by Katie May
“What?”
“If the rumors are true-” another hacking cough “-you and those men you call your brothers magically appeared. Out of thin air.”
Dair momentarily lowered the sword, face slack with shock and unhealthily pale.
I wrenched my hands free of their prison at the same second Dair lifted his sword and cut off Tavvy’s head.
THIRTY-SEVEN
DAIR
Blood.
It coated my skin, contaminated my lungs, filled my nostrils. I stared down at my soaked hands unable to believe that these same hands, these unremarkable limbs, had been a harbinger of death.
I had killed a man. And not just any man, but my blood brother.
Or, not my blood brother, if I believed the nonsense Tavvy spouted.
I shook my head as if that gesture could clear my thoughts.
Slowly, I turned to face my mate. I didn’t want to see the expression on her face - the horror and disgust towards a man willing to kill his own brother.
Her face was spotted in bruises, a fact that only served to enrage me further. If Tavvy wasn’t already dead, I would’ve killed him again.
Z’s wide, terrified eyes flickered from my blood-stained body to Tavvy.
“Stay back,” she whispered hoarsely the second I took a step towards her. The blood drained from my face. I would rather be stabbed repeatedly in the chest, fight a thousand Tavvys, than have her look at me like that.
With fear.
“I don’t know…” She gritted her teeth together. “I don’t know if the spell is going to expect retribution. I don’t want to hurt you anymore, but I’m not sure…” Her face was pinched. “The spell wanted me to hurt you to protect Tavvy. I’m not sure if I’m going to hurt you now that Tavvy’s dead.”
She held up red, bloody wrists and took a tentative step towards me.
Relief filled my chest, this instantaneous buoyancy that had me floating. She didn’t hate me, didn’t fear me.
She feared herself.
One second she was surveying the store, expression pensive and slightly cautious, and the next she was in my arms. I hugged her to me, molding her body to my own.
We were both bloody, injured, and admittedly fucked in the head, but in that moment, we had each other.
The rest of the world didn’t matter.
I DIDN’T KNOW who was more shocked when we arrived home, dripping in blood and holding Tavvy’s body in a bag. The twins were the first ones to see us, and they threw us scathing glares.
They wouldn’t mourn their older brother. They would, however, mourn the power Tavvy’s presence gave them.
Lupe must’ve sniffed the blood, for he came barreling out of the house next, eyes frantic. Ignoring me, he grabbed Z gently, as if she was fine glass seconds from breaking. They began to whisper to one another, voices hushed, and I turned away to give them privacy.
“What the hell happened?” Ryland asked. He hovered just behind Z, shadows continually appearing and disappearing around him in his agitation. A dark hand reached out to touch her, but he pulled it back, granting Lupe the time he needed to get his beast under control.
I mechanically explained to him the fight with Tavvy. How could the best memory of my life, Z’s confession of love and our bodies moving as one, be tainted by my worst memory? I didn’t think anything could compare to the fear and rage I felt when I saw Tavvy’s hands on her.
And the sword slicing through his head…
Nausea swirled within me, and I couldn’t stop myself from vomiting in the nearby bushes.
A memory burned itself in my brain, searing.
The sword had gotten caught on something, bone more than likely, when I had tried to cut off his head. I had only meant to quicken his death, to grant him relief from the agony he was experiencing. But I had only prolonged it. It wasn’t a clean slice through skin. It was jagged and brutal, and I would never forget the pain in his eyes.
Z’s small hand touched the bottom of my back, but even her comfort couldn’t stop the storm raging in my mind.
A murderer. I was a murderer.
“I need to heal you guys,” Bash said tersely. He stood in the doorway, body rigid and his focus on Z. However, he didn’t step towards her. He didn’t hold her like I knew he wanted to.
“Dair first,” Z answered immediately, and I couldn’t help but smile. If she thought there was a chance in hell Bash would heal me before her, she was crazier than she looked.
Bash continued to stare her down, his typical, no nonsense stare. When Z saw he wouldn’t relent, she released a huff and wobbled up the front steps.
Both Ryland and Lupe rushed to steady her.
She was even more injured than I had realized. If I had arrived even a second later…
No, I didn’t want to think about that. I shot those thoughts from my mind vehemently.
What I needed was a scorching hot shower, a chance to wipe the excess blood off my body. I also needed to swim in my Mermaid form. Already, my twelve hours as a human were coming to an end, the familiar itch begging to be scratched.
A part of my curse. Twelve hours as a human. Twelve as a Mermaid.
Tavvy had always preferred his human form.
Tavvy...
I could still hear my brother’s laugh. I didn’t think that sound would ever fade completely.
At the end of the day, he was just a sick, twisted boy in desperate need of help. Did that make me feel guilty for killing him? No, absolutely not. Did I feel guilty because I didn’t feel guilty? Yes.
“You know you’re going to be punished when you get back,” one of the twins, Idol, said.
I sighed.
My legs were a gift, and like with any present, they could be ripped away and returned.
At least I had enjoyed them to the best of my ability while I had them.
THIRTY-EIGHT
Z
There was a sort of tension in the air. A sickly cloud that hung ominously over our heads. Not palpable, but just foggy enough to be noticeable. A mist glissading over the land.
The tension remained as we pulled up in front of the Capital, parking near the stone fountain.
Two familiar figures were waiting for me when we arrived, and I unbuckled my seatbelt and flung myself at them.
Both sets of arms immediately wrapped around me before Devlin pushed me away with a scowl.
“What the fuck happened?” he whispered, hand tracing the bruises and cuts on my face. I captured his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, knowing that he needed it.
Bash had tried to heal me the best he could, but he had quickly tired.
“I sense something in you,” Bash had said suddenly during the healing session, brows creasing. My mind had immediately drifted to Zack and his talk of poisons. When Bash had waited for me to answer with a raised brow, I had meekly shrugged in feigned cluelessness.
Despite my protests to take a break, he had continued with a renewed vigor until he abruptly slumped forward, passed out. Still, I was ten times better than I was before. I couldn’t imagine what my other mates would’ve said if I had come back without any healing.
“I’ll explain everything,” I promised Devlin now.
Keeping my hand in his, I turned towards my Incubus. His red hair was tangled, and he had dark shadows beneath his eyes. My brows furrowed at the helpless expression on his face, the need to comfort him driving me.
“What’s wrong?”
Before he could respond, the doors were pushed open, and the Mermaid King stepped outside. His blond hair was swept away from his face, once more revealing eyes a spitting image of his son’s. Or...not his son’s. Those eyes fixed on me with a predatory gleam.
I straightened under his gaze. It was time that I proved myself. It was time that I demolished the game board, emerging victorious.
I was no one’s fucking pawn.
“I completed your task,” I said, refusing to tack on the dreaded “your highness” at the end. If he no
ticed my intentional slip of protocol, he didn’t react. His eyes continued to glimmer in the sunlight.
Everything was painted in a pale pink and orange, the sun just barely cresting the horizon. It was just another reminder of how little I had slept the last few nights. My sleepless days were finally catching up to me - my body was tired and weary.
I had tried to eat on the car ride back, but everything landed like lead in my stomach, tangling with the ball of nerves and fear.
I waited now, listening to my mates move behind me. It was Ryland who appeared a moment later, Jakob’s red-haired head in his hands. Without preamble, he tossed it at the King’s feet.
“Very good,” he practically purred, surveying the man whose only crime was defending the woman he loved. My throat tightened with emotion, making it impossible to release anything louder than a croak.
“I completed your task,” I repeated. “I’m done.”
“You’re not done,” he countered. His lips were still curved upwards in a cruel smirk. He was a beautiful man seeped in poison. Everything about him was dangerous, exuding raw power. Even his smile held thousands of hidden meanings.
I waited silently for him to continue, hands on my hips. My posture screamed disobedience. Rebellion. With one eloquent quirk of my brow, he knew I wasn’t a toy he could play with.
Still, he would try. He would mold me and break me until I was unrecognizable. Through it all, he would be wearing that damn smirk.
“You still have six other tasks to complete,” he said, turning on his heel. I wasn’t worth the attention he had given me, apparently. Asshole. “The next task will begin tomorrow. Sleep while you can, my daughter.”
Before I could react to his admittedly terrifying statement, the King stiffened as something was thrown at his feet. Only his head moved to survey the second head rolling beside the first. The King’s eyes were blank, expression carefully impassive, as he stared at his eldest son’s severed head.
Dair stood a foot away, breathing heavily. His hands were balled into fists.
After a long moment of staring, the Mermaid King began to chuckle. It was so unexpected, so sudden, that all I could do was blink at him. His first reaction to seeing his dead son was to laugh?
“Son, son, son,” he tsked at Dair. “I didn’t know you had the balls to do it.”
As if Tavvy’s head was nothing more than a soccer ball, he kicked it out of the way. Guilt, for the first time, clawed at me.
Maybe guilt was too strong a word. It didn’t fully encapsulate what I felt. It was...sadness.
Nobody had loved Tavvy. Even his father had discarded him the second he was no longer useful. He lived in a world, in a family, that deprived him of love at all cost. It was no wonder he turned out the way he did. That wasn’t to say I excused any of his actions, because I didn’t, but it made me wonder how Dair would’ve turned out if he had been raised solely by the King. No Pearce, Angelica, and Juliet. No Ryland, Bash, Killian, Jax, Lupe, or Devlin. Alone. Unloved. Unwanted.
Maybe things would’ve been different for Tavvy if he had been loved. Maybe.
But I couldn’t focus on the maybes without completely spiraling down a hole I wasn’t sure I could crawl myself out of.
“Dair,” the Mermaid King said, redirecting my attention to the matter at hand. I wouldn’t grieve or mourn for Tavvy, but I would remember him. It was the only consolation I could offer.
“Yes, father?” Dair’s voice was resigned. Already, he knew what his father was going to say. My hackles rose, hair standing on end.
“You know what has to happen now, don’t you?”
Dair’s face was pinched tight. I didn’t like that - not one bit.
“Yes, father.”
“Meet me in my office in five minutes.” Without another word, he clambered up the stairs and disappeared from view. The second he was gone, I spun to face my Mermaid mate.
“What does he mean?” I asked breathlessly. My hand wrapped around his corded bicep. “What’s going to happen? Are you going to be punished? I can take the blame. He doesn’t have to know it was you.”
“With the Mage spell, who else would it be?” He tried to smile at me, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I accept what’s going to happen, Z. And I think you do too. You just don’t know it yet.”
“Know what?” My voice was desperate. High-pitched
Dair cupped my cheek with his palm.
“I promise you, I’m going to be okay. We’re going to get through this.” His words did nothing to calm my racing heart. I tried to think of what the Mermaid King could do to him, what the Mermaid King must’ve already done to him if his haunted expression was any indication, but I came up blank. The knowledge was there, right there, but it remained just out of reach. It burned the tip of my tongue…
Dair grabbed my ass suddenly, and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he kissed me. A quick, desperate kiss that spoke louder than any words ever could.
“I needed to do that one more time.” His tone took on a hushed murmur, so soft I wasn’t sure if he intended for me to hear it. He placed me back on my feet.
“Wait! Dair!” But he was already racing off, his golden hair disappearing inside the large wooden doors.
How many more monsters did we have to fight? We had already killed so many.
Thousands of monsters in this world, and the worst was my mate’s own flesh and blood.
I shook my head, coming out of my daze, when Killian put a hand on my shoulder to capture my attention. I turned to meet his anxious, slightly frantic, gaze.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“I tried to find him.” His stutter was more pronounced than before, and he absently scratched at one of the many tattoos adorning his arm. “I looked and I looked and I looked. He’s gone, Z. He’s gone.”
“Who’s gone?” I whispered, but a part of me already knew. A part of me had felt his absence acutely when I had stepped out of the car.
Searching once more, just to be one-hundred percent certain, I felt my body fall. Fall. Fall.
The day had been long and daunting, but I had survived.
This? I wasn’t sure I could come back from it.
Because my mate was gone.
Jax was no longer in the Capital.
EPILOGUE
JAX
The bugs whispered to me. I couldn’t discern exactly what they were saying, but the meaning was clear.
Alone.
Alone.
Alone.
They were practically screaming it at me.
Light pierced my eyes, and I lifted my hand to block the worst of it. A dark silhouette came into view, kneeling down in front of me.
“Z?” I whispered, hope clenching my heart. But if you clenched a heart too much, it broke. And that was what happened to me.
My heart...it shattered.
It wasn’t Z looking back at me, and it wasn’t Sasha. No, this woman with the orange hair and dark eyes was unfamiliar.
“She left you, Jax. Even if she didn’t leave you now, she would soon. I can see the poison running through her body. She can try to deny it all she wants, ignore it, but it will come for her. She’s going to leave you, and she might not even have a choice,” the woman said soothingly. She reached a hand out to touch me, and I flinched, curling against the far wall of my cage. I didn’t want her touching me. I didn’t want anyone except my mate touching me.
The woman stood, pursing her lips. She surveyed my skittish form with not a small amount of distaste.
“Do you want your mate back?” she asked softly. “Do you want Z and your brothers?”
“Yes,” I whimpered. The walls were bleeding all around me, and I just wanted it to stop. Z was the only one capable of stopping it.
I needed her.
“Then we’ll get her.” The woman smiled suddenly, but it only made me more uneasy. Restless. Cornered. “You’ll bring her to me, won’t you Jax? You’ll be an obedient monster.”
Blo
od.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Alone.
So alone.
The woman lunged at me suddenly, lips still curled into that beautiful, sardonic smile. I only had a second to cry out Z’s name before a dagger was in my heart.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Blood. Blood.
“You’ll be the best monster,” she whispered into my ear. “Now sleep.”
And I did.
TO BE CONTINUED IN GLUTTONY...
OTHER BOOKS BY KATIE MAY
Together We Fall Series:
The Darkness We Crave
The Light We Seek
The Storm We Face
The Monsters We Hunt (Coming Soon)
Beyond the Shadows Series:
Gangs and Ghosts
Guns and Graveyards
Gauntlets and Ghouls (Coming Soon)
The Damning Series:
Greed
Envy
Gluttony (Coming Soon)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As always, it takes a team to make these books.
First, I would like to say thank you to my family. Thank you to my mom and dad for loving me and supporting me unconditionally (even if I never let you read my books). I would also like to thank my sister for allowing me to kill her off in every novel of mine. Love you sis. Thank you to my younger siblings and my grandparents.
I would also like to thank my author girls. You all know who you are, and without your support and encouragement, I don’t know where I’d be. Special shout out to Clitterati. I love drinking the Kool Aid with you ladies.
Sosha Ann, thank you for being an amazing PA. Seriously. You help me keep my life in order.
Thank you to my alphas: Kelly, Elena, Heather, Phylicia, and Sarita.
Thank you to my betas: Kelcey, Haley, HarleyQuinn, Katie, Michelle, and Rachel.
