by Ophelia Bell
The sound of rhythmic pounding filled the air when we exited the house. I paused at the top of the steps leading up to the driveway, disconcerted by the familiar tempo of a song I thought only I knew the beat to.
“Guess we know where the Maestro got to,” Rohan said. “I’ll go see if he wants to come.”
Before I could hold him back, he set off in a jog toward the two-story building on the south side of the driveway. When he opened the door, the percussive rhythm grew louder, my heart pounding hard in sync. The eerie familiarity of it had to be my imagination, but the sound ceased before I could try to match the words up to that beat.
The three of us followed Rohan through the door where we found Ozzie, stark naked behind a drum kit, sitting in a beam of sunlight that streamed down from a skylight above. Rohan was already talking to him and I caught a curt shake of Ozzie’s head before he glanced at me and frowned. My body heated, tingling sensations cascading over my chest and between my legs at the sight of his bare, sculpted chest, sweat glistening on his golden skin from the exertion of his playing. His dark blond hair was wet as well, though it couldn’t have been entirely from sweat the way it was slicked back. My gaze traveled lower, but the drums obscured much of him below the waist.
Rohan bounded back toward us with a smile at odds with his weakened state. “Not interested, but wants to hear a report,” he said brightly, herding us back out the door. “Not complaining either. He’s in a pissy mood for some reason. We’ll have more fun without him.”
He slung his arm around my waist and aimed me toward the car.
“I am assuming you know how to drive, seeing as this is your car and all,” Rohan said.
“Quick learner,” I replied, opening the driver’s door and sliding in. It took a full minute to adjust the seat back to a suitable position for my smaller frame. I’d have to remember this next time I let one of them borrow the thing.
Despite assurances of my skill, they still all carefully fastened their seatbelts, Rohan in the passenger seat beside me and Keagan and Llyr in the back seat. I suppressed a laugh at the cautious looks they gave each other as I started the car.
Glancing in the rear-view mirror I froze. Ozzie stood off to the side of the closed gate, staring back at me. He’d found a pair of tattered blue jeans with holes in the knees, but was still shirtless and glistening in the sunlight, the image sparking memories of all the dreams I’d had of him over the past year.
He dropped his hand to a small console and pressed a button. The gate began to move, but I couldn’t look away. His expression was troubled now, in contrast to the anger I’d seen when he’d left the room earlier. I hazarded a brief glance at his midsection, compelled to look after his earlier reprimand about it being rude to try to see someone’s soul. But all I could see was a dense, glowing web of light, a mesh-like shield of his own magic obscuring his soul from my view.
“We going or what?” Keagan asked from the back seat.
I shook my head and dismissed the strange sense that Ozzie had secrets he wished to keep hidden from me. They were none of my business anyway.
20
Ozzie
The ache in the center of my chest only got worse as the car exited and sped off down the street. I stood there like a fucking idiot staring after her and wondering why the hell I hadn’t gone along. Deva needed me. That fact was painfully apparent, but not because I believed she couldn’t do what she needed to do without me. It was some other sense that burned deeper, down in my soul where that piece of me felt tethered irrevocably to her.
Seeing her again, touching her soft skin, smelling her familiar spicy scent, only made it hurt worse when she left.
She would be back, I knew, but that didn’t exactly make it easier to bear.
I smacked the button for the gate and it clattered shut and I padded back to the garage studio, contemplating another cold shower, longer this time. The first one hadn’t done a damn thing to alleviate my need, and sitting at my kit was the worst idea when the only beat going through my head was the one that accompanied Deva’s song. Ever since I’d set eyes on her this morning I couldn’t get that damn rhythm out of my head even though she’d only sang it to me once.
I wouldn’t be able to keep this up, but I’d damn sure try. Secrets weren’t easy things for a turul. We thrived on truth, but if there was anything life with Sophia North had taught me, it’s that it was more than possible to string your loved ones along for centuries making them believe what you wanted them to believe.
The truth wouldn’t do Deva any favors in this situation, though, so I would do whatever I could to keep it hidden for as long as possible.
Llyr was the only uncertainty. He suspected something, but didn’t have any proof and I’d be damned if I’d tell him all the details. I just had to hope that if he ever pressed, I’d have the willpower to stand up to him. A satyr that ancient had power I couldn’t even comprehend. He was fucking deceptive with his casually dismissive attitude but he couldn’t fool me. He had an agenda, though what it was I couldn’t tell. I had a feeling he at least respected that the secret was mine to tell . . . for now, anyway.
I would help Deva, eventually. Just not today.
Abandoning the music for now, I headed back to the house, retrieved my clothes where I’d left them on the patio, and stood for a second, at a loss. Tension ached between my shoulder blades but it was a tension flying hadn’t helped, and neither had playing. The cold shower had only made it worse, so I decided I’d try heat for a change.
I dropped my clothes again, and pushed the jeans down off my hips and headed for the hot tub. The heat stung and I winced before carefully sinking into water that felt hot enough to cleanse any ache. If only that were the case.
My cock hardened the very second Deva crossed my mind again and I groaned, ignoring the need because it simply felt dirty to think of her that way even though that’s pretty much the only way my brain wanted to think of her.
Not Deva, for fuck’s sake. Anyone but her. I still couldn’t reconcile all the memories I had of that first day of her life and the adorable girl she’d been, with the woman I’d been a hair’s breadth from nailing against the closet door earlier today. Even though that girl wasn’t my most recent image of her, it’s what I always saw in my mind’s eye when I thought of her. She’d grown into a beautiful, bright-eyed young woman within mere hours of her birth, aware of the danger she was in and trusting me to keep her safe from the enemy. It had been her unwavering determination and faith in me that had shifted that tenderness to something deep enough to allow me to do what needed to be done to protect her.
Even though I still wanted to picture her as that innocent girl, it was the beautiful woman with a fierce hold on her convictions who I wanted to make love to now. They could not be the same person.
And yet they were, and my filthy mind couldn’t tear itself away from the vision of her naked right in front of me. Trapped in that dress and just begging to be molested. It didn’t help that I was sure she’d have encouraged it, too. In that moment that I’d broken down and kissed her, it was clear how easily she responded. If I’d slid my fingers between her legs, she’d have been wet for me.
I slipped my hand beneath the bubbling water and gripped my aching dick, squeezed punishingly hard and released. Groaning, I returned my hand back to the edge of the tub. I didn’t deserve the release, not with the lie I carried in my soul.
Despite the lingering ache between my thighs, the heat helped ease some of the other tension in my body and I let my head fall back against the edge of the tub. There was one thing I knew I needed to do, despite my reluctance. I didn’t want to betray Deva’s trust, so contacting my grandmother for help would be risky, but Sophia North was the only person I knew with the kinds of connections that could help shed any light on Deva’s nature with this odd new ability of hers, or on the creatures she seemed so intent on understanding.
With my eyes closed, I whispered a call into the wind.
&nbs
p; Rather than a whispered reply delivered via the same means as my message, a voice as clear as day spoke from only a few feet away. “Where is she?”
My eyes popped open and I jerked my head up, staring around. “Fucking hell, Nanyo, you didn’t have to come. And I’m not even going to ask how you got here so fast.”
She stood at the corner of the tub near my left elbow, arms crossed and staring down at me. Her small stature did nothing to diminish her intimidating look. She’d have been beautiful if not for her severe scowl. Her jet black hair was pulled back into a loose cloche and she had slanted gray eyes so similar to my cousins’ there was no mistaking their connection.
None of us knew who had sired our parents, and so we speculated to no end, concluding that Sophia North must have had at least two different lovers because my mother looked nothing like the Norths’ father, despite being raised as siblings. I was a true West, with blond hair and blue eyes, named for the blessing I received from Zephyrus on the day of my birth, while the three of them were dark-haired, more in keeping with Sophia’s Slavic origins.
“I keep a stash of satyr blood for emergencies,” Sophia said. “And this qualifies.” She eyed the steaming tub, still bubbling violently. Reflexively I cupped my hands over my cock and balls, mildly gratified that my erection seemed to have disappeared as instantly as my grandmother had popped into being next to me.
“I can’t see anything through the bubbles, boy. You’re safe. I will join you, though. These old bones need a good soak.”
To my horror, she kicked off her low pumps and slipped out of the boxy dress she’d been wearing. Before I could shut my eyes, I got a good eyeful of proof that none of the dresses in that closet would have fit Deva. My grandmother wasn’t unfeminine, nor was she unattractive. She had aged well as an immortal. But she definitely didn’t have the curves that Deva had.
Despite how well she’d held up over the centuries, I was pretty damn sure I’d never get a hard-on again. Under the circumstances, that was probably for the best.
“It’s safe to open your eyes,” she said a moment later after the sloshing sounds had ceased, leaving only the burbling noises of the hot tub’s jets.
I cautiously lifted my lids. She had her eyes closed and her head tilted back in apparent ecstasy as the hot tub bubbled around her small frame.
“Why did you come? We could’ve communicated by wind. I can handle it.”
“I needed to see her in person. I haven’t seen the child since the day she was born. If she can indeed see souls, I need to see hers.”
Unease prickled all over my skin. “You know she doesn’t have a soul. But more to the point, since when can you see them? You aren’t a dragon.”
“It isn’t a dragon trait. Deva’s ability to see auras is similar, but this ability to see a person’s soul is not tied to a particular race. If it’s true, you must take care that Fate never finds her, because despite your protests, she does have a soul—at least a piece of one—and I believe you know it.”
My skin erupted in goosebumps despite the hot water. She knew, and there was no way I could deny her or she’d just have confirmation.
She opened her eyes and pierced me with a stare that I was sure shot straight to my own soul. And when she darted her gaze to my midsection, I was almost positive she had literally pierced my soul. My hand reflexively moved to cover the spot Deva had glanced at earlier. My protective web was still in place.
“Hiding it only proves you have a secret. Shall I start playing a guessing game or will you confess?”
I cursed. There would be no getting rid of her and I’d learned over the centuries that it was always better to have my grandmother on my side. “Promise me you mean what you say. That we need to protect her from Fate. You won’t give her up to that bastard, or to her parents, even though she’d be safer with them. I intend to help her follow through with her intentions to unravel what’s happening with the attacks on the bloodline.”
“If you stay close, it’s only a matter of time before Fate finds you both. Your little shield doesn’t hide the connection from me.” She lifted one hand from the water and waved a finger in a circle aimed at my midsection. “I saw the thread when you visited last. I thought I’d seen it before, but it was faint. Now it is much stronger and I believe it’s because she’s much closer. Tell me, grandson. When did you give Deva a piece of your soul?”
“I think you already know the answer,” I said, unable to put voice to the details. Telling the full story would force me to envision the event again, which would destroy what little control I had over my desire for Deva.
“You are a turul, boy. Fate has always had strict plans for all our kind thanks to that godforsaken curse Ouranos brought upon us. Anyone who subverts that plan risks Fate’s wrath. You had a true mate chosen for you from birth, yet what you have done broke that link and bound you irrevocably to someone not of Fate’s choosing. Trust me, he will find out and if you care about her you will be as far away from her as possible when he does.”
I swallowed thickly, knowing deep in my soul that she was right. My soul . . . Part of it was Deva’s now, yet she could never know.
“Maybe he’ll be merciful,” I offered.
She gave me an anguished look. “He won’t. I know because I am like her.”
“How do you mean?” I said, confused. My grandmother was many things, but she was a turul to her core, while Deva was a chimera created in an Ultiori lab.
She lifted her hands and let them float on top of the bubbling water, staring down at her strong, graceful fingers. “When I was your age, I too longed to find my One. Spending a few centuries waiting was too much, but that is all we can do. Our kind is cursed to only have one true mate in all existence. One other soul who is meant to merge with our own. Many of us are lucky and find that person early on. Your parents were lucky. So were Iszak, Lukas, and Evie’s parents. I was not so lucky. It is not uncommon for us to try so hard we imagine a connection where there isn’t one. I met a man—another turul—after about two centuries of waiting. He was in the same straits, longing for love he had not yet found.
“At the time, the Ultiori were at their peak, and our kind were being captured or killed in droves. He and I were trapped together in the human world, far from any Enclave and fearing for our life while we were hunted. True affection bloomed between us, a love that I believed so strongly in because it was not predetermined for me. I believe Evie found something similar in Marcus, but by then I knew their connection would lead her to her One otherwise I would not have encouraged it.”
I nodded slightly, recalling the stories of my cousin’s romance from decades ago. Ultimately Marcus had led Evie to her One . . . the oldest, most powerful Black dragon in existence. It had not been a straight path for them, but they were happy now. All three still together and Fate none the wiser. Or maybe he’d let it go because he did always have a soft spot for the dragons.
A dark dread seeped into my gut as the implications of Sophia’s story became clearer. She was alone now, and had been alone for as long as I’d been alive, more than two centuries. “You never had other lovers? Mates?” I asked.
She shook her head and stared off toward the ocean. “When we shared our souls, there was no going back. We had broken whatever links we had to the mates Fate had chosen. Your mother was the product of our early love, but our peace didn’t last. When she was born, Fate found out our secret.”
“What was his name, my grandfather?” There were no photographs or other signs of him around her home, despite all the knick-knacks and nooks and crannies cluttered with keepsakes that filled her vast Brooklyn apartment. She never spoke of him.
“Keyne Oirthear.” She only whispered the name, but it was as crystal clear as if she’d spoken into my ear.
“Why have I never heard his name before?” I asked.
“Because Fate erased him from existence. When we were discovered a few years after breaking the oldest turul law, Fate’s hounds descended. T
hey are normally docile creatures who do no more than sniff out souls who are in need of mates and urge them together in the most benign way . . . they mark them with a song. Yet if you cross Fate, they can be vicious creatures when commanded to attack.
“They would have torn us both to pieces, devoured our souls whole. But Keyne begged for mercy. Not for himself, but for me. I have wished so many times since that he had not . . . that he had let those hounds kill me too. But Fate saw fit to grant his wish. The hounds spared me, yet I was forever bound to Fate from then on, forced to act as his agent and carry out his plan among the higher races.”
“Did Fate give you the ability to see souls?” I asked, not quite certain I understood.
“No. The soul sight was unlocked when Keyne and I split our souls apart and each gave a piece to the other.” She paused and shifted her gaze back to me, brows drawn together. “You cannot see them, can you? After giving Deva a piece of yours?”
“The souls? No.” I was beyond denying what I’d done. At least I could trust my grandmother not to tell.
“How long has Deva had the sight?”
“For a year, she said. Ever since . . .”
Ever since we left the realm of the gods. “Fuck.”
“You gave her that gift along with the shard of your soul, but she was unable to return the favor as she had no soul of her own to share. The fact that it is not a two-way bond may help delay Fate’s notice for a time, but not indefinitely. If you intend to stay near her to help her with this task of hers, you must act quickly. I’ll share what information I have but I can’t stay or Fate will know I’ve helped.”
“What more do you have to share?”
My grandmother let out a low chuckle, “Oh, so much more. So much more.”
21
Deva
I left the guys with the car, sure the three of them would attract too much attention if we all traipsed into the ICU at once. I was good at being invisible, and thought the dress might make me look even less threatening since it seemed every pair of eyes I passed fell instantly to my breasts.
