by Kaye Draper
I didn't look at him as I continued down the hall. "There's no ‘beef.’"
Halstad snorted. "Right. Sure. Look, I'm doing the best I can to get him in a place where he can actually use that shit ton of power he's sittin' on without going off like a bomb. I'm hard on him, because I have to be, when we have so little time. And I'm only going to go harder on him the deeper into this we get."
I clenched my teeth. "Swell."
He heaved a sigh. "Just...let me be the one to be the hardass, yeah? Maybe you can do the whole...girly nurturing thing."
I turned to stare at him. "What part of me did you mistake for girly or nurturing?"
He chuffed a gruff laugh. "Poor word choice. What I meant was, he needs you to be nice. But since that's obviously not even possible for you...maybe a good fuck. Or, here's a thought—just don't be such a bitch."
I rounded on him. "You know what? No one asked you for your fucking opinion. White sent you here. I didn't ask for the live-in shrink service. You are not one of my pride. You don't know a single fucking thing about us. So butt the fuck out!"
I spun and stomped off to the kitchen. Fucking know-it-all. Like I was about to take life and relationship advice from some sicko who stole body parts from other people to grow his own power.
When I reached the kitchen, White’s secretary was sitting at the table beside Kai, smiling as he nibbled at a slice of pie while Kai regaled them all with some story about her time on an Alaskan fishing boat.
I got another plate of food and sat down across from them. The mage eyed my plate and I growled at him. "Don't even fucking think about it."
He shrugged and got his own damned food. "Did you come to get your employer back?" I asked Orion. "Please say you need him back at the office for some crime lord stuff so I can get him out of my house."
The incubus glanced at his employer with a wry smile on his face. "Ah...not quite."
I shoveled food into my mouth. It was good, but I wasn't really enjoying it. Were they feeding Oisin wherever he was? Was he still alive? I forced the delicious food down my gullet. Had to keep myself strong. Always strong.
"I asked Mr. Black to come out and oversee Halstad's work today," White said casually, helping himself to the rest of the pie and eating it right out of the pan.
I scowled at him. "Why would an incubus need to oversee Hisashi learning to use his magic?"
Orion cleared his throat and refused to meet my eyes, studying his pie like it was the most interesting thing in the room. He nervously tucked the hair on the good side of his face behind his ear and flexed his gloved hands.
I smelled a rat.
"He's not here to help train your dog," White said in a bored tone of voice. "He's here to help make sure the tracking runes Halstad will be installing are properly applied to you and your harem."
I stared at him for a beat. "I'm sorry, I don't speak arrogant, delusional asshole. Can you repeat that?"
He sighed. "Really, Miss Lionheart, do listen when someone speaks. I will say it slowly so you can follow. Orion is here to help Halstad put tracking runes on you and your mates."
I laughed. "No. He's not."
White rolled his eyes and scraped the pie pan clean with his spoon, pausing to savor the last bite of chocolate bliss. "Con, my lad, your cooking is much improved when you don't infuse it with the desire for my death."
Con narrowed his eyes at the demon. "I might be reconsidering my gratitude right now."
Kai stood and put herself between me and White. "No one is marking Gesa without her permission. She doesn't belong to you, demon." Her freckles were turning purple, and her eyes had changed to the vertical-slit pupil that said she was about to shift.
I grabbed her arm and tugged her back down into her chair. "Down, kraken."
Glancing between White and Orion, I decided I was more likely to get a straight answer from the incubus. "What is he babbling about, Black?"
He flicked his one visible blue eye up to meet mine. "Nothing to harm you, I swear."
The mage finished his food and took his plate to the sink, as if we were all just hanging out, having a normal lunch. "Don't get your panties in a twist, gryphon," he said as he rummaged around in my fridge and came up with a beer. I hadn't bought any beer. He was just making himself at home. Classying the place right the fuck up. "It's just a little tracking marker. Not a soul binding," he scoffed.
"And what the fuck makes you think I want some creepy-assed demon to be able to keep track of me and my pride like a bunch of fucking cattle with ear tags?"
He shook his head and chugged his beer, letting out a soft belch. "I just work here,” he said, holding up a hand. "Ask the boss man."
I rolled my eyes. "White. You are not marking me and my pride so you can continue your little fantasy of owning us."
He came to plant his hands on the table and leaned over it, getting in my space with his red-ringed black eyes. "If you want my help getting your pretty little fucktoy back, you will do what I say. I'm not letting any of you out of this town and into enemy territory until I have a reliable way to find you. End of discussion."
I stood and got in his space right back, forcing him to stand, not backing down even when his dark magic made my skin crawl and my gryphon cower. "Disrespect Oisin again motherfucker and I will end you. We don't belong to you. You don't let us do anything, asshole. We make our own choices."
White's eyes flashed to pure red. "First that arrogant fucking fae king traipsing into my territory after I warned him away, now this. I will not tolerate it. Lesser beings than you have been put to their death for disobeying me, Miss Lionheart."
I stood my ground, losing sight of the fact that we needed this asshole to get us to Oisin, and that we needed White's mage to fight magical attacks. All I wanted at that moment was someone to murder. Someone to take all of the rage, and pain, and anger I had to deal out.
A soft touch on my shoulder stopped me from lunging at the demon. "Please, Miss Lionheart," Black's soft, melodic voice said in my ear, accompanied by a soft brush of his weird incubus magic. "If the fae capture you, technology will not help us find you." I turned to find his one visible eye staring at me, pleading. "I want to help keep you safe. That's all. The tracking runes can be removed when you return."
I grumbled. "How does this work? Why can't the mage just do it himself?"
Orion squeezed my shoulder then let his hand drop, his gaze drifting away. "I have...the taste of your energies, the essence of you and your pride, from my time here." He shrugged one elegant shoulder. "I can help attune the runes. And act as the...receiver on this end."
Where White's demands ruffled all my feathers, Black's quiet request calmed the whirlwind. The incubus just didn't have it in him to willfully harm anyone. Even to the point of starving himself rather than exposing a potential lover to his "inferiority." He wouldn't plead with me like this if he knew he was going to cause harm.
"Fine,” I grumbled. "But it's only temporary." I glared at the mage. "You take that shit off the minute we're back home."
He nodded. "Sure, whatever."
I still thought this was a terrible idea. But honestly, what the fuck choice did we have?
Chapter 4
An hour later, we were all wearing matching tattoos. Halstad had insisted I go first, so he could tie the rest of the energy signatures to my own, or some such magic-user nonsense. I watched his mismatched stolen eyes shimmer and his hands glow as he finished burning the rune into Con's forearm.
The human hissed as the magic flared, searing his skin. I grimaced in sympathy. The pain had been intense but momentary for me, and already the five-pointed star with the spiral inside looked like it had been inked into my skin months ago. Con was human, though. So, while the initial pain seemed to fade just as quickly for him, his nut-brown skin remained red and angry around the edges.
"There," Halstad said, straightening up and cracking his knuckles. "Last one done."
He glanced at Orion as the incubus r
an an ungloved finger over the fresh tattoo, testing it. Con clenched his teeth in preparation for the pain of being touched on his raw skin, then his eyes went all dazed and dopey.
"Uh...Con?" I said, prodding him gently.
"His rune is good," Orion said, withdrawing his finger from the wound.
Con blinked at Black for a minute, then he coughed, and a dusky flush rose up from his neck to the tips of his ears. I laughed out loud at the human's look of complete confusion and bewilderment.
Orion caught the interaction and cleared his throat, slipping his gloves back on. "Don't worry about it, Con," he whispered. "It will fade."
Con coughed again and removed himself from the incubus's reach. I hadn't really given my instant desire to fuck the incubus any thought when he poked around in my energy. I mean...it was a surprise, but it made sense. He was a damned sex demon, after all. And the sensation faded once he stopped touching me.
But Con was straight. So that must be awkward.
I was pulled out of my contemplation of Con's discomfort by the sound of Hisashi's deep, smooth voice. The guy spoke so rarely the last few days that it caught me off guard. He was standing in the corner of the room, still wearing the same fortune-teller kimono robe thing he'd worn yesterday.
I understood his complete lack of attention to personal care. I couldn't remember how many days it had been since I'd changed my socks. The imminent torture and death thing kind of overshadowed everything else.
"Say that again?" I muttered, realizing that everyone was staring awkwardly, and I had been so engrossed in my mental tangent I hadn't heard a word the fox said.
He gave me that same emotionless stare I'd gotten ever since I pretty much told him everything was his fault. "I said the mage isn't done. He forgot one."
I glanced around at my pride, counting them like a mother hen counting chicks. We had all been branded. "Um...?"
Hisashi's eyes were silvery around the edges and his voice was even more monotone than usual. As if he wasn't really in the same room...or maybe he wasn't in the same time. "He needs a rune too," he murmured with a vague gesture at the mage.
I rolled my eyes at the fox. "I'm pretty sure White won't lose his prized possession."
Halstad gave Hisashi a look. "I'm under contract. All he has to do is tug on that binding and I'm...compelled to come running." And boy, didn't he just sound happy about that little fact? White better watch who he bought, or one of these days he was going to end up dead.
Maybe I should encourage him to get some more mages and hope they staged a mutiny....
Hisashi shook himself and appeared to come back to the here and now and join the group. "You get a rune." He brushed past the mage and disappeared down the hallway toward his room to let the rest of us sort it out.
I shuddered. "Gods, I fucking hate it when he does that."
Everyone stared at me. "What?"
"Gesa," Con began, like he was talking to a child he was disappointed with.
Kai rolled her eyes and pushed away from the counter where she’d been leaning. "I'll go check on him. Then I'm going to start a bath." She pinned me with those piercing deep-ocean blue eyes. "You had better be in that tub chilling out in fifteen minutes, or I will come get you myself."
I shook my head at her as she left. "Who is supposed to be in charge around here, anyway?" I muttered. "All this bullshit about me having a pride." All I did all day was listen to people boss me around.
"Can you put the rune on yourself?" White asked the frowning mage.
Halstad compressed his lips together as if he was about to tear into his employer. "I could. If I had any damned intention of doing it." Something about his mulish expression made my little heart sing with joy. I wasn't the only one who wanted to punch White right in the soft bits.
"You've been working with the nine-tail long enough now to know whether his powers include reliable precognition," White reminded his disgruntled employee with a raised eyebrow. "Do you think we should ignore his instincts?"
Halstad grumbled, and his gravel pit voice was even harsher than usual. "No."
White smiled. "And do you think it wise to question me after the strings I pulled to assist you in your...change of vocation?"
"No." The word was snarled through gritted teeth.
"Then it seems you will be getting a new tattoo today."
The mage seethed as he furiously set up his area, pushed up the sleeves of his charcoal button down and burned the rune into his own forearm. His movements were jerky and harsh, lacking the grace and pomp he'd shown with the rest of us. He held his freshly seared arm out for Orion's inspection. "Good enough for you?"
Orion shrugged. "I hardly need it, since you've a contract with our employer. But yes, it's set correctly." His lip twitched. "You've set it so strongly I can feel the energy from here without even touching it."
The mage grabbed his supplies and stomped off to his borrowed room without a backward glance.
"Well," I said cheerily. "That was fucking barrels of fun. I'm off to engage in forced self-care." And probably an ass-ton of nagging. "Con, make sure the demons don't forget where the door is located."
"Miss Lionheart," White called after me as I walked away.
I lifted my hand and waved my middle finger in his direction. "Sorry, no fucks left to give," I informed him. "You've used up your quota for the next five years. Piss off."
He didn't follow me. Thank the Gods.
Chapter 5
Kai was waiting for me in the hallway outside the bathroom. I crossed my arms and stared down at her. "Are you really forcing me to take a bath, like I'm a five-year-old?"
One side of her lush mouth lifted in a wry smile and her dark blue eyes twinkled. "Are you going to throw a tantrum like a child? Because that's just what I've come to expect these days."
She pushed the bathroom door open and cocked a hip, her eyebrows raised in challenge.
I grumbled something about sexy female pirates and entered the steamy room as if I was going to the death chamber. "I don't have time for this, Kai. I'll just shower off real quick and brush my hair and you can rest easy that I don't have stink lines coming off me."
I needed to keep training. Fae were so fast. Combine that with their magic and I didn't have a chance in hell at taking one out. I needed to get quicker. Stronger. I needed to protect what was left of my pride.
Long, slender arms wrapped around my waist and Kai rested her head against my back. "Gesa, please. You need to calm down before you burn yourself right out of existence."
I took a deep breath and resisted the urge to lean back into her embrace. "I'm fine."
She huffed and stepped away to tug at the hem of my t-shirt. I lifted my arms out of habit and let her have her way until I stood there naked. "It's fine," I insisted. "I can handle it."
She rolled her eyes and shoved me toward the oversized tub. "That's just the problem," she muttered. "You think you have to handle everything."
I had better things to do than play spa day. But the water was scented with some dusky flower scent. And I was suddenly aware of all the tension in my body. I hadn't really slept since Oisin was taken, and there was a constant nervous buzz dancing across my skin. Heaving a heavy sigh, I stepped into the tub and sank down into the hot water, barely suppressing a groan.
Okay. So maybe I needed this. A little.
I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the edge of the tub, unable to stop myself from recalling all the times I'd shared the bath with a beautiful, snarky little fae princeling.
The water rippled and I opened my eyes, not really surprised when I saw Kai was joining me in the tub. I eyed her lush curves with a distant sort of appreciation. Even in my partially numb state, I couldn't ignore how fucking beautiful she was. Like some sort of earth-mother, fertility goddess come to life. What she saw in me, the Gods only knew.
She slid down and ducked her head under the water, practically swimming toward me in the Olympic-sized bathtub. I wa
s pretty sure Oisin had the thing built with the knowledge it would never hold just one person. The fae was always thinking with his dick.
Kai's smooth skin slicked over mine as she glided to hover over me, her lips inches from mine and water sluicing over miles of pleasantly wobbly olive skin. "It's okay," she breathed. "You can tell me. I have the best ideas, right?"
I leaned forward and kissed her grinning lips, then pulled back, speaking in a flat, unenthused tone. "Oh yes, Kai. You're amazing, Kai. Always right about everything, Kai."
She slid to sit between my knees and pushed her long black hair out of her face. "Not convincing. Clearly you need more…motivation."
She trailed kisses across my jaw and down my neck to my collarbone. I stroked my hands over the flare of her hips, wishing I could lose myself the way she was probably intending. But it was Oisin who had always helped me drown my worry in the purely physical bliss of another person. And the memories were enough to swamp me with pain.
Kai pulled back and gave me a considering look. "You are not relaxing," she accused.
I grimaced. "It's not you, it's me, babe," I said in my best douche-bag male voice.
She shook her head. "You know how I feel about being denied something I want," she purred in a husky voice. "And I want you to let go, if only for moment." She rolled her eyes. "Before we all kill you for taking it out on us."
Before I could even formulate a reply to that bullshit—because, I wasn’t the only one who was struggling—she disappeared beneath the water again. I jerked as her mouth latched onto my breast. Tangling my hands in her wet hair, I gasped as she suckled at my nipples, her head still completely under water.
My gryphon side chose that moment to remind me that we had a fucking kraken for a lover and we'd never thought to get her naked in the water.
I let out an inarticulate noise somewhere between a grunt and a squeak when I felt something slick and muscular wrap around my thigh. Opening my eyes, I stared down in surprise. The end of the tub was filled to overflowing with a writing mass of pink and purple tentacles.
