Descent

by Rylee Winters

  Shifting into my human form, my eyelid twitched in agitation as my shadow pride vanished, and Kaslni frowned deeply. Her entire body posture changed, as if she no longer considered me an opponent, while a look of confusion played on her face.

  “Why did you pull them back? That was fun. It has been a long time since I had such fun.”

  My heart beat furiously, supplying adrenaline to muscles that shifted under my skin even as I stood still. Kaslni’s question caused a grimace to spread across my face that I didn’t try to hide, and understanding flashed in her eyes before she nodded curtly.

  “You cannot control it in this form.”

  It’d only been a day since she arrived in this realm, but Kaslni’s grasp on things was awe-inspiring.

  Then again, she’s tens of thousands – maybe hundreds of thousands – of years old even if she looks like she’s in her mid-twenties.

  “You are very impressive. It is not surprising that you are a Descent.” Stiffening as Kaslni snatched her robe from the dirt, my mind struggled to figure out what, exactly, she meant even while she continued talking.

  “There are many interesting things in this realm. I wish I had come here sooner to enjoy the leisure of this simpler way of life. I can certainly see the appeal that brought the others here.”

  “What do you mean – Descent?” Croaking out the question hoarsely, I glanced over at my mate only to find her just as uncertain. Clenching and releasing my fists by my sides, my frown morphed into a grimace when Kaslni stole my attention once again with her voice.

  “You did not think that being a shifter was natural, did you? All shifters are a result of experimentation by the Seelie in their quest to protect themselves from Unseelie. They were all failures, and they were sent here in the conception of life. The Unseelie that underwent the experimentation had their wings stunted to promote acceptance, but most did not survive. I saw a long time ago what the Seelie were trying to accomplish – it was horrific even by my standards. We banished the creatures to this realm, which in turn created shifters as their bodies found balance through genetic interference with the animals here.”

  Speaking as if she was giving a lecture, Kaslni adjusted her robe absently while her gaze landed on me under arched brows. “You did not know that was why you can use Unseelie magic? Why you are black? Why you are deformed? You should be able to do it in your human form as well, Derek.”

  “Let’s take this into my office.” Jackson’s curiosity hung heavy in the air, and the hairs on my body stood up as my gaze flew to him standing behind Linne’s wheelchair. Gravity dragged down his features, and a seriousness hardened his eyes.

  Clutching my discolored arm tightly, I ground my teeth as my mind churned with gears that had been rusted over. My stiff strides carried me closer to my mate, heart thudding against the bars of its cage as she downright grinned at me.

  Even as I stared at Linne, I couldn’t really see her, and my lips twisted into a deep, nasty grimace. Under the harsh sunlight beaming through the cloudless sky, my left side prickled painfully all the way to my toes.

  “We obviously need some clarification here, Kaslni.” My cheek twitched in agitation at Jackson’s deep, gravelly baritone, and my blood boiled like thick tar.

  One word echoed in my mind repeating over and over as it grew louder and louder with each furious beat of my heart. The reason I saw Muss; the torture I’d endured all my life; the very fact that Linne was my mate – everything was explained to a degree that I couldn’t properly wrap my head around.

  Finally, there was an answer.

  Descent.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Linne

  Reaching for Derek’s hand, I held on tightly despite his lax grip, and my heart threatened to burst in joy.

  Stunned, heavy silence hung heavily in the confined space of Alpha Jackson’s office, and I tore my eyes off Kaslni to stare up at my mate. His face was sunken, eyes glazed over as he was sucked into his own thoughts over what she’d revealed.

  Happiness weaved through every fiber of my being, but he took on a dark red complexion as his mind brought him to places he didn’t want to go. Everything played on his expression, and my smile morphed as affection clouded the thin space between my brain and my skull.

  “So, you’re saying there are other shifters out there that can use Unseelie magic? That every shifter ever is a descendant of Unseelie, just like witches?” Speaking up into the deathly quiet room, Alpha Jackson leaned on the edge of his desk to cross his arms over his chest tightly. “What are we supposed to do with this information, exactly?”

  “Witches are the product of Seelie – shifters are the product of Unseelie. It is parallel to our realm. You do not like them, but you need them, and the same with them. There are probably many shifters that can use magic, they just don’t know it unless they can access some way to unlock it – like the mate bond. I do not know what you should do, Alpha Jackson, but these are the things I know. I remember these things – I was there, so long ago.”

  Forcing my attention off my mate, Kaslni turned to Derek and I to smile warmly, and my heart fluttered as heat billowed into my cheeks. “I will train you to harness your power. It will not be easy, Derek the Lion.”

  ‘Bareiijnr will be busy consolidating his power. There is no rush. It will be months, even years in this realm, before he is ready to send assassins or come through the Veil himself.’

  Muss had been quiet all morning, and my gaze flickered to him as he shuffled on his perch on the arm of the chair in front of Alpha Jackson. He kept one eye on everyone, and truth rang in his deep voice to send a chute of security through my abdomen.

  ‘What are you thinking, Derek the Lion? Are you not glad to be a Descent?’

  “…I’m just having a hard fucking time believing that the universe spent thousands of years and two realms to give me a mate and a bunch of fucking trouble.” Rasping his response, Derek clenched my hand tightly, as if just realizing we were connected, and I smiled up at him. “The Veil opens here; I moved here; all of that shit with Bareiijnr just happened to happen right now…”

  “That is of little consequence, Derek the Lion…the cosmos has no specific interest in you or Bareiijnr. If it was not you, it would be someone else. If not Bareiijnr, if not now, it would be another time, and another evil. These things are not important, and you are best not to think too much on them.”

  “Kaslni is right, Derek…” Speaking up softly, I rubbed the back of Derek’s palm with my thumb soothingly as he released a shivering gust of a sigh. “You shouldn’t worry about that. There are more important things to think about…like – you are beautiful – like a flower that has finally blossomed.”

  Training his intense gaze on me, Derek’s lips twitched in the beginnings of a smirk, and he squeezed my fingers firmly. The haze in his eyes cleared some, and my smile widened as he inhaled a big, steadying breath with a curt nod. Reaching with his free hand to swipe his jaw roughly, he slowly began to pick himself up as he physically shook the weight of his thoughts away.

  “Can you sense other Descents, Kaslni?” Curiosity dribbled from Alpha Jackson’s voice, shooing away the tense atmosphere for good, and I watched Kaslni shake her head out of the corner of my eye. There was so much that needed to be considered now that she was in the human realm, and we couldn’t linger on this thing we’d always known might be.

  “No, I cannot. Many Descents cannot actively use their power – it is dormant inside them. Derek the Lion is the exception. Activating their sleeping abilities without knowing if they have them would most likely kill them. It is not worth the risk…” Thoughtfulness invaded Kaslni’s tone, and she turned to Muss with eyes glittering with intrigue.

  “I suppose Muss might be able to see, if he looked deep enough. It will not be a painless process, though.”

  “No – no. I was just wondering. I don’t want shifters to descend on my clan because they think they’ll be able to get some crazy nether power or somethi
ng. It’s better if this just stays between us for now.” Waving Kaslni off, Alpha Jackson rubbed his face roughly with a harsh sigh. “What about Linne? When will her wings be ready?”

  “Doc hasn’t looked at them yet, but we’re thinking a couple weeks at most… Speaking of wings, I thought you were bringing a bunch of them with you – all your valuables – so Bareiijnr wouldn’t get a hold of them?”

  All eyes, including mine, turned to Kaslni, but I already knew the answer as she reached into the pocket of her robe. The clothing itself was imbued with a spell, but its sign was faint enough that no one noticed underneath her own overwhelming power.

  “These, you mean…” Much like what my wings were currently suspended in, Kaslni produced small, palm-sized bubbles from her pocket. The objects resembled glass balls, holding the wings of her staff inside, and the otherwise clear liquid inside tinged pink with blood. “I did bring them. This set is from Sassassaz, my head of staff.”

  Memories tickled my mind of the woman Kaslni spoke of; I’d only seen her once, when I was very young, but she was a mean woman by all accounts.

  Scrunching up my nose as Kaslni put the small ball back in her pocket, I shook my head wildly before speaking aloud. “I cannot wait until my wings are healed – I do not like being in this chair.”

  “That’s what you don’t like, babe? The chair? Not the fact that you can’t walk?” Amusement laced Derek’s tone, and I flushed brightly before ducking my head to stare at my useless legs. Rubbing my thighs, my fingers burned, and a grimace twisted my lips at the lack of feeling across my skin.

  “I do not like that either, but I do not like the chair more.” Crossing my arms over my abdomen, I sighed heavily as a headache beat against my eyes. “It is…limiting…without my wings. I have no magic, no legs – I cannot even go to the bathroom without help.”

  “It’ll get better, baby.” Derek’s assurance only pulled a huff from me, and he nudged my cheek with his knuckles gently.

  Weeks – I didn’t want to go weeks without being able to walk.

  My magic, I could live without knowing that I would get it back. But being stuck in this chair, dependent on Derek for almost everything, was suffocating. It hadn’t even been a half a day, and the thrill of this morning had already ebbed away to leave raw agitation in its wake.

  “Why do you not tell me of your exploits in this realm, Linne? How did you meet Derek the Lion?” Glancing up from under furrowed brows, I pursed my lips tightly at Kaslni’s intent stare.

  My mind flung back to that night that seemed a life time ago, and I inhaled sharply through flared nostrils. So many things had happened since then, but that night marked the start of my life – my life beyond just working and sleeping.

  Reaching once again to hold Derek’s hand, I brought his fingers to my cheek to exhale a soft sigh. Then licking my lips in preparation for a long talk, my mouth tilted in a smile as his expression that night blossomed in my inner eye. Even after the past months, the hardships, he looked at me the same.

  Maybe even more intensely – passionately – needing…lovingly.

  ***

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  Other Books By Rylee Winters

  War of Wings Series

  Exile (Book 1)

  Shadows (Book 2)

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  Linne

  Giggling as Derek braced his palms on either side of my head, eagerness clawed at my gut as my brain swam in my skull. There was nothing soft about him but the way he looked at me, and my eyes stung from a mix of tears and alcohol. Ducking his head to brush his lips against mine, he sighed heavily to send hot air swollen with his smell down into my lungs as I inhaled sharply.

  “I love you.” My thin eyelids couldn’t hold back the pure, untainted happiness that filled every part of me at Derek’s husky, tipsy murmur. Creeping up his bare chest, my fingertips tingled almost painfully as he bumped the tip of his nose against mine tenderly. “Happy birthday, my beautiful, perfect woman.”

  “I love you so much, Derek…” Tilting my head to kiss him, I wrapped my arms around Derek’s neck as he pinned me against the closed door with his body. Goosebumps swept down my chest, and he tangled his tongue around my own in a sweet, sloppy kiss. Moaning softly, I savored his taste as I beat and furled my wings as drunken pleasure swept down my spine.

  “What are you doing! It’s almost cake time!” Kristy’s slurred, shrill voice gyrated against my ear drums, and I jerked in surprise even as Derek’s hand slid heavily down to grip the door handle.

  The door swung open, and a squeal burst from my mouth as I went tumbling backwards into his bedroom. A soft snitch echoed loudly as the world spun, and I barely managed to catch myself on the edge of his bed before his greedy hands were on me.

  Adrenaline and ecstasy shot through me like lightning when Derek shoved down my shorts, and I tossed my head back to choke out an intoxicated gasp. Bent over the foot of his bed, my legs threatened to crumple underneath me from the fire that melted my muscles.

  “Yes – yeah – yes!” Panting harshly, I urged my mate on, rasping from my throat as he spread my bare butt cheeks. Gliding up my back heavily, Derek gripped both my axillar tightly and wordlessly, while I squeezed my eyelids shut and pressed my face into the sheets.

  “It’s been a year since we first met tonight.” Ragged and thick, Derek’s tone sent prickles up my spine, and he pulled on my axillar teasingly. “Do you remember, babe? The first time I fucked you was just like this. You’ve come so far since then…”

  Grinding against his flushed, throbbing rod as his words rained down on me, I whimpered in pathetic need when Derek pulled back. My slit ached for him, and he tightened his grip on the base of my wings to nudge my slippery folds open with the head of his length. Bracing myself on my forearms, I glanced over my shoulder to heave hot breaths, and my throat tightened at the worshipful expression drenching his sharp features.

  “Derek – please!” Suspense knotted my insides, and my whine caused Derek’s shoulders to jerk in a powerful shudder before he mercilessly thrust into my channel.

  Choking loudly, I moaned as his rod filled and stretched me, and he tugged on my axillar with each, jarring thrust.

  “Yes – ” Growling a thundering rumble that reverberated through my body and up through the carpeted floor, Derek thrust in wild abandon as pleasure rolled through me.

  Clamping down on his heated, silky rod, my thighs slapped together as my knees gave out from under me.

  But Derek held me up – he had never failed me. Not even once.

  Our rough bout was over before I could even come down from the clouds that fogged my mind, and Derek spent himself inside me with a strained groan. Draping himself over me as I hung limply off the end of the bed, his lips caressed my shoulders and the back of my neck as I struggled to regain my breath. Shivers raked my spine; tingles assaulted my legs, and I spasmed lightly when he pulled out of my channel with a short hiss.

  “Fuck – I don’t know who I’d be without you babe.” We’d both been drinking, and Derek’s mumble sent amusement bubbling up in my chest to burst forth from my raw throat. “Why is that funny, huh?”

  Fingertips dug into my sides, and my breathless giggles morphed into harsh barks of laughter as Derek held me in place with his body. Wiggling and worming as tingles rippled across
my skin, my wings flailed out on either side of us before he gripped my waist to knead my flesh. The sudden change sent hiccups up from low in my chest, and I tilted my head to heave a shuddering sigh.

  “You – you would still be you, Derek. Meeting me did not change you.” Craning his neck to kiss my cheek, he then trailed light kisses down the side of my face, and I released a low, pleased groan.

  Satisfaction raced through my veins, and I closed my eyes to sear this moment into my memories. The roughness of his tongue sent shivers down my spine, and he steadied his fists on either side of my head once again to lick my neck and shoulder.

  “You’re wrong, Linne.” Derek didn’t say anything more before his human body crunched and contorted as he shifted.

  Sinking to the floor to lean on the side of the mattress, I reached blindly for his thick, coarse mane to explore the gaps where his fur had been ripped out.

  Hot breaths flowed under my shirt, and I flopped my head all the way back before his whiskers tickled my sensitive skin.

  “Do they get jealous?” Lavishing at the light sheen of sweat that coated my body, Derek only grunted carelessly before I cracked open my eyes.

  His shadow beasts lounged, piled up in a corner of swirling, black tendrils and indistinguishable forms. Shimmering, onyx eyes watched me intently, and I threaded my fingers through his mane as his tongue slithered along my abdomen.

  Even with Kaslni’s help, Derek couldn’t really control his magic, and I frowned as my thoughts came together sloppily. In the nine months since she’d appeared in this realm, my former Master had been surprisingly docile. At first, it’d been worrying, but Derek had surmised that being on the ‘down-low’ was better for her.