“What do you want?” he groused without turning to look at us.
“Help.”
“With what?” he quizzed, finally twisting around to stare at us.
“Powers we’ve picked up since the meteor.”
He huffed. “Those are the least of our worries.”
“Seph can turn things into metal. The last thing we want is for him to turn one of us—”
“How did you do it?”
Seph shrugged. “The second I touched it, it just began transforming.”
“Do it now.” He pointed to a wooden coffee table that sat between two high-backed chairs forged from a dark wood that was carved to appear like it was a rope, and was held together with tattered rattan, which looked the epitome of uncomfortable. “Make that metal.”
Seph frowned but headed over to the table. He hesitated as his fingers hovered above the surface before he sucked in a breath and made the link.
Nothing happened.
Linford grunted. “Thought as much. Magic calls to magic, son. The daisy was forged from magic, therefore, you could manipulate it.”
“So the magic didn’t create life?”
He looked unsure, and that didn’t exactly put me at ease. “No, of course not.” Why did I think that was bluster? “Anyway, the daisy was inanimate. Living but not alive—was there a root system to this flower? From what Gabriella said, no, there wasn’t.”
Because he had a point there, I let that topic drop. “That’s great for inanimate objects, but what about people?” I grilled, thinking about my own talent.
“You can make things invisible, correct?” When I nodded, he motioned at the table. “Touch it.”
I didn’t hesitate as I headed over to the table. When I touched it, it quivered for a second before disappearing from sight.
“Touch Seph’s arm,” Linford instructed next.
Nothing happened.
“Dan made my arm glow earlier when he grabbed my shoulder,” I reasoned.
“There must be a disconnect and a connect,” Linford mused, and I gathered that we’d gained his attention because we were interesting.
Linford was old enough to be perennially bored. I knew my grandfather, Ril, was like that. It took a lot to entertain him, and usually, as a result, he was always grouchy—same as Linford. They’d probably make great friends if they ever met, I thought with an eye roll.
His wings retracted as he leaned back against the wall. “We could fashion something to cover your fingertips, not sure fabric gloves would be enough, but either way, they could impede you in a battle, so that wouldn’t be useful.” He rubbed his chin. “Do you make your troupe brothers turn to metal, Seph?”
Reaching out, Seph touched me, and when my arm began to turn a funny color and it began to ache, I pulled back, figuring we had our answer.
“Interesting,” he murmured softly, and I could see he truly was intrigued. His eyes were alight, sparkling in a way I figured was unusual for him.
“Always happy when you’re tinkering,” Gabriella commented from the doorway, her voice amused.
When I turned to look at her, I gaped and quickly peered out of the window.
“Holy Sol!” Seph rasped in unison with Daniel. They did as I had—stared out the window to make sure Riel was still standing out there and hadn’t walked into the salon to mess with our heads. Sure, her coloring was different now—like day in contrast to night—but we were still getting around that ourselves. To see the walking reincarnation of the woman we loved?
Weird as fuck.
Gabriella reached up and rubbed her cheek. “Takes some getting used to, I can assure you,” she murmured, a wry smile curving her lips. “A gift from my granddaughter.”
Dan grunted. “That’s it. This is too fucking weird. What the Sol is going on with her? What is she? The sorcerer’s stone?”
At his raised voice, Gabriella cocked a brow. “There’s no need for hysteria.”
“Trust me, I’m not hysterical,” Daniel ground out. “I’m just confused as all Sol and I want answers. She’s made you younger, Gabriella. Younger. She’s reversed your aging. She can create things and kill things, turn stuff into metal, make it disappear—”
“A wave of new powers that should have bled into the population, but instead have been forged inside her,” she ended for him. “There’s no point in fretting over what is. We must handle it and help her come to terms with her new gifts before they come for her.”
“The AFata?”
“If only.” She shook her head. “The Assembly. They haven’t come yet because this place isn’t on any map. This finca and the land we’re on is outside of Vinales. It technically doesn’t exist. It’s a part of another plot. But they’ll figure it out. They always do. There’s a reason I joined the AFata. The Assembly has far too much power and seeks more.
“You think that battalion was there to help in the aftermath of the meteorite’s impact?” she scoffed. “They wanted to touch it, retrieve it, and study it so their soldiers could gain the powers themselves.”
Linford cleared his throat. “She is correct. As was the way with the Tunguska impact, we were there to await the fall, and upon its occurrence, we retrieved it. The strongest touched it…”
“It still bled out into the population?” I queried, trying to imagine how they’d contain the blast.
“Of course. In that area, more villagers have the Sight than anywhere else on the globe. They’re well known for it, but are left alone only because they’re off the beaten path.”
I rubbed my chin. “Where is the meteor now?”
Gabriella shrugged. “Only my granddaughter knows the answer to that. She cloaked it. It could still be in the yard back in Honolulu or she might have sent it elsewhere.”
“If we have that, maybe they’ll be happy to just take it—”
“No. The power is drained.” Gabriella shook her head. “I touched it, helped carry it to the ground. I have gained no new talents. They would have manifested by now.”
I swallowed. “Sweet Sol, she took it all?”
“No. You did. Plural.” Linford sighed. “The Assembly will want the four of you. You’re a weapon they can’t afford to let fall into another’s hands.”
“We’re not a weapon,” Dan snarled. “We’re people—”
“You think the Assembly cares about that?” Gabriella snapped, her hands tightening on the thick cushions padding the backrests of the uncomfortable sofa she was standing behind.
“They have to,” Dan whispered. “Or…” His brow puckered. “What will become of us?”
Linford’s jaw clenched. “That’s something we’re trying to figure out.”
“And we’re failing,” Gabriella added.
I cut her a look. “You tried to stop Riel from having to run all her life—”
Her eyes grew dark with emotions. “It looks like I failed, doesn’t it?”
❖
Riel
I could feel their panic, and I could even empathize.
I was an unknown. An entity that couldn’t be explained or understood. Not yet, at any rate. And even though I knew I should feel panic too, I didn’t.
Before the battalion had come for us, in those moments when I wavered in and out of consciousness, I’d felt the Earth’s pulse beneath my feet, and I felt it now.
It was there, comforting me, vibrating through me as I overlooked land I’d never thought to see, but was a part of my heritage nonetheless. There was the faint tang of ripe earth, heavily manured, with a tinge of greenness that could only be found around growing crops.
My ancestors had worked this land for centuries. We’d farmed tobacco, had helped in the creation of a product that was famous the world over. Was it odd to feel pride in the production of a cancer stick? Or was it odder not to sense the resilience of the women in my family who had borne me?
Through each female, they’d carried the line of magic that ended with me until I, too, could continue the family name. If I could do that.
If I was given the gift of life from Gaia, and I wasn’t talking about the magic I could stir in the palm of my hand either.
I pressed a hand to my belly where life wasn’t growing and wondered if that was a part of my future. I’d never put motherhood and myself in the same equation, had never felt a need to. I was free with my body because it was mine to be free with. I’d found pleasure with men and women in the past, had reveled in the liberty I had to self-explore in an age where that was encouraged before twenty-somethings settled down. Wasn’t it ironic, then, that I was choosing to settle down with three men?
Three Fae males who wouldn’t know a single thing about self-exploration if it bit them in the ass.
Or licked them on the ass…
Lips curving at the thought, I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes. I could hear insects chirping, and overhead, there was a threat of rain. I felt it throbbing in the clouds above, and there was a density in the air around me that confirmed my suspicions. Whatever the meteor had done to me, it hadn’t turned me into the Weather Channel, but I could just feel the change in the atmosphere. Feel it and absorb it and read what that might mean for the near future.
Behind me, in the small house that had been inhabited for centuries by my family, another branch of my line—both past and future—mingled together.
Four Fae and one witch. A witch I’d believed was dead, a Fae I hadn’t known was tied to me until this week, and three who I’d pretty much disliked since the start of the term—who didn’t dislike kiss-asses?
And yet, here I was, standing out here, waiting for Gaia to come to me. She had to. I needed the Rut. It was there, throbbing inside me just as the Earth was beating to its own pulse beneath my feet, but it wasn’t breaking free.
Something blocked it.
Something only Gaia, or Sol, could liberate.
An urge hit me and my wings popped free. As they cloaked me for a second, the dense blackness of the feathers caught my attention and made me jump. I wasn’t used to them being so dark, nor was I used to my chocolatey black hair being blonde, or my coffee-colored eyes being a silvery blue. I was like another person, but I didn’t have it in me to hate the new me.
I had more important things on my mind.
My destiny was approaching in a flurry of wings, and I had a side to choose.
Funny how the path that had been the most perilous now seemed the sensible option.
Surging into the air, I marveled at my new strength. The magic gave me power, letting me tunnel upward, shuttling me amid the clouds until I could find the flurries of air like a bird would.
As I allowed the wind to tug at me, to help me find my feet, I played. There was no other word for it. I’d never done this before, had never just flown for the sake of it. I’d always been either hiding my wings or trying to train while flying. This was for pleasure, and the freedom it gave me made me feel like a child again.
A big kid, but one nonetheless.
As I pirouetted in the sky, dancing amid the clouds, I felt them approach. A smile curved my lips as my heart began to drum. I didn’t need to open my eyes to know who was there. My magic spread from me, bursting out of each and every single pore to meet them, to cocoon them in its safety.
The night of the meteor had proven that my magic was a harness of sorts, so why shouldn’t I protect those I needed the most?
When Daniel pressed himself against me, I tilted my head back so he could find my mouth. Seph’s heat pressed along my ass before he settled between my wings, and I found a resting place on his shoulder to settle my head.
As Dan kissed me, he and Seph kept me aloft, and I let them as he explored my mouth, his tongue thrusting against mine with an urgency that spoke of his worry, his concerns that still simmered from the time when I’d slept a healing sleep. I reached up and cupped his jaw, holding him close, letting him burn off his tension. When he pressed back, dipping small, biting kisses to my lips before dropping them along the line of his jaw, I grinned as I twisted my body, tearing myself free of their hold and plummeting through the sky.
A mere week ago, terror had engulfed me when I’d been in a similar state. But now? I was in control. I could sense each and every airwave as though they were written in the sky before me, and I knew I could control myself and my descent.
Still, that was for later.
I whooped as I tunneled through the air, my legs held firmly together, toes pointed, as I enjoyed the sharp drop before I tumbled in the sky and plunged face first, then dipped through a flurry and soared forth into a glide. A hoarse bark of laughter escaped me as the joy of the moment filled me, and when I turned around, I grinned, seeing all three of my Virgo flying with me.
How had I not known the joy that could be found in flying with them?
How had I thought flight was a chore?
I must have been crazy.
I couldn’t imagine stopping this, couldn’t envision avoiding this side of my life anymore. My wings had always felt foreign to me, alien. They’d been something to hide, something to be ashamed of, but in this moment, I knew I could never feel that way ever again.
They were as much a part of me as these men were, these men who, even though I was a freak beyond compare, still flew by my side, roaring through the wind with me.
And just like that, something clicked deep inside me. A burning urge that had been lying dormant. A desire so strong, so fierce and ferocious, it was a wonder I wasn’t disintegrating into ash and slamming into the ground itself.
I rode the air currents until I could soar upward once more, pointing my feet together and directing my way through the flurries like I was a dolphin riding the waves. When I was thousands of feet in the sky, I swirled around and hurled myself at Matthew. He jerked back, almost dropping me in his surprise, and I bellowed out a laugh as he grabbed a tight hold of me, finally realizing what I was about.
The second I was in his arms, the sense of rightness hit me again. It was there, overwhelming my being, as need and want coalesced into a big ache that demanded they help me ease this curiously delicious pain that they’d caused and only they’d soothe.
“You okay, love?” Matt asked, whispering the words into my ear. Of course, at this temperature and with the wind, the whisper was more of a shout, but still, it was sweet.
“I need you,” I murmured, gripping his tee and hauling him into me. I didn’t let him reply, just pressed our mouths together, grabbed his hands and directed them to my ass. My legs were around his waist, my arms slotted around his middle so they didn’t get in the way of his wings. Holding him this tightly, I could feel all the good bits on his body. With my calves, I squeezed his ass. With my arms, I could feel the delicious muscles curving his spine, my belly pressed into his hard stomach, and my tits were bound against a wall of pecs that spoke of a lifetime’s restraint and training.
How was this male mine?
As I plunged my tongue into his mouth, the question reversed itself as he only allowed me so much freedom before taking charge.
How was I this male’s?
Shuddering at the thought, I whimpered as he thrust his tongue against mine, making little fluttering motions that had me humping him in response. That simple twitch of his tongue had sensation roaring through me, and Sol, I needed a damn sight more than what he was giving me.
I reached between us to grab his dick. Sure, it was awkward, but that was bound to get the ball rolling, right? I rocked my hips, drawing my pelvis along his sex, and when he grunted, but clamped his hands down on my ass, I moaned. I loved how he owned my touch, how he reigned over my body—how they all did.
I would grant this kind of liberty to no other male, but my males? Sol, yeah, I would.
Every time.
I didn’t care if it was kismet, a meteorite, or just dumb luck that had brought them into my world, I was just grateful. Grateful to Sol and Gaia, and whichever other deity might have had a hand in giving me the gift of the Virgo bond.
He moved a hand, lifting it
so he could grab my chin and angle my head to better kiss me. The move enabled him to tuck my face against his shoulder, further cocooning me in him.
I’d never, not in all my life, been stronger. Both magically and physically. Whatever had happened in Honolulu had fundamentally changed me, and yet, here? I was exactly how I was supposed to be—protected by him. Shielded by them all.
I shuddered, my thoughts working against me just as his touch did. When he pulled his mouth back to nip my bottom lip, I trembled and called on my magic to draw our clothes away.
The second the cold air hit us? We both shivered, but deep inside, that frigid current that battered us both didn’t affect us. Being Fae, we were impervious to the various ways in which altitude could affect a human. The only thing we couldn’t do was soar past the lower echelons of the thermosphere, which was just past where a hot air balloon could float.
So, even though we felt the cold, it didn’t hurt us. If anything, it made the internal fire within me seem all the hotter.
I groaned as skin pressed to skin, and when I could feel his hardness against my belly, I rocked my hips up once more.
“You’re so slick,” he ground out, his face stony, his features hard with tension. But his eyes? Sol, they glittered like blue diamonds. “So fucking wet.”
Licking my lips, I whispered, “For you.”
He grunted, reached between us, and dragged his dick through my folds. The pressure and the caress had my eyes fluttering closed as I rocked my head back, tilting it so the wind buffeted me slightly, giving me a sense of freedom I felt sure I could only experience because I was in the sky.
When Matt used my movement, one that had my back arching upward, to begin nuzzling my tits, I whimpered, loving how he bit my nipples before sucking on them, how he laved his tongue along the ruched flesh before nibbling around the hard tip. When he drew me down onto his shaft, I cried out, my eyes clenching shut and my nails moving up to his shoulders so I could dig them into the fleshiest part there. The scent of blood filled the atmosphere around us, and I knew that was because whatever the Sol had happened to the tips made them metal now.
Finally Faeling: An Eight Wings Academy Novel: Book Three Page 6
