I looked around. This wasn't like the other places I'd been. Those dark holes had been fathomless voids. Nothing could touch me there. No nightmares. No fantasies.No. This time it was different.I blinked a few times, tried to make sense of what I was seeing. As my surroundings came into focus, I could tell it wasn't dark at all. It was full of light. An odd blue-tinged white that was both comforting and energizing. Trickles of power soaked into my body as rivulets ran over my skin. I inhaled and the air smelled of hope and bright summer mornings. I lay in that comfort for moments on end. "You must be waking now, lass. No time to dally or dawdle," a husky feminine voice said. I opened my eyes again and looked around. Outlined in a silvery glow, a dark haired, fair skinned woman stood off to my right. Her even and pleasant features reminded me of my mother although they looked nothing alike. I sat up, felt whatever I was laying on dip and sway under my weight. I spread
"Then try it again, damn it." I was this close to beating Sidney senseless. The man was worse than useless. We all knelt around Stretch's limp body on the living room floor. She'd been out for almost an hour. Guide Extraordinaire was doing nothing to bring his daughter back. He was about to get chucked off our penthouse roof. He mumbled some more words under his breath. Laid his hands against Stretch's belly. Her limbs danced and twitched as the power shot through her. "Her face! It got that eyebrow thing," Tove shouted. "Do it again.""What eyebrow thing?" Tag asked as he got down in Stretch's face. "I didn't see anything happen.""That thing she does when she's annoyed or trying to ignore us. The eyebrow thing." He wiggled his own eyebrows. Tag and I looked at each other."I don't know what you're talking about," Tag said. He clenched his hands into fists as he pounded them into the floor. "Sweetcheeks, come back to me. You have to come back now. We told you we love
I winced as the burning and tugging in my belly raged to new levels. I looked down at my belly, sure I'd find blood or fire. There was nothing. Just the same smooth skin I always saw. "What was that?" I asked Ari. She didn't answer. I looked up. Gone were the mists and the summer air. I was standing in the living room. My spirit twitching deep inside me at the anguish that soaked the room.Looking over, I found my men. They knelt around an empty spot on the floor. Tove was curled in on himself. His head buried under his arms, his face obscured against the floor. He looked like he was barely breathing. Thane looked as if his heart had been shredded inside his chest. His expression was hollow and empty. Like someone had taken a giant spoon and scooped out his insides, and left only the dregs of his soul behind. And Tag-my Grumpy-was rocking himself. His hands gripped his hair, pulling at it. I couldn't be sure, but it sounded like he was talking to himself. Angry muttering
I woke with a start. Jackknifing straight up in bed, it took me a couple seconds to figure out where I was. Where she was. Right before my heart tripped over into triple time, I saw her. One of my brothers had covered her with a blanket, but she was still right beside me. Where I had left her. My brothers had left at some point during the night. I blew out a big breath as my body relaxed. When we had lost our mom and sister, it had been the worst day of my-our-life. Or so I'd thought. Finding out Hols had been kidnapped felt like that scar had been roasted in huge flames and then left to die a slow torturous death. Last night though...I'd never experienced that kind of pain. That level of loss. Not only had the joy been torn from my life, it left a hole that would only fill with hate, anger, and pain. For the brief moments that we had grieved her, our sweet girl, my life had stopped. My heart along with it. I lay back down as I pondered the new reality that Hollyn Elaine Pa
Tag and Thane pushed through the door to Tove's room, their faces heavy with lust. Both of them were sporting hard cocks that were trying to escape the confines of the shorts they were wearing. I felt butterflies take flight in my belly. "Ooo, do I get to explore all of you?" I rubbed my hands together in delight. "Soon, sweet girl. I've been listening to all the sexy moans from you two for the last hour. I need to be inside you." Tag's storm cloud eyes were diamond bright. "Now."My body went up in flames. I'd never been wanted like this. This instantly, this wholly. Nor had I ever wanted anyone like I wanted-needed-these men. It was a daily battle to remind myself that they wanted me. That they loved me. But I wouldn't abuse their trust in me by listening to the hard voices of my past more than I heard their words of love and acceptance. Tag pulled me off the bed. His grip tight but not bruising. He squeezed the flesh of my ass as he turned me towards the upright posts
"Where do you get this?" I soaked up some more of the dark, sugary, sticky liquid with a bite of pancakes. I'd never had syrup before, but I was pretty sure it had become one of my new favorite flavors. "The store, Stretch. Just like we get most things." Thane took another drink from his steaming cup. "Did anyone see where Sidney went?" I asked, my mouth full. "He was gone after Thane and I left Tove's room last night," Grumpy said. "Since I didn't hear him, I'm assuming he either magicked himself out of here, or one of the gods came and retrieved him."I nodded. Between the peanut butter, syrup, and pancakes, I felt like I could drink a gallon of milk. I settled for a large glass of the delicious cow juice. I'd been so happy to know that this world still had cows and milk. "So what are we doing today?" I asked after a few moments while everyone finished their meals. "I think we need to come up with some concrete plans for moving forward with the business, first off,"
I clenched my teeth to keep from yanking the light of my life out of her grandmother's arms. The whole idea that this woman who looked at the same age as my Sweetcheeks was her grandmother was throwing me for a loop. But with everything else that was going on in our lives at the moment, I had a feeling adaptability was going to be a precious attribute.Ari patted her hands over Sweetcheeks' back, her face serene as she held the sobbing younger woman. "My sweet child, you did not kill her. You would have been unable to do so. She gifted you her power as a last defense against the evil that lurks under the surface of Alder Valley. She sacrificed herself to keep you safe."I snorted. "Being raped on multiple occasions isn't really what I would consider safe."Ari's eyes fired until they looked like sapphires drenched in flames. "What?"Sweetcheeks shrank back, put a hand over my mouth. Shook her head as she looked up at me, pleading in her eyes. I nipped her fingers. When she p
I rolled out from under the bed, starshine ready and waiting in my hands. "Who the hell are you and how did you get in here?" I asked the woman. She had long blonde hair that looked like it would touch her butt if it weren't up in braids. Dozens of pieces of metal danced at her ears as she raised her hands and backed away. "Easy there, corcra. No need for weapons of mass destruction." Her gaze slid over my naked body. A glint appeared in her bright green eyes as a smile played at the corner of her mouth. "Then again, I might be willing to be destroyed if you're the one doing it."Tag finally made it out from under the bed, a glare on his face. "Who the fuck are you and how did you get in here?"I rolled my eyes. Like she was going to answer hi-"Ari called for me. I'm Drace." She stuck her hand out for him to shake. She gave him the same once over she'd given me. "Damn, is this where all the hot people live? If so, can I come stay here?" She looked between us, hope evident on