We had less than two days to find the cure and return to the capital. That
left very little margin for error.
What could possibly go wrong?
Famous last words, Z. Famous last words.
ONLY AN HOUR LATER, WE WERE PACKED AND READY TO GO.
We chose to take one vehicle, and immediately, my idiotic mates began
fighting over who would sit next to me. That conversation ended, though,
when Dair wordlessly grabbed my wrist, guided me onto his lap, and then
wheeled us both out of the inn and into the blistering hot midday sun.
My eyes greedily admired his strong, bulging biceps as he rolled us
forward—all of that golden skin on display, the sinewy muscles…
“My eyes are up here,” Dair said in mock horror.
“Shut up.” I whacked his arm, my cheeks blazing at being caught
blatantly ogling him. But then I decided, why the hell not? He was my mate,
and if anyone deserved to stare at his impressive forearm porn, it was me.
Dair smirked at me, the look so unlike his usual despondent expression,
and began to flex his muscles.
“I can’t help but look at you,” I confessed, deciding to be honest as my
eyes trailed over him.
Dair was easily my golden prince, with honey-colored hair, bright blue
eyes a girl could get lost in, and broad shoulders leading down to a tapered
waist. His golden skin, a product of all of his time in the sunlight, was
flecked with the slightest splattering of freckles, somehow adding to his
allure.
I didn’t care that he was in a wheelchair because of his sadistic father and
brothers.
My mermaid mate was so, so beautiful.
Perfect.
“I wish I could see myself the way you see me,” he whispered hoarsely,
his eyes lapping me up with the same feverish intensity as mine did him. “I
wish you could see yourself the way I see you. The way all of your mates see
you.”
I snorted, the sound escaping before I could contain it. “A loudmouth,
stabby, psycho chick?”
I knew I was being self-deprecating, but I didn’t care. I also knew I was
being extremely hypocritical. How the fuck was I supposed to convince my
men they were deserving of the entire world if I didn’t believe that about
myself?
This was why we all came together, why our souls merged and became
one. We were all broken, still learning to love ourselves, and somehow, we’d
found each other in the dissonant chaos of our lives.
“You know what I see when I look at you?” Dair smoothed his hands up
and down my arms, and I marveled at the differences in our skin tone. Mine
was pale, almost too pale with my sickness, while his had a healthy, golden
glow. His next words snapped my eyes back to his arresting face and those
sea-blue eyes, brighter than any ocean or lake I’d ever seen. “I see someone
who’s strong but vulnerable. Someone who’s terrified of appearing weak,
even in front of the men she loves. I see a woman who has lost so many
people, yet still manages to get out of bed every damn day. That takes
strength, Z. A lot of fucking strength.
“There were times when I thought I would never open my eyes again,” he
continued. I was vaguely aware of my other mates exiting the inn and
glancing in our direction before immediately moving to enter the car. “When
I thought I wasn’t strong enough to. But then you came into my life, and I
realized that I don’t always have to be strong. Sometimes, I can rely on other
people.” He speared me with a pointed look.
For years, Dair had been suffering in silence, unwilling to admit to
anyone that his family had been torturing him. Was still torturing him. My
heart ached when I thought of all he must’ve endured before he came clean to
his brothers and me.
“Good advice,” I whispered, lowering my gaze to his lips. His tongue
snaked out to lick the top one, and goosebumps pebbled on my arms.
“How about this?” He shifted my weight on his lap, his strong arms
tightening on my stomach. “Every day, I’ll list one of the many things that
makes you amazing. Maybe it’ll finally penetrate that pretty skull of yours.”
arms so my head rested on his shoulder, facing his neck. His enticing, ocean
scent surrounded me as he finally began to wheel us towards the car. I was
honestly surprised Devlin had allowed us even that minute to talk. I could see
my genie in the driver’s seat of the vehicle, his face taut and lined with stress.
“Okay, deal.” I kissed the column of his throat. “But I’ll do the same for
you. Starting with the fact that you’re the kindest, most compassionate man I
know.”
He snorted. “So I’m the nice guy? You do know most nice guys end up in
last place.”
Lifting my head from his neck, I offered him a teasing smirk, allowing
my hand to travel down his chest and to his cock. I rubbed him a few times
through the material of his shorts until he was hard for me, a pained groan
leaving his throat as his arms tightened around me.
“Guess what, baby?” I murmured in his ear, and his heart picked up speed
at the pet name. “In my world, nice guys end up in first place.”
SEVEN
DEVLIN
I was freaking the fuck out.
I tried not to let it show, but inside, I was a tangled nest of nerves
and crippling fear.
What the fuck were we going to do?
I lived my entire life having a plan, always a plan. From sunup to
sundown, my day was meticulously organized, but now, everything was
changing. Spinning. Distorting. I couldn’t even begin to wrap my head
around it all.
Z was sick, dying even, and there was nothing I could do to save her
except drive as fast as I could towards the Mage Kingdom. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!
I wasn’t used to feeling so…helpless. It scratched incessantly at my skin,
drawing blood, but all I could do was accept the pain.
Z sat in the backseat with Dair on one side of her and Jax on the other, his
head in her lap. She stroked his light brown hair soothingly, though her eyes
remained distant, already fixed out the window at the passing scenery. Bash,
Killian, and Ryland were squished together in the back of the van, matching
scowls on all of their faces as they stared intently at the back of Z’s head. No
doubt, they wanted to pull her into their arms, hold her tight, and never let her
go. I knew, because I felt the exact same way.
“What should we expect when we reach the Mage Kingdom, Bash?”
Lupe called from the front passenger seat. As the largest man of the group, it
made complete sense that he would claim shotgun. He easily filled up two
seats with his hulking muscles and towering frame. Even now, he had to duck
his head slightly so he wouldn’t hit his head on the roof.
I watched in the rearview mirror as Bash scratched absently at his cheek
before dragging his hand down his face. I pulled my attention back to the
road when he finally answered.
“It’s not as bad as the Vampire Kingdom, if that’s what you’re ask
ing,”
he settled on at last, and my hands tightened almost imperceptibly on the
steering wheel until my knuckles were stark white. The Vampire Kingdom
saw humans as nothing more than pets. Rodents. We’d had to put a collar and
leash on Z, much to her anger, just to enter the inn without arousing
suspicion. And then there was the Bloody Carnival…
Anger reverberated through me just at the thought of that disgusting
organization. Miles, the kid Z had befriended, had died there. Died. A
fucking kid.
I was determined more than ever to burn this entire fucking system to the
ground. For so long, I’d been held captive in shackles constructed out of
civility and duty, but I’d been reborn in rage. I’d make everyone pay for the
crimes they committed or die trying.
“You’re not giving us a lot to go on, Bash-hole,” Z quipped with forced
lightness, twisting her head slightly to meet his emerald gaze. The movement
hurt her, I could see that immediately when her ashen face twisted into a
grimace and her eyes turned half-mast. She tried to conceal her reaction, tried
to hide it behind a wide smile, but I knew her better than I knew myself. We
all did.
Immediately, Dair ran a hand up and down her leg soothingly, and Jax
twisted in her lap, nuzzling his cheek against her upper thighs.
“I don’t know what the fuck to expect,” Bash snapped, sounding irritated.
I wanted to snap at him for using that tone of voice with our mate, but then I
realized that the ire wasn’t directed at Z…but at himself. “I spent most of my
time in the fucking castle, oblivious to the horrors going on in the real world.
Is that what you wanted to hear, Z? That your pretty boy mate was a selfish
prick who cared more about how many people he could fuck than who his
father was killing?”
“Don’t be an asshole,” Z hissed, bristling, and Bash’s face contorted into
a hideous sneer.
“I’m just being honest.” Ripping his gaze away from Z’s face, he focused
out the window, a tiny crease appearing between his brow. “Until I met you, I
was no better than a lot of these nightmares. I didn’t think anything about the
way we treated humans because I didn’t know any better. They’re not slaves
in our land, but their station in life isn’t much better. We use them for labor,
meaning everything we don’t want to do.” Another wry smile twisted up his
lips. “After all, our sin is sloth.”
Z huffed and folded her arms over her chest, scowling at nothing in
particular. “You still don’t have to be an asshole. And you,” she directed her
glare in my direction, “eyes on the road.”
Bristling at being caught staring, I pulled my attention away from the
rearview mirror and focused on the passing buildings as we drove farther and
farther away from the Vampire Kingdom. Good fucking riddance.
“Look…” Bash sighed heavily, but I didn’t dare pull my attention away
to stare at him again. “I’m sorry. Apparently, being an asshole is just in my
DNA.”
“That’s stupid,” Z snapped, still fuming. “You’re not born an asshole.”
“I beg to differ, at least where my father’s concerned,” Dair murmured,
and silence reigned. Guilt strangled me as I thought of all my mermaid
brother had endured right under my nose. All the torture and pain and
suffering…
We all hated our families, but none more than him, and for good reason.
After a moment of suffocating silence, I heard Z whisper something to the
mermaid, too softly for me to hear. He replied to her, a smile evident in his
muffled words. Probably declarations of love or some shit.
Surprisingly, I felt no jealousy. I knew Z loved me just as much as she
cared for him. I once had her all to myself and I cherished our time together,
but I was grateful my brothers had her now as well. They needed her light to
counter the relentless and consuming darkness that trapped us all.
“Bash,” Z began after a moment of silence. “I feel…” She trailed off, and
I just knew she would be chewing on that plush lower lip of hers. “I
sometimes feel like you say things to purposely hurt me and push me away.
Is that true?”
“You’re not pulling any of the punches, are you, my love?” Ryland
queried, sounding way too amused.
Ignoring him, Bash gritted out, “What don’t you like me talking about?
How much of an asshole I am? How much of an asshole I was? Or all the
women I fucked in my life?”
“You’re doing it again!” Z shouted, sounding exasperated. “You’re self-
fucking-sabotaging.”
“Don’t pretend you know what goes through my head,” he snapped.
“Don’t pretend that you hate me as much as you say you do,” she replied
just as angrily.
“I never said I fucking hated you. What did I say about putting words in
my mouth?”
“I don’t—”
“Enough!” I shouted, my violet magic sparking through the van. “You’re
acting like fucking children.”
“He started it,” Z grumbled at the same time Bash protested, “She’s the
one who started it!”
“What did I tell you?” I exchanged a droll look with Lupe, who rolled his
eyes. “Children. Both of them.”
“Rude.” Z pouted.
“I fucking hate you all,” added Bash.
“More or less than you hate me?” Z quipped.
And here we go again…
But before they could partake in another verbal sparring match, Z began
to cough. And cough. And cough. And fucking cough.
“Devlin!” Dair cried in alarm, and I cursed as I pulled the car to the side
of the road, ignoring the cacophony of honks that followed. I spun around in
my seat as soon as the car was in park to see Z leaning forward, coughing
violently as Dair and Jax both held her between them.
Blood dripped down her chin.
“I don’t feel good,” she whimpered moments before her eyes rolled back
in her head and she began to seize. Her body twitched erratically, her back
arching as white foam appeared in her mouth.
“Get her on her side!” Bash bellowed from the back seat as he leaned
forward, fear evident in his normally stormy green eyes.
“Wh-wh-a-t-t-t the fuck is happening?” Killian asked, his stutter even
more pronounced in his desperation. “Are we too late?”
Z’s shaking slowed, and her eyelashes fluttered shut. She was sprawled
across Dair’s and Jax’s laps, her face paler than I ever remembered it being
before. I could barely breathe, barely think, through the panic constricting my
heart like a tightening serpent.
I wasn’t able to get air back into my lungs until Dair pressed his fingers
against her pulse and sagged in relief.
“She’s alive. Fuck, she’s alive.”
My own heart raced, the sloshing of blood in my head so loud and
deafening, I was afraid I would topple over at any second.
Losing Z…
I wouldn’t survive that.
None of us would.
“We need to get to the Mage Kingdom. Now!” Bash said, his lips
compressed into
a thin line. His eyes flickered to Z’s sleeping form,
something indecipherable passing behind his verdant green eyes, before he
forced his gaze away and slumped back in his seat. “We need the fucking
cure.”
“Lupe?” Ryland’s strangled voice had my attention snapping his way, but
his eyes weren’t on me—they were fixed on the bear shifter beside me. “You
need to calm the fuck down, man.” The dark shadows around him tightened
even further until they obscured his eyes, a clear sign of his agitation.
I turned towards Lupe in alarm, only to see that my brother was no longer
in control. At least not all the way.
His fingers had transformed into keen claws that looked capable of
slashing my head straight off my shoulders. Coarse fur sprouted on his arms,
now twice the size they were before, and even more fur grew on his body as
his bear struggled to break free. Fucking hell. The last thing we needed was
an enormous grizzly wreaking havoc on our only mode of transportation.
Knowing I needed to appeal to his human nature before he lost himself
completely, I attempted to reason with him. “Lupe, man, you need to calm
down. Z needs you.” He whipped his head in my direction, a growl escaping
his throat as his eyes flashed yellow in the dim lighting of the van. I gritted
my teeth together but continued on. “We need to get her to the Mage
Kingdom. We can’t do that if you become a motherfucking bear and destroy
the vehicle. You understand?” I couldn’t quite mask my irritation, but fuck it
all to hell, we didn’t have time for this.
“Think about Z,” Dair threw in, his voice that soothing tone only he was
capable of pulling off.
It was no doubt the repetition of Z’s name that had his bear retreating and
my brother taking its place. His face flushed red in shame as he stared down
at his body, his clothes now ripped in some places from when he grew in size.
“Are you good?” I demanded, pulling the van back onto the highway.
Lupe released a ragged sigh, running his fingers through his brown hair. His
hand trembled slightly, though when he caught me staring, he lowered it to
his lap.
“Yeah. I’m fine. My wrath…it’s getting harder to control.”
“I know.” My jaw clenched together so tightly, I was honestly surprised I
didn’t break a tooth. “With Z the way she is… I just… I know.” There was