"Where to now, Ten?" I asked. "Right up this way, Learned One. We are about to pass through the ancient gates." Ten walked under a crumbling archway. Lukas pushed up from behind me. "What the fuck is this place?"I shrugged. "I've no idea. But this is where Ten and Nix said to come. I'm assuming her contact will know us when he or she sees us. She gave Ten some kind of token to identify us with.""Mmhmm," Lukas murmured. The ancient gates opened onto a manicured lawn full of statues. There were ones that scarcely reached my knees and ones that towered over Ten's dragon form. Rows upon rows, column upon column, statues stood sentry over a hushed meadow that spoke to someplace deep inside me. Just beyond the gathering of statues was a valley of verdant green. It reminded me of a familiar dreamscape from my childhood. The statues were never present, but the gently rolling hill and valley were hard to forget. In the spring, it was covered in vibrant wildflowers. In the fall
Someone was trying to pull me away from Ransom. I edged my body closer to his still form. Another tug on my arm had me baring my teeth as I opened my swollen, heavy eyelids. "Back the fuck up or get fucked up. Your choice," I snarled. "Kiema, they've made it back. My friend needs you to move. You've done your job beautifully. Let someone else help Ransom while you continue to rest," Nix said in a soft voice as she helped Kord pull me back from Ransom's prone form. I shook my head, focused my gaze. My mate was no longer blue, but he also hadn't woken up once since I started working on him. A commotion from the other side of the giant ballroom had me rubbing my eyes and squinting in confusion. "You're friends with a mountain?" I asked Nix. The Mountain's lips quirked. "You flatter me, belle. No, I am Mason Roche. Sacred Protector of Nix, Daughter of Anda, Goddess of Spirit." He tipped his head to the side as he bent to his knees beside Ransom's body. The corners of h
I bit my lip to keep from laughing at the small woman who was now my Kona, the one I offered my life as protection for. I could feel the strength in her spirit. The indomitable steel that pervaded her entire being. Her smile and attitude reminded me of Sebastian, my Prime. The one who'd given me a piece of his soul and brought me to literal life. The ache of his loss, even though it was almost too long ago to count now, still darkened my heart. Drenched my soul in pain. The men who had escorted me from Heilgat Samkoma had given me the very basic information of time and place. There was still much to discover about this new world I found myself in. Kiema, and what a beautiful name she carried, wiped the back of her hand over her mouth. Her cheeks pink, her solemn gray eyes downcast, she said, "Welcome to the club. We're all a little crazy here."The laugh started in my belly as a faint twitch. Soon, my whole body shook and trembled as my throat loosed it to the ceiling. And j
My rune was itching. It felt like I had bugs crawling under my skin. I rubbed at it. Again. When was my life going to settle down? Right now, I'd be down for boring, staid even. The room we entered was the one my guys and I had been sharing before the doomed ball. But now that everyone was going to be staying in here, it had been changed again. Several beds lined the edges of the room while the biggest table I'd ever seen dominated the middle of the space. Twelve chairs surrounded the table that was already groaning under the weight of a feast. I smiled as we all took our seats. As I looked around, I noticed that, except for Nix and Mason, we'd chosen our spots that we had in Asher's kitchen area. One big happy family. Conversation and laughter floated in and through the dinner. As if by some unspoken cue, no one talked about anything more serious than Faery's weather - gorgeous, or the clothes - bordering on ridiculous.After we'd stuffed our faces, we all sat back in our c
My Kona's mouth dropped wide as she spluttered at my comment. I hid my smile. She was easily riled, this female. I didn't want to hurt her feelings by laughing in her face. "But he's my uncle, too. Does that mean we are cousins?" she asked. She locked her expression away, her light gray eyes both guarded and softer than I had thought her capable of achieving."I carry the last vestiges of Bestia's Prime power in my body. If through no other means, that would make us family - in a way." I nodded. She tried to smile as her eyes filled with tears. "Good." She dashed her fingers under her eyes. "Good. That makes me happy.""And since Prime powers are gold, I would assume that you are carrying pieces of Hellion's power. If you can successfully integrate them into your magical well, you, too, would be a Prime," I explained. The tears vanished as if she'd been traversing a desert. "What?"I repeated myself. "B-bu-but I don't want to be a Prime. Why would Hellion give me powe
I closed my mouth with a soft click. Shook my head. "No. There's no way. Sebasti - " I shook my head again. "I cannot help you make sense of it if I don't get the rest of your meaning, mon amie," Mason said. "My great-grandfather's name was Sebastian. I never knew his wife's name. My grandfather's name was Silvere. He married Del - ""-phine." Mason's head tipped to the side as he stared at me. "But this does not make sense. You are in your younger years."I bristled. "I'm thirty-two." Instantly felt my cheeks heat as I imagined what that sounded like to a guy who had just admitted to sleeping for the last two hundred odd years.Mason nodded. "I did not mean to offend. What of your father? Your mother? Are they still alive?"I swallowed the ache talking about them usually brought me. "My father was Aleksandr and my mother was Lena. They were both killed in a car accident when I was younger.""Mes condoléances," Mason said as he laid a hand over his heart, dipped his hea
Two days laterAzica"We've got until tomorrow to get enough of these warehouses up and running for the Faeries, the Horde, the humans, and anyone else who wants to bunk with us. What can we do to make that happen?" I asked Saint as we walked back into the warehouse that I considered our home. He laughed as he picked me up and twirled me around. "You're the one practically overflowing with power. What do you say to giving your first couple lessons a real-life test?"I gulped. "S-sure. But let's use one of the ones down the street. That way if it implodes, it won't hurt our house."He laughed, right in my face, and set me down with a kiss on my nose. "I'll get the others." He ran from the room. "Great. Because I love an audience to my failures," I yelled after him. **We all met at the old mattress warehouse that Scarlet used to live in. Standing across the street - the safest distance I could get any of them to stand while I tried my hand at magicking a new building
"Finally, a meeting I know about in advance," I said as I rushed to my level. I was getting my notepad, my tablet, and a collection of pens. "You're cute when you're extra nerdy," Lukas said as he jogged beside me.I shot him a smile. "Just imagine what I know about your body and anatomy." I chuckled as he jerked to a stop, his blue eyes going dark and sexy. "There are advantages to being nerdy."I grabbed up what I needed, walked by him, pressed my mouth to his. I pulled away right as he began to respond. I bit his lower lip. "Come on. We've got a meeting to attend."He growled low. "I would say I'm going to get you back for that, but you wrap me up in knots too easily. So I'll just go along for the ride."I smiled as I flicked the light switch by the door. "Atlas," he said, his voice serious.I turned back to him. "Yeah?""About Mason..." he trailed off. His face pinched as he dropped his eyes.I walked back over to him. Took his face in my hands, raised it so I c