"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
"What the fuck was that, T?" Xander said as soon as I closed the door behind me. He was up in my face, fists clenched by his sides. "Do it," I begged him. "Please. Do it." I could feel the hard burn of denied tears in my eyes. I wouldn't give myself the luxury of letting them fall. I'd hurt her. My mate. The one I'd promised to cherish, love, and protect. Xander's face lost its edge and he backed up, flexed his fingers, shook his head over and over. "What happened?" Saint asked.I shook my head. "I don't know. I've figured out how to run Smoke's magic over Scarlet's skin. She loves it. But this time, something else happened. I swear to Gaia my cock grew inside her and developed spines, like a real fucking cat.""Did they hurt her?" Asher asked, his teeth clenched. "In real cats they can hurt the female, but she also likes it. It starts ovulation. I don't know what it means that I've now got a cock with spines on it. We haven't talked about babies outside of the initial
"Kiema, how did you know that it was Smoke talking to you and not Taryk?" I asked as we watched the camera footage of Scarlet's memories again. Scarlet had gone off with the twins to do some hugging and holding. I couldn't blame any of them. "Smoke was talking to me in my head. Not really full thoughts like they would have been with Taryk, but more just grunts with cue words.""And that's not Taryk how?" Lukas asked with a smile. Taryk laughed, flipped him off. Kiema smiled. "I don't know. I just knew it wasn't actually Taryk talking to me.""Do you think he, being Smoke in this instance, knew what you wanted?"Kiema nodded. "Yeah. He knew he was hurting Scarlet and he was sorry, but he didn't know how to stop moving." She grimaced. I turned to Taryk. "Did you feel like you were in a battle with Smoke? Like wrestling for control?"He tipped his head to the side. Ran a hand over his bald pate. "Kinda. It was like he jumped to the front, like when I call him to cha
I shook my head. "No. No. That's not possible." I shook my head again. "No. Not possible."Heppni smiled at me. Nodded. "But it is. I know that Prime children age similarly to human children when one parent is human, but their bodies stop aging at a certain point. And since you've collected more power along the way, I doubt you'll age ever again.""No, I remember my life from about five and up. That was twenty-three years ago." A thought niggled my mind. "Well, almost twenty-four. But nowhere near one hundred years ago.""You are of me, Kiema. When I was inside you, I felt my power. There is no other explanation," she said."I'd like an explanation on how you think she was either held in cryostasis for over seventy-five years or some other form of hibernation," Dr. Atlas said. His voice was hard, his bright green gaze even harder. "Her father was a brilliant doctor. And he was working with magick users back on Earth.""I'm not even Azican?" I said. I felt like throwing up
I was getting very frustrated. It was almost mid-morning and no one was yet up and around. How could these people be so lazy that they didn't start their days until the noon sun had already crested the sky?"Idiots infantile," I muttered again as I searched through the cool box that held the food. Or was supposed to hold the food. Taryk had told me last night before I went to my stone form that the fridge' was next to the conference room and to help myself. Except for a wash of cold air, there was nothing to be had. Unless he thought I ate coated metal and glass for meals. Except for the brief burst of magic from one of the Directs, the night had been peaceful. I had run the Direct off and nothing else had bothered my new domicile. I'd forgotten how exciting it was to keep watch. To know I guarded the inhabitants with nothing but my magic, my wits, and my cunning. And just my luck, these inhabitants were bâtards paresseux. While we were in Faery, they had seemed noble and h