The self-declared prince was looking at me with wide, shocked eyes. "I'm guessing Princey Pants here doesn't get talked to that way very often, Atty," Asher said with a chuckle down the mental link. "Obviously not," Saint said. Prince Alok turned, completely disregarding us men, and talked to the empty area of the roof. "Goddess, we have been waiting for the portals to open for almost one hundred years. Why have you kept them shut to us? Have we offended you in some way?" His shimmering cheeks were burnt with red as his tricolored eyes glinted in the early afternoon sun. "You might as well unmask yourself, Kiema and Scarlet. We know you're not behind us...where you're supposed to be," Taryk said out loud, his voice clipped and harsh. I smiled again, glad neither of these two troublemakers were my mates. Thank Gaia for small favors. Kiema and Scarlet popped into view. The men and women standing behind the prince all dropped to a knee, their heads bowed, clenched fis
"Awesome. Super glad to know that simply by existing, I'm now a wanted woman." I pulled from Kord's arms. It felt like someone had told me I needed to go back to Feuer Tower and willingly submit myself to slavery again. Here was another group of freaking people who needed me. I didn't know them from the Joneses, but they were bound and determined to make their mess mine. For some unknown reason, everyone wanted to party with Kiema Freaking Feuer. "Then you'll help us," Alok said, a smile of relief banishing the stress that had pinched his features. "I said nothing of the sort. Why should I help you? Were you here when Juan and Ferria were slowly trying to kill me? When the guys needed days without pain? When Scarlet was homeless? No. You don't get to roll up on us like this, drop your pile of shit at our feet, and expect us to clean it up for you. You are all free to leave," I said. I waved a hand in the air and began pushing through my men. "But Goddess!"I swallowed the
"And you would be?" I asked, stepping forward. I raised my hand in welcome to this man. At least Ten nor I wanted to beat the shit out of this one. The other one...he should be glad Kiema had slapped him back. I'd have just slapped him off the roof. "You can call me Oliver," he said as he reached out and shook my hand. "I am pleased that my sister has such strong men in her corner. Ones that do not squelch her spirit, but stand by in case she needs their strength. You honor her with your control, even as it causes you grief."I chuckled. "Either that or I never get to have sex with her again. I have to weigh the battles I'm willing to engage in. Oliver, nice to meet you. I'm Saint."Kiema elbowed me in the belly. The rest of the guys introduced themselves. I looked at the group of Wardens standing back as Oliver was greeted like an old friend or family.Alok, especially, looked like he was about to throw a temper tantrum. His arms were crossed over his chest, his foot tappi
"Explain. Now," Kiema said as she stood over me. She crossed her arms, glared down at me as I sat on the couch. I haven't felt this taken to task since I was in my teens. She was tiny compared to us, but damn, was she scary. "Just like I said on the roof. I have to let you in through my magical...booby traps, for lack of a better word.""Why do you need healing?" Ransom asked as he sat on the end of the couch in Saint's home. I still wasn't sure why we always came back to this floor when Ransom had a floor of his own. Judging by the glare on my mate's face, I don't think I would be getting an answer to that question today. "I don't. Not actual physical healing. My magic is..." I trailed off, trying to find the best analogy for what was wrong with me. I selected and rapidly discarded a ton of options. None of them were completely right, while some weren't completely wrong.Kiema growled. "Shattered is going to be the closest term. But even that's not really correct," I said
I walked into Kord's spiritual plane. It was stark and beautiful. I also wasn't surprised that it looked like a gothic library. "Hello?"A low shushing sound came back to me from somewhere. "Keep your voice down, woman."I smiled as I recognized a younger version of Kord's voice. I walked up the main aisle until I came to an open circle that held a desk big enough to sit at least fifty people around its edges. A young man, probably in his mid-teens, was sitting at the desk, his nose buried in a book. "Do you have your library card?" he asked without looking up. I chuckled. "No, Kord. I don't have a library card. Are you going to show me where your magic is?"The young man looked up, his black-framed glasses slipping down his nose. He pushed them back up, licked his lips. "How did you get here?" He edged to the side, looked behind me. "Your older self let me in. I'm here to fix your magic."His icy blue eyes widened. "You're her, aren't you?""I don't know, but pro
"So what're everyone's names?" I asked as we pulled another mattress from Scarlet's old hideout. Most of them were still in the plastic wrappers. I wouldn't have minded if Alok's hadn't been. The female closest to me grabbed the seams of the mattress and chucked it through the air to the next person down the line. She made it look like she was throwing a piece of bread across the table, it looked so effortless. "I'm Araxalim.""Nice to meet you, Araxalim. I'm Taryk." I scooted another mattress down the line.She bowed her head low. "That is my sister, Ninleyn." She pointed with her delicate chin at the woman who was catching the mattresses."You look nothing alike. Are you close in age?" Scarlet asked from the sidelines. Even the single mattresses were bigger than my mate. Araxalim shook her head, a smile tugged at her mouth. "We are Warden sisters. Not sisters of the blood.""Oh. I got you. These boys all consider themselves brothers when really only Asher and Xander are
I pulled my invisibility around me like a blanket and darted to the side. The man's purple, gold, and brown eyes glinted as he tracked my movements. "We can still see you, Princess."On instinct, I reached down into the pool of magic that I'd gained from Kiema, I pulled the shadows tighter around myself. The Warden's face went blank.I moved to the side. He didn't follow my movements. These idiots thought to take me by force after Kiema gave them that whole spiel about them not earning our trust or even respect? Seems they needed a bigger example to drive the point home. I threw the shadows around my men, wrapping them up tighter than a virgin. The room around us erupted into chaos. I really wished I had the ability to speak into their minds the way they did. Even Kiema's one-way telepathy would be good enough right now. I moved around the frantic Wardens, making sure to keep out of the way of their incredibly long legs and arms. Two of the females pulled bows and ar
"And you let her go on her fucking own?!" I yelled at Taryk through the implant. "I won't be a jailer for her, Ash. Neither will you. I trust her. Get your head out of your pants and on straight, and you'll be able to see that she's a better covert operative than any of us could ever hope to be. She trained on the streets for twenty-two years. She'll be fine.""Reminding me about the sheer shittiness of her life is not helping your case right now, T," I said as he pushed me into the room we'd helped Cherry clear out not even a week ago."And your bullheadedness is proving mine. Look at her, Asher. Really see her. Not the version of her you carry in your head in the spot you've named mate.' See her. Otherwise, you're going to lose her." Taryk got up in my face, his expression more serious than anything I'd ever seen cross it before. I felt the deepest parts of my heart clench at the idea of her out there alone while we idiots cowered and crouched in her old hole. But the clea