with the long sleeves of her dirty sweatshirt.
Curiosity filled me, alongside a heavy sense of trepidation. “I don’t know
—”
“It’s my sister,” she blurted, her eyes widening in her gaunt face. I
couldn’t quite tell what color they were in the darkness, but just then, they
resembled pools of oil. “I need your help to free her.”
“Free her?” I cocked an eyebrow as she tugged, tugged, tugged at her
sleeves. The sweatshirt practically engulfed her tiny frame, only the tips of
her fingers poking out.
“She was taken to Lazy Evenings a few weeks ago, and I haven’t been
able to get a hold of her since. I’m freaking the fuck out, but I don’t know
what to do. And I know you freed those humans at the Bloody Carnival. So
you need to help me free her, because I don’t know what to do and I don’t—”
“Hold on.” I raised a hand to cut off her ramblings. “What’s Lazy
Evenings?”
“It’s a…” She twisted her head in both directions, as if ensuring we were
truly alone. “A brothel. Mages use it.”
Chunks of coal entered my stomach. “And I’m assuming the humans
there aren’t…willing participants?”
She began to shake her head rapidly, fear flaring to life in her eyes. “No.
Please, Z. I need your help.”
My conversation with Dair had already left me feeling flayed open and
bleeding. I wanted to give in to her, I truly did, but…
As if my body was in agreement with me, white-hot pain twisted up my
insides. I gave the girl my back so she couldn’t see the agony that splayed
across my face.
Fuck, how could I help her when I could barely help myself? When my
body was failing me and leading me to an early grave?
But what else could I do? Say no?
“It’s a few miles into the Mage Kingdom,” she continued, obviously
taking my silence as assent. “We can leave now and get there in less than an
hour. I’ll—”
“All right,” I cut in, turning back around. I watched her shoulders slump
in noticeable relief. “Let me get my mates and—”
“No!” She appeared horrified, her feet taking her backwards a few steps.
“No! We can’t trust them. They’re nightmares.” She spat the last word as if it
were something unholy, her pretty face twisting in disgust.
“Axel’s a nightmare,” I pointed out. “And you guys seem to trust him.”
Almost…scarily so. I didn’t know how I felt about the shadow assassin,
but the ease with which the humans followed his lead wasn’t sitting right
with me.
“That’s different,” she protested indignantly.
“Look, you can trust the guys—”
“No!” she hissed venomously. Even in the darkness, the anger emanating
from her eyes was evident to see. “I’ll just do it myself.”
Without another word, she shouldered past me and stalked in the
direction of Paco’s shed. I was left staring after her in dumbfounded
disbelief, my mind racing a mile a minute and my heart struggling to keep up.
What the fuck was that about?
I could sense the animosity between the humans and my mates, but I’d
never seen it firsthand before. Not that I could blame them.
Before I met the guys, I’d considered them a scary story human mothers
told their children to stop them from misbehaving. They were the men
prophesied to either end the world…or save it. But I knew my mates, and I
knew that they would do everything in their power to right the wrongs their
fathers had made. They weren’t the great evil society portrayed them to be.
But that didn’t stop the fear. The hurt and anger. The wariness.
Humans had the right to fear them.
By the time I arrived back at Paco’s house, the girl was nowhere to be
seen and the lawn had been completely transformed.
Dozens of tents were located along the length of the property, humans
walking in and out of them. I counted at least ten fires, the red and gold
flames casting the entire camp in shadows. I didn’t spot Axel or Mary-
Lynette, but I did see Killian perched on the back bumper of our van.
I weaved my way through the crowd, trying to ignore how fucking creepy
it was when people brushed their hands against me or bowed their heads
subserviently and whispered, “Liberator,” until I was standing in front of my
incubus mate.
He seemed relieved to see me, his smile widening before placing his
hands on my hips. A delicate blush stained his cheeks when he realized what
he’d done, but before he could drop them, I brought my own hands over his
to keep them in place.
“Where are the others?” I queried as he grinned up at me, that perpetual
blush still firmly on his cheeks.
“Ryland is…canvasing,” he admitted softly, and I knew “canvasing” was
just another word for spying.
“And Bash and Jax?” I questioned.
“Helping Paco with the potions.” Darkness fell over his expression, but
before he could get too lost in his thoughts of what was to come, I placed my
thumb between his eyes, smoothing out the wrinkles.
“I thought incubi weren’t supposed to have wrinkles,” I mused, dropping
my fingers to his cheeks and squishing them together.
His eyes crossed as he stared at his protruding lips. “I’ve never been a
normal incubus, Z.”
“What even is normal?” I finally released his cheeks and smoothed my
fingers through his hair. The garnet streaks were highlighted by gold and
burgundy, the color somehow resembling the fire burning a few feet away.
“Not a stuttering incubus who’s afraid of sexual intimacy,” he blurted.
“Or maybe all of the other incubi are not normal.” I removed myself from
between his legs and plopped down on the bumper beside him, reveling in his
body heat.
“You’re hurting my head, Z.” He flashed me a sheepish smile, that
customary blush returning with a vengeance. “How do you even do it? How
do you make me feel better about myself?”
“Because I don’t understand why the fuck you would ever feel bad,” I
retorted immediately.
I thought back to what Dair had told me earlier. Killian was my
innocence. He was too pure for this world, too pure for me, and I would
never understand how or why he fell in love with me. I was abrasive to his
gentleness, cunning to his openness, cruel to his kindness.
But he loved me. I could see it in his eyes whenever he smiled in my
direction, whenever he blushed or ducked his head. I could feel it in the way
his body molded to mine, even now, as if he didn’t want even a sliver of
space to separate us.
My cheeks caught on fire, no doubt resembling his own, when I thought
of the way he dominated me unintentionally the last time we were in bed
together. I knew it was his incubus powers coming out to play, but I couldn’t
deny it was sexy as fuck to see quiet, timid Killian playing my body like an
instrument. He didn’t just command my pleasure; he demanded it.
“Wanna play a game?” Killian hit his shoulder against my own, and I
lowered my head into the crook of h
is neck to hide my smile. The movement
felt so…instinctive. It was as easy as breathing to fall into his embrace.
Why had I always been scared of this?
Why had I been scared of loving them?
“The sexy kind?” I teased, pulling away to face him. “Because we might
want to go somewhere a little more private.” I glanced at the humans trying
their hardest not to stare at us, but more than a few gazes shifted our way.
“I’m pretty possessive, Killian. I don’t want any female seeing what doesn’t
belong to them.” To emphasize my point, I dropped my hand onto his thigh
and gave it a squeeze.
He squealed like a piggy, and a snort of laughter escaped unbidden. “I
wasn’t…I wasn’t propositioning…unless you want…” When another bark of
laughter escaped me, he glared down at me with narrowed eyes. “You were
teasing me, weren’t you?”
I placed my forefinger and thumb together. “Just an itty-bitty bit.”
“An itty-bitty bit?” His eyes flickered from my face to my fingers before
he leaned down and nipped the tip of my thumb. This time, I was the one
who squealed, the noise garnering the attention of a few of the human men
standing nearby. They looked seconds away from marching over to us and
forcibly removing Killian from the equation.
Fuck.
To show them that he hadn’t harmed me, I leaned forward and pressed
my lips to his.
He took over immediately, his hand fisting in my hair as his tongue
tangled with my own.
“This wasn’t the game I had in mind,” he whispered, pulling away but
keeping his forehead to mine.
“I like this one though,” I protested lazily, my eyes drifting to those men
once more. This time, they didn’t look murderous, but they did look angry
and disgusted.
I really, really had to figure out what to do with these damn humans, but
that was a problem for future me. Besides, what were they going to do
tomorrow when I returned to the capital? Follow me? The mere thought was
laughable.
But that didn’t change the fact that they stared at my mates like they were
the enemies. It made my hackles raise, indignation, fear, and anger warring
within me.
Peeling my gaze away from theirs, I focused back on my sexy mate.
“So the game…?” I pressed, determined to forget about the humans for
the rest of the night.
“Oh, um.” He pulled away from me, flushing with embarrassment, before
gripping my hand and playing with my fingers. “Some of the kids were
playing it earlier, and I thought it would be fun—”
“You want to play a kids’ game?” I teased, loving the way his blush
deepened. I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of seeing him flustered.
“You don’t have to if you don’t—”
“Killian, what’s the game?” I bumped his shoulder with my own, and he
smiled at me. It was a smile that stole the breath from my lungs and made me
lightheaded. He should probably register that smile with the defense
department in the capital, because it was totally a lady killer.
“Would You Rather,” he stated, ducking his head. “We don’t have to play
if you don’t—”
“Would you rather,” I tapped on my chin in consideration, “know exactly
when you were going to die or how you were going to die?”
He gaped at me in horror. “You’re…you’re a sadist!”
“You wanted to play!” I insisted, hitting his shoulder once more.
Killian brought a finger to his lips as he pushed his bottom one between
his teeth, nibbling on the poor flesh. He didn’t immediately rush to answer,
and I appreciated the fact that he was taking his time to answer instead of just
blurting something out. “How. I think it would be awful to know the exact
time you were going to die. You could never truly live with that guillotine
hanging over your head.”
“But what if you knew you were going to die when you’re ninety,” I
pointed out. “Then you could take all of these risks, knowing that it wouldn’t
kill you.”
“That doesn’t mean you’ll be living during all of those years,” Killian
countered. “What if you jumped off a bridge and became paralyzed from the
neck down? Or what if you became a slave or forced into prostitution or—”
“But if you knew how you were going to die, then it might prohibit you
from doing things you love,” I insisted. “Like, what if you knew you were
going to die during sex? Would you just never have it?”
He blushed. “I-I wouldn’t know. I mean, I don’t know what it feels like.
And, um…I mean, I’m sure it’s…um…” He shook his head from side to side
before asking, “Z, would you rather have love or have power?”
I gave him a droll look. “That’s an easy one.”
“Is it?” He quirked an eyebrow.
“Love, of course.” I felt like such a fucking sap for saying that out loud,
but when his eyes gleamed even brighter, I knew I’d gotten it right. “What’s
the point of all that power if you don’t have someone to share it with? How
can you truly be happy if you’re all alone?”
“And that begs the question…is it possible to be happy and alone?”
Killian mused, scratching at his jaw.
“I think so…” I trailed off as I considered it. “I mean, I don’t think it’s for
everyone, and I truly believe that every person on this planet struggles with
loneliness, but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible.”
“But if you’re alone, you can’t create genuine human connections. And if
“Then you don’t realize what you’re even missing,” I finished for him,
though I wasn’t sure if that was what he was even going to say. “So to them,
that’s their absolute happiness. Saying that, I imagine it’s true on the opposite
spectrum as well—people who are constantly around other people don’t
understand the joy you get from being alone and focusing on yourself.”
“Ah. I see my little mate and brother are having an…intriguing debate.”
Ryland’s quiet voice came from directly above me, on the roof of the van, but
I didn’t startle at his sudden appearance. A part of me knew he had been
there, watching and observing us. His presence was a soothing balm to my
heart and soul, alleviating the tension that had been sitting on my shoulders.
I tilted my head back to smile at him and felt a feathery soft kiss on my
lips.
“We’re playing Would You Rather,” I told him, and even with the
shadows concealing him, I knew his eyebrows rose in surprise.
“Oh, really?”
“Yes.” Grinning wickedly, I asked, “Ryland, would you rather never
receive pleasure during sexual encounters or never allow your partners to
receive pleasure from your sexual encounters?”
Killian winced. “Oh. That’s a good one.”
“An easy one too,” Ryland declared dismissively. “But you need to
rephrase your question. Partner, not partners. There’s only ever going to be
one woman I’m pleasing.” He caressed my cheek from above me, leaving a
trail of goosebump
s in his wake.
Unable to help myself, I asked, “So you’ll be open to pleasing other
men…?”
“No, you silly, naughty girl.” He pecked my lips again. “Only women.
And only you. Though I wouldn’t be opposed to a threesome, foursome, or
moresome…as long as I don’t have to put my lips anywhere near a dick.”
Liquid pleasure exploded in my insides, and I began to squirm on the
bumper of the car. It was suddenly way too hot out here, and at the same
time, it wasn’t hot enough.
“Killian, what about you?” I lazily brought my finger to his palm, tracing
upwards to his forearm and then his bulging bicep. His breath stuttered as he
stared at me with dilated pupils.
“W-what about me?” he murmured, his lips parting.
“Would you be down for a threesome, foursome, or moresome?” I
questioned in a low voice.
“Um…I would prefer not to have a dick up my butt, but I wouldn’t be
opposed to…um…sharing you…and oh my god.” He closed his eyes as I
brought my hand down his chest and over his rapidly hardening cock. “Your
hand feels fucking amazing.”
“Imagine what my lips could do,” I teased.
Warm breath wafted over my neck a second before Ryland began trailing
kisses to the shell of my ear. I arched my neck to give him better access,
trying to ignore the penetrating stare from the nearby humans. If we were
going to continue this, which I really, really hoped we would, then we needed
to move to a new location.
Preferably one that Jax, Bash, and Dair could join us at.
Could I handle five at once?
Seven at once?
My vagina sure as fuck wanted to try. She enthusiastically started a
parade and declared today a national holiday.
“And if I didn’t answer your question from before…” Ryland began in a
low, seductive tone. A shadow curled around my chest, pinching my nipple
until I gasped. Another one rubbed against my clit, while a third caressed my
ass. Ryland’s own hands remained on my shoulders, kneading the skin
gently. “I would much rather pleasure my little dove.”
“How about we move this tantalizing party elsewhere?” I suggested,
jumping off the bumper and extending my hands towards both of my mates.
They eyed each other for a moment, surprise twisting their features, before
greedily accepting my proffered hands.
We moved down the pathway from before, but instead of heading