by Scott, Helen
“Is it that simple?” Keiran gritted out. “What took over Marcella wasn’t something random. It was a creature with power. Going back in time might not have done anything. It might be too late.”
I cut him a look but Raven shook his head and caught my attention. “Her shields are as they were. I can penetrate them. Whatever the fuck took over Marcella isn’t there anymore. I’d know if she was.”
“Thank fuck for that,” I wheezed, then sucking down a breath, murmured, “The council weren’t all good, but neither were they all bad. To decimate them…”
“They were arguing with the Sires—”
I held up a hand. “I know, Barclay, trust me, I saw.”
“I think the Cavalry were supposed to take the council’s place,” Keiran murmured softly.
“I think you’re right,” I replied, and hauling Marcella into my arms, I sank back into the armchair closest to me. When she snuggled into me, I released a shaky breath and enjoyed the feel of her against my chest. I could see how the others were watching her too, and knew we were all relieved that she was there. With us because… “We almost lost her today, didn’t we?” I whispered.
Cade’s jaw popped as he worked it. “Yeah. We did.”
“Only the fact that you could take us back in time saved her,” Barclay muttered, staggering to the sofa. He slumped beside Keiran and whispered, “What in the actual fuck is happening?”
“I don’t know, and I have no idea who to fucking ask.” The admission stung, but for all my contacts, I didn’t have a clue who we could talk to about this. “I’ve been…” The words stung as I bit them off, “Indoctrinated to believe that Merlin was evil. Even as I worked on both sides of the fence, doing shit for the Reapers and the Cavalry, I was well aware they—”
“They, what?” Gideon prompted, resting his elbows on his knees as he sat forward, his attention all on me as I hesitated.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “This is… today, it’s unprecedented.”
“If whoever took over Marcella was the Lady, then…” Keiran grunted. “If she’s supposed to be ‘good’ then what the fuck is Merlin capable of?”
“I don’t know.” I shook my head, floored by the prospect myself.
We fell silent again, trying to deal with what the hell was happening, but it was Raven who spoke first. “Why now?”
I frowned. “Because we’re all mated. We’re the catalyst, I just have no idea what we triggered when Marcella claimed us as hers.”
Unease slipped through the room, and we stared at the one woman who could make us or break us. Our hearts were in our eyes as we stared at her, but she was a wild card, and she was dangerous. Not just to us but to every living creature on this earth, because she represented something we didn’t fucking understand.
I hated being in the dark.
Loathed it.
But, after what had just happened, it was proof that the council was expendable, so that meant they knew jack shit. There was no point in trying to speak with them to figure out what the fuck was going on. And the two sets of people who might understand, I wouldn’t approach with a ten-foot pole.
I was their minion anyway. I might have been a high-ranking one, the highest, but the Cavalry and the Reapers didn’t confide in me. The Cavalry had just tried to take over the council, and the Reapers… though they hadn’t been involved, I didn’t trust them as far as I could throw them. Keiran was right. If the Lady was good and Merlin was evil, the Reapers stood for him, and his freedom. How could I go to them with questions?
Which, though it exasperated the fuck out of me, meant we were stuck with no answers, no means of seeking them out, and time was ticking away. Leading us back to those moments we’d just left behind. The future was unavoidable, and that loaded me down with a dread so heavy, I felt like time wrapped me up in iron chains I’d never liberate myself from.
I released a shaky breath, and a lifetime’s worth of arrogance bled out of me as, to men I’d always considered myself better than—even if their union had been sought out by a higher order—I admitted, “I have no idea what to do.”
My words fell like bricks from the sky onto the ground. The five males, Stained, all of them, worthless and dirty in my world, stared at me as one. But there was no disgust there; no hatred etched onto their features.
Instead, there was understanding.
Compassion.
And that was only confirmed when Gideon got to his feet, strode over to me and, reaching out to squeeze my shoulder, stated, “We’re all in the dark, but we’ll figure this out, Darius. We’ll figure out what the fuck is going on, and we’ll keep Marcella safe.”
The others nodded, their gazes intent, and their faces stern in their agreement.
I wasn’t sure what I’d done to deserve being inducted into this brotherhood, but at that moment, for the first time since I’d learned Marcella was mine, I wasn’t on the outside looking in.
We were a team.
A unit bound by the love of this one, crazy beautiful woman who was a catalyst for only the Maker knew what.
Epilogue
Merlin
She was Awake.
I felt it.
In my bones. In the soil beneath me, in the roots of the trees that housed me, in the sunlight that nourished my prison, her essence drifting into being.
She’d captured me millennia afore, and in turn, I’d imprisoned her.
The treacherous bitch.
But she was free and I, most certainly, wasn’t.
For centuries I’d been waiting on her prison to weaken, but it hadn’t, and now, with her stirring, I felt the cage around me tighten until I was sure I’d choke. Though air didn’t nourish me as it once had, my lungs still worked, and the lack of oxygen was enough to make me panic. I felt the bark around me grow harder, stronger, digging into me until blood spilled, until rivulets ran down me, and gravity took it to the ground beneath me.
And then, just as quickly as I felt her, she was no longer there.
I felt her loss in my bones. In the soil beneath me, in the roots of the trees that housed me, in the sunlight that nourished my prison, her essence disappearing until I could breathe once more. Until my restraints loosened, freeing me in a way that I hadn’t been for a thousand years or more.
As I studied my cell, trying to ascertain the differences that had happened in a handful of moments, I felt a smile curve my lips.
There was give where there had never been afore.
A slight space here, a bit of wiggle room there.
Whatever the Lady had done, wherever She was now, She’d given me the keys to my goal, and if I couldn’t use that to my advantage, then I was no longer worthy of my name.
TO BE CONTINUED IN STAINED SOULS
Also by Helen Scott
Thank you for reading!
You can also come and hang out in my reader group where you can find out all about what I’m working on, sneak peeks, and even exclusive giveaways!
Come and join the fun here!
Don’t want to join the group but want to know what’s going on?
Follow me on social media:
Website: http://www.helenscottauthor.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/helenscottauthor/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/HelenM459
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/helenscottauthor/
Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter for new release alerts, giveaways, and other fun stuff!
Don’t forget to check out Helen’s other series.
Four Worlds
Wounding Atlantis
Finding Hyperborea
Escaping El Dorado
Embracing Agartha – Coming Soon
Joining Avalon – Coming Soon
Cerberus
Daughter of Persephone
Daughter of Hades
Queen of the Underworld
Cerberus Box Set
The Wild Hunt
Daughter Of The Hunt
/> Wardens of Midnight
Woman of Midnight (A Wardens of Midnight Novella)
Sanctuary at Midnight
The Siren Legacy
The Oracle (A Siren Legacy Novella)
The Siren’s Son
The Siren’s Eyes
The Siren’s Code
The Siren’s Heart
The Banshee (A Siren Legacy Novella)
The Siren’s Bride
Fury’s Fire
Fury’s Valentine (A Fury’s Fire Novella)
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank you most of all, as the reader, for giving me a chance to entertain you and invite you into my world. Thank you so much. I hope you enjoyed it! A big thank you to our cover designer, Natasha Snow, for helping us bring this book to life. Thank you to my family for helping me pursue my dream and putting up with my wandering mind. Last, but not least, thank you to my husband for pushing me to share my stories with the world. Thanks for putting up with me every day, babe. You’re amazing!
About the Author
Helen Scott lives in the Chicago area with her wonderful husband and furry, four-legged kids. She spends way too much time with her nose in a book and isn’t sorry about it. When not reading or writing, Helen can be found absorbed in one video game or another or crocheting her heart out.
Also by Serena Akeroyd
I’d love to see you in my Diva reader’s group where you can find out all the gossip on new releases as and when they happen. You can join here. Or, you can always email me. I love to hear from you guys: [email protected].
Until I see you there or you write me an email, here are more of my books for you to read…
Naughty Nookie
Sinfully Theirs
The Gods Are Back In Town
Hotter than Hades
The Sun Revolves Around Apollo
Five Points, Hell’s Kitchen
A Screwed Duet
Screw You
Screw Me
Filthy Feckers
Filthy Hot (COMING SOON)
FourWinds
Queen of the Vamps
Kingdom of Veronia
Perry & Her Princes
Her Highness, Princess Perry
Long Live Queen Perry
QUINTESSENCE
Charmed by Them
Healed by Them
Worshipped by Them
Protected by Them
Loved by Them
QUINTESSENCE: The Sequels
Sawyer
Andrei
Kurt
Sean
Anchor Pride Series
Claimed by Caden
McKinnon’s Mate
The Corsakis
Three’s Never A Crowd
Old Enough to Know Better
The Federation
A Menage Made on Madison
La Belle sans La Bete Series
Menage Material
A Thoroughly Modern Menage
Forever Theirs
Secrets & Lies
The TriAlpha Chronicles
Origin
Trinity
Triskele
Triad
Triumph
Trierna
TriAlpha
Los Lobos
The Raw Touch
The Salsang Chronicles (written with Helen Scott)
Stained Egos
Stained Hearts
Stained Minds
Stained Bonds