"As much as I love that idea, Ki-Ki, I would like to give you a hug." Asher walked over, picked me up in his arms, squeezed me tight. Setting me back on my feet, he stepped back. "And get some fucking sleep. Between training today and getting magic sucked out of my body, I'm pooped. I don't even want to think about how Xan and Cherrypie are feeling." He shook his head. I stopped him as he tried to move past me. "Why would Xander and Scarlet be feeling any crappier than usual?" I turned back to the two in question. Xander did look like he'd been on a bender for at least a week. His dark brown eyes were sunken. The bags under his eyes looked like he was hosting a sleepover in them. The laugh lines around his mouth made him look haggard instead of happy. Scarlet was faring a little better, but I could still see that she'd been zapped by what happened. Her white hair, usually so shiny and white, looked more dull and gray than anything else. Her bottle green eyes were muddy and tir
"What the fuck are we going to do?" I asked once Kiema had finally cried herself to sleep. "This is literally killing her."Saint and Kord looked ready to battle demons barehanded. Saint shook his head. "I don't know. But I can't handle her getting caught in the middle of all of this. This is tearing her apart.""I know I haven't known any of you for very long," Kord began. "But if what Hellion says is true - "Saint snarled, cutting off our fourth. "I've heard the legends of the Reckoning. His story, in this particular part, lines up with what I already knew. I think we can actually trust him on this part. Even if nothing else he says can be taken as fact." He pushed his glasses up his nose, looked between both of us. I nodded for him to continue. "If what Hellion says is true about drawing first blood, then I think we need to act as quickly as possible. Who knows when the Reckoning actually begins? Did they draw first blood by pulling Kiema to the spirit realm and g
The next dayNow that the time had come to implement my plan, I was terrified. Of my mate. She was going to go batshit crazy. Oh well. She'd do the same exact thing if she'd thought of it first. I nodded to Ransom. He leaned over, kissed Kiema awake. "Ransom?" she asked, her voice sleepy and relaxed. "Yeah, angel. It's your favorite mate." He shot me a grin as Kiema snickered.I rolled my eyes. "That's what I tell all of you," she said. I pumped my fist into the air. Suck on that, Ransom.He flipped me off behind her back. "I need you to wake up, angel. We've got a plan we want to run by you."She popped up as if she was spring-loaded. "Hit me."Saint laughed, gave her a mug of coffee. "We're still not hitting you, but we'll tell you the plan anyway."She nodded, took her first timid sip. "We're going to send out the word that we're ready to dance, metaphorically. Once Heppni gets word, you're going to dash in, bitchslap your mother back to the
I heard the thought race through Kord's mind. I wanted to smile, but I also didn't want to ruin his fun. This would be between me and the Directs. Me and my mother. No one else. Although it was nice of my family to bring them here. While they'd been hatching their plans last night, so had I. But I'd done mine on the spirit plane. My body safe in my mates' care, I'd gone to my spirit landscape and thought and plotted for hours. Something Hellion had made a point to say the night before kept gnawing at my brain. How did my power work?As I sat in my familiar spirit landscape, I sifted through the layers and layers of my power. The parts and pieces I'd had with me since childhood. The webs and sheets of power I'd absorbed. I found what I was looking for in the motes and particles Anda had given me. I followed the line of those delicate fibers to their ends. Oliver and his group of Directs had been waiting for me. Last night, the smile on my face could have lit the worlds
I forced Kiema behind me as Atlas fell to his knees. A look of pure rage covered his features. I parried the blow that Heppni shot, letting my sword absorb the magic. I shot her a fierce smile as her howl of rage rent the air. "Back to back, just like we've been training," Taryk said. His back bumped into mine as the twins took up their positions on either side of us to form a weapon-wielding cross. The boys had guns that Kord had managed to fill with magic powder. I had my sword.We slayed a swath through the Directs who had allied with Heppni. The head woman herself was staying near the back, biding her time. A true coward.The goddess who had taunted Kiema lay directly in my path. "Lock arms, we're going invisible," I said to my men through the mental link Kiema had set up. "We're going to destroy this bitch.""Get down wit' cha bad self, Cherrypie," Asher called. "Just make sure you leave some for us. We're the men you know."I chuckled as I drew my invisibility power ov
"Atlas," I fired into the belly of the Direct trying to kill my partner. "Get up. What's wrong?" I asked him mentally."He's here. I thought he was dead. He was supposed to be dead," Atlas said. His words were mere rumbles of tones, even in my head. He got to his feet, his body bent like he was about to go wolf. "Not now, Atlas. We have to help Kiema," I warned him. He looked back at me. His bright green eyes were soaked in pain. He shifted his gaze to something over my shoulder. "Atlas, watch out!" I tried to get to him in time.I would forever see my failure in my dreams. A huge boulder, roughly the size of a truck, flattened the man who'd snuck up behind the man I loved. A knife dropped to the pavement. The noise of the street so loud, I didn't even hear it. I looked up into the sky. Mason was there. Half stone, half man. His wings beat quickly as he dashed to another section of the fighting down the street. Atlas turned to me. He raised his gun, pointed it
Ten ripped through my body as we launched into the air. "We have to save her. Find Heppni. Let's roast that bitch," I yelled. "Way ahead of you, brother," he said as we arrowed down at the woman who had caused our mate so much trouble. A stream of fire poured from our mouths as we got close enough to see the whites of her eyes. Our Pink Kiss melted her skin in an instant. Too bad the next instant it regrew. With a wink and a laugh, she threw a bolt of magic at us. It clipped our right wing, toppling us from the air. We changed back to our human form as the ground rushed up at us. A heavy jolt shook our bodies as we were caught up in stone arms. "This is not the day to die, mes amie. Fight. Take down as many as you can," Mason said as he lowered us to the ground. Queen Arasne hurried over, a plume of purple magic in her hand. "I cannot heal you as your Mate does, but I can offer you numbness and clotting. Do you wish it?" she asked, her amethyst eyes wide.
I lifted my gun, fired off another round. The humans were falling so much faster than the Directs. But there were so many more humans than anything else out here. Nix slashed her sword over another throat, inhaled the motes that sprang into the air from it. She stepped forward, using the dissolving body of her enemy as a jump point to decapitate another Direct. Lady had some fucking moves."Ransom, behind you," Scarlet shouted in my head. I whirled around, blocked a sword with my bare forearm. Shifting the pain aside, I lifted my other hand and fired point-blank into the Direct's face. The magic from Kord's bullets was working wonders. I grabbed the sword as it started to fall to the ground. My bokken skills weren't top drawer, but it was better than trying to defend with my hands. I took a few testing swings and turned back to figure out where Nix went. She was busy slicing through another Direct. Someone grabbed me from behind, his arm around my throat. With a pinch
Three months later"And I'm telling you right now, dad, that if you want to ever see these babies, you'll stop sending my mates to the Underworld for a cooling off' period. That shit is getting old," I said as I waddled into the hospital built for gods and demi-gods. He chuckled beside me. "But, bubbles, they deserved it. Crowing like they built Olympus bare handed. They were getting on your Circle's nerves. I could tell." He said as he lifted me into the bed. "Bring them back, dad. Now." I glared at him. Even though, on the inside, I was smiling like a loon. This was the type of relationship I'd always dreamed of having with a father. He sighed, a smirk still pulling at his mouth. With a snap, my three mates stumbled into the room."Damn it, Apollo," Saint said as he flicked his shirt. "Cerberus almost got me that time."My dad's head tipped back as he laughed and laughed. The babies inside me loved that sound. They kicked at my belly. I rubbed at the spot. "Easy
Six months later"Last time, I'll ask. I swear." Kiema swallowed heavily as she moved around behind me. "You promise you're okay not getting your deer back?" Kiema asked me as flicked the fabric of my dress this way and that to get it to lay perfectly.I waited until she looked up at me. That look of slight hesitation on her face tugged at my heart. "I promise. I was never meant to be a deer. A shifter of any kind."She nodded, sniffled quietly. "You ready for the rest of this then?" Kiema asked me as she adjusted the crown of flowers in my hair. "So much more than ready. I've been waiting for this my entire life." I bit back the tears that wanted to flood my throat. Not today. I wouldn't ruin this day with tears.She smiled as she stepped back. "You look beautiful, little sister." Tears gathered in her eyes. I held up a hand, looked at the ceiling. "Don't do that. I told you I wasn't crying today. You start crying, then I'll start crying. Then we'll have to postpone e
The next night"Wake up, Saint," I said softly in our shared consciousness. I could barely contain myself. I had felt the swell of magic. Had felt it when it took root."Saint," I said again. The man slept like a rock at the bottom of a spring. "Mgmgs," he mumbled.Forcing our arm to move, I slapped our face. He shot up, his teeth bared. "Who's there?" he called out. "It's me, you buffoon," I said.Our head cocked to the side. "Ten? Why are you waking me up? Can't whatever it is wait until morning?" He snuggled back down into the comfortable bed in our new home. "No." I shook our head so he would fully wake up. "Wake up!"He sat up, pulling the blankets with him. "I'm awake. What can't wait until the morning, Ten?""Kiema is pregnant.""WHAT THE FUCK!?"I snickered as everyone in the room burst from the bed, fists and knives raised in defense. "What is it?" Ransom's head turned back and forth quickly, visually sweeping the room. With a grunt at its emp
Two weeks later"Are we finally going to try this? We've been prepping for what feels like forever." I licked my way up Saint's neck. He shivered as his fingers curled into the flesh of my ass. "Maybe we should wait one more day. I don't want to hurt you."I rolled my eyes under the cover of my closed lids. This man. So dominant. So caring. So sure I wasn't ready to take one of them in my ass. I guess I'll just have to show him that I was more than ready.I slid down his body. A wave of magic and all of us were naked as the day we were born. As I sucked his cock into my mouth, Kord came up behind me.Curling around my back, he pinched my nipples with one hand. With his other, he slid a hand down my belly and straight over my clit. With a sharp movement, his fingers were deep inside me. I groaned around Saint's dick as waves of pleasure washed over me. Sprinkled with the counterpoints of pain from Kord getting my nipples ready for the clover clamps. I felt my core cream at
The next day"Torture and then straight back to bed. I don't care that your father is the god of healing. This is ridiculous, Kiema," Atlas said as we stood in the elevator on our way to the basement level."Don't get trapped in the dungeons," Apollo had said as he laid his palm against the electronic plate on the wall of the elevator.Right. Dungeons in a god hospital. Gods were freaking weird.I patted his cheek. "I've got my main medical provider right next to me. I'll be fine. Besides I feel like a million bucks."He huffed a laugh as Mason and Lukas came up beside him. I wiggled my eyebrows at Atlas, looked over his shoulder, back to his face.He chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Yes, little sister. We've decided to try being a thruple."I wrinkled my nose. "What kind of word is thruple?""A three-person couple, luv," Lukas answered. I snorted. "And you guys won't let me make up words? That's a heaping load of Berserker shit right there."We were all laughi
I pushed the other two through the doors. I wasn't waiting another minute to see my girl. I'd felt her die. Felt my spirit try to follow her down that long tunnel. My heart had stopped beating when I saw Heppni literally rip her heart from her chest and crush it. But here we were. Alive. Healing. She was pale against the bright white sheets of the hospital bed. Although it was unlike any hospital I'd ever been in. Apollo said something about it being a place for gods and goddesses. I shook my head. It didn't matter to me what it was as long as it made her better. She looked over as we rushed in. Her eyes searched each one of us before returning to me. Tears flooded her eyes as I pulled her into my arms. We all sat on the bed, curled and huddled together while she got it all out. The guys and I had had some truly brutal boxing matches to deal with our own emotions. I was still achy and sore from a couple of well-placed hits from Kord. The man might be a nerdy librarian, b
My chest hurt. I tried to rub it, but my arms were restrained. "Easy there, bubbles. You'll pull your stitches if you do that," a man said. His voice was soft and melodious. Like listening to angels sing. Angels. Something about that word tickled my brain.Angel. Almost. Almost.Ransom. As soon as I thought his name, his face popped into my brain. I tried to sit up. Made it a couple inches before I was pushed back to the bed beneath me. I opened my eyes. Ignoring the stabbing pain that slid into my eyeballs, I blinked to clear my vision. A bright white room greeted me. The only color in it was the man who had a hand against my chest. I looked down at his hand. Looked up at his face. Raised an eyebrow. "Get the fuck off, perv. My mates will rip you to shreds."He huffed a laugh and removed his hand. "I doubt your mates will be doing much more than breathing for a couple more hours, but I'm glad to see that you're back, bubbles. Have a nice nap?" I leaned ba
Everyone Hellion had made me vow to keep alive fell to the ground as if they were puppets and their strings had been cut. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I hurried to the closest one's side. Pushed two fingers to his neck. Gone. I was so fucking dead. I blasted an oncoming human with a burst of magic. He withered where he stood. I sank to my knees next to the small woman with bright white hair. She was gone as well. The woman with the long brown hair threw her blade into an approaching Direct. It sliced through him like he was air. With wild eyes, she didn't even try to gather the particles of his passing. She pushed me aside as she cradled the smaller woman to her chest. "No no no not my baby no no no please no no," she wailed. Her agonized scream was muffled against the smaller woman's head.The rest of the humans who had interrupted our plans were either dead or falling back the way they'd come. Movement drew my eye. I squinted as I tracked it across the street. It wa
I sent another stream of fiery magic at the Direct who thought to protect my mother. Some pansy-assed gifted asshole wasn't going to stop me from hunting my mother down and killing her. With a wave of my hand, a path cleared. With a curl of my fist, humans fell to the ground, their spines crumbled into dust. "I'm coming for you, Herpes," I screamed at the top of my lungs. She scurried away, down the side street towards the fighting arena I'd created for us to use for practice. I picked up my pace and followed her. "You better be fucking careful, honey," Saint said through my head. He was working with Arasne and Felix at the opening of the street where the humans were still grouped. The Faeries had set up a blockade of sorts, forcing the humans into a bottleneck situation. They were taken down one by one as Ransom had his horde of beasts funneled them through the line of magical warriors. "Always, Saint baby. See you in a bit." I rushed down the street Herpes had