by Sadie Moss
“Vampires.”
My heart stopped.
I tugged my hands away from Sol’s grip, stepping back quickly, but Jerrett caught me in his arms.
“Not from us, sweetheart. Never from us,” he murmured softly in my ear, his breath stirring my hair. “And even we couldn’t smell it strongly enough on you to be sure until now. No one else ever needs to know.”
He was right. I’d been living with them for the past week and a half, and despite how close we’d gotten, none of them had ever realized there was anything off about me. Besides, they’d told me they were lone hunters by choice. Maybe I would never even have to meet another vampire. As curious as I’d been to encounter others of our kind, I’d been nervous about it too—and this just gave me one more reason to avoid it.
That still didn’t answer the question of what I was though. What were fae?
I twisted, looking up into Jerrett’s angular face. “So, what does this mean? I don’t feel any different. I never had magic powers growing up or—”
A plaintive cry pierced the still air of the church, and my stomach dropped.
Oh shit. The kids!
I’d been so distracted fighting for my life and then processing this strange new revelation that I’d completely forgotten to check on the little goblin children.
There had been more shades in my vision. Had they arrived at last, the backup to their undead brethren?
“The little ones!”
I raced out of the small room, emerging on one side of the raised dais where the altar sat.
Bright light pierced my eyes, temporarily blinding me. I stopped, raising a hand to block the beam. The little boy I’d handed the flashlight to stood just outside the door to the office. He swiveled, making the circle of light bounce along a side wall. It took both his little hands to hold the thing, and his grip on it seemed tenuous.
I dashed down the stairs, past several shriveled corpses of shades, and scooped the goblin boy up in my arms before pushing into the office. The other kids were still huddled in the nook created by the desk and the filing cabinet.
“Oh, thank God,” I breathed. Then I amended my words. “Thank Fate.”
I wasn’t sure anymore if God existed. Maybe he was just another supernatural being I had yet to learn about. Regardless, the one who seemed to be listening to my prayers lately was Fate.
The little boy pointed the flashlight up at the ceiling, and when I turned back toward the brothers as they entered the room, the light caught the underside of my face. I was sure I looked ghoulish, like someone telling a scary story around a campfire.
Was that what they would think of me now? That I was some kind of monster? They’d looked both frightened and hungry when they learned I was fae. Why?
I wanted to press them for more answers, but my brain rebelled. There would be time enough for that later. Right now, I needed to focus on what had brought us here. Saving these kids.
As if he’d read my thoughts, Malcolm stepped forward. In a surprisingly gentle gesture for such a large warrior, he tugged the flashlight out of the boy’s hand, chucking him under the chin. “I’ll take that, little man.”
“We need to get them out of here,” I said, meeting his gaze over the boy’s head.
“We do.” Malcolm set the flashlight on a bookcase, allowing it to light the room as a makeshift lamp. “But it’s too late to head back tonight. The sun will be up in an hour or so.”
I wondered if that was some sense vampires developed over time. I certainly hadn’t yet. I’d have to work on paying more attention to the clock so I didn’t end up getting trapped outside somewhere and burning to a crisp.
“So what do we do?” I hitched the boy higher on my hip, looking over at the huddle of other kids.
“We wait until tomorrow night. We can seal off this room so no light gets in, and it should be safe until then.”
“Safe? Are you kidding me? What if more of those shades show up?” I tried to keep the panic out of my voice, but I felt the boy shudder in my arms. I rocked him gently, swaying my hips back and forth as I spoke in a quieter, calmer voice. “We’d be sitting ducks.”
“I know.” Malcolm pursed his lips. “It’s not ideal. But I highly doubt the shades will return during the day. They can walk in daylight, but most creatures of darkness choose not to. The sunlight weakens them.”
I glanced down at the goblin boy cradled in my arms. We didn’t really have a choice. We’d never make it back across the border before the sun rose, and these kids were safer here with us than they would be wandering on their own through the woods.
“Okay. We’ll stay here.”
Almost as if they’d been waiting for my go-ahead, Sol and Jerrett stepped out of the room, returning a few moments later with the long, padded seat of a pew. They propped it against the wall, blocking part of the small window, then repeated the process with a second large plank, masking the window entirely.
They shoved the desk a few feet to the left to brace the pieces of wood, making sure not to step on the huddled kids as they did. Then Jerrett pulled his shirt over his head, and Sol did the same. I tried not to drool as the ambient glow from the flashlight illuminated their carved, muscled torsos.
“Why are we getting naked?” The question was meant to sound casual, but the hitch in my voice gave me away.
Jerrett shot me a smile that practically curled my toes. I wanted to lick all the blood off his lean stomach, and I didn’t even care how disgusting that would’ve sounded to my past self.
“We aren’t getting naked, sweetheart. Unless you want to.” He winked. “We just need something to keep the light out. Come on, Mal, cough up.”
Grimacing, Malcolm tugged his shirt over his head too, tossing it to Jerrett. He and Sol worked quickly, stuffing the fabric into any cracks around the window where sunlight might shine through.
While they worked, I set the little goblin kid down, and he rejoined the pile of his friends. I wished I could talk to them and explain what was going on. Ask their names.
But from the way the little boy had clung to me, they knew by now that we were here to help. They trusted us. That would have to be enough.
“There!” Jerrett hopped down from the desk, dusting off his hands in satisfaction. “That’ll do for a day.”
A bone-deep exhaustion suddenly settled over me. Everything had happened so fast since we arrived that I’d hardly had time to process any of it.
Jesus. Less than an hour ago, I’d fallen from a three-story bell tower locked in an embrace with an undead creature. And now I stood in a tiny, dark room with seven goblin children and three shirtless vampire men.
What the hell is my life?
But that thought didn’t have the same sting it once had. This was my life, and as unnerving and terrifying as it sometimes was—as many new questions as I now had—I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.
These kids would see their families again because of us. Humans didn’t even know they existed. The vampire king apparently didn’t care enough to intervene. No one else would’ve come for them if we hadn’t.
There were dark things in the world. I’d known that long before I became a vampire.
But not all dark things were evil. Some of them kept the evil at bay.
I settled onto the floor a few feet away from the mass of little gray-brown bodies. The pile of limbs was starting to slowly unwind as the frightened children peeked up and blinked at us. Sol surprised me when he gently scooted me forward and sat down between me and the wall, pulling me into the cradle of his body.
“Sleep, Willow tree. We’ll keep watch.”
We had time—all day, in fact. We could talk more. I had so many questions. But his voice was like a sedative, and my body responded almost instantly. I felt Malcolm’s large hand rest on my knee, and Jerrett dropped a kiss to my cheek.
“Our little fae. We’ll never let you go.”
I wasn’t sure if I imagined those whispered words, or if I actuall
y heard them.
But before I could decide, sleep took me.
30
Willow
I dreamt of three men.
One had eyes like ice—clear blue and crystalline, but warmer than ice could ever be. One had golden skin and wavy, shining hair, and his unseeing gaze penetrated my very soul. One had secrets and pain buried in his dark eyes, and a massive, muscular frame that made me feel small and fragile.
I dreamt of their blood. It dripped from small puncture wounds in their necks, wounds I somehow knew I had made. The deep red ribbons of blood cascaded down their bodies, trailing across the ridges of their muscles.
They were shirtless again. I feasted on the sight as a scorching heat rose in my core, my clit throbbing with need. My gaze drifted downward, and my breath caught. I’d been wrong. They weren’t just shirtless. They were completely naked.
Three thick, hard cocks stood at attention, the veins on the velvety skin pulsing as they pointed toward me, as if seeking out my wet heat even through the space that separated us.
My hands roamed over my body, massaging my aching breasts and peaked nipples, trying to quench the fire burning inside me. I glanced down, the men’s hot stares still devouring me, and was surprised to see I wore a dress. It was simple in design, but stunning. Gold fabric clung lightly to the curves of my body, shimmering like liquid metal.
Two thin straps rested over my shoulders, and without a thought, I slipped them off. The dress, beautiful as it may be, was nothing but an impediment right now. As the fabric pooled at my feet, three low growls met my ears, the sound filling me with such sharp need that I squeezed my thighs together.
“No, sweetheart. You don’t get to hide away like that. Open for us.”
Jerrett stepped forward, sliding his hand down my stomach and lightly brushing my clit before slipping one thick finger inside me. I gasped, spreading my legs wider even as my inner muscles clamped down around the intrusion. His icy gaze burned as he nipped my lower lip with sharp teeth, licking away the spot of blood that welled.
He stepped out of the way, withdrawing his finger and trailing my wetness across my skin as Sol dropped to his knees in front of me. He devoured me, lapping at my clit with the flat of his tongue before strumming it in quick, hard strokes. My knees buckled. Jerrett caught me from behind, his cock pressing between my ass cheeks as he palmed my breasts with hot hands.
My pleasure began to peak, and I drove my fingers into Sol’s golden hair as Jerrett held me up, grinding into me from behind.
Just as the wave crested, I met Malcolm’s eyes. Unlike his brothers, he still stood at a distance from me, his face hard and his gaze locked on mine. He fisted his cock, dragging his hand up and down in rough, angry pulls. Misery and ecstasy washed over his features as he watched me come, a roar belting from his lips as he followed close behind me.
White light flooded my vision.
A voice whispered in my ear.
“You’re ours, little fae. And we will never let you go.”
I jerked awake, aftershocks of a powerful orgasm cascading through my body.
Gasping, I looked up… straight into Jerrett’s sinfully smirking face. I had somehow ended up sprawled across all three men’s laps as I slept, and I was positive they could smell the evidence of my arousal.
Hell, I could smell it.
“Good dream? What was it about, Will?” Jerrett tugged his lip ring into his mouth, watching me intently.
“You,” I murmured, blinking in the darkness.
I rolled over onto my other side so I could look up at them without craning my neck. Jerrett cradled my head in his lap, Sol supported my middle, and Malcolm held my legs.
Jerrett’s pierced eyebrow shot up. “Yeah? Which one of us?”
“All of you.”
The words escaped my lips without thought, but for once, I felt no shame or embarrassment. Something had shifted in me while I slept, a change that had been coming on for days. Like a snake shedding the last of its old skin, I wriggled my body, stretching luxuriously on their warm laps and reveling in the feel of the steely thighs beneath me.
Jerrett’s gaze instantly grew heated, Sol smiled with satisfaction, and just like in my dream, Malcolm’s jaw ticked, his face stony.
I wasn’t sure what his problem was, but I didn’t let it bring down the high I was still floating on from my dream. I gazed up at the three men who had, in such a short time, come to mean more to me than my husband of nine years.
“Thank you.” I let my gaze settle on Malcolm, making sure he saw the truth in my eyes as I spoke. “I don’t know if I ever said that, but thank you. For saving my life. I’m so glad you did.”
Malcolm nodded, his eyes still stormy, but his expression softening slightly. “You’re welcome, wildcat.”
“I know Fate meant for us to find you.” Sol rested his large hands on my waist.
My nipples, already peaked and aching from my dream, stiffened again at his touch, and I wriggled.
“Fuuuck.” Jerrett gave a tortured moan. He shook his head, shoving back the dark hair that fell over his eyes. “We gotta get the fuck out of here. There are kids here, and I’m about to… Damn it! Sweetheart, remember this moment. When we get home, I want to hear all about that dream.” He shook his head, sucking a breath through his teeth. “In. Fucking. Detail.”
With another groan, he gently lifted my head so he could stand, adjusting the sizable bulge in his pants as he did. I stared at it, suddenly as desperate as he was to get back to their house.
But he was right. We had a job to finish first. Helpless kids were counting on us.
Malcolm tapped my feet, and I sat up, perching on Sol’s lap for a moment as the large, dark-haired man rose. Sol inhaled deeply, drawing in my scent, then he and I stood too.
“What time is it?” I asked, stretching again. The goblin children, recovering from their terror, had spread out around the room. Some still slept, while others whispered to each other in a guttural language I couldn’t understand.
“Just after sundown. We need to leave soon. We were about to wake you when you… woke yourself.” Malcolm looked away and nodded to Jerrett. “We need to do a sweep of the building before we leave. See if we can find any clues that might lead us to the shades’ master. And we should bring a body back with us. Sol, find the most intact one you can. It’ll give us a chance to study the full rune pattern.”
“What should I do?” I called, as the three of them headed for the door.
“Watch the little ones.”
Then they were gone, leaving me to babysit a septet of goblin children.
Part of me was offended, although another part of me acknowledged Malcolm just wanted to keep me safe. And in a way, leaving me alone with the kids demonstrated his faith in me. If he was truly an overprotective, controlling jerk, he would’ve made me trail after him like some kind of pet just so he could keep an eye on me.
I gathered up the kids, eyeing their bony arms and thin faces with worry. When was the last time they’d eaten? We hadn’t brought any food with us. An oversight, maybe, although I had no idea what goblins ate.
Herding seven increasingly rambunctious kids who didn’t understand a word I said proved to be a challenge. I finally stole an idea from the preschool groups I’d seen in my old neighborhood and tied the men’s shirts together into a makeshift rope. I showed each of the kids how to hold onto it, making it into a game. Once they were all attached to the line, I led them from the room, a chorus of whispered goblin babble following behind me.
The soft glow of twilight still hung in the air, and the interior of the church was brighter than it’d been in the dead of night. There was less left to the imagination, but that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. The bloodstained altar stood out like an evil mark on this once worshipful place. I wanted to inspect it more closely, but I didn’t dare bring the kids near it. The things they must’ve seen…
I shoved the thought down, refusing to dwell too long on the
ones we hadn’t been able to save. We’d done what we could. Next time, we’d do better. Mainly by trying to make sure there was no next time.
The pale faces of the women in the woods sprang to my mind suddenly.
They must have something to do with the shades. There was no other reason for them to be here. But why did they vanish? Why not stay and fight?
A noise outside the church caught my attention. The faint rustle of movement in the grass. I tensed.
Had those eerie women returned?
I tugged on the rope, pulling the children into an empty row of pews midway up the aisle.
“Stay here. Get down.” I demonstrated, and they followed my lead, staring up at me with wide eyes.
Jerrett and Malcolm had headed up to the tower. I didn’t know where Sol was.
“Sol?” I whispered into the gloom.
No answer came, but the door creaked open.
I darted forward to pick up a makeshift weapon from the floor, but before I fully straightened, several figures walked into the church.
They weren’t shades. Nor were they the pale women.
The man in front was large, almost as big as Malcolm. He wore a cape with a fur neckline, a finely tailored shirt and pants, and heavy boots that somehow made no sound on the old church floor. Six other people stood behind him, arranging themselves like ripples in his wake, spreading out and flanking him.
“Hello.” The newcomer’s voice was deep and smooth. “What have we here?”
I opened my mouth then closed it again, unsure what to say. I’d been prepared to fight, and that impulse still hovered beneath the surface of my skin. But I didn’t know quite what to do with his polite formality.
“Who are you?” I blurted.
He cocked his head, studying me. “Carrick Gael. The vampire king of North America. Who are you?”
My jaw went slack. This was the vampire king?
I barely registered myself saying, “Willow Tate.”
“Willow Tate.” He chewed on the words, narrowing his eyes. “Well, Willow. I’m going to assume you’re not the one who’s been abducting supernaturals. Correct me if I’m wrong, and we’ll very happily kill you. But you don’t strike me as the type.”
