Fate's Fools Box Set

by Bell, Ophelia

  I pushed forward until I could go no farther, then allowed my human shape to dissipate and my primal form to take over.

  My cock instantly hardened from the power flowing over me, accepting me now. I’d even go so far as to say she welcomed me, and a combination of pure, unchecked arousal and utter terror washed over me.

  Light began to filter into the passage as I crawled forward again, and soon the walls widened and the ceiling allowed me to stand once more, easily stretching to my full height, horns and all. I was able to walk the last few steps into the misty, cavernous space. My hoofed footsteps reverberated off the cavern’s glowing walls, and strange beams of sunlight streamed in from some unseen opening. The beams refracted off the polished stone walls, casting a crisscrossing web of light through the fog.

  I stepped in cautiously, aware that the edge of the Diviner’s pool was only a few yards ahead, invisible in the mist. Utter stillness surrounded me, and for a moment I worried I’d intruded on her sleep.

  The softest sound of water lapping against stone reached my ears, muffled by the dense mist, and I froze as it grew louder, signaling movement within the unseen pool. A moment later, scales rasped against the stone, and an escalating shiver coursed through me that was part fear and part excitement.

  “Back ssso sssoon?” purred a sultry, sibilant voice. My balls tightened at the sound, and I resisted the urge to cover myself protectively.

  “You know why I’m here, Diviner. Let’s get this over with so I can get back to where I need to be.”

  I winced at the necessity for such bald honesty, but she’d have seen through platitudes. Obscuring the truth in her lair would only prolong the torture.

  “To the chimera, you mean? She hasss tangled her magic around you ssso well, and you aren’t even bound to her yet.”

  “What do I need to do for you to give me the answers I seek? Tell me how to get through to Fate to prevent it from taking retribution against her. Tell me why it is so dead-set on keeping her from having a complete soul.”

  “Come clossser,” she said. At my feet, a tentacle covered in brilliant aqua scales slid out of the mist to coil around one of my hooves and tickle up my calf. It gave a little tug and I obeyed, stepping forward until the lapping of the water grew louder.

  When I took another step, it was into the water itself. I stopped with both hooves immersed and the water up to my ankles. More tentacles teased around my lower legs and up my thighs. Before me, a female torso emerged from the mist, poised atop scale-covered hips. Beneath those hips were not legs, but a multitude of appendages as thick as tree trunks that tapered into long, graceful tips.

  My breath caught in my throat as her swirling gaze met mine. This was the part I both hated and loved. She was immeasurably beautiful and horrific at the same time, with the creamiest, luminescent blue-green skin. Her full, round breasts were tipped with green nipples, erect and aching to be sucked. Even her face was a perfectly proportioned image of divine beauty, with high cheekbones and a delicate chin and straight nose.

  But the terrifying part was the razor-sharp teeth she bared when her lips broke into a pleased smile as one of her tentacles coiled higher around my thighs to graze the underside of my erect cock. When I let out an involuntary exhalation of pleasure, the decadent, deep green curls cascading around her shoulders came alive, hissing and writhing.

  Dion fucking save me, I wanted this to be over soon.

  “Please,” I begged. “I just want answers.”

  “You want Fate’s secretsss, and I am the only one who can give them to you.” She tilted her head as more of her tentacles surged around me, engulfing my lower body in writhing flesh and pulling me deeper into the water. I had no choice but to go, to endure whatever she chose to do to me, and just hope it wasn’t as exhausting a violation as the last time I’d been here.

  “Yes. I will surrender to you however you wish, if you give me answers.”

  “You are ssstarting to grow on me, Llyr Xanthosss. Does the chimera mean so much to you that you would offer yourssself so completely?”

  A thick appendage probed between my ass cheeks at the same time as a tentacle coiled around my cock and squeezed. I grunted from the pleasure, struggling to remain focused. “You know I love her. I would do whatever it takes to keep her safe, to fulfill her desires.”

  “To make her yoursss,” she added, penetrating me in a smooth thrust that made me cry out. “Including blood melding one of the cursssed, a man who has already betrayed Fate and condemned himssself.”

  “He loves her too,” I blurted just as she overpowered me completely. The tentacles around my legs swept me farther into the water, spreading me for deeper penetration as the one around my cock stroked harder. This was only the beginning. I couldn’t let myself surrender to her yet, but she was relentless.

  “You sssmell of her. She wieldsss incredible magic and is not yet complete. No wonder Fate fearsss her.”

  Through the haze of intense pleasure, I very nearly missed that detail. I latched onto it, clinging to it like a lifeline as she tormented me to a swift climax. When I came, my body contorted with ecstasy and my yell echoed off the stone ceiling and walls.

  “Fears her,” I murmured, coming down from the orgasm cradled on a web of the Diviner’s many limbs. She caressed me like a child, the cascading water lulling me into utter relaxation.

  I exhaled slowly, reminding myself there was no way that was all she expected of me. She was part dragon and craved power she could only absorb through another party’s climax. She was also part nymphaea, which meant her appetite for it was immense. But she was still more, birthed of a trio of gods and unshackled by the ties of Fate, even though she never left this cavern she called home.

  “Wouldn’t you fear the thing that could take what you loved away from you? Fate lovesss the control it wields over the higher racesss, yet that control is ssslipping the more it clings to its hatred of one god. Your chimera’s power could replace it. Take what it has lossst, and no one would object.”

  “It wants to keep her weak, to do its bidding. She told me it tasked her with an assignment—to find a soul mate for a turul whose link to its One Fate severed.”

  “A tessst to see how much power she truly wields over the soulsss she is linked to. Fate wants that power for itself, but can only have it by controlling her.”

  “How do we get it to leave Deva alone to live her life?”

  “With power such as hersss, she will never have that freedom, even if you convince Fate to let you all be. There mussst be a compromise, but that is not a concept Fate recognizes. Manipulation and trickery are its language. I believe you ssspeak it well.”

  “We need to trick it. What sort of trick will work?”

  “Trick it into breaking the turul curse. For the race’s entire exissstence, they have been denied a choice. If Fate ever offers a choice to a turul, the curse will be broken. Once the curse is broken, Fate will negotiate to maintain what little control it has.”

  “A choice?” I asked, struggling against the tentacles that held me prone. The Diviner relaxed her hold, allowing me to stand upright in the water. “All we need to do is get it to offer a choice to a turul? How the hell has this never happened before?”

  “Don’t underestimate Fate’s capacity to hold a grudge. Ouranos did all the higher races a disservice, his actions reinforcing Fate’s disssregard of anyone’s right to autonomy. The turul have always been Fate’s favorite targets of manipulation. Deva may be the only one with the power to fix it, but do tread carefully. Deva’s marks on her three lovers will protect them from death, but not from harm.”

  I flinched at the reminder that I still lacked that gesture of trust and love I craved so much. But I was at least now armed with knowledge I believed we could use to our advantage.

  I swept my hands through the water and took a step forward, raising my head and holding my back straight. “Take what you will from me, Diviner.”

  She exhaled and it sounded al
most like a sigh, her breath clouding out and settling around my shoulders like a caress. One blue-scaled tentacle tip grazed my cheek.

  “I have tortured you quite enough recently. If you agree to tell your fellow Thiasoi satyrs that I have become more sentimental with age, that I only wish for company and to share their pleasure, I will let you go now.”

  Surprised by her offer, I nodded. “I will do what I can. Is there anything else you wish for that I can provide? You never get to leave this place.”

  I glanced around at the walls of the cavern, more visible now that she’d let the veil of mist settle low over the surface of the water. It was more like an enormous hall than a cave now, far different than I remembered it from my early days as a Thiasoi many centuries ago.

  “I go where I wish, contrary to everyone’s impression. When you are a demigoddess as powerful as I am, a physical body is nothing more than an anchor to life. The River allows me more freedom than even you can imagine. I exist within the watersss that dance across the earth, enjoy the beauty of the random places it takes me. The kind of partner who would satisfy my curiosity and impulsive appetites does not exist on that mortal plane. Do not pity me for my apparent captivity; sight only allows one view of the truth.”

  “Yet you ask for company from the others?”

  She raised a delicate green-blue eyebrow. “I seek more than company. Physical contact has its purpose too. That is the only thing I need to sussstain this body. Tell the others I will aid their own quests for matesss if they each agree to visit me three times before the year is out. I have missed the company of males as potent as the Thiasoi and as given to impulsive strikes of fancy.”

  Kyril and the others weren’t going to like it, but I made the promise with a secret smile. They would honor it for my sake, and I knew deep down they would have no regrets.

  With a bow, I turned and left the Diviner’s cavern, my heart lighter than when I had arrived.

  26

  Deva

  Sometime during the night, the weather broke. By morning, bright sun streamed in through the skylight above the bed. Bodhi and I had barely caught our breath from another round of lovemaking when a horn blared outside.

  “Shit,” he said. He threw back his head and laughed, his body shaking me where I sat still poised atop his hips with him inside me. “I hope they don’t want us to leave now. I also hope this place has food. I’m fucking starving. And I know we didn’t sleep a wink, but I feel like I could spend all day making love to you.” To emphasize this point, he pushed up into me, his cock still hard.

  I was a little breathless, but no more exhausted than he was. After receiving his soul-gift, I’d felt connected like never before—to him, to my other soul-mates, and to the entire bloodline. There was no denying what he’d given me had bound my magic, strengthened it, and in the process infused us both with energy.

  “We should get back to the real world,” I said, patting him on the chest over the divide between spring and summer on his tattoos, where the cherry blossoms bled into green leaves that still fluttered as if in a gentle breeze.

  I shot a silent greeting to Rohan, apologizing for making them wait. Before he could reply, voices echoed up the stairs from the foyer, migrating through the first floor of the house toward the kitchen.

  “Don’t rush on our account, babe. You two had a long night. We’re just going to commandeer Skye’s kitchen for a bit to feed our ravenous maws. Come down when you’re ready. And congratulations.”

  “You know? Did Llyr tell you?” I sent back, tugging Bodhi into the bathroom and climbing into the shower with him at my back.

  “No, we haven’t seen him since last night. It was you, baby. You two were broadcasting clear down the mountain all fucking night. Keagan and I both felt the effects of your bond with Bodhi. It was like our souls were all merged together. It’s not a night we’re likely to forget for a long time. And the hounds are even bouncier than before, if that’s possible.”

  “What’s going on?” Bodhi asked, adjusting the shower knobs until the spray was hot enough for him.

  “They’re cooking. We’re bathing. Then we’ll figure out what happens next.”

  He gave me a salacious grin as he lathered soap all over his hands and held them up. “I’ll give you three guesses what happens next. Get over here.”

  My giggle turned into a moan as he slid his soapy hands over my breasts and captured my mouth with his.

  We spent far more time than necessary soaping each other up before making love again. By the time we made it downstairs, the others had the big dining table laid out with food and were digging in.

  My heart ached at the sight of all the men I loved, looking more at ease than they’d seemed in days. Rohan gave us both the most brilliant smile with a glint in his eyes that made me just a little suspicious. He and Keagan shared a glance before gesturing at the pair of seats between the two of them.

  “Saved for the guests of honor,” Rohan said.

  I hesitated, glancing at Bodhi, then back at Keagan and Rohan seated only a few feet apart. They didn’t seem the least bit afraid of being near me now.

  “Come on, princess. We’re not going to bite,” Keagan said.

  Inside my mind, I heard Rohan’s gentle tone. “We know it was Bodhi who bound us together now, not Llyr. After last night, it was hard to miss.”

  When I sat down, he leaned close and whispered, “Next time we get you two in the flesh, all right?”

  Bodhi paused long enough to kiss his mom hello and give Willem a grateful look before joining me.

  A throat cleared and I turned my flushed face to Ozzie, who was as tense and grim as ever, standing at the head of the table with his arms crossed. “Eat quickly. We need to get back on the road before Fate catches up to us.”

  I was about to correct him when I realized there was one figure missing. A pang of worry shot through me.

  “Where’s Llyr?” I asked. The satyr should have explained things to them already. We didn’t need to run any longer, but we were on a deadline.

  “I’m here, and I have good news from the Haven,” came a voice from behind me, and I turned in time to see Llyr’s shape materialize that instant. He nodded down at me with a bright look.

  My heart pounded, and I realized it wasn’t just my feelings for Ozzie spiking when I looked at him, but genuine gratitude for all he’d done for me so far. It wasn’t quite back to the level of devotion I’d first harbored the day of the ritual, but it was the first time I felt confident I could get back to that point with just a little more time.

  But if he’d just returned from the Haven, that meant he hadn’t explained things to the others yet. I reached for a plate of toast, opting for sustenance so I’d have the fortitude to explain the details later.

  After breakfast, we gathered around a roaring fire. Yet again, Keagan and Rohan made room for me to sit between them on the big sofa. I was relieved that they didn’t need to keep their distance any longer.

  “I missed you two,” I said. I held their hands together on my lap, laughing when Bodhi hopped the sofa and slipped in behind me, bracketing my hips with his legs and wrapping his arms around me.

  “Thank Gaia for Bodhi,” Keagan rumbled. He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. Then he shifted back a few inches and planted a deep kiss on Bodhi. “I wish to fuck I’d known it was you earlier, dude.”

  Bodhi chuckled. “You and me both.”

  I filled them in on the bare bones details of our run-in with Fate, including our deadline to find Sandor’s mate, which made Willem exhale in relief.

  Afterward, Llyr gave me and Bodhi a slightly sad smile. “Despite the risks, I’m glad you two decided to go through with it. You’ll be stronger for it.”

  Ozzie bristled at that. “Risks? What risks?”

  “Fate’s usual bullshit,” Llyr said. “Which I’m sure you’re well familiar with. When it appeared to Deva last night, it warned her not to take Bodhi’s soul gift.”

  �
��Fate doesn’t do warnings,” Ozzie snapped. “Threats, yes. What did it tell you?”

  I tensed and Bodhi rested his hands on my shoulders, massaging gently. “It threatened to kill you all if we did,” I said.

  Ozzie shot out of his seat. Maddie let out a soft squeak and Willem scowled, rising as if to jump to Maddie’s aid. But Ozzie came straight at me, his eyes sparking with lightning.

  “What the fuck were you thinking? If Fate makes that kind of threat, you fucking listen! Why the fuck would you take a risk like that?”

  I stood to face him, straightening my back and glaring. “Because I’m not going to give the asshole the satisfaction of controlling me. Everything it said made me doubt whether it’s even capable of knowing how many pieces of my soul I already have. It couldn’t tell I’d already been given two. I think it does know what Bodhi’s soul would do for me, but I can fake it if I have to. Besides, it can’t kill anyone who’s protected by my dragon mark, and we can make sure to guard the ones who aren’t.”

  Ozzie cursed, raking his hands through his hair. “It can do worse than kill us. If it finds out you’ve betrayed it, Fate will take retribution.”

  “Then we’ll just have to get to Sandor and complete this task before it finds out.”

  “You don’t understand. There is no fucking way Fate will let you off the hook. If it can’t kill you, it will damn sure do something just as bad. There’s no compromising, no negotiating. Just talk to my grandmother if you’re at all confused about what that means.”

  “That’s where I think you’re wrong,” Llyr said, standing and striding over. He started to reach for my hand, but stopped himself. “I had an illuminating visit with the Diviner last night. I believe we can trick Fate into negotiating, if we can just get it to offer either you or Sandor a choice.” He dropped his voice lower and said, “I think this is the perfect opportunity to get what we want.”

  I shot a confused look at Llyr. Ozzie blinked at him, his brow creasing. Then he looked at me again, then behind me to my three mates who still sat on the sofa. Then he nodded at Llyr. “That might be the only thing worth risking our lives for.”