I wrinkled my nose, coughed around the burn in my throat. "What is this? Fire water?" I clunked the glass back down on the slightly sticky table. I shook my head. "How the heck do people drink this? Why do they drink it?"Drace rocked to my side. She'd downed at least three of the little glasses full of pale amber liquid before I'd even taken my seat fully. "Cuz they like the effects, not the taste, corcra." Her shoulder bumped into mine as her fiery breath grazed my cheek. Ari smiled as she sipped from a bigger glass. The beautiful crimson liquid in it was a little mesmerizing as it dipped and flowed under the low lights in the bar. "Drace, why do you allow Finn to get under your skin?"Drace jerked upright as she tossed back another tiny drink. She narrowed her eyes at my grandmother. "Under my skin? The bastard owns my heart, don't think he doesn't.""He's your mate?" I asked. She shook her head. "No. He's promised to another, the fecking reptile. But I'll not be the tal
I glared at the clock again. How? How has it only been two hours? It felt like a full freaking year has gone by with Hols gone. Finn slapped the back of my head. "Focus." I glared at him. "On your dragon, not your mate," he said drolly. I flipped him off. "Easy for you to fucking say."He snorted. "You've no idea what you're talking about, boyo, so best be careful of the next words from your mouth."My eyebrows winged up. "What does that mean?"He shook his blonde head, sighed. Scrubbed a hand down his face. "It doesn't matter. Not unless your girl is a miracle worker." His head tipped to the side. "Or Ari. I guess if anyone could talk sense into her, it would be Ari." He shook his head. "Doesn't matter. What matters right now is getting familiar enough with your dragon that you can protect your mate and our Star Mistress. So get your head out of her -"I glared at him. He smirked. "Pants, you perv. And focus on your training."The floor trembled under our feet
I forced the last bite of the steak between my lips. I figured my stomach could make room for it somewhere, because I certainly wasn't leaving it on the plate. I moaned as the perfectly seared and seasoned beef's flavor exploded on my tongue. "Mm, so good," I sighed as my eyelids fluttered closed again. It was like I'd never eaten anything this delicious in my life. I hadn't. That was the problem. I was going to make the guys buy me steak everyday if it tasted this good. I opened my eyes as I swallowed. Ari and Drace were just as lost in their own meals. I'm pretty sure Ari was swaying side to side slightly as her face showed her glorious rapture. Apparently, garlic parmesan chicken breasts were just as tasty as my steak had been. Drace forked up the last bit of her baked potato. Something else I'd never had before. We'd eaten potatoes in the Village, but they were either sliced up and fried in a vat of animal fat or boiled. I was not a fan of boiled potatoes. But these. Th
I felt my dragon pushing at my skin. Only the fact that we were out in public kept me from losing control and shifting. Cheeks, answer me, I demanded.Silence. Cold, brain-numbing silence was my answer. We bolted around the last corner as the light show ended. How thousands of people weren't standing around with their cell phones pointed at the alley, I didn't know. And right now, I didn't really care. I screeched to a halt. Cheeks wasn't there. Ari and Drace were holding each other up, tears running down their faces as wrenching loss infused the air like a full face of pepper spray. I reached out for her with my mind. Cheeks. Answer me, dammit.I waited for what felt like ten years. Stillness, an open void where her voice should have been. Soul rending stillness. "What happened? Where the hell is Hollyn?" Tove asked, his voice hard and piercing. Ari and Drace jolted. Turned towards us. That these two independently powerful women were essentially quaking had my drago
Agony ate at my brain. As if every single nerve in my body was singed, my body couldn't figure out which pain to listen to first. Even my eyelashes hurt. How do eyelashes hurt?Oh. Right. Get sucked through a magical vacuum thingy attached to a human stain and pulled through dimensional rifts. Or whatever the heck had happened. A familiar sigh sounded. "Hollyn, I know you're awake. Stop moaning and groaning," Lucinda, head bitch priestess said. I shuddered. Felt my soul crumple inside me. I was back. In the middle of my nightmare that never allowed escape. The Village. Easing my eyes open, I saw that I was back within the four walls that had been my physical cage for so many years. The only place in the room long enough for me to stretch out fully was laying at a diagonal from corner to corner. No windows. But the leaky roof did provide some measure of light and breeze. And rain when the gods blessed us with it. My grandmother's voice rang through my mind again. Do not li
Tove and I slid off Finn's back moments before he shifted back into a human. His long body was soon covered in combat black from head to toe. The fact that he and Drace had the ability to magic themselves clothes still blew my mind. If we could figure out how to do that, then we'd be able to take Stretch on rides all the time and not have to worry about being buck ass naked when we landed. They'd said it was fairly easy to master, it just took time and concentration. Since we were hooked to a Star Mistress, then it should be even easier. We just needed to take time to practice.Tagan pushed up behind me, low snarls pushing from his chest with every exhale. We didn't have time. Right now, we were focused on more than magical clothing or mastering our inherent magic. We needed to get Stretch back. Before we lost Tag as well as our mate. Tove clapped a hand to Tag's shoulder. "She's still here. We'll get what we need, man."Tag nodded, his eyes pinched at the corners, his lip
Clapping my hands over my ears, I shuffled backwards from the barrier. Glaring at the sky for no particular reason, I tried to think over the shrill shrieking of the magical alarm. I pictured Thane's handsome face. His fiery orange eyes. His full lips. As I pictured him, his brothers came to mind as well. For others, only their expressions and eye color separated them. But I knew each of them by scent. By touch. By taste. My mind cleared and I saw that bright constellation in my mind. Our constellation. The grouping of stars that drifted across the sky of my mind no matter the time of day. I backed up a couple more steps. The alarm cut off mid shriek. I sighed at the blessed silence. If Merlin, Ari, and the rest of everyone else thought I was strong enough to harness the energy of the sun, then there must be something to the idea. Hell, even Merlin had said I could escape from here. That Patrick wouldn't be able to hold me. If there was even a smidgen of truth to that, then
We rushed down the stairs. Twice now, I'd almost taken a header and splattered myself on the steps. My brain was spinning with all the tight turns as my belly threatened to exit my body through my mouth. "What's happened?" I asked again. Maybe if I stayed focused on something other than my churning stomach, I could make it to the bottom of the stairwell in one piece."Drace texted that dragons were arriving en masse," Thane replied as he jumped the last few steps to the next landing. My brow wrinkled. "Why? What's up their butts that we don't know about?"Thane didn't answer, just vaulted down another landing. I looked up at Harry. "What do you think is happening?"He smiled as he jumped from stair to stair like a kid jumping in rain puddles. He shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm certainly keen to find out." He hopped down three steps at a time. His smile of joy was huge as he looked up at me. "Jumping is much more fun. You should try it." He began hopping like a fucking k