Invisible (The Curse of Avalon Book 1)

by Sariah Skye

  “Why shouldn’t you?” I said, nearly breathless myself. Without realizing it, my hands had snuck around his waist, and pressed against his muscular back, driving him forward. My own lips parted as he edged ever so close to me. The warmth from his body penetrated through my fingertips; his hardness such a beautiful contrast to my softness. Heat mustered low in my belly, and traveled lower. I couldn’t believe I was having such a reaction to someone—anyone this soon.

  But Trystan wasn’t just anyone. Neither were Mathias, Bash, or Xander.

  Their names paled in my mind as his mouth grazed across mine ever so gently. My breath hitched as I wished for more.

  “Ava?” Another quick knock at the door interrupted us.

  We quickly pulled apart. Trystan slid to the side a couple paces from me, and nonchalantly rubbed at his neck, looking anywhere around the room but Xander, or me.

  I was blushing so hard, I was positive the redness was burning off my cheeks.

  Xander stood in the doorframe, not apologetically. He didn’t acknowledge what he interrupted, but the look of suspicion in his eyes clearly said, “What’s up?”

  “I’ll just—” Trystan pointed out the door, shoving past his friend and quickly disappearing.

  “The hell was that?” I said, with an innocent chuckle.

  Xander smirked, that sideways grin always got to me. “Come on, Ava. You don’t have to pretend.”

  “Pretend what?” I batted my heavy eyelashes at him innocently.

  He just shook his head. “Real soon, we’re going to have a chat about this but…for now, Mathias is anxious to get going.”

  “Chat about what?”

  Xander placed an affectionate hand on my bare shoulder. Sparks shot from his touch, and traveled straight down my spine, effectively jump-starting the nervous sensations that were just there seconds ago, placed by Trystan. “Come on.” He lowered his hand to my waist and searched for my hand near my hip. He spun me around artfully, like a ballroom dancer. I let out a little squeal as I was flung outwards, and then rolled back in towards him.

  He stopped me with his free hand just before I went crashing into him. Barely any space between us, I was left to stare directly into his handsome face.

  Then he smiled that crooked smirk again, and my knees weakened. But his grip around my waist was strong, and I did not fall. Even though I wanted to. Backwards, and onto my bed.

  “So..ah…” He glanced around us, but made no move to distance himself from me. “This is your bedroom? It suits you.”

  “Better than the rest of the house?” I asked quietly, as I searched the contours of his face.

  The smile spread across the rest of his lips, as his eyes searched mine. “Not better… just… you. Beautiful. The purple is indulgent.”

  “Indulgent?” I raised a brow.

  “Yes.” He raised one of his hands, and gently traced it across the length of my chin, leaving behind sparks in the wake of his gentle touch. As I always did in his presence, I shivered. Not out of fear, or cold, but anticipation at his proximity. “Like something I shouldn’t touch, shouldn’t covet…but I do.”

  “I…” I began, but frowned, even as he traced the soft part of his thumb over my bottom lip. “Wait—why am I something that shouldn’t be coveted?” Despite my body’s protests, I squirmed out of his grip and pushed him backward with a shove to his chest. He looked surprised, but cocked that grin of his again before sighing.

  “You heard that conversation between us the other day, I know you did. You should make up your own mind who you want—if any of us.” He spoke but his voice was slightly annoyed, as if he truly didn’t agree.

  I crossed my arms over my chest, and he sucked in a breath. I looked down, noticing that I’d inadvertently drew more attention to my boobs when I crossed my arms, by lifting them up and pushing them together; rather than squishing them. I rolled my eyes, snapping my fingers in his face; but I was secretly pleased with the admiration. “You don’t believe that?”

  He shrugged. “Not a question of whether I agree, it’s—”

  “Xander! The fuck man, let’s go!” Called Bash’s voice from the other room.

  He chuckled lightly. “Impatient.” He moved towards the door, his hand brushing at my lower back as he passed me.

  I fought off another shiver. Before he disappeared through the door I grasped him by the shoulder and urged him to face me.

  “Look, I don’t want to get in between your little supernatural bro code, but, how would I ever determine if I wanted any of you when you aren’t actively pursuing me? If I wanted to be ignored, I’d go back to the loser pool of humans out there.” I pointed past the doorway, indicating outside at the human world. Essentially. “A girl wants to be wanted, you know.” I pushed past him, and he allowed me to pass, smirking and shaking his head as I slapped my hand against his round ass.

  He gasped, pretending to look shocked, and wounded. I grinned triumphantly.

  “Ava?” He asked, before I left the room.

  I stopped, and turned to glance over my shoulder at him.

  He winked. “Game on.”

  I grinned. “Game on.”

  Oh, this was going to be fun.

  CHAPTER 19

  I’d wanted to ride with Bash, but unless I wanted to show the entire city of Minneapolis the business under my dress, I couldn’t. So, I was subjected once again Mathias’ music choice that no one in the vehicle agreed with. And the grumbling that ensued when the radio came on.

  Everyone insisted I sit in the front with Mathias; Xander claimed it was because it was easier to climb in and out of the vehicle that way (with my dress, you know), but really, I think it was so I could commandeer the radio.

  Trystan chivalrously helped me into the vehicle, as it required an inelegant step up in precarious shoes, and this time Xander grumbled. Mathias still said nothing, even as his eyes watched my legs with interest as I crossed them, one over another in the passenger’s side seat.

  “So.” He coughed, and turned away so I couldn’t see his cheeks blush. “Which way to the Stargazer again?”

  “Down 35W; you’ll need to go left, hang a right at 12th, and then the exit is about a mile down,” I instructed.

  “Got it.” Mathias was purposely stone faced as he drove. Before we reached 12th Avenue, he cast a sideways glance at me as I switched my legs, one over the other and pulled my dress down more over my thighs. “You are very beautiful.”

  I smiled at him. “Thank you.”

  “The makeup doesn’t suit you though,” he said, with a brief frown. I narrowed my eyes but before I could protest. “I know, I know. Your body, your choice. You’re still beautiful without it, just don’t forget it. I come from a place where the richest, most vile people were painted elaborately. I have this awful picture in my head of what they would do to the lowest servants…it’s purely my hang-up. Your friend is a talented artist, but you just don’t need it.”

  I bit my lip gently. “Thanks?”

  He grunted quietly. His fingers clutched the steering wheel tightly, twitching before he reached over and gently pat my bare knee. “It’s not anything about you. You look like a Goddess either way.” My face flushed and I looked away.

  “High praise from someone old enough to have met one,” Trystan quipped, leaning between the seats, poking his head over my shoulder.

  Mathias took the same hand on my knee, raised it slowly, middle finger prominent. His expression was absolutely stoic as he said, “Fuck you. In my day, we would have plucked your eagle-self bare, and stuck you on a spit over a fire. You would taste good with saffron.”

  Xander burst out with laughter. “That’s cold!”

  Trystan merely shrugged. “At least we’d warrant using the expensive stuff.”

  “True.” said Mathias.

  A noisy engine purred beside us, as we entered the highway and Bash sped past us; gesturing rudely as he passed.

  Mathias shook his head, grumbling quietly. But his haze
l eyes sparkled with just a hint of laughter as Bash tore past us.

  I did a double take, peering at his face a bit closer. Hazel?

  He gave me an odd look as I blinked. It must have been the sun; his eyes were definitely brown. “Yes?”

  I shook my own head slightly. “Nothing. I just—nothing. But I swear…your eyes were brown?”

  “Oh.” His lips turned upward in a grin. “It’s an incubus effect. Our eyes sometimes change colors with our emotions, though it isn’t supposed to influence you, because of the cambion connection.”

  “Oh! Summer wasn’t crazy then! We had a little squabble over the fact that your eyes were hazel, or brown!” I laughed, slapping my knee good-naturedly.

  “I’m surprised it had any effect on her whatsoever,” Mathias said, glancing back at me. Sure enough, his eyes were back to the normal brown I was used to. “She’s not attracted to men, generally?”

  I shrugged. “Not typically, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t find them attractive once in a while.”

  “I see. Well, if you’re seeing hazel…it’s a muted effect. They’re probably more like…umm…” Mathias trailed off, mouth tensing as he spoke.

  Xander reached over, slapping his friend in the shoulder. “Probably more like a maroon, or a reddish,” he said, winking at me.

  “Oh? And what does that mean?” I asked.

  Mathias just whistled nonchalantly.

  “Red is the color of passion, Ava,” Xander replied. “You figure it out.”

  “I—oh. Oh.” Secretly smug, I turned away to allow Mathias his embarrassment at being found out.

  “Aye. Normally we put contacts in, to hide the effect from others, but apparently this fucker here forgot,” Trystan said, pretending to scold his friend.

  “Pardon me, eagle man, my mind was on other things.” He tightly gripped the wheel, and said no more.

  “Uh huh…” I said, deciding to let the subject drop. I let my hand subtly fall to my lap, and ever so slightly, brushed the hem of my dress up a couple of inches.

  Xander chuckled derisively. “Yeah, we know just what his mind was on, don’t we?”

  Mathias let out a strangled cough, his hazel eyes glimpsing at me from the corners.

  “What?” I asked, innocently.

  “Oh. Nothing. Nothing at all.” Mathias said through gritted teeth as he drove.

  We rode the rest of the way devoid of any talking, but Mathias had allowed me to man the radio. I kept it on the local variety station, and Trystan and Xander were so thrilled not to listen to his normal selections they sang along—badly might I add—with everything they could. Whether they knew the words or not.

  When we parked in the nearest lot, Mathias said before we exited: “Now you understand why I make the music choices I do.”

  I cringed, as the two of them butchered a Fleetwood Mac song. “Yes. I think I get it now.”

  The sun was starting to set, and the line to get into the Stargazer was already long, even an hour before opening. It was unusual for a Sunday night, but banners announcing a particular local band I had never heard of must have drawn everyone in.

  Summer said she’d meet us on the west side of the building. Bash and Xander flanked alongside of me, standing nearly uncomfortably close (it’d be uncomfortable if I minded: of course, I didn’t). “Why so close?” I asked, as my arm brushed against Xander’s.

  He grimaced. “Men suck.”

  “You’re a man.” I slapped a hand against his hard chest. “Yep. Man.”

  He snickered. “Yes, but…we’re not human,” he said with a wink.

  “That makes a difference?”

  Bash snorted. “No, not really.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  We dodged the lines and the groups of people clustered together, and made it around the building to where Summer was supposed to be. No one was there, besides a very tall, ominous looking, burly bouncer; complete with the stereotypical tattoos sticking out of sleeves and shiny, bald head. He wasn’t standing by anything—a table, a door, nothing. Just standing there.

  “Just what is he guarding?” Bash questioned quietly, contemplatively scratching his chin.

  “We haven’t seen anyone out here before, have we?” Trystan questioned everyone, and the men all shook their heads.

  I rolled my eyes again, while the four of them contemplated his existence. I left them behind and sauntered towards the bouncer.

  The bouncer glowered down his nose at me. His stern expression turned somewhat friendly after apprising my body and attire. A semi-disgusted shudder raced down my back; I wasn’t used to having strange men leer at me like that.

  Perhaps that’s why my shield was always up involuntarily.

  “What can I help you with?” He said, as a lecherous smile spread across his mouth. I had to fight the urge to gag.

  I felt two arms thread through each of mine. The most intimidating of the group, Mathias and Trystan had joined me at my sides, both glaring at the bouncer mildly.

  “These gentlemen with you?” The bouncer motioned to all four of them.

  I nodded. “Yes. We’re looking for my friend. She’s tall, brunette, wearing a red dress. She was supposed to meet us around here.”

  The bouncer’s leer was replaced with an indifferent expression, as he took in the sight of all four men. The bouncer was huge, but Mathias was bigger. Trystan was around the same build and height; and Bash and Xander just exuded trouble from their pores. I wondered if it were somehow some sort of incubus defense mechanism; to ward off potential human challengers?

  Or perhaps this guy just had a really small pecker, and was actually easily intimidated.

  He crossed his arms over his chest, flaring his nostrils; to look more threatening. “I might have seen her.”

  “Did she go in already?” I tried to smile, bat my eyelashes, look flirty.

  “Something in your eye?” The bouncer asks, eyeing me strangely.

  I scowl. “My friend. Have you seen her, or not?”

  The bouncer smirks at me, then glowers at my four male companions. “She is here. Her and her friends entered the VIP entrance. But they are not allowed. You would be though, Beautiful.”

  I resisted the urge to outwardly cringe.

  “Hey, where she goes, we go,” Xander said angrily, glowering at him.

  Tiny-penis-bouncer-man snorted. “Aw, that’s cute. You have a little harem. D’awww…” he pretended to grin; the vision was disturbing. “They don’t come in.”

  I flashed him a dark smile. “Fine. I’ll just see them in the normal way, and come back.”

  “You do that.” He shook his fat head and waved us on with a flick of his meaty fingers.

  “Ugh, I feel bad for your girlfriend,” I said under my breath, as I wrinkled my nose and turned on my heels.

  “What?” he asked, gripping my shoulder.

  I fumed. My head snapped back, and I glared daggers at him. Before I could raise my hand to pry him off, Mathias moved like a machine. His eyes glared red as he took the rather large man by the arm, spun him around a split second, and slammed him against the red brick exterior. He pressed his forearm into the man’s Adam’s apple. “You. Do. Not. Touch. Her.” Mathias’ face was inches away from the bouncer’s. I swear, he grew and widened about four inches as he enraged.

  “Dude, I’m sorry!” The bouncer protested, his voice raspy.

  “Sorry? You’re sorry?” Mathias pushed his arm tighter against tiny-dick-bouncer-man’s throat, and his eyes began to bug out; cheeks turning a light shade of purple. “I’ll make you sorry, you sorry excuse—”

  “Mathias, you proved your point, man, okay?” Bash said, as he and Xander attempted to pry Mathias off the dickhead bouncer, only to be shrugged off. Trystan jumped into the fray and Mathias only seemed to enrage further.

  “Get off me!” He shouted scornfully at his friends. He turned his sights back on the bouncer as he fought with futility against Mathias’ strength. “You don’t treat a
woman like that—you hear? You don’t!”

  The bouncer attempted to nod, but the second he tried moving, Mathias replaced his taut forearm—veins bulging out from his muscle—with his fingers, pressing into the man’s massive neck. He gasped.

  I looked between the rest of the four, and Mathias in a panic. No matter how they tried to pry him off, Mathias shrugged them off, like he merely was shaking off delicate snowflakes from his shoulders. The bouncer’s bulging eyes were beginning to roll backward.

  “Mathias!” I called. I dared to reach out, and touch his side.

  I knew he saw red; the bloodlust was apparent in his eyes. They craved violence; it was a far cry from the gentle, subdued Mathias I’d seen so far. He started to shake me off, but I refused to be shaken. Instead, I wrapped my arms around his waist, and leaned my cheek against his back. It inflated and deflated faster than I could keep track. “Mathias—stop. I’m okay.” It was all I said.

  Mathias flinched, and noticed me wrapped around his waist. He gasped.

  “Shit…” he quickly released the man and stepped back. I refused to let him go.

  The bouncer inhaled deeply and fell to the ground, clutching his throat with both hands as he tried to catch his breath. He said just pointed towards the parking lot, and raspily gasped, “Go!”

  Mathias stature shrank, I could almost feel it under my arms. He nearly collapsed on top of me, but Bash and Trystan were at his sides instantly before he could fall on top of me.

  Xander attended the bouncer; I could hear him speak softly, “Hey, man, you all right? Sorry about that, my friend is on some pretty strong medication…” The bouncer didn’t speak, but I heard what I thought was a tiny rumble of thunder before Xander shook his hand and walked away.

  “What was that?” I asked, but shrugged.

  Mathias slumped, still shrugging off his friends and leaning only on me. His weight was immense but, I was strong enough to prop him up as long as he didn’t rely solely on me. “Ava…” he whispered over again, pawing at my arms gently. He was breathless, and weak as he spoke.