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
All the men growled and edged to their feet."No. I've got this," I said in all of their heads. "And what about the loves of my life, Hellion?" I asked softly. My voice a sharp contrast to the loudness of his. "Why does yours matter more than mine?""Because "I flung my magic at him. He stumbled back. Anger ate away the confused look that had taken over his face. "Be very careful with what you say next, Uncle," I sneered the last word. With a wave of his own magic, the warehouse was gone. We stood out in the open, sunlight beating down on us. "Do not think you can take me on, niece. You don't yet know how to use your magic. You are but an infant suckling at the nipple of the well I have available to me." He waved his hands in the air again, pulled magic to rest on his upturned palms.My family gathered around me, ranged themselves into the circles of Guardians and Mates that was repeated on my rune. "I suggest you think very carefully before you try to hurt the pe
"Why does fate hate me?" I mumbled to myself as I turned around to see a man I'd hoped had been blown up along with Juan. "What the fuck, mate?" Lukas called. "Surprised to see me, Lukas?" Aeron called as he showed up between two buildings off to our right. "Yeah. Hoped you were dead," I called. He tsked, tsked, tsked, me. "Now that's not very nice, you bitch. You're the one who undid Hellion's binding." He pointed to the side of his body. "This is all your fault." His left arm, torso, and leg were all charred skin and sinew that showed through the patchy skin he had left. "Um, I think being around Juan when he blew up was your fault, Aeron. It wasn't like we didn't tell you he had a bomb inside him," Taryk called. "But if she'd left me alone, I'd still be whole. I'd still be - " He cut his words off abruptly. Lukas started laughing. "Still be what, mate? Beautiful? Sexy? No matter what the outside looks like, you'd still be a poisonous person on the inside. Now th
"You doing okay?" I asked Kiema as we got the table cleaned up from dinner. She turned to me, smiled, nodded. "As well as can be expected, I guess. I'm still reeling from everything with Hellion. I think I'd come around to trusting him at some point over the last couple weeks. To have it all ripped out from underneath me like that?" She shook her head. "How am I supposed to deal with that?"My heart caught. She'd lived her life knowing exactly who her monsters were. What side of the line everyone stood on. Having the evidence shoved into your face that you didn't know where people stood...that could be life-altering. Damaging. "You realize that the people who truly know you and love you will never do that to you," I said. Grabbing her hand, I gave it a squeeze. She squeezed mine back. "Thanks, Scarlet. I'll stop whining here after a while. Just got to get it out."I giggle-snorted. "If this is you whining, would you mind giving lessons to Asher? He says he doesn't whine, b