“Of course. I knew that you would need to get to the bottom of it, but it seems you got distracted by a bit of mate magic.” He says the words in disgust, eyeing my men scattered around us. “Too bad the fates didn’t pick stronger men for you. They were taken down far too easily.” He walks over and kicks Damian’s side.
“Stop!” I growl, feeling the black energy radiating inside me, electricity sparking off my fingertips. He nudges Rhett, my tiny fox shifter still in fox form, shooting a bolt of magic into him and watching as he morphs back into a man. “I said, STOP!” My voice comes out in a roaring growl, and I throw a hand forward, black magic sparking from my fingertips and hurtling through the air between us. It collides with his chest and throws him to the ground.
He immediately stands, his eyes wide, a deranged smile on his lips. “You are much stronger than I thought. This is good. Very good.”
“Wake them,” I demand, and he laughs a cold, cruel laugh.
“Now why would I do that?”
My annoyance flares, and I push another spark of magic at him, but he easily deflects it. “What do you want from me?”
“I want you to join me, daughter. Once your brothers become compliant, then we will truly be unstoppable. I’ve been hanging around here for a while, watching you. I even started up a relationship with your best friend so that I could get more information on you. Posed as a mad scientist that was looking to discover more about supernatural gifts, creating helpful spells and such. I even would send the animals I cursed with Larson and other people in town to bring to you.” He looks over at my best friend lying on the ground. “Such a stupid, stupid man. He never suspected me and respected my wishes about keeping our relationship a secret. His only redeemable quality is that he is awfully good at sucking cock.”
I force down a sick feeling, bitterness filling my mouth at his words. How long had he been orchestrating everything behind the scenes? Manipulating my best friend? “If I go with you, will you let them go? Lars, Elias, Damian, Rhett, and Landyn? Will you let my brothers go?”
I look back and see Falcar shaking his head at me, fear in his eyes. Nelcar just stares at me, his eyes closing as he looks down. I crease my brows, then look back up at my father, awaiting his answer.
“I will let your friend go, as he is of no use to me anymore. Your men…well, I can’t be sure they won’t follow us. Your brothers, they must come with us. I need all of my children with me. Only then will we be at our strongest.” He looks back to them, shaking his head. “They are strong, but stubborn. I will bend them to my will.”
My lip twitches in anger, my hands clenching into fists. “What makes you think I won’t attack you the first chance I get?”
“I think I’ve made it clear that I am much stronger than you. That I could kill your mates and friend without a second thought.” He smiles, shaking his head. “No, you will be compliant if you know what’s good for you.”
I growl out my frustration, stepping backward as I unleash a large ball of magic at him. He steps to the side with a bitter laugh, once again avoiding the magic. Just as I’d hoped. The magic hits Falcar, wrapping around the magic binding his wrists and releasing the binds. He flexes his hands before sending gray sparks into the bindings on Nelcar’s wrists.
Our father’s eyes never leave mine as he steps towards me quickly, his hand going to my throat and pinning me against a tree. “You will not disobey me, child,” he spits out, magic flowing through the fingers he squeezes tightly around my throat. I feel my vision change as my eyes go black, a pinch as my ears lengthen to points, and my skin igniting as it changes its color. My fingers clutch at his wrist, tearing at his skin in an attempt to get him to release me. “There she is. My changeling daughter. I knew creating you wasn’t the abomination that your feeble mother believed. Your darkness should be embraced, not hidden behind this human façade. Though I have envied the changeling’s ability to blend in with the humans. Much easier to hide when you don’t have the face of an elf.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Falcar pulling Nelcar to stand, and then both men close their eyes, hands grasped together. My vision feels blurry as I struggle for air, and my father’s words go unheard to my ears as my body lacks oxygen. My eyes fall to my mates who lie unmoving on the ground, to Lars’ immobile form. I blink slowly, a tear sliding down my cheek as my eyes connect back to the blinding red of my father’s. The last face I will see as he slowly chokes me to death for my defiance. His eyes widen perceptibly as his grip releases from my throat, and I shudder as my body hits the ground. My eyes zero in on the bright white light radiating from our father’s chest.
Falcar walks towards me, his hand reaching out and grasping mine, helping me up. His gray magic flows through me, and I feel lighter, the pain inflicted upon me lessening. Falcar looks to Nelcar with a pointed look, and Nelcar grabs my hand begrudgingly, squeezing slightly at the connection. White magic radiates from his hands as gray radiates from Falcar’s. Both seem to stream into me, connecting with my own and making my chest feel as if it could explode. Our father looks up at us in fear as my two brothers murmur words foreign to my ears, and then my eyes are forced closed. His cries echo in the forest as blinding pain radiates through me, scorching me to my bones. My body becomes rigid, and I scream out in pain, feeling as if razors are slicing through my skin. Their foreign dialect becomes a chanting in my head as I become dizzy from the pain. An extreme ache settles over my muscles, and my skull feels as if it’s being cracked apart. My eyes fly open, and I watch in horror as our father’s body hovers above the ground, cracks spreading over his skin emitting white, gray, and black smoke. I shudder as I watch his form explode into a puff of smoke, his screams echoing in my ears like nails down a chalkboard.
When everything goes black and my hands feel suddenly empty, I gasp at air that seems to do nothing but choke me. The taste of my mates’ names on my tongue soothe me into what I can only imagine is my everlasting sleep.
Landyn.
Damian.
Rhett.
Elias.
En la oscuridad Brillas. Mis salvadores.
Calluna
I wake up to gentle shaking and warm arms tightly holding me to a hard chest. Blinking my eyes, I look up into the flecked copper eyes of Elias, who smiles at me gently. I turn my head to the side slowly, my neck feeling stiff, and jerk wildly when I notice that the ground is far below us.
“Holy fuck!” I yell, clutching at Elias in terror as his arms tighten around me, and he chuckles softly.
“Good morning, mi alma,” he says through a laugh.
“W-We’re fucking flying,” I stutter nervously, looking down at the ground and feeling my heart drop to my stomach.
“We are,” he agrees as his large, black wings flap behind him. I look over to see Landyn flying next to us in his griffin form with his legs curled into his body and his powerful wings gliding through the air easily. “We are going to the store where we met, Black Moon Magick. The elf brothers, they claim to be your brothers?” he asks me skeptically, his eyes searching my face.
“They are. It was my father that did this,” I say, then my lips twist into a frown. “Lars, where is he?” I ask in fear, my breaths quickening.
“He is fine. Falcar and Nelcar were able to wake him, along with the rest of us. Rhett took him on one of the bikes, and they will meet us in Landyn’s truck.”
I nod and cuddle into Elias’ chest, my body still feeling achy. When we land gently on the ground, Elias places me back on my feet and keeps a hand on my back to steady me. I walk into the store to find Nelcar and Falcar sitting on chairs in the back, looking a little worse for wear.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were my brothers?” I ask Falcar, then bite the inside of my lip.
Falcar’s lips form a tight frown, and Nelcar grimaces. “Would you have believed me?” Falcar asks as he rubs some sort of salve on a cut on his arm. “You entered this store already distrusting me.”
“I probably wou
ldn’t have,” I agree with a sigh.
“I came here knowing that our father was looking for you. When you told me about the cursed animals and your mate being cursed, I knew it must be him. I called upon Nelcar, who came reluctantly, having spent all of his life avoiding any type of run-in with our father. I knew that we had to protect you from him, that his goal of collecting his powerful children had to be stopped.” As Falcar says the words, and I look to Nelcar in surprise, my body feels numb. Someone who seems to outwardly hate me came here to help me, even though it meant he might have to face our father?
“Why? Why was he trying to collect us?”
“For our magic. To get us to work with him against his enemies. Elrohir is not a friend to the Elven court, and he has many that oppose his use of dark magic,” Nelcar says snidely.
“For someone that came here to help me, you seem to really fucking hate me,” I spit out at Nelcar, and he smiles. The first smile I’ve seen on the man’s face.
“I was raised to despise changelings, so you will have to forgive my predisposition. I am trying to overcome it,” he replies. “I also don’t take too kindly to people barging in and blaming me for things I had nothing to do with.”
“That raven I saw you two doing magic on—” I start, only to be interrupted by Nelcar.
“We were removing the curse,” he spits out, then whistles loudly. The large, black raven flies into the room and lands on his shoulder. “You are not the only one that likes animals, sister.”
I frown and nod, feeling foolish. “I’m sorry that I blamed you both.”
“It’s easy to blame elves, especially ones that are believed to be dark magic wielders,” Falcar replies dismissively.
“Is he dead?” I ask as I remember him bursting into the same black smoke that I would find within the cursed animals.
“Probably not. He is very strong, and I doubt that what we did was enough to truly kill him. Perhaps we only disabled him, until he is able to gain enough power to come back,” Falcar replies thoughtfully.
Nelcar frowns, nodding his head in agreement. “Evil is not so easily disposed of.”
I hear Landyn’s SUV pull up, and I run outside. Lars steps from the vehicle, dried blood coating his bare chest. I leap into his arms, embracing him and pulling a gasp of pain from his lips.
“I’m sorry,” I say and drop from his arms. I hold onto him and look him over as tears fill my eyes at the knowledge of what he went through. “I am so sorry, Lars.”
“Hey, stop that,” he says, pulling me back into his chest. “This isn’t your fault. If anything, it’s mine. I don’t know how I let myself get tied up with that man.”
“He’s my father,” I sob and hide my face in his chest.
“Yeah, so I’ve heard. He’s also been my boyfriend for months.” He drags a hand down his face. “This is all so fucked up.”
“Yeah, it is,” I reply with a sad smile. “Let’s not talk about it. I’m just so glad you’re okay.”
“Same, Cal,” he says, and squeezes me tightly. “I’m going to get a ride home from Landyn. I need sleep, and from what I hear, my house is a disaster.”
“Apollo?” I ask, my voice wavering.
“We fixed him last night. That’s where Elrohir found us,” Falcar says as he puts a comforting hand on my shoulder. I smile at him, my eyes still filled with tears as I mouth my thanks.
“Take me home on the way to Lars’?” I ask, looking to Landyn. He nods and pulls me into his arms, then walks me to his SUV and puts me in the back.
Calluna
A few days pass with the guys handling me with kid gloves. Falcar and Nelcar work with me, trying to remove the rest of the traces from the curses on the animals in the shop, but not all of them can be removed. Jake, Lina, and Binx are stuck with their traces, though I now see them more as quirks. Klaus’ rash is completely removed, and he has been adopted by my brothers. I’ve been trying to form relationships with them, but it’s still very strained between us. Lots of distrust on both sides, but a work in progress. The constant fear of my father’s reappearance encourages me to work to further my magical abilities, so Nelcar teaches me light magic and Falcar helps with dark. I hope to become as powerful as they are, and I’m already seeing huge improvements.
I lie in my bed which has grown considerably, though not due to magic. At some point, Landyn purchased a California king and put it in my room. It’s so large, it pretty much goes from wall to wall in my small, one-bedroom apartment. I feel much better with all my men lying with me in it, though. I chuckle a bit as I finish reading Love Blooms by C. C. Pine. I decided that the book that gave me my mates deserved to be finished, even if I think it’s a bit silly.
“What are you laughing at, beautiful?” Rhett asks, leaning on the doorframe of my bedroom.
“It’s just a sweet book. The flower shifter gets her princes,” I say whimsically.
“Flower shifter?” he says with a smile, and I laugh.
“Yup, complete with flower underwear.”
“Well, that sounds itchy.” He leaps on me, pinning me to the bed and pressing a kiss to my lips. I shift beneath him, feeling the heat pool between my thighs. Part of the whole kid gloves act has included no sex, which is driving me insane. How did I go from fucking four deliciously sexy guys, to sleeping in a bed with them all and no touching? I’m so sexually frustrated, even my dreams have become raunchy, and I’m begging for some dick-lash.
I feel Rhett’s cock stiffen between us, and I smile up at him. “Seems like someone wants to play,” I purr, moving my hand down to cup his hardness.
His face becomes strained, and he grabs both my hands, pinning them above my head. “Don’t, beautiful,” he rasps.
“Why not?” I pout, wigging my core against him again and prying another groan from his all too sexy lips.
“Because we’re alone, and I promised the guys,” he replies, his eyes tortured.
“Promised them what?” I snap and squint my eyes at him in accusation.
“That we’d give you a second to chill. You went from no mates to four mates within a couple of days, then you were tortured by your father who was also torturing your best friend. You watched said father attack your mates, then you and your newfound brothers magicked him into a puff of smoke, and he’s probably still out there, all Voldemort-like, plotting his revenge,” he explains, and I pinch my lips together to avoid smiling. “What could you possibly find funny about all that?” he asks, his own smile appearing.
“That my father is Voldemort-like.” I giggle. “Is it too much to ask for a little normality? I mean, I have all this glorious cock being flaunted around my house, and I’m finally ready to ride some. So just give me what I want,” I growl and grind my core against him once more.
“Fuck,” he groans, his cock twitching against me. “Beautiful, you’re killing me. Landyn and Damian are both working, and Elias is asleep on the couch. I promised.”
“No, he’s not.” A deep voice draws my attention to the door, and I see Elias standing there with a smile. “What’s going on here? Hmmm? I thought we were waiting.”
“I’m trying. She’s killing me,” Rhett groans, looking over his shoulder at my fallen angel.
“Oh, I’m sure she is, the little minx.” Elias chuckles darkly as he moves onto the bed, and places kisses along my neck.
“Not you too,” Rhett groans as I grind into him more, spurred on by Elias’ lips on me.
“I texted Landyn and Damian, ‘the times are a changeling.’ They’ll be here soon,” Elias says against my throat, causing my body to shiver.
“How very Bob Dylan of you,” I say breathily as Rhett joins in on the torture and rubs his hardness into my core. Elias moves to kiss my lips, and his tongue drags against the seam, begging for entry. He delves in, using one of my moans to gain entrance, and his tongue explores me thoroughly. Rhett keeps his grip tight on my wrists and begins kissing my neck, traveling lower to the tops of my breasts peeking out above my
tank top. Changing to grip my wrists with one hand, he uses the other to pull down my top and release one of my breasts. My nipple pebbles in the cool air, and he bends to swirl his tongue around the bud before placing tender kisses all over the skin. I moan into Elias’ mouth and feel his hardness against my side.
Breaking our kiss, Elias shifts lower and grabs the sides of my leggings and lace panties, his arms pushing Rhett to the side. He pulls down both painstakingly slowly, only revealing an inch of skin at a time and making me quiver in anticipation. Pulling the clothing off my ankles, he throws them across the room, and they hit the wall and fall to the floor. His fingers slowly graze up my legs and are followed by his lips placing gentle kisses, his scruffy beard prickling my sensitive skin. He moves his fingers slowly across my sex, just grazing the top and driving me wild as I thrust into his hand, begging for more pressure. He chuckles darkly against my neck as I squirm, and his hot breaths tickle me. Rhett pulls me forward and tugs my shirt up and over my head, exposing both of my breasts and giving him more access.
I moan loudly as Elias moves back down my body, leveling his face with my core and pushing my legs up and over his shoulders. I shudder beneath him as his hot breath touches my sensitive area, just before he drags his tongue from bottom to top. I tense beneath him as his tongue works gently, delving slightly into my entrance, then moving back up to circle my clit. “More,” I beg, needing more pressure, or his fingers—something more than the gentle touches they’re giving me.
He kisses my pussy slowly, savoring each lick and stroke, taking his time with me. His fingers dig into my ass as he holds my pussy to his mouth.
I hear a noise and look up to see Landyn standing at the door, his eyes hooded. “Glad to see I’m not too late.” He licks his lips slowly as he watches Elias eat my pussy. “Damian is here too. I saw him parking his car on my way in.”
My voice comes out in a loud squeak as Elias nibbles on my clit, drawing my attention back to him. “Fuuuuuuuck,” I groan as I feel myself becoming more tightly wound. Then the bed dips, and Landyn pulls his body up to mine to lick at the nipples that Rhett has left wanting. I hear the door open and close, then Damian has joined us in a flash, obviously running the whole way.
Calluna Page 15
