by Callie Rose
Vee shrugged, the movement hampered by the fact that she was still leaning against the broad-shouldered man. “Just saying. If you want any tips…”
“Tips? I don’t need tips. I can build a hut just fine, and if you don’t think so—well, maybe you’ll just have to come see for yourself.”
Vee blinked at that, and I hid my smile behind my hand. I had thought that these two might get along well. They were both slightly cantankerous loners with stubborn attitudes and big hearts.
Leaving them to it, I turned and walked toward the edge of the crater with my men right by my side. We gazed out over the space as the last of the fighting ended. I caught sight of Toland rounding up FU students, and even from this distance, it was easy to tell that he was scanning them for injuries and taking roll to make sure everyone was accounted for. Beedle was stomping around the battlefield helping the injured to their feet, and several yards away, my gaze caught on Director Price.
She was as bloodied and bruised as the rest of us were, and she cradled one arm to her chest as she waved the other in sweeping gestures, directing the Custodians around her as they gathered up their wounded and dead.
Michael’s words flitted through my head as I scanned the battlefield.
More than I was hoping for, much fewer than I feared.
People had died today. More than I had hoped for. But far, far fewer than I had feared. The fact that the fallen who hated Gavriel had risen up to help us, and the fact that the FU students had volunteered to come had made a huge difference. Those additional forces had saved many lives.
“Damn.” Kingston let out a low, exhausted-sounding whistle. “What now? Who’s on cleanup duty? And who the hell is gonna explain this shit to the humans?”
“Not it,” Jayce said quickly, and I chuckled, elbowing him in the ribs.
“I’m guessing the Custodians have some kind of protocol for how to deal with things like this,” I said. “How to explain it away so that humans let it go.”
“Makes sense.” The blond hellhound slipped his hand into mine, his grip warm and comforting. I rested my head on his shoulder, my mind whirling.
Kingston had raised a good question.
There would be cleanup, of course, and we could help with that.
But… what then?
I had focused every bit of my energy and brain power on taking down Gavriel. And now that he was finally gone, I had absolutely no idea what was supposed to come next.
“Piper. Kingston. Jayce. Kai. Xero. And Hannah. Thank you for coming.”
Toland nodded at each of us as he said our names.
I didn’t bother pointing out that when the six of us had been told to come to Fallen University for a meeting with our old headmaster and several Committee members, it hadn’t really seemed like an invitation as much as a command.
“Sure. What’s this all about?” I asked.
It’d been three days since the standoff with Gavriel. The dead had been interred, and the wounded had been magically healed and were—for the most part—well on their way to perfect health again.
I’d been on pins and needles the entire time, trying to brace myself for what was coming without knowing exactly what it even was.
“In light of everything that has happened, the Committee and the school administrators felt that we should revisit your case,” was all Toland said, his expression serious and composed, giving nothing away.
Before I could demand a more specific answer than that, the door to his office opened, and several figures walked in.
Director Price was in the lead, with Gregory—who would now and forever be named Clipboard in my head—and Dru behind her. Two other members of the Committee trailed in last. I assumed that was everyone who was coming, since there were five seats placed opposite ours in the large room, with Toland’s desk in between.
It was almost exactly the way it’d been set up for our first meeting with the Committee, and I tried not to let that make me nervous.
A lot had happened since then.
Maybe this time would be different.
“Ah, welcome.” Toland stood, stepping forward to shake hands all around before gesturing them toward their seats.
When they were finally settled, Director Price leveled her steely gaze on me, getting right down to the point.
“We felt that, after everything that happened with Gavriel and his army, it would behoove us to meet with you six and revisit your case,” she said curtly.
I nodded, the movement a little jerky.
I know that part, lady. Get to the damn point!
“As you know,” she continued, “we value rules and regulations very highly here. Without such things, our organization will devolve into chaos. We cannot allow that. And as valuable as the information you provided us about Gavriel and his planned invasion was, it doesn’t change the fact that five of you missed your exams—twice—or that six of you are months behind in your classwork.”
“Yeah,” I argued, sitting forward in my chair. “But there are still months left to the school year. We can catch up. I know we can.”
Director Price shook her head, giving me a tight-lipped smile. “I don’t think that will be possible.”
“What?”
My heart dropped. After everything, after all we’d been through, they were going to stick to their rules without a second thought?
“Yes.” She nodded. “At this point, there is no way you could ever graduate from Fallen University and join the Custodians.”
“Are you fucking kidding—”
Kingston broke off when I wrapped a hand around his muscular forearm. I could feel the angry tension in his body, and Director Price must’ve been able to read the anger on all six of our faces, because she hesitated for a moment, looking confused.
When she spoke again, her words were slow.
“You have all redeemed yourselves in our eyes. You understand that, don’t you? We will not be putting you through the remainder of classes at this institution nor inviting you to join the Custodians because you’re needed elsewhere.”
I blinked. “What, now?”
“We’re starting up a new division,” Dru cut in. I noticed for the first time that he seemed to be vibrating with a kind of excited energy, and he sat forward on his chair, his back straight. “We realized we’ve been too reactive, only sending Custodians to deal with fallen who appear on earth—to either recruit them or send them to the underworld.”
“Yes.” Director Price nodded curtly, picking up the thread. “It’s been determined that we need a division that will be more proactive. Their job will be to recruit directly from the underworld and keep an eye on things down there. By the time we became aware of Gavriel’s existence, he already had a stranglehold on power and was bending fallen to his will or forcing them into hiding—like your friends Michael and Vee.”
“We need to keep tabs on what’s going on down there so that we can spot the next Gavriel before he attains that same level of power,” Dru said. “And to maintain relations with those who still live down there.”
“We obviously cannot allow masses of fallen to roam the human world.” Director Price clicked her tongue disapprovingly. “But we would like to improve our relationships with the fallen, and to dispel the… the myth that simply breathing the air down there makes someone inherently evil.”
“So you don’t believe that anymore?” I asked, my eyebrows shooting up.
“It would be difficult to explain why so many fallen chose to stand up against Gavriel if they were as purely evil as he is,” she said.
I wanted to make some snarky comment about how the Custodians themselves had propagated that myth for way too long, and how maybe if their organization hadn’t had such black and white policies, they would’ve figured out a long time ago that not all underworlders were evil.
But they were making strides in the right direction, and giving Director Price shit for everything she had done wrong in the past probably wouldn’t help muc
h in the long run. So I kept those thoughts to myself.
Instead, I asked, “So what does that have to do with us?”
Price blinked. “Well, I would’ve thought that was perfectly obvious. We want you to spearhead it, of course.”
“Us?”
“Yes. All of you. Well, Ms. Osmond is welcome to choose between that and joining the regular division of Custodians. She was a student in good standing until her banishment.”
“Yeah, what about that banishment?” I asked, rubbing at my wrist absently. “Is this just your way of trying to make it seem like we’re not actually banished while still sticking us back in the underworld?”
Clipboard perked up a little at that, as if he was actually hoping Director Price had come up with such a devious idea, but the director shook her head, looking taken aback.
“No. Of course not. You will be allowed to maintain a residence on earth, visiting the underworld as needed for various missions and assignments. And you would be permitted to pass freely between realms. Your banishment marks will be erased.”
My heart did a little skip in my chest, and I chewed on my lip, glancing back and forth to take in my men. “What do you guys think?”
My gaze landed on Xero last, and I watched his face carefully as he considered and spoke. He had never wanted to go back to the underworld after escaping Gavriel’s clutches the first time, and yet he’d been dragged back there twice. If I saw even a hint of doubt on his face, I would turn Price down without a second thought.
“I think… if it can help people, if it can make life better for the fallen in the underworld… it would be worth doing.”
Love for this solid, stoic, broken man with the unbreakable heart filled me, and I reached over to rest my hand on his knee. I wanted to crawl onto his lap and kiss his face off, but that probably wasn’t appropriate for a business meeting.
I glanced at the other men, and all three of them echoed Xero’s sentiment.
But when I looked at Hannah, she had her brow scrunched up in thought. Finally, she shook her head. “I think I’d rather join the Custodians, if that’s all right.”
“What? Hannah, what are—” Jayce started, but I cut him off with a look. He fell silent, although his blue eyes were still wide.
She shrugged, smiling at him. “What can I say? I’m a nerd. And I think there are a ton of things the Custodians still need to learn about. If I can use my research skills for good there, I’ll be happy. Besides,” she added, a bit of steel coming into her voice as she looked right at the officials across from us, “they always say the best way to make changes to an organization is from the inside out. I think there are things that definitely need to change, and I’d like to be around to see that it happens.”
I grinned broadly at her. Fuck, yeah. You go, girl.
“Very well.” If Price was put off at all by Hannah’s open threat to join the organization and shake things up, she didn’t show it. In fact, she looked quite pleased. She looked at the rest of us. “And you five?”
I narrowed my eyes.
“If we’re not technically part of the Custodians, what would we be called?”
“The Envoys.”
A smile spread across my face in spite of myself. Yes. So much fucking cooler than sounding like glorified janitors.
“Then, yeah. We’re in.”
Epilogue
Three Months Later
Water cascaded down my body as steam swirled through the air, carrying the soft scent of jasmine with it. I plunged my fingers into my long dark hair, massaging out the last of the shampoo.
I always liked to take a nice hot shower before we headed down to the underworld for a new assignment. We had plenty of spells to help keep us clean even when we were trekking through the unforgiving wilderness, but still, nothing quite replicated the effects of a long shower.
It wasn’t just about getting clean. It was about peace. It was about relaxation.
It was about—
The gorgeous man with mocha skin and short dark hair who had just slipped quietly through the bathroom door and was padding across the room toward the large, glass-walled shower.
When Xero opened the door, I cocked an eyebrow at him, not bothering to hide my naked body from his hungry gaze. My core tightened as heat ignited in my lower belly, and I smoothed my hair back with both hands as I looked at my bond-mate.
“Did someone send you to fetch me? I warned you all I wasn’t gonna be ready until nine o’clock. By my count, I’ve still got twenty minutes left.”
“No one sent me to fetch you.”
His dark eyes danced with amusement as he tugged his shirt over his head, then quickly shucked his sweats and boxers. He was already hard, and it took effort for me to drag my gaze away from his cock, which stood out from his body, hard and thick.
I had to admit, I didn’t miss the tunics that had been our regular uniforms at FU. My guys looked hot as fuck in their street clothes. And out of them.
“Oh, really?”
“Nope. I just thought I should get a shower in before we left too.” He grinned, slipping into the shower stall and closing the door behind him. “And by my count, there’s a lot we can do in twenty minutes.”
I made a little noise in my throat, squeezing my inner muscles and sending a little cascade of pleasure flowing through me even as I reached for him, tugging him closer until he stood under the stream of water with me.
Our lips met in a soft, wet kiss as his cock pressed into my stomach. My hands ghosted over his skin, tracing the dozens of scars that decorated his body. They hurt my soul to look at sometimes, but I refused to ever look at them with pity. Xero didn’t want that, and I wanted him to know that I saw him as a whole person. Always. Not just as the sum of his broken parts.
“I like the sound of that,” I murmured against his lips, reaching between us to wrap my hand around his dick. My slick hand glided up and down his length, and he pulsed his hips into my touch, wrapping one arm around my back and deepening the kiss until I was gasping for air.
The spark inside me that always burned for my men flared to life as an inferno, and I pressed closer to him, trapping my hand and his cock between us as I slid my tongue into his mouth, tasting and flirting with his.
He tasted like mint and freshly brushed teeth, and just a hint of coffee. His enticing smell mingled with the smells of the shower and my shampoo, and I moaned again as every sense in my body feasted on the sensations he was offering me.
“I can never get enough of you, Piper,” he muttered into my mouth as his lips teased mine.
“Is it selfish of me to say I don’t want you to?” I asked. “That I want you to crave me all the time?”
He pulled back, a beaming smile crossing his face. “Fuck, no. And I think you’ll get your wish.”
As if to illustrate his point, he thrust into my hand again, and I groaned, squeezing him tighter. Little droplets of water clung to his dark skin, and when he cupped both sides of my face and angled my head so that he could devastate me with a slow, sweet, deep-as-fuck kiss, I sagged against him, letting every inch of my naked skin press against his.
Water collected in the little spaces between our bodies, and I could swear the spray of the shower was getting hotter—but I was pretty sure it was just me. My blood was igniting under Xero’s touch, my pussy throbbing, aching and hungry for him.
“Xero,” I finally gasped. “We’ve got eighteen minutes left. I want to spend every single one of them with you buried inside me.”
He drew back, his pupils dilating as lust filled his expression. His hands left my hair, wandering a path down my slick body before grasping my hips and turning me around, making sure not to let me slip on the wet tiles.
Moving close behind me, he pressed me up against the glass of the shower stall, and I sucked in a gasp as the cool surface made my nipples peak instantly. The contrast between hot and cold was delicious and sharp, and I rolled my ass against Xero, grinding against his dick, urging
him on.
I hadn’t been kidding. I wanted him buried inside me.
I wanted to squeeze his cock like a vise as I shattered around him, then do it all over again. And again. And again.
As if he could read my thoughts, as if he had direct access to every one of the filthy images in my head, Xero gave a low growl. Keeping my upper body pressed to the glass, he tugged my hips back, running one large hand up over the curve of my ass cheek before sliding it down between my legs. When he slipped two fingers inside me, I shuddered, pressing my hips back farther and forcing him deeper inside.
“So greedy,” he murmured, sounding pleased.
He wasn’t wrong.
I was greedy. For the four men who had each claimed such a large part of me that I wasn’t even sure where my heart ended and theirs began.
For my soulmates.
“Yes, yes, yes,” I chanted, bucking my hips back and impaling myself on his fingers. “Give me your fucking cock, Xero, or I’ll come like this.”
It was part threat, and part simple statement of fact. The cool glass, the hot water sluicing over me, the feel of my fire demon standing behind me, his body tense with desire… all of it was pushing me toward an orgasm, making my toes curl into the wet tiles beneath my feet as my clit throbbed with a steadily building ache.
Xero growled. He’d been the one to start finger-fucking me, but he actually sounded like he was jealous of his own hand right now. His fingers slid out a moment later, and a half-second after that, I felt the press of his cock as it breached my entrance.
He went torturously slow, drawing out the sensation until I thought I might claw a hole in the glass wall of the shower. I tried to buck against him again, to shove my hips backward and take him all in one harsh movement, but his firm grip on my hips kept me still.
When he finally bottomed out inside me, I quivered around him, breathing hard and fogging up the glass. I could feel his thighs pressed against mine, his pelvis against my ass, and his fingers digging into my hips.
