Shouldn’t be too hard, right?
Chapter Ten
The unease in the room would have been sensed even if Cam wasn’t Ulen. From his position in the corner, he could see everything. He did not stand in the corner because he wanted to hide; he stood there because it was a habit instilled in him by the Count. Always hanging back, always watching, quietly, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Here, though, he wasn’t striking anyone. He simply watched.
Jag and Light were not particularly fond of the newest addition to their party. Their skin prickled and their eyes narrowed. Light himself kept quiet, while Jag mumbled to himself. Cam watched them, understanding why they felt that way. He was not like his younger brother; he did not despise other races. Cam could appreciate beauty no matter where it came from.
And Faith, she was beautiful. Fiery. Alive. Whether it was because she was the Harbinger or not, she could command all eyes in a room. And her smile, those lips…Cam looked down at his own feet, knowing he should not be thinking about her lips in that way. His Ulen side couldn’t help it. He was heightened to everything. Her looks, her emotions, her smell.
Yes, she smelled delicious.
How many years had he spent locked away after Court had him exiled? The Count needed Ulen who could control themselves, even when starved, even when nothing but bones. Cam learned to fight the hunger that always gnawed at him within his gut, learned to push away the violent and murderous thoughts the bloodlust brought him.
Camden Cross was not a monster. He would never become one.
And that was why he could hardly look at Faith when she was near. It was too tempting. She was too tempting. Even though she was the Harbinger, she would not be able to stop him if he attacked her. Not that he would, for he could hold himself back for as long as it took.
And at this rate, it would take a while.
“Let’s hold a vote,” Jag said, raising his hand. “Lift your hand if you want the Human male out of the fellowship?” His azure gaze flicked from Light to Cam, and when neither of them moved, he added, “Oh, come on. I know I’m not the only one here who doesn’t like him.”
“It’s not your call to make,” Light said, barely glancing at his friend. “You can’t kick him out.”
“What if Faith does it?”
That got Light to grin half-heartedly as he shook his head. “They have history. She wouldn’t want him gone.” Jealousy roamed over his brother’s features, and for a while, Cam simply stared and said nothing.
“Fine, but he’s not part of the group,” Jag said. When Light was about to argue with him, he clarified, “The fellowship, sure, but not this group.” He motioned to Light and Cam, and now the entire room was confused, except for Jag.
“And what is this group?” Light asked hesitantly.
Jag, still sitting on the bed, said, “It’s what I wanted to talk to you about earlier.”
“Which is?” Light, still an Elf, had no clue what his friend was trying to say, but Cam had ideas, and they were all ideas that involved the Human girl they both adored, the one Cam regrettably felt drawn to.
“When a female is in power, it can be typical for them to have a…” Jag paused, glancing to Cam. “Those females sometimes have a circle of—what I mean is, they have multiple…” He chuckled. “Now, I didn’t anticipate this being so awkward to say.”
“What exactly are you trying to say, Jag?” Light cocked his head. “I think I have an idea, but I want you to say it out loud so you can hear how foolish it sounds.”
“Why is it foolish when everyone can be content and happy?”
“Happy?” Light replied, “Why would I be happy to share Faith with you and my brother?”
Jag did not back down. “Would you rather lose her entirely?”
That seemed to worry him. “I…”
“You should first wonder,” Cam spoke, causing both pairs of blue eyes to turn to him, “if Faith herself would be willing. Without her blessing, this matter means nothing.” He wasn’t sure why he said it, for he wasn’t a Malus nor was he a Dracon. Multiple men to one woman was not the way of the Ulen, yet he found himself curious, almost begrudgingly so. She did smell terribly good.
“He’s right,” Jag said softly. “Damn it, he’s right. Who wants to breach the topic with Faith? Preferably not with Finn around—because, like I said, he is not welcome in this group. On a side note, do either of you know if Humans do the same? Or are they monogamous, like the Orcs were?”
Ulen varied, though Cam did not add it into the discussion. Some wed, others had one or two close lovers. Some never felt the urge to claim another as their own, so they lived their long lives alone.
“It doesn’t matter,” Light said swiftly, “because she would never agree to it.” He was conflicted, Cam sensed. Part of him wanted Faith to disagree, to choose him and only him, and the other part of him knew that if she did agree, he would not lose her. Not yet, at least.
“But,” Jag added, “if she were to agree, we would all be fine with it, yes?” He received no arguments. “Emphasis on the fine part—meaning no jealousy once it’s decided. We are equal here, except for Finn. He can lick my foot.”
Light spoke, adjusting the leather strap on his chest, “Once more, you get ahead of yourself.” He did not comment about the jealousy or the equality parts.
Jag grinned. “If only there was someone we know who can sense other’s emotions.” He looked at Cam, and Cam felt his back straighten. “Someone standing in a corner, being awfully quiet.”
He thought about arguing, for having such a conversation with Faith was not what Cam wanted to do, but he didn’t. He simply breathed out, “Fine. I will go.” He began walking towards the door. “If I do not return, know that it went badly.” His remark earned him a smirk from both Jag and Light, which made him sigh. He was not trying to be amusing; he was simply stating a fact.
As he went through the palace, Cam couldn’t help but be intrigued, even though he knew he should not be. He should not care about Faith’s smell, nor her smile, but he did. He did care, very much so—strangely so. She made him feel the tinglings of his long-forgotten bloodlust. A bad thing. Cam would not revert back. He was past that time in his transition.
After a long search for her, Cam spotted her in the gardens with Finn. He had taken off his mask; they sat together on the same wooden bench that Cam and Light had sat on not too long ago when his brother was wracked with worry over the unconscious girl. She had a hand on his arm, her lips drawn into a smile. He was busy looking away, trying to hide the mirth on his face, attempting to hide the fact that he found her amusing.
Cam couldn’t help but be in awe of the hue of his hair. Red, so deep and dark that it was closer to the color of blood than orange. Cam’s own hair used to be a dark blonde, but once he turned, it started looking unhealthy, so he simply covered it with the same paint he wore everywhere else. Without the grey on his skin, he would burn after a few minutes in the sun. Yet another thing he was envious of. Finn’s skin was golden and tanned, a few shades darker than Faith’s.
They looked good together. Two Humans, as if they belonged.
With silent feet, Cam drew near them. Faith was the first to greet him. “Hi, Camden,” she said, grinning. She was happy despite the situation. Finn was slower to look at him, and a lot less thrilled. It was clear he did not like his time with her to be interrupted.
Cam was only able to hold her gaze—so green, so strong—for a moment before he turned his eyes downward as he said, “I must speak with you.”
Finn got the hint, standing. “Fine. I’ll go wander.” He barely even looked at Cam as he walked by, not one for politeness.
As Cam sat beside her, careful not to brush against her, Faith explained, “He grows on you. Kind of.” She radiated heat and…curiosity. She wondered why he was here, why he, of all of them, wanted to talk with her. And she did miss Finn. She liked him. Light was right. They did have some form of history.
Jag would
not be happy to hear about that.
Cam said nothing for a while as he thought of how to bring it up. These things were not taught to him; they were not instinctual. As Jag said, it was terribly awkward, especially if Faith was not in tune with it.
“So,” Faith broke the silence, “that paint. You don’t sweat it off? That’s what happens every time I wear makeup, which is next to never, but you get the point.”
He glanced to his grey arms. “No. It doesn’t come off when water touches it. It only comes off when I rub a certain oil on it.”
“If I touch it, I won’t get it on my hands?”
Cam shook his head.
“Huh.” Faith paused, “May I?”
He nodded.
She gave his forearm a good poke, turning her hand to see that none of it had wiped off on her, just as he said it wouldn’t. “That’s amazing. That would make such good eyeshadow. Do all Ulen use that stuff?”
Ignoring the fact he had no idea what eyeshadow was, Cam spoke, “Any Ulen who wishes to travel during the day does. Most Ulen keep to the Cove, though.”
“Can it be made into other colors?” Faith was so curious about it, and he, not used to talking with anyone who wasn’t the Count, probably seemed quite the fool. “What about gold?”
“Yes, it can be made into whatever color you desire,” Cam said, glancing at her, meeting her eyes. Such a deep green, almost unnaturally so. Who could ever look into those eyes and say they found her disgusting? That’s what Light did at first, Cam knew.
“I’d be gold,” Faith said, inhaling a breath and stretching. Beneath her clothes, she was shaped exactly like he’d heard Human women were shaped. Curves, breasts, among other things females scarcely had here. The Malus were the closest, and they had a lot more hair.
“Do you want to know why I chose this color?”
“Sure.”
Cam extended his hands, moving his fingers. The grey paint coated each crack in his skin, moving along with his muscles. It covered every part of him, even his lips and eyelids. Every part of his ears, his toes and inside his nose; he left nothing to chance. “Grey blends well. It is not so dark as to draw attention, nor is it light enough to automatically draw the eye. It is a color in the middle, neither here nor there. The perfect color for sneaking.”
Leaning closer to him, she smiled as she asked, “Do a lot of sneaking, do you?”
He breathed her in. Perhaps it was his Ulen senses, or perhaps it was simply because she was so near, but he could hear her heart beating. Cam could practically feel her pulse racing as she looked at him. It was difficult for him to whisper, “More than you know.”
“Fine,” she said, still smiling, “maybe I’d be grey like you.”
Like him. She would never be like him, never know what true hunger felt like. Faith was lucky in that regard.
“No,” he whispered sadly, “you’d look much better in gold.”
Faith quieted for a moment, biting her lip before she asked, “What did you want to talk to me about, Camden?”
“Cam,” he told her. If they were to be traveling together, possibly doing more than that, there was no need for such formality. Her smile was all the answer he needed before he carried on, “The others were talking about you.”
She laughed. “Gossip? Already?” Faith ran a hand through her hair—a mixture of brown and red in the sun, the very definition of auburn. “What do the jerks have to say about me? Do they have any other ideas about what we should do? Because I am totally winging it.”
“No, they weren’t talking about that,” Cam was slow to say. How did he get stuck with this job again? “They were discussing…” For the first time in a while, he stumbled on his own words.
Faith nudged him. “Spit it out, man.”
“They want to know if you’d be agreeable to…”
“To what?” Faith was either clueless, or she wanted him to say it. Cam was too embarrassed at the moment to look at her to know which one.
Cam decided just to say it, “Be with us.” His gaze rose to hers, and he noted her flushed cheeks. She knew then exactly what he meant. She had to, otherwise her body would not have reacted like that. “All of us. As equals.”
She opened her mouth, instantly closing it. She thought on it, pursing her lips as she breathed in and out through her nose. Faith looked squarely at him as she finally said, “You’re not joking, are you? This…is a real question?”
He gave her a nod.
“Jag doesn’t surprise me,” she said. “You…I guess you don’t surprise me, either, since it’s always the quiet ones you got to worry about. But Light? Are you sure Light’s fine with that? He seemed very jealous when he saw Jag kissing me.” She smiled at the recollection.
That was news to Cam. “You kissed Jag?”
“I lost a bet with him.”
That was her mistake. “Never make a bet with a Malus,” he told her. “They always win. They either cheat or kill you if they lose.” Cam thought on Light. While his brother was not completely sold on the idea, he did seem willing to give it a chance. “And as for Light, it’ll take some adjustment on his part, but I do believe he’s willing to try.”
“How would that even work?” Faith asked. “Especially since Finn is here.”
“I’m certain that, should you tell Jag, he would warm up to having Finn—”
She held up a hand, quickly saying, “I was not asking about inviting Finn to this—this party.” Cam’s eyes fell back to the grass. That’s precisely what she was asking, whether she realized it or not.
“I don’t know,” he whispered. “I’ve never…it would be a first for all of us, I think.”
Faith stood. “Can I think about it?”
“Sure. I’ll be here.” Cam watched her walk off, grateful the horribly awkward conversation was over.
Chapter Eleven
Things were just getting more and more confusing. First Faith felt some weird connection to the Dread King, the one Dracon she’s supposed to hate without question, then Finn’s appearance, and now what Cam said?
It was weird, right?
She knew people on Earth weren’t typically caught in a love pentagon. Anything other than the typical nuclear family was still looked at as taboo, even though single parents were on the rise. Faith herself had sprouted from a family with no men. None that stayed around, anyways.
Three guys, all equal? Three guys, all equal, from another world? To agree to something like that seemed like she was asking for trouble, didn’t it? Faith bit her lip as she wandered by herself through the gardens. She eventually stopped near the pond of fish she’d stepped in before she’d known that Light had a thing for her.
What about afterwards? What about the jealousies that would flare up? What about…
Faith stopped herself as she sat near the pond, sticking her fingers in the water, smiling to herself as the fish nibbled at her fingertips. She shouldn’t worry about any of that, because odds were the Dread King was going to rise in spite of her efforts and kill her. She was going to die anyway, so shouldn’t she be allowed to have some fun?
Her grandma’s numerous warnings of men and their dangly bits had never felt as silly as they did in this moment, as she sat there contemplating a relationship with not one, not two, but three very different men. An Elf, a Malus, and an Ulen who used to be an Elf.
What about Finn? Not that she wanted him to join in too, but wouldn’t it be weird if he was the only one not in the relationship with her? Though, with his crappy attitude, Faith didn’t want him in it anyways.
The words Ophelia told her in that gathering all those weeks ago came into her mind. She had deep love lines, whatever that meant. Was this what the Court Elf referred to? Had she somehow known the predicament Faith would get herself into? Or did she mean something else…something that only involved Faith and her enemy?
She let out an exhale, withdrawing her fingers from the pond as she thought of him.
Dracyrus.
Even thinking his name—while a part of her raged inside—turned her on. Being a sudden horndog, did she really have any room to turn this weird harem thing down? Did she even want to turn it down? Was there any part of her that didn’t want it, any hidden morals up her sleeve?
No?
Then why was she sitting here, contemplating it like it was a hard decision?
Granted, she knew Light the best. Jag and Camden were newer to her, but she’d have plenty of time to get to know them while they traveled. They’d spend a lot of time walking, and for everyone to be silent the whole time would make for some long journeys.
Faith sat straight as she wondered if she could handle it. Forget about the guys. What about her? Well, given that she felt extremely sensual ever since she woke up, she was pretty sure she could handle it fine.
God. Her mother would kill her if she knew, and her grandma would flip shit. With her family’s past history with men, Faith was asking for trouble. But as far as she was concerned, she’d already drawn the smallest straw since she’s the Harbinger. Who knew how much longer she had to live?
That’s it.
Faith stood, will set in stone, marching through the gardens, finding Cam sitting, almost motionless, right where she left him. He stared hard at his knees, at his hands, before slowly turning his cloudy gaze on her. It was always the quiet ones, she knew, that surprised you the most. Cam might look and sound soft-spoken, but it didn’t shock her to learn that he was a bit freaky underneath it all.
“You weren’t gone long,” he said, standing. He was nearly as tall as Light, over six feet.
“It wasn’t that hard of a decision,” she remarked with a shrug. Cam gave her a small smile, and she was momentarily hypnotized. All the grey aside, he was just as attractive as any other Elf, worlds above any models on Earth. Her mouth ran before she had the sense to stop it, “You don’t find me repulsive, do you? I heard Elves think we smell.”
He chuckled, a soft, melodic sound. “I am no Elf…and I do not.” Cam paused, adding, “And as for Light, I know he may not act like it, but he does not find you smelly or repulsive in the least. He’s genuinely enamored with you.”
The Fellowship: A Reverse Harem Fantasy (The Harbinger Book 2) Page 6
