the Hell plane, meeting with several highly placed demons to decide which would become the official emissary to the king. He could stay there for a long time as far as I was concerned.

  He hadn’t been there when I’d walked down the aisle, my hand in Lee’s. I know it’s weird for a bride to be given away by an eleven-year-old, but then most brides aren’t married by a Fae high priest in a ceremony that binds her to two men. It felt right to walk toward my gorgeous guys with Lee at my side. My brothers had been there, Jamie as Gray’s best man and Nate in the wedding party. My mom had cried a lot, sitting with Marcus in the front row of the temple.

  Liv had been a lovely maid of honor, though her light had dimmed since that night in Wyoming. It had been weeks, but her magic was still gone. She’d woken in Casey’s arms, so happy to be alive and with him. But when she’d tried to work even the simplest of spells, there was nothing. I’d told her what Meredith had said to me—that all Liv needed was patience and her magic would come back. She was smiling and saying all the right things. She’d even given up pretending and she’d moved in with Casey, but there was something dark in my best friend’s eyes, and I worried her patience wouldn’t last long.

  But that was another problem for another day.

  Today was my wedding day and all that mattered was being with my husbands.

  Gray held out a hand, gesturing for Trent to join us. My gorgeous wolf stepped up and Gray palmed the back of his neck. They’d gotten awfully comfy in bed together. Since Meredith had taken that piece of Nemcox with her, my demon had relaxed. He’d stopped trying to force his visions and gone back to work with the Rangers. He and Trent spent a lot of time together, and they seemed to enjoy having a son. They’d taken Fen to the races and had secured season tickets to the other Rangers. Fen was soaking up their attention and already proving to be an excellent accomplice for Lee.

  I did not envy the queen. She was watching our boy while the three of us got on a plane tomorrow afternoon. We were heading to a glorious island in the South Pacific where we were going to eat and drink and fuck for two whole weeks.

  Well, the boys would drink. If what we were doing tonight worked, I wouldn’t touch alcohol for a while.

  “Are you sure you want to do it this way?” Gray asked. “I got to legally marry her. I’m not going to Hell. If you want the first baby, I’m okay with it.”

  Trent shook his head with a chuckle. “We have enough baby wolves as it is. Let’s do this the way Kelsey saw it. After all, so far the prophecy stuff has worked out for us.”

  Gray stared down at me. “We can wait if you want to. We’re not worried about time now.”

  I stared right back because I didn’t have anything to say.

  Trent patted Gray on the back. “I told you when a she-wolf gets it in her head to have a baby, you give her your sperm. She’s ready. I’m ready. Let’s build our pack. Fen needs a brother.”

  There was a knock on the door.

  Gray took a long breath as Trent went to open it. He cupped my face and looked into my eyes. “I love you, Kelsey mine. I guess I have to say Kelsey ours now. I’m good with that.”

  I was starting to wonder exactly how good he was with all of this. The way he and Trent had started to work together made me think he might be way past good.

  “I like being yours in a plural way,” I admitted. My she-wolf and I were in complete harmony on that. On most things, really. Except kale. I was trying to eat healthier, trying to be a good hopefully pregnant soon woman. I couldn’t expect Fen to eat right if I didn’t, but my she-wolf disagreed heartily. Still, I felt more whole than I ever had before. “I think we make an excellent threesome.”

  “And I can’t tell you how happy I am that we’re no longer the only ones on this plane.” Devinshea Quinn was with Trent. He wore white slacks and a white button down, sans tie. He’d changed because he’d worn an elegant black tux to the wedding. He’d married us, using a traditional Fae ritual, though the queen had mentioned that I was being spared the public proof of the sexual compatibility portion of the service.

  Our public sex would merely involve the fertility god Bris sitting in the outer room of our suite after giving us rites.

  I’d been told it was almost a certainty that I would be pregnant in a few hours.

  Quinn glanced over at the big bed and nodded approvingly. “This space was done well. It looks like everything is in order. Did Eddie do it himself?”

  Marigolds and pretty yellow St. John’s wort were strewn around the bedroom. The place had been stocked with champagne and snacks, and apparently a lot of sex stuff that made me blush at the thought of Eddie handling it, but he’d insisted. “He did. He takes his job seriously.”

  “As I do mine.” Quinn’s eyes changed and then we were in the presence of Bris, the fertility god who lived in Dev Quinn’s body. He had an Irish accent and his eyes were pure green emeralds without a hint of white. “Are you ready to receive the rites? Trent? Could you undress the bride? Grayson, you’re going to want to be naked. You won’t need a lot of foreplay, I assure you.”

  A brow arched over Gray’s left eye. “Well, I don’t want it to be over too soon.”

  Bris’s smile was steady. “Oh, it can last all night, but if we want to make certain, this first time will be…powerful.”

  “Then I should kiss her while I can.” He eased out of his tuxedo jacket.

  Trent was at my back, gently dragging the zipper of my dress down. He kissed my shoulders and the nape of my neck, sending delicious shivers across my skin.

  I watched as Gray undressed, and there was an odd solemnness to the moment. Despite what I’d told Gray earlier, I’d never truly thought this would happen. Most of my life my hopes and dreams had been to simply survive, not to find this level of joy, and I was so grateful. It was a warm feeling inside me and it brought tears to my eyes.

  Gray laid his shirt aside as Trent helped me out of my dress. Before he unbuckled his belt, he leaned over and brushed his lips against mine. “I love you.”

  “I love you.” Sometimes I think I loved him from the moment I saw him. Gray and I had fought so hard to get to this place. Trent and I had been something different. We’d been on opposite sides, and then friends and finally lovers. There was an ease with Trent, as though somewhere deep down I’d always known. I hadn’t with Gray. There had been many days and nights spent wondering what I would do without him.

  Now I never had to wonder. We were settled, the three of us.

  “I love you, too,” I said, turning slightly so I could kiss my wolf.

  “You have no idea how long I waited for you,” he whispered against my lips.

  He winked at me as he laid my dress over the lounge chair and then proceeded to take off his own clothes.

  Bris must have started his engine because I could feel the room begin to heat up. It wasn’t a true temperature thing. It was more about my body. I could feel myself getting warm and wet and ready to come together with my men, to show them how much I couldn’t live without them.

  And it was obvious my guys were feeling Bris’s power, too. They were suddenly sporting some nice erections.

  “It’s weird being naked with another guy in the room.” Gray toed off his shoes and shoved his sl
acks and boxers off his hips. “Well, other than the one who’s always in the room.”

  Bris chuckled. “Once I start the ceremony, I’ll go and sit in the living room. I assure you you’ll be able to feel my presence. Though Sarah did ward the room so it can’t get out. Mostly. The rooms around us could be affected, but not the whole hotel.”

  That was good to know.

  “If you will hold hands, I will begin,” Bris said, and I could see the faintest glow coming from him. It seemed to soften the space around him.

  Gray took my hand in his and I reached the other out to Trent, who looked at me with a quizzical expression on his face.

  I was going to insist, but Gray beat me to it. “You’re a part of this. We’re going into this together. Take her hand.”

  Trent tangled our fingers and we stood in front of the fertility god, together and naked and ready to begin.

  “Do you come before me with love in your hearts and the desire for a child?” the ancient god asked.

  “I do.” I was saying those two words a whole lot today.

  “I do,” Gray answered.

  “So do I.” Trent squeezed my hand.

  Bris held both his hands out and I could feel the power starting to pulse off him. It was starting to make my head foggy with sweet lust. Gray sighed next to me and chuckled lightly. Trent practically giggled. I’ve felt a lot of magic in my time, but nothing so warm and purely lovely as this. This magic was simply love.

  “Then open your hearts and let this child be conceived from the purest of love. This child will belong to the three of you, and you to the child. This child will be a gift to all.” Bris touched his hands to my and Gray’s chests and that gentle pulse became a mighty tidal wave cresting over us.

  Pure lust filled my system and it felt like I couldn’t possibly live another moment without Gray inside me. I looked up at him and his horns were out, his violet eyes dark with desire.

  “Thank you, My Lord,” Trent managed to say. He was the only one not hit square on with the magic, though it was easy to see he was affected by it. “I think we can take it from here.”

  Bris nodded. “I’ll be out in the living room.”

  Trent scooped me into his arms and strode rapidly to the bed.

  “Kelsey, tell me you’re ready,” Gray said from across the room.

  Trent settled me on the bed and climbed in behind me, pulling me up so my back was nestled against his chest. His hands were all over me and I needed them there. I needed his hands stroking me while I watched Gray at the end of the bed.

  Ready? I was dying. I was so wet and wanting that watching Gray stroke his big cock made me want to beg him to join me. The world seemed happy and hazy because I knew he would never deny me. And I wasn’t alone. Trent was holding me, showing me that we were all together in this.

  “Please, Gray.” I managed to whisper the words, my whole body restless.

  Gray sighed and climbed on the bed, prowling from the bottom to get to me. Trent’s legs hooked over my ankles, drawing them apart and giving Gray a place at my core.

  He seemed to flow over me as though we were two pieces of a fluid puzzle, incomplete without the other.

  His eyes were on me as he thrust up and inside, joining us. It was everything I needed, to be surrounded by them. Trent kissed me, whispering in my ear how much he loved me. How he couldn’t wait to take care of me while I carried our child.

  Gray leaned over and kissed my lips as he started to thrust inside me, taking us higher and higher. I wrapped my legs around his waist and rested back against Trent.

  “Touch me,” Gray said.

  He was asking me for that? I was breathless but managed to reply. “I don’t think I could touch you more, babe.”

  His lips curled up even as his hips kept moving, kept thrusting his cock into me. He hit my clit with every damn thrust. “I wasn’t talking to you, Kelsey Ours. I was talking to him. I want him to touch me, too.”

  Trent’s hand slid around and found that place on Gray’s torso where the dragon tattoo lay. The big tat wound around his body and I could suddenly feel the warmth from where it touched me. That tattoo had been placed on Gray by his father as a way to one day call him to Hell, but I’d been promised the elder Sloane could no longer do that. Now it simply held a piece of Gray’s soul that responded to me and Trent. It felt like one more connection between the three of us.

  It felt like forever.

  Gray’s eyes widened and he picked up the pace, becoming frenzied as he pounded into me. I couldn’t hold it off a second longer. It was too good, too right.

  The orgasm exploded through me and I would have sworn a light encompassed the three of us in that moment when Gray poured himself into me.

  He fell on top of me, his chest heaving as he started to come down.

  Peace overwhelmed me. With arms and limbs tangled and Gray still inside me, I felt complete.

  “Uhm, Gray, when did that happen?” Trent asked.

  Gray took a deep breath and rolled off. “What are you talking about? The new erection? Just now. That magic is strong as hell.”

  “No. When did your tat change?” Trent reached out and touched Gray’s side.

  Sometime in the last few moments, the tattoo Gray had dealt with for years, the one he feared was a sign of his doom, had changed. It had transformed from a dragon—the symbol of his family House—to a magnificent howling wolf.

  The symbol of ours.

  Gray got to his knees, wonder in his eyes. He touched the new magical ink. “Holy shit.”

  I got to my knees beside him and laid my hand on the gorgeous black and gray wolf that wound around his side, as though leaping from his back.

  “I like it.” Trent was grinning as he joined us.

  Gray shook his head. “I love it. I fucking love it.” He smiled at us and looked younger and freer than I’d ever seen him before. “Now hurry and take your turn because I think this is going to go on all night long.”

  Trent kissed me and promised to make Gray’s words come true.

  * * * *

  It was less than twenty-four hours later that I found myself back at the Council headquarters. I was slightly sore and happy with how the night before had gone.

  I was also worried because my honeymoon might be off.

  “I’m going to put the suitcases up,” Trent said. “I’ll come back down in a while.”

  Gray stayed on the elevator with Trent. “I’m going to call the airline and see if we can change our flight. I might just cancel and check around for a private flight. It’ll be more flexible.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. The thought of not sitting on a beach with them made me sad, but I’d known when I’d gotten the queen’s desperate call that I would do anything to help her. “This could all be a big misunderstanding, but I have to look for him.”

  Devinshea Quinn was missing and I had a new case.

  The elevator doors closed and I heard my uncle call out my name. I turned and Uncle Zack was rushing down the hall from his office. He wasn’t in his normal working clothes. He was in sweats and a T-shirt, and that fact alone made me understand that the royals were taking this seriously. He hadn’t taken the time to change.

  I hugged him before starting the obvious questions. “Have you tried tracking him?”

  “Of course,” he replied. “I’ve got a whole pack of wolves out in the city looking for him, and by looking I mean sniffing around. I tracked him from the hotel back to here. The trail ends in Daniel’s office, and then I’ve got nothing. It’s like he disappeared. I could be wrong. His scent is obviously everywhere in this building.”

  I would get Trent on that, though my uncle’s nose was excellent. “What’s the timeline? He left our hotel right at midnight last night.”

  “He’s on the security cameras walking in downstairs,” Zack explained. “Daniel was talking to him on his cell and says he asked Dev to go by his office and grab Lee’s tablet. He’d left it down there earlier in the d
ay. Dev was going to get it and head upstairs to the penthouse. Daniel went to look for him when he didn’t show up after half an hour. I’ve combed through the security cameras for hours. I can’t find him. If he left the building he did it without going out any of the main doors.”

  I happened to know there were a couple of different ways to get out of the building without alerting the security guys, but Dev shouldn’t have had a reason to do that.

  “Can you let me in the king’s office?” I likely wouldn’t find anything, but I had to check. I was the detective after all. I’ve learned to always start at the beginning, even if I think the effort is likely to be wasted.

  “Here’s my key card.” He handed me the official-looking piece of plastic. “I’m going up to the penthouse to meet with Zoey. Daniel’s out with the wolves. Is there any way Gray could bring in his forensic expert?”

  I knew what he was really asking. Gray’s forensic expert was a woman named Nicole, and she was excellent at discovering evidence of supernatural deaths.

  “Is there something I should know?”

  Zack’s jaw was tight as he looked at me. “Marcus is missing, too.”

  My stomach threatened to flip. “He wouldn’t. Marcus would never hurt Dev.”

  “You know they’ve had their differences before,” Zack pointed out. “It could be a complete coincidence.”

  “It is,” I shot back and started for the office. “I’ll talk to Gray about getting Nicole in here. Give me a little while in the office and I’ll come upstairs and we’ll decide how to proceed.”

  Marcus and Dev had fought because Dev had been unhappy at the thought that Marcus might one day marry his daughter, Evangeline.

  It had been prophesized that Marcus would marry a woman of the queen’s line, a companion. She would be the one woman he would die for.