“More of an omission,” Tom tried to joke, smiling crookedly, but it fell back into a frown when Rani’s expression didn’t change. His eyes were big and sad, puppy eyes that cut right to her soul. “I’m sorry, Rani.”
She wanted to forgive him, but she couldn’t—not instantly, without processing this. “I need time to think,” she said to him, to Eri.
Closing her eyes, Rani reached for the part of her deep down that controlled her shifter form, and tugged on it. Tingles broke over her skin and her eyes flew open as she shrank, falling to the floor where she landed nimbly on four feet. It was disorienting but not painful this time around.
She didn’t waste any time, jumping onto the kitchen counter and then up to the lowest beam before climbing higher. Tom was right; they did have great high ceilings and rafters in this flat. She navigated them easily, almost without having to think about her steps, and curled up in a dark corner. Alone with her thoughts.
Orion Child
I know you’re angry, Nigh said, hours later, padding along the beam towards her on cat-light feet and startling her with his voice inside her head. But I brought you a mouse.
Rani’s heart skipped in her chest, her stomach both rumbling and filling with butterflies. Her anger had faded now, leaving her with a heavy sadness that they hadn’t told her the full truth—and the suffocating fear that Orion Child would come to kill her so her midnight magic could empower his ritual.
And Eri poured you a saucer of milk, Nigh went on, creeping stealthily closer. And Tom saved you the comfiest spot on the sofa, right by the fire.
Rani sighed. That all sounded amazing. Except for the mouse. She hadn’t been in her cat form long enough to feel okay with eating a small, furry body or raw meat.
I’ll get you something else, Nigh said urgently, spitting out the mouse and jumping from the tallest beam to the floor of the apartment. Rani’s heart lurched into her throat and she peered over the beam to watch him plummet. But he landed perfectly on four paws and then pushed up to two feet, rushing to the fridge and pulling out ingredients in human form.
Rani stretched out her limbs with a yawn, arching her back as she rose to her black paws. She stepped over the mouse on the beam and made her way down to floor level, eyeing both Eri and Tom who were pretending not to watch her while tracking her every movement.
She reached for that inner shifting magic and, after a couple fumbled attempts, rose from a crouch into human form, momentarily distracted by the fact that she was a) magically clothed despite shifting, and b) only wearing a towel. At some point Tom had got dressed.
“So,” she said awkwardly as Nigh began furiously whisking milk and eggs in a bowl. “I’ve thought about it, and I’m not angry anymore. I’m just ... disappointed that you didn’t tell me.”
Tom groaned.
Eri’s shoulders sank, his eyes dropping to the floor. “We should have.”
“What good would telling you have done?” Nigh barked over the din of egg whisking. “You’d have only been scared of him, Rani. And of us.”
Rani blinked, sensing nervousness in him, and a fine edge of dread. “I was never scared of you. You’re my mates.” All their eyes shot to her and she sighed, leaning against the kitchen counter. “I mean it. I was just taken off guard, and scared of him. I’m still scared of him, actually.”
Eri cautiously approached, and when Rani didn’t back away, he wrapped her up in his arms and rested his chin atop her head. “We shouldn’t have kept it secret. I’m sorry, treasured mate.”
“Don’t be an idiot, woman,” Nigh muttered, harshly chopping peppers and onion and throwing them into the egg and milk mixture. “Nobody’s getting to you. They’d have to go through all three of us.”
Rani smiled at his surly protectiveness, but she froze as a different voice replied, “I’d rather not, but if I must...”
A tornado of black mist surrounded her and Eri, and Tom ducked into the glittering swarm as Nigh stepped forward, the omelette forgotten and his expression dark with warning and violence. The magic was his, Rani told herself as panic gripped her lungs tight, not Dark Star’s. Not Orion Child’s. She was safe in the inky whirlwind.
Rani stared at the man in the doorway to the flat, Orion leaning casually against the doorjamb in a long dark coat with his fair hair blowing around his face in a phantom wind. All six locks were broken, Eri’s net of magic in tatters.
Goddess, he looked so much like her mates. How had she not seen it? His irises were almost black, but she met his smiling eyes and saw that they were a very deep sapphire. His pale hair wasn’t as short as Eri’s or as long as Tom’s but it was the same exact shade as all of theirs. He even had the same jawline.
And this was Orion Child. Notorious serial killer. Nemesis of cat shifter society. A horror story.
The father of her mates—and the man who had tried to kidnap her once before. And almost succeeded.
Rani shook in Eri’s arms, her fingers digging into his forearm as it banded across her waist.
“There’s no need for that,” Orion sighed, eyeing Nigh’s magic storm. “I’ve only come to talk to Rani.” He peered around Eri to give her a smile, and Rani strained towards him eagerly as everything but him blurred out of focus. “Hello, sweet Rani.”
“Hi,” Rani replied, her voice soft as a smile crossed her face. She couldn’t remember why she’d been afraid of him; he was charming and nice. “Would you like a cup of tea?”
“No,” Nigh barked, and the dark wind pressed closer to her, a tendril stroking her cheek. “Fight it, Rani, he’s charming you.”
Orion sighed, his handsome face lined with hurt. “You always think the worst of me. I only want to talk to your mate. I’m not going to hurt her.”
“You must understand,” Eri replied, calm and diplomatic, “why we find that hard to believe after everything we’ve witnessed.”
Dark Star’s eyes softened, and Rani believed the sadness was genuine. “I can never make up for what happened.”
“What happened.” Tom’s voice lashed across the apartment, his body tense as a bowstring beside Rani. “It wasn’t just a one-time thing, Dad, you killed people! Lots of people!”
“Don’t you want your mother back?” Orion replied, taking a step into the apartment and not seeming to care that Nigh’s magic lashed at his chest, trying to push him back. It had no effect. “Wouldn’t you kill to see her again? To hear her laugh?”
Rani’s heart ached with sympathy. “I’m so sorry for your loss. I can’t imagine the pain you must be in.”
Orion’s dark eyes locked on hers, and she could almost feel his agony. The thought of losing any of her mates, like he’d lost his, made torture spike in all her brands. The guys winced and—and a spear of midnight magic hurtled from Dark Star’s raised hands right for Rani, so blindingly fast that it left a streak of shadow in the air, like an inverse light trail.
Eri tried to turn Rani to avoid the blow, but it was too late; it went clean through her ribs, shocking a gasp from her lips. It felt like cool water spread through her insides, but it didn’t hurt. No pain exploded through her body. Not even discomfort.
But the guys acted as if she’d been shot.
“No,” Tom shouted, grabbing hold of Rani’s arm as she took a step out of the dark whirlwind, fighting Eri’s hold in an attempt to cross the apartment. The spear of night became a lasso around her body, tugging her into sudden movement. She needed to get across the flat. Needed to, or she would die.
“Let her go,” Tom gasped as her hand connected with his stomach in her bid to escape. “Please, Dad, please.”
“I just want to talk to her,” Orion said with a reassuring smile. “Come here, sweet Rani.”
The lasso tightened and Rani was tugged across the apartment with a force so strong that her mates couldn’t fight it. She nearly tripped, but she made it to Dark Star by the door. Not even Nigh’s whirlwind could hold her back as Dark Star dialled up his smile to a dazzling brightness.
/> “There,” Orion said, smiling as she came close enough to touch. He caught her hand and squeezed, his eyes crinkled with genuine affection as the rope around her middle relaxed, leaving Rani pleasantly woozy. “Isn’t that better? Now boys, don’t try to follow us, or I’ll rip your mate into pieces.”
A distraught sound echoed across the flat. Eri. Or Tom—or Nigh, she couldn’t tell.
A faraway part of Rani wanted to rip herself out of from Dark Star’s grasp ... but she was so comforted and warm here, so perfectly content. It felt like she was floating in the world’s most perfect bath, with candles everywhere and a glass of wine in her hand, the scent of lilacs and roses all around her. Why would she ever fight? She couldn’t remember. Already the words Dark Star had spoken were floating out of her mind.
Orion tucked her into his side and gave her a beatific smile, and Rani’s heart fluttered. She rested her head on his shoulder with a sigh, her whole body relaxed and her mind blissfully empty of all anxieties.
“You’re not taking her,” someone said, their voice twisted with pain and grief, and Rani’s floaty happiness was obliterated as pain lashed through the brand on her upper arm.
Her knees went out from under her as agony built and built, a scream tearing from her mouth as she curled over herself on the floor. It hurt so much, in every part of her body, until she was gasping sobs and pleading for help.
“Eri,” Dark Star said, sounding surprised, almost apologetic.
“Get. Out,” Nigh snarled, his body covering Rani’s, wrapping entirely around her. The pain flickered out for a split second but then it returned so much worse, bad enough that Rani would do anything for it to stop, “Out.”
“He can’t,” Tom said urgently. “Eri needs the antidote. Dad, please—”
Orion straightened, his shadow falling over Rani. She daren’t look up, curling tighter into a ball as pain continued to blaze through her body from the brand on her bicep. Her head was still woozy, but in a moment of clarity she pieced together what had happened: Eri had attempted to save her.
God, what had Dark Star done to Eri? Was he gravely injured? Was he ... no, that didn’t bear thinking about.
“You know where I live,” he said smoothly, the surprise and regret fading from his voice. “If you want the antidote for your brother, bring Rani to me. But you’ll need to act quickly, my venom will have reached his heart within forty-eight hours.”
Venom. Act quickly. Forty-eight hours.
Those words echoed in Rani’s ears, a loud roaring in her blood that drowned out even the pain in her brand. With her teeth gritted and her eyes blazing, her body shaking with barely-contained rage, Rani pushed to her knees, then stumbled to her feet. Nigh never once let go of her, letting her lean against him for stability.
Rani didn’t know what she planned to do, only that her magic was building and she would unleash all of it on Orion Child until he healed her mate.
Power rose with the force of a tidal wave, and Rani’s hand curled into a fist instinctively. A tendril of midnight magic snapped out from her palm, like part of Nigh’s whirlwind. No, not like that. It wasn’t wind and shadow. It was a slice of night sky, blackest black with silver stars.
As the magic coiled at her feet, a handle pooled in her fist, and Rani realised it was a whip. A whip formed of purest night.
Without hesitating, Rani reared it back, mindful of her mates, and snapped it across the flat at Orion Child. It wrapped around his neck, fatally tight, and she yanked it even tighter, nothing but cool, uncompromising will and death in her eyes. “Heal him.”
She didn’t know where this person was coming from, this badass bitch, except Rani was furious and terrified and her shakiness had somehow transmuted into lethal stillness. “Now.”
Dark Star met her eyes, and there was no consideration for his poisoned son as he grinned, big and wide and victorious. “You are glorious.”
And just as Rani began to wind her whip of night suffocatingly tight, willing to do whatever it took to heal her mate, he vanished. Just ... vanished, leaving nothing but specks of darkness in his wake. Those too faded, and Rani slumped against Nigh as her strength sapped from her in a cruel rush, the whip slipping from her fingers and winking out of existence.
“Eri,” she gasped, her vision going dark. Because of the magic she’d drawn on, or because her mate was dying?
Nigh spun her in his arms, squeezing her tight as his chest shook with jagged breaths. “Rani,” he breathed, his hands moving over her body, her face, touching her anywhere he could to reassure himself she was still in one piece, still breathing. “Shit, we nearly lost you, woman.”
“Eri,” Rani repeated, tilting as dizziness swam through her.
“Here,” Eri replied, strained and clearly in pain, but Rani sobbed in relief. She hadn’t expected to hear his voice, maybe not ever again. She peeled her eyelids apart and turned, supported by Nigh, until she could see Eri propped against the base of the sofa with Tom leant over him, both of them paler than usual. Eri had three deep slashes in his face, oozing crimson blood and inky darkness.
Rani’s bottom lip wobbled, tears spilling free. Even dizzy and in pain, she was thinking straight enough to know one thing for sure. “I have to go to him. I have to save you.”
“No,” Eri argued, weak but somehow forceful. His eyes slid shut, but he peeled them open with effort. “No, Rani. I need you safe.”
Nigh’s arms tightened around her waist, echoing the sentiment.
“I need you safe,” Rani replied in a small, broken voice. “I don’t care that I’ve only known you a day. You’re my mate. I’m supposed to protect you. So let me.”
Eri groaned, his eyes closing. “Please, treasured mate. You don’t know what he’s like.”
“No.” She swallowed, a bout of dizziness and pain rushing through the brand. “But I know you. I know you’re kind and generous and always taking care of us. You’re a good person; you don’t deserve to die. And I don’t want you to die for me.”
“You’re in no shape to go anywhere,” Tom pointed out quietly, propping Eri up as he swayed. “You need to sleep, love. Recover from expending so much magic at once, not to mention so soon after your ceremony.”
Rani’s heart ached. “Please.”
She couldn’t find her way to Dark Star without their help, not in her current state.
“Sleep,” Nigh rumbled, bending down and knocking her legs out from under her, catching her up against his chest. “Eri needs sleep too, you can share the bed while we make a plan.”
Rani peered up at him, only able to see a slice of his strong jaw and fierce expression as he crossed the room. “A plan?”
Nigh sighed, glancing down at her with pain in his indigo eyes. “For getting you in and out of Dark Star’s house safely. You’re right, we need to save Eri. But we can’t risk you without a solid plan.” His lips brushed her forehead. He was so sweet and gentle that for a second, Rani didn’t recognise this Nigh. But then he placed her on the bed and she made to sit back up, and he growled. Pushing her back into the mattress, he aggressively tucked her in. “Sleep, woman. Recover your magic. We’ll need it if we’re going to get the antidote.”
Rani scowled, but dizziness and pain rocked her again and she gasped at the force of it.
“Here you go,” Tom said, with forced cheer, supporting Eri over to the bed and lowering him to the mattress. “One teddy bear for you to cuddle. Or ... pussy cat, I suppose.”
Rani smiled. She appreciated the attempt to lighten the mood, even if she was cut up with worry. When Eri inhaled sharply as he pulled the covers up over himself, Rani rolled over, dizziness be damned, and did it for him, tucking them close around him and cuddling close.
“You’re going to be fine,” she whispered, kissing his shoulder and then the brand on his bicep, glowing blue-violet and sky blue. “I promise.”
Eri didn’t reply; he was already asleep.
“You’d better come up with a good plan,” Rani sai
d, swallowing the lump in her throat as she looked to Tom and Nigh, both of them staring at their unconscious brother. “None of us can afford to lose him.”
Tom just stared, his shoulders curled inward.
“Trust us,” Nigh insisted, giving her a pointed look. “Sleep.”
Rani decided to take his advice—which was completely different than obeying his command—and rolled back over, curling up close to Eri.
It took her several hours to fall asleep, too afraid that he’d slip away while she slept.
Blueprints
Rani didn’t feel particularly well rested when she woke up hours later, the sky dark outside the bedroom window. She’d slept through the whole day, but at least she wasn’t dizzy when she stood. She’d slept off Dark Star’s compulsion, and her magic, it seemed, had repaired itself. Or recharged like a battery—she didn’t really know how it worked.
She left Eri in bed, pale but still breathing, and padded out into the big room, finding Tom and Nigh still awake and poring over what looked alarmingly like blueprints.
Rani made a beeline for the kettle and flicked it on, needing caffeine if she was going to get through anything that involved plans. She’d told them to find a way for her to get Eri the cure, but this was already more complex than anything she could have come up with herself.
“Rani,” Tom said, jumping off the couch and hurrying over to her, pulling her into a tight hug as he rubbed up and down her back. Rani sighed, melting into the touch as her eyes fluttered shut. “Feeling any better, gorgeous?”
Rani nodded against his shoulder. “A bit. Are you okay? You and Nigh? Did Dark Star hurt you? I was so focussed on Eri—”
“We’re fine,” Tom assured her, pulling back to give her a grin. “It’d take a bit more than a lance of midnight magic to take us down.”
“A lance?” Rani frowned, flattening her hands against his lower back as she held onto him, staring up into his icy blue eyes. “That’s what he used?”
She remembered the dark spear Orion had shot at her.
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