Fate's Fools Box Set

by Bell, Ophelia

“Yes. In fact, the very moment you tell me it’s clear, I’m prepared to drift ahead to check for myself. And perhaps check in on them. Discreetly, of course.”

  He lifted a brow at me, chuckling softly. “You can’t fool me. You’ll look for any opportunity to slip back into her bed, won’t you?”

  I heaved a heavy sigh. “It isn’t her bed I hope to warm, friend. It’s her heart. But I have to confess that blood melding you has come with unanticipated, though pleasant, side-effects in that department. I can almost let myself believe she doesn’t hate me anymore.”

  Ozzie’s jaw flexed and he stared back out over the water. “I’m experiencing the exact opposite. You and I seem to have traded spots in her esteem, but perhaps it’s better this way.”

  “Don’t give up on her yet. You know she needs us both. Give her enough credit to hear you out when you explain yourself to her. Now that Fate’s on our trail, she’d understand why you kept the secret.”

  He gave me a desperate look and shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. “I want that more than anything. But if I tell her, if we do share our breath to formally mate each other, I’m afraid it will piss the bastard off even more. My grandmother’s been acting strange lately, ever since she confessed her history with Fate. No one survives an offense like this without a sacrifice—of blood or honor. Of life or love. I would die for Deva, but I can’t risk Fate deciding to take her life and spare mine instead. At least if I hold myself apart, avoid taking that step, there’s a chance for me to come to some sort of compromise with Fate. If I’m faced with the need to explain myself.”

  “It’s too risky waiting under these circumstances. If I didn’t believe you’d eventually tell her, I’d have done it myself already. I think she’d be better prepared if she knew.”

  He shot me a wary look. “Promise me you won’t do that. I need to let her know the truth on my own terms, man. When I know she’ll be safe.”

  With my new turul lie detector magic at work, the raw truth of his need left me speechless. Finally, I nodded. “Yeah dude. I promise on our fucking blood bond not to tell her. Is that enough for you?”

  He closed his eyes and exhaled, relaxing just a little. The wind shifted then and I involuntarily shivered, shoving my hands beneath my armpits to warm them. Ozzie’s gaze shot to the sky, then around us in alarm.

  “Fuck,” he said. “Something isn’t right.” He turned around and froze.

  I looked over my shoulder and an icy chill traveled down my spine. A hound stood on the path behind us. It lifted its head and let out a warbling howl into the sky. The shock of seeing it took a second to wear off before I realized it was one of the four who had followed Deva around like pups for the last few days.

  “Hello. Blaze, is it?” I said, stepping forward cautiously and trying not to jump to any conclusions about the creature’s sudden presence here. “Is Deva all right?”

  The hound backed up a few steps, chuffing at me, then turned around and trotted off down the path. It stopped several yards away, turning back and chuffing again.

  “I can’t run as fast as you. If Deva is in danger, just give me a sign. Howl again or something.”

  The beast made another warbling noise that sounded like impatience. It trotted back close to me, nosing at my hand, then disappeared in a blink and reappeared up the path. It bounced on its paws and chuffed once more.

  “I think it wants you to drift to it,” Ozzie offered.

  “Or drift to Deva,” I said, a dark feeling creeping over me.

  “What the ever-loving fuck are you waiting for, then?” he asked. “Go!”

  “You should go. You’re the one who needs to clear the air with her most.”

  He stomped forward and glared at me. “Did you ignore everything I said just now? Until I can be sure Fate won’t punish her for what I’ve done, I’m steering clear. She’s still safer not knowing, because if she knows, she might expect something I’m not prepared to give her.”

  I wanted to reach out and strangle the bastard for his obstinacy, but he had a point, and I didn’t have time to argue if the hound really was trying to tell me Deva was in danger.

  “We’ll talk about this later,” I growled. I looked at the hound again and waved it on. “I’m right behind you. Let’s go.”

  It disappeared again and I closed my eyes, reaching for the blood link I shared with Deva for the second time in as many days. The moment I grasped it, I drifted and was immediately grateful I hadn’t thought to return Ozzie’s jacket to him.

  16

  Llyr

  A light blanket of snow covered the forest floor around me, but a perfect circle of bare earth remained a few feet away, sheltered from the misty snowfall by a strange dome of twisted metal with glowing barriers stretched between the bars. I circled around at a jog until I found an opening I could easily see through.

  “Deva! Sweet fuck, what happened?” Pieces of the cage held a strong resemblance to Bodhi’s truck, and within the very center, Deva sat with Bodhi’s torso cradled on her lap, holding him tight. I darted forward and grabbed at one of the metal bars, cursing as searing heat and pain shot up my arm. The metal was fucking molten.

  “He can’t move, Llyr. I can’t heal him enough for him to move his legs. Please help us.”

  “Hang on. I’ll get you out.” I focused and tried to drift to them, but the magic she’d poured into the dome kept me from traveling any farther than the edge. She sat inside, tears streaming down her blood-streaked cheeks, gently stroking Bodhi’s dark head. He looked far too pale.

  I growled at the cage’s impermeability. “How did you create this thing, Deva? Can’t you disable it?”

  “I don’t know how. I was desperate. There were hounds everywhere. They attacked, tried to kill Bodhi. I didn’t know what to do, so I just forced the magic together. I still hurt . . . my soul still hurts. The dragon and ursa magic didn’t want to be merged, but I had no other options. He was going to die. And now . . . Sweet Mother, Llyr. I had no choice but to mark him. I don’t know if he’ll ever be okay now.”

  “Both elements combined?” I asked, opting to tackle one issue at a time. Getting them out of here and to safety was top priority.

  When she nodded, I scrutinized the shimmering membranes filling the gaps between the twisted metal. Ursa and dragon magic merged. Fire and earth. I could use my own magic to counter the spell. I just hoped it wouldn’t take too much.

  “Protect him,” I said.

  Deva nodded and draped as much of her body as she could over Bodhi’s head and torso.

  I took a few steps back and closed my eyes, focusing on the moisture in the air. The temperature made me recoil, but for my purposes, the colder the water was, the better.

  I lifted my head to the sky and raised my hands out from my sides, palms up as though in supplication. Cold snowflakes gathered on my skin as I forced my temperature lower to match, to attract as much of the frozen moisture as I could.

  It coalesced around my hands in swirling cyclones, numbing me from head to toe, but I pressed on, summoning more and more snow to me and infusing it with my own power. When I believed I had enough, I directed it above the center of the molten dome and let gravity do the rest.

  Heavy with moisture and glowing blue with my magic, the enormous orb crashed into the top of the dome. The shock caused the barrier to shatter, chunks of metal falling to the ground in a dissonant clatter.

  The very second it was gone, I ran to them, crouched down behind Deva, wrapped her and Bodhi both in my arms, and drifted away to the cabin.

  I’d only known the location, so focusing on the impression of concentrated dragon magic was my best bet for finding the ideal landing spot. Normally that would mean the entrance, or the path most commonly trodden by the resident. When we landed, we were three stories up, on a wide, rail-less balcony overlooking the valley. It was disorienting at first, until I remembered this particular cabin was a dragon’s vacation home. Of course he’d have a place to take off and land
when he wished to fly.

  I stood and lifted Bodhi’s broken body while Deva pushed through the pair of French doors before us that were thankfully not locked.

  We stepped together into a spacious bedroom with an enormous bed against one wall. I lay Bodhi down as gently as possible, chilled as much by his inert state as by the temperature.

  “Are you all right?” I asked, going to Deva and gripping her by the upper arms. I inspected her body, plucking at her bloody garments. “Let me see you to make sure you aren’t hurt.”

  She shook her head and brushed my hand off. “I’m fine. But I guess we have our proof I’m immortal, don’t we? I should have been crushed just like him, but here I am without a scratch. Except I have no magic left to heal him with, and he’s probably going to wake up a fucking mind puppet.”

  “You don’t know that yet. Stay with him. Let me find some wood for a fire to warm this place up and see if this dragon has anything that can help.”

  “Anything that can help?” she asked, nearly hysterical. “I need you to fuck me, Llyr. That’s the only thing that will fix this. I need your energy so I can fix him. At least I can make sure his body is whole, even if his mind is jelly.”

  I inhaled slowly through my nose and shook my head. “I can go and bring Willem here. He’s—”

  “Willem’s not strong enough, and you know it.”

  “Then I’ll get Keagan or Rohan.” I shot a sideways glance at Bodhi, whose sallow brow glistened with sweat. I should have offered to bring them both, but didn’t want to waste time reaching her.

  “He knows,” she whispered. “We were going to try to see if the Quorum could bless him the way they did my dad. To protect him from my magic. He was ready to be with me, so I told him the truth.” She gave Bodhi a sad look, shaking her head. “As much as I would love Ro or Keagan, I don’t want to make love to anyone tonight. Llyr, I don’t know if I can accept you as my mate, but I need you now. I need your magic to help fix him.”

  Realizing what she asked for sent a spike of disappointment through me. She wanted me in my primal form, not as a man, but a satyr who could do no more than rut like a beast. I could give her more power in that shape, of course, yet it didn’t help temper the subtle rejection of the idea of me making love to her like the others.

  “Deva,” Bodhi croaked, reaching out for her. She went to him, settling on the bed beside him and taking his hand.

  “Bodhi? Oh, Sweet Mother, are you really in there still?” She brushed a hand over his cheek and gazed into his eyes.

  “Of course I am, angel. We were wrong to wait. Fucking hell, why does the fucking universe hate us so goddamn much?”

  Deva’s shoulders shook as a sudden sob broke forth, and she threw herself into Bodhi’s arms. He grunted softly but embraced her in return, holding on tight for several seconds before groaning and pushing her away.

  “Sorry, breathing’s tricky still.”

  “It’s all right. Are you in pain?”

  “A little. Mostly just cold,” he said, quick puffs of his breath visible between them. Deva grabbed a blanket and covered him, then bent to kiss him on the lips.

  Turning to me with a pleading look, she swiped her hands across her tear-streaked cheeks. “Let’s get this place warmed up. Then will you help me?”

  I didn’t see any other option. I should probably have drifted back to the others to tell them what happened, but I wasn’t about to leave her alone here, not after this, and not while I was uncertain whether we’d be set upon by hounds if we weren’t on guard. This cabin may have belonged to a dragon, which offered some safety, but I didn’t trust that Fate would care who the place belonged to if its temporary residents were on its shit list.

  “You run a hot bath and get cleaned up. I’ll get some fires burning and help get him into the tub. I can help with the pain if he’s in water. It won’t be as good as healing, but it will last until I can replenish you.”

  Deva nodded and exhaled a cold, cloudy breath, her shoulders relaxing a little. As I turned to head downstairs to find warmer outerwear and wood for a fire, she called out to me.

  “Llyr?”

  I stopped halfway out the door and looked back. “Yes?”

  “Thank you.”

  17

  Deva

  Skye’s bathroom was enormous, even bigger and better appointed than the luxurious ones at the hotel we’d stayed in. “Cabin” was an understatement too, but the three-story house we’d come to was exactly what I’d have expected of a high-ranking dragon.

  I hurried to the enormous Jacuzzi embedded in a raised platform just beneath the windows overlooking the valley. Heavy snow fell outside, only adding to the cold dread in my gut at the revelations warring within.

  One thing at a time. I would take care of Bodhi tonight and put off processing everything else until tomorrow.

  I was grateful the water quickly heated to steaming, and I adjusted the knobs until the temperature was closer to something Bodhi could endure. The aching emptiness inside me was only half due to my depleted power. Bodhi’s mind had survived my dragon mark, which meant he could survive a full mating too. But Fate’s warning had left me hollow. What if Bodhi and I had made love sooner? Would I have condemned all the others to death simply by accepting a soul gift from him, or would Fate have offered some other compromise?

  Heavy footsteps jarred me out of my reverie and I stood, swiping at the tears I’d unconsciously shed. I looked up to see Llyr coming through the bathroom door with Bodhi cradled in his arms. I stepped aside to give him room as he settled Bodhi at the edge of the tub. His legs hung limp and his face was a grim mask that may have concealed pain, but I guessed it was something deeper.

  “We can heal you, I promise,” I said, placing a hand on his cheek.

  He lifted his gray-green eyes to me and some of the despair left his expression, but too much remained.

  “Does it matter?” he asked, covering my hand with his and pulling it to his lips. He kissed the center of my palm as Llyr bent to remove his boots. “I was ready to sign up for whatever crazy harem situation was required to be with you. I still am, but I’d just like a fucking break from crazy shit getting in our way. I don’t deal well with threats I can’t fight against.”

  Llyr’s gaze jerked up to me. “What’s he talking about? What threats?”

  I took a step back and peeled off my bloody clothes before climbing into the bath behind Bodhi and helping him finish undressing. “It wasn’t just hounds that came to us in the woods. When I created that dome, I think it caught Fate’s attention.”

  I held Bodhi against my chest, supporting him while Llyr tugged off his jeans and boxers. Then Llyr undressed himself and helped me slide Bodhi into the hot bath. Bodhi managed to brace himself on either side of the tub as we lowered him with me behind him and Llyr taking care to keep his legs outstretched. But his satyr’s gaze was a maelstrom of worry fixed on my face hard enough to make me a little dizzy.

  “Fate came to you. What did it say?”

  “That if I accepted Bodhi’s gift, it would kill all of you. Why does it hate us so much?” My voice quavered and I hugged Bodhi tighter. He closed his hands around mine, his touch giving me some comfort, though it was bittersweet.

  Llyr scowled as he reached for a cloth and soap and shifted forward, washing the blood off Bodhi’s skin, then mine. “Fate does not feel such strong emotions as love or hate. If it made these promises, it’s because it sees you as a threat to its plan somehow.”

  “Its tapestry,” I murmured, thinking of the strange garment the creature had worn, its threads stretching into infinity. “It wants me to find Sandor’s soul mate, of all things. Can you believe that? It tied him to a member of the bloodline just to test me. To test my control of the hounds.”

  “Fate manipulates. That’s its nature,” Llyr said.

  Bodhi snorted and then hissed in pain. “Sounds like someone else I know.”

  Llyr lifted an eyebrow. “Not hurting too much to
make jokes, are you?”

  “I don’t feel a goddamn thing below my hips, asshole, but everything else still hurts.”

  Chastened, Llyr nodded and leaned forward in the water. “I can help with the pain until Deva can heal you.” He swirled his hand through the water, and the pink tinge from Bodhi’s blood condensed into a tiny cyclone between his hands.

  My own blood chilled. “Don’t you dare blood meld him,” I snapped.

  Llyr lifted his gaze to me for only a second. “That’s not what this is for. Just be patient.”

  The remnants of blood swirled beneath the water, transforming into a small orb of glowing liquid shot through with vibrant aqua light.

  “It’s better if you close your eyes for this,” Llyr said.

  “Not a goddamn chance,” Bodhi retorted.

  With a shrug, Llyr twisted his hands beneath the water and pushed forward. The orb he’d created zoomed through the water in a blur, and it was all I could do to keep Bodhi from flinching too hard as it slammed into his midsection.

  Bodhi gasped, his back arching when Llyr’s magic penetrated him. Beneath his intricately inked skin, his veins glowed with bluish light, making the complex designs tattooed on his chest and arms appear lit from within. The vibrant effect was an eerie complement to the whiteness of the blizzard outside.

  Then his tension eased, his head lolling back on my shoulder. I stared at him in alarm, my heart racing until he exhaled a slow, even breath. He was sleeping.

  Llyr slipped closer, hooked big arms beneath Bodhi’s torso and knees again, and stood, effortlessly lifting the other man. “I’ll be back once I dry him off and tuck him into bed. I assume you don’t want to waste any time before replenishing, now that he’s resting.”

  “No,” I said, a little startled by how quickly he’d taken Bodhi away. But he was right. I didn’t want to wait, though I didn’t relish the task ahead of me.

  It wasn’t that sex with Llyr wasn’t immeasurably wonderful. If Bodhi’s mind was still intact, I should have been making love to him tonight, not desperately trying to regain power so I could heal him. And I wasn’t oblivious to Llyr’s desires. He wanted what I had given to Rohan and Keagan and was prepared to give to Bodhi—my heart—yet I wasn’t prepared to take that step with him.