Beau's lips twitched. "Let us jump to our watery deaths then."
The wild-fire flickered. I’d bet that it was laughing.
I took a final look over the precipitous edge at the waves.
We were crazy...
"In Belenus' name...without wings," Radley boomed; his voice echoed through the dark.
Apollo honked.
Laurel's grin was feral. "Five...four...three...two...one!"
And as one, we leaped.
I screwed shut my eyes. My stomach lurched. I waited to be hit by the freezing shock of the night waters.
Instead, a whirlwind caught me like I was a feather, softly twirling my mates and me. Laurel gasped.
For a moment, caught under the stars and above the waves, I was flying.
It was the best gift that I'd ever received.
At last, as if a giant's breath was blowing us, we spun further along the coast.
Then I landed.
Except, that shouldn't be possible. There was no beach on the grounds. The reform school was built along a sheer cliff to trap us.
Yet now I stood, dazed, on the soft sand of a beach that’d never existed before. Felix and Beau laughed, dropping to their knees and running their fingers through the sand.
We'd never been to a beach before. This was a week of surprises and firsts, and to my surprise, not all of them were deadly.
I wrenched away from the others, twisting around. "Where on Belenus' cock are we?"
"I believe," Felix's voice vibrated with joy, "that Belenus has created a magical pocket within the school for us because of the ritual. This is a beach that shouldn’t exist, but our Celtic god has commanded even the ocean."
I stared out at the sea, which had been driven back and now lapped at my feet. Huge hippocampuses leapt from the waves. They held their horse-like heads high, and their bodies flashed with gold, before they dived back under with a splash of finned tails. Seahorses gleamed beneath the moon's light. When eerie horns were carried to me on the wind, I shivered.
Anything could happen. For one night only, on this beach, we were free.
"Is it okay with you," Laurel breathed, joining me at the water's edge, "if I now have a thing for this god of yours?"
"He makes me hot too." Apollo landed behind me.
At a sudden whoosh and rich aroma of bonfires, I twisted around, resting my hand on my scimitar. My magic burned hotter inside.
I was being called home.
I choked, struggling for breath.
A bonfire sprang up at the base of the cliff. Its flames roared higher than any natural fire. I shuddered, glancing at Radley and Felix because I knew that they understood.
Every Beltane night had its fire, which was the light and warmth to cleanse the world.
When Felix whooped, Beau let out a gasp of shocked laughter. Radley didn't drop his gaze from mine. I knew that we were both remembering the same bonfires when we were kids. Radley had loved watching the flames. He still loved roasting warlocks on their own flames if they hurt me.
Perhaps, it gave him happy memories…?
Before I'd been taken as a Hostage Lord, I'd gathered kindling for the Beltane Bonfire with my brothers, even though I'd only crawled in their shadows. Later, the clearing in Hope Forest would he alive with glowing embers and the scent of charcoal. Quinn would lead the fae in jumping over the flames as part of the games.
On my wing, I'd forgotten how much I missed being with my family and tribe. How much I'd lost myself.
This night was bittersweet. But it could never have ended better than this.
I allowed myself to pretend that it was the smoke from the bonfire stinging my eyes and making them water.
"You know what’d make this perfect?" Felix held out his arms to Apollo who flew into them.
"Sparklers?" I ventured.
Felix glanced at Laurel. "Let's see if you're lucky enough to meet all your bonded tonight...without collars."
Felix's Fortune Magic snapped open Apollo's emerald collar, and it fell to the beach floor.
Immediately, Apollo shifted into his human form. Laurel’s pupils dilated at the gorgeous sight of Apollo’s naked muscles, high cheekbones, and the cute way that he clung to Felix like he thought that Laurel might reject him.
Apollo was a beautiful swan, but he was a hot man.
Felix shoved Apollo towards Laurel. "Go woo her. You're not usually short on romance, Romeo."
Apollo ran his hand though his wavy hair. "It's not so easy when she's..."
Laurel rushed towards Apollo, snatching him into a kiss. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and he moaned. Then she drew back.
I longed to kiss both their lips: one petal soft and the other fiery hot.
"Does that make it easier?" Laurel murmured.
"Now you know me, would you still choose me?" Apollo asked. "I'm no Lord but I'm loyal. I'll stand wing by wing with you in love and life...if you want me, princess."
"Honestly, you've just won the Romeo Award. And you're my bonded. I'm never letting any of you go." I didn't miss Laurel’s sharp glance at me.
I shifted uncomfortably.
When Laurel traced down Apollo’s chest, stroking over his pink nipples (and I knew from experience how sensitive they were), his blue eyes sparkled.
"You've no idea how much I long to kneel and taste between your sweet thighs, until you scream," Laurel's eyes widened at Apollo's seductive tease, "but we're on a hidden beach for the first time in a decade. The daft Fae Lords have a battle campaign to plan. After that, we'll talk making the bond official."
"Sex on the Beltane is sacred. It's part of the Great Rite," Radley pointed out.
Felix nodded. "It's a symbolic joining."
My prick nodded its agreement too. "Or that's our excuse, and we're sticking to it."
Laurel’s eyes glittered. "What makes you boys think that I need an excuse to screw you all senseless at the same time?"
Ah yes, succubus.
I hid how enthusiastically my prick was nodding to that plan, by gesturing towards the bonfire. We gathered around its heat, sitting in a huddled circle. There were worse places to plot than under the stars in the cradle of ancient magic.
"Honestly, it was easier than I'd expected to find out how to take down the wards on the gate, the spells on the cyclops guardians, and the magical barrier over the sky." Laurel gave a smug smile, but she'd earned it. How in the feathery heavens had she managed that? "It was all down to Natalia, the Dean's secretary. The Dean trusts her too much because he created her, which makes him underestimate her. The asshole thinks she's the only one who could never betray him. Well, the dick's wrong."
I gaped at her. Natalia…?
Beau furrowed his brow. "But golems can't think for themselves."
"Like you can't because you're conditioned that way...?" Laurel asked. Beau ducked his head. "I simply told her that it was you, Lord Spring, who needed help."
I sat up straighter. "She did it for me because I told her to believe in herself?"
"Natalia has a crush on you."
Was this the first time that a golem had ever rebelled against their creator?
"It's not enough." Radley drew a rough picture of the stage in the sand. "Even with the barriers down, the Dean and his guards can use weapons or spells to shoot us down if we try to escape. We're sitting ducks."
"Talking of birds," Felix nudged Apollo, "the witches have spelled the cygnets not to fall from the swans’ backs, when they escape. Odile and Lil Swan will be safe. Plus, once we’re free, the collars will open on all the swans, and they’ll be able to choose whether they shift into their human form or not. It was the witches’ thank you for the dance."
"You're taking all the shifters with you?" Apollo gasped.
I grinned. "We're freeing them. Did you really think that I'd leave behind such sacred creatures?"
Apollo threw his arms around my neck, before whispering into my ear, "As soon as we escape this school, I'm g
oing onto my knees and sucking you off, until you scream."
I shivered. Okay, I was fine with that.
"Will the other Houses fight tomorrow?" I asked.
Radley shrugged. That said it all.
"And you have me." Laurel smiled. "Your secret weapon."
I swept Laurel to her feet. "I also have a Wicked Bucket List and a promise of a dance."
I pulled out my iPod, selecting Massive Attack’s hypnotic “Teardrop”.
Laurel's eyes lit up. I gripped her by the waist, pulling her close. Then in the light of the fire, we danced to the heartbeat of the throbbing music. She slid up and down me, rubbing her cheek against mine. She was more than sensual: she was the wild-fire alive and burning inside me.
She was mesmerizing.
I turned to catch her lips with mine; I could feel her power tingling beneath my skin. Could she sense my magic as well? This fated bond...? When I glanced around my bonded, who were watching us with intent gazes, it was like each of us was connected in the dance.
I spun Laurel, liberated. She laughed, and I pulled her close again. "No matter what happens tomorrow, I can't regret that we met.”
Laurel shook her head. "I'll never regret it."
I flung out my wings like I truly could take flight, before pulling her tumbling on top of me in the middle of my mates. They caught us and in the coiling night's magic, we were a frenzy of kisses, licks, and stroked wings.
Laurel was the center of it all: our chosen princess.
Beau pressed kisses along her tits, just as Apollo slipped up her dress, sinfully peeking at her from underneath his eyelashes. Radley pulled her head back by the hair to give Felix access to suck and mark along her neck, and I kissed her on her lush lips. In turn, she slipped her hand into my pants to rub my prick.
Above me, the stars burned in the black sky.
Number Seven was the only one left on my Wicked Bucket List. Yet as I stared up at the silent stars that completed my list to make love underneath them at the same time as fulfilling Number One (making this an official bond), it was the only number that mattered.
The list was finished.
As Laurel’s hand circled the silky head of my prick, I was aflame.
It was too much.
It felt like the heat from the fire had jumped down my throat. My own magic was burning me up from the inside. The smoke was choking me.
I was the guy being burned to ashes on the bonfire.
I gasped, attempting to warn my bonded, but Laurel thought that I was simply caught up in the passion like her and tightened her hold. Her nail pressed into my sensitive slit. I arched, scrabbling my fingers through the gritty sand.
Then all at once...it stopped.
The world exploded to dark.
I fell backward but I didn't feel what I hit because there was...nothing.
Darkness and nothing.
I could hear shocked voices but I didn't even know who they belonged to.
Everything softened like maybe it hadn't mattered with the bright sharpness that I'd once believed it had.
What's wrong with him?
He's dying. Do something.
Shining Belenus, help us!
Please, Quince, you can't...you can't just leave us...
I wished that I'd had longer with these people who I loved. But I wasn't sad. I'd bonded. I'd even completed my Wicked Bucket List. I'd known that I'd been loved, as well as celebrating the Beltane for one final time.
I trusted my mates to save my tribe.
That was more than most younger sons could ever hope for.
All of a sudden, I had a sensation like I was fading and a white light blazed in front of me.
In the name of the forest, he's burning up...
Save him!
Fire seared through me. Yet it didn't hurt because weirdly, I knew that I was dead.
Then a moment later, my eyes snapped open, and light seared them again. This time, it did hurt.
I screamed, struggling like a new-born in the arms of the huge man who was cradling me and leaping out of the fire on his chariot.
Wait, his chariot...?
When the god, who gleamed in golden armor, smiled at me, it was shocking that such a fierce warrior could look soothing.
I was held in the arms of Belenus.
And I'd thought that dying would be the biggest thing to happen to me tonight.
The wind whipped the oceans to foam, and the earth shook and shifted. Rocks skittered from the cliffs.
The world was tearing itself apart.
Belenus pulled the reins on the chariot and his fire horses (which looked like they'd burst from the sun), reared above my mates. Their tear streaked faces stared at Belenus and me in amazement.
At last, the wind quietened, and the rumbling earth settled.
I spluttered, rubbing at my cheeks. Then I stared at my fingers; they were covered in ash. I was coated in it. Something else was different too.
What had changed?
"My son," Belenus said, tenderly.
He wiped away a smear of ash from my cheek.
Did Belenus call all fae his sons?
Frozen, I still forced myself to return his smile.
When your god snatched you from the jaws of death and took the time to cross the veils to appear to you, then the least you could do was be polite.
I didn't know why I felt so comfortable held by Belenus, but I didn't hate being in his arms.
One by one, my lovers pushed themselves to their feet. Radley and Felix exchanged glances as they unsheathed their scimitars. I'd never seen Laurel look so deadly, as she stepped up to the god, as if Belenus was merely a misbehaving student.
Laurel's eyes flashed. "Put Lord Spring down."
Well, that was how to stun a god.
Belenus glanced down at me in his arms and then back at the ring of paranormals around him. "Is that any way to talk to a god?"
Radley's grip tightened on his sword. "Oh, fair shining one, please put him down, before I scalp your golden hair from your beautiful head."
I don’t think that Radley entirely understood the memo on politeness.
The fire horses snorted, but he didn't move back. I shook at the thought that Radley would even take on a god for me.
"I don't believe that I've ever heard that threat before. Most bold." Belenus raised his eyebrow. "But I'm the Wild God and this is my night. Nothing you can do will harm me, so don't make me harm you."
Hurriedly, Beau stepped in front of Laurel, at the same time as snatching Radley's arm to hold him back. "Wild God, we thank you for gracing us with your presence. But we've just watched the fae who we love die and then reappear from the bonfire carried in your arms. So, excuse us for not being at our best."
"Even if you're a Court Fae," Belenus smiled, "for such an answer, I'll let you live."
Beau paled. "Most gracious."
Okay, that was enough. Even if this was my god, no one scared Beau.
"Good job on the...whatever just happened...but I'm not actually your kid, so if you wouldn't mind putting me down...?" I begged.
For once, I missed the Dictates. At least they'd have told me how to act when I met my god.
Belenus circled his thumb on my forehead like a blessing. "What happened is that you died...just for a moment…and then I brought you back. You’re better than new." Now I was even more creeped out. Yet I finally got what was different. I felt better than I ever had: stronger, more powerful, and fitter. My breath caught. The illness that’d plagued me all my life was gone. "And you are a kid, at least to me."
"Aye, because his noble behind is so young compared to your ancient one…?" Apollo ventured.
Belenus clicked at his horses, and they trotted forward. Then he lowered me into Radley's arms.
Instantly, I was surrounded in a cocoon of my lovers; their tears were wet against my cheeks. Laurel wiped the ash away from my lips and then kissed me like she'd forgotten my taste.
On my feather
s, she'd thought that she'd never kiss me again.
Belenus drummed his fingers against his chariot impatiently. "This was a onetime deal. Don't go calling for me and expecting me to save you. I only have so much patience even for my children."
There he went again.
When I peered up at Belenus, it struck me with sudden wonder that I was studying my god, but that he was studying me with equal interest. He looked almost like he was about to demand to see my report card.
Wow, I hoped that he didn't.
I wet my lips. "Now, when you say children...?"
Belenus tsked. "Do they teach fae nothing nowadays? Your mother prayed for fertility on the Beltane. She'd birthed your brothers before but couldn't conceive you, the last child. I granted it to her, but the magic that conceived you makes you mine. I can sense when someone will play an important role in your world."
"Fated," Laurel gasped.
I pushed back into the hold of my lovers like that would anchor me against everything that I'd believed being torn away from me. "My father...?"
"You're a demigod." Belenus’ golden eyes flared. "The Court Fae trapped you without the rituals and access to the ancient magics like the Beltane, which would've freed the fire inside you. It's what weakened you and stopped you from transforming or flying."
"Quince, you can fly with us at last!" Felix's eyes gleamed with tears.
I didn't dare meet his gaze in case mine would too, but my wings beat in desperation to test it out.
"A demigod?" Radley looked at me blankly. "That explains his attempts to pull rank."
Belenus’ expression gentled. "You needed to die, in order to become my true son."
All at once it was too much. Fury roared through me. My new power thrummed.
"And you couldn't have told me this, I don't know, when I was a kid?" I demanded. "How about before I suffered in agony or believed every day that I'd die?"
When Belenus' horses neighed, smoke flickered out.
Belenus tugged his chariot in a circle. "I appear when my sons prove themselves. How long has it been since you called out to me and meant it? When did you last trust yourself?"
Rebel: House of Fae: A Dark Fae Paranormal Romance Page 24
