by Katie May
tendons and bones, muscles and skin. His fist had been the only thing I saw
as it repeatedly bashed into my skull. Blood ran down my cheeks in rivulets,
staining my skin.
I had seen my father mad hundreds of times before, but never like this.
Never this...enraged. As he destroyed me, flayed me, I didn’t recognize the
man looming above me. There was something distinctly manic about his
smile and laugh. Before, his torture sessions had always been carefully
controlled—a way to assert his dominance over his “disobedient son.” I truly
believed that killing Tavvy sent my father over the edge. He didn’t love my
older brother, but he did see him as an investment. His perfect, malevolent
heir.
Now, Tavvy was dead, and he had to rely on my idiotic younger brothers
to carry out his evil will.
Well, not my blood brothers, if Tavvy was to be believed. I didn’t know if
I could trust his incessant ramblings. He claimed that my brothers and I
appeared out of thin air, but that sounded like rubbish to me. I didn’t want to
admit—even to myself—that Tavvy’s words stabbed at me, flaying me open
until I was standing before him damaged and unloved. That I felt like the
anomaly he always accused me of being. People didn’t magically appear. I
hadn’t told the guys what he’d said, and I knew Z hadn’t either, trusting me
to follow my gut instinct.
No doubt, Tavvy was lying, attempting to get one last rise out of me
before he died.
But if it was true, if I truly wasn’t related to my sadistic father and
brothers, then that could explain why I was their favorite punching bag.
Fuck, I ache.
The last thing I remembered before unconsciousness mercifully claimed
me was Z’s angelic face. With her golden hair framing her heart-shaped face,
she could’ve been an angel sent straight from heaven. An angel sent to save
me and protect me. To smooth down my jagged edges and be the balm to fix
my tattered soul.
I smiled wistfully at the thought of my perfect mate, stretching out my
muscles once again. Father had given me a potion designed to accelerate my
healing; it healed everything except my severed legs.
Tears of indignation flooded my eyes. Those days with Z in the Mermaid
Kingdom had been some of the best of my life. For the first time in my life, I
had felt like a man, someone worthy of Z. I still remembered the taste of her
as she rode my face. Her pussy clenching around my cock. Her hands tangled
in my hair.
My cock jumped to attention as pleasure bombarded me. What I wouldn’t
give to be balls deep in my perfect, beautiful, frightening mate...
“Control the tent in your pants, Mermaid, before I cut it off,” a familiar
voice retorted. Atta flipped the lights on, instantly blinding me.
“What the hell are you doing here, Attie?” I questioned, using the
nickname we all gave her when we were kids. Biologically, she was Lupe’s
sister, but we all loved her like she was our own. And pestering the feisty
redhead was always a highlight of my day.
Her delicate lips pursed in distaste as she surveyed me on the bed. I didn’t
know what she knew about my condition—if she’d heard the full story or
only parts of it—but either way, she wasn’t pleased.
I was surprised to see her here. Don’t get me wrong—I loved the girl
fiercely—but I would much rather wake up to my beautiful mate.
“Where’s Z?” I asked. When her expression shuttered, the muscles
around her eyes clenching, I felt my heart stutter. Worry pulsated through me
like an electrical current. I sat straight up in bed, ignoring the slight sting as
my muscles protested the sudden movement. “Is she hurt? Where the hell is
she?”
“She’s fine,” Atta said immediately, worrying her lower lip with her
teeth.
“And?” I searched the room until I found my wheelchair, resting against
the wall. Atta, noticing the direction of my gaze, hurried forward to open the
chair. “Where is she?”
“You’re not going to like the answer,” she admitted, stepping away as I
used my arms to pull myself onto the chair. It was the one perk of being
handicapped—I had arm muscles that most guys envied and most girls
swooned over. I was strong enough to hold Z up and eat her out without
breaking a sweat.
Yeah, I was smug, but could you really blame me?
“Where is she, Attie?” I repeated, turning towards the Shifter princess.
Her lips curved downwards as she fiddled with the front of her dress.
“She’s with the others.”
My eye fucking twitched.
“And?”
“And...” She blew out a raspberry. “They’re traveling to the Vampire
Kingdom to find Jax.”
“What?” I exploded, already wheeling out of my room and into the
makeshift kitchen. Sure enough, my tablet—powered by both magic and
technology—was beeping with dozens of messages from my brothers.
I scanned through them all, my irritation at them and my fear for Z
growing with every consecutive second. The Vampire Kingdom was
notorious for their blood banks and human carnivals. I knew my brothers
would protect her with their lives, but that knowledge didn’t alleviate the
worry pounding through me. I should be with them too. Me.
Instead, they had left me behind.
All of my earlier insecurities returned with a vengeance. Z had made me
feel like I wasn’t less of a man because of my handicap. Two legs or no legs,
I was worthy of her love.
Still, she left me. I understood that they didn’t have a choice, but worry
still corroded away at my organs.
“They didn’t want to leave you,” Atta whispered, moving to stand behind
me. She placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
“I know,” I replied with a nonchalance I didn’t feel. I felt nothing but
worry for Z and my brothers. Did they find Jax yet? Were they hurt? Fuck.
Scrubbing a hand through my golden locks, I focused once more on Atta.
“Anything else?”
She wrung her hands together guiltily. “The Kings made her take Axel.”
“Axel?” I raised a brow. “The old assassin Axel?”
Atta nodded slowly, eyes cautious as she surveyed me.
If the Kings wanted him to accompany Z...
That was a shit ton of bad.
“Anything else?” I asked through gritted teeth, and once more, Atta
appeared indecisive. She chewed on her lower lip anxiously as she rocked
back and forth. Finally, she shook her head once.
Yeah, like I fucking believed that. She was hiding something from me,
but I could only pray that it didn’t have anything to do with my mate.
Turning away from Atta, I focused once more on the glowing tablet.
Killian had messaged me a few minutes earlier to tell me they’d arrived at an
inn on the outskirts of the Vampire Kingdom. I didn’t recognize the name,
and my worry only intensified.
Unease skittered down my spine as I switched the tablet off and tossed it
across the room. My breathing was heavy as I clenched and unclenched my
hands by my sides.
“Your reaction is completely understandable,” Atta assured me softly.
“Your sin is Envy. You’re envious that Z’s other mates are capable of doing
what you can’t. You’re jealous that they’re with her right now and you’re
not.”
“What the hell are you trying to prove, Attie?” I snapped. “Make me feel
bad? Make me feel like a shitty mate?”
“No.” She shook her head, a whimsical smile playing on her lips. “I have
an idea.”
“And what is this idea? Go after her ourselves?” I had considered it, but I
knew I wouldn’t be able to reach the inn before they left again. I could
demand that they wait for me, but Killian had explained Z’s strict time limit.
Fuck the Kings. Fuck them all to the deepest pit of hell where they could rot
with our ancestors.
“There’s a pill that the resistance uses,” she said, lowering her voice to a
whisper. I gaped at her, slack-jawed and shocked. Her words were very, very
dangerous.
“What do you mean?” I tossed her a wary look that warned her to tread
carefully.
Her smile was positively carnal—the cat that caught a canary.
“It’s a little green pill that a powerful Mage can make. I know Diego used
to make them for Z. It creates a portal to your home.”
My confusion only grew. “But I’m here... and she’s there.”
“But is this place your home?” She cocked her hip out. “Or is that pretty
mate of yours your home?”
I considered her words for a moment in stunned silence. Giddy glee
cascaded through me as I looked up at my devious sister.
“Can you get me one of those pills?”
Atta’s smile was capable of shriveling a snake into nothing more than a
husk.
“What are sisters for?”
TEN
Z
“W hat the hell was that for?” Bash groaned, clutching
his cheek.
“What the hell do you think?” I snapped back
vehemently. “Are you seriously asking your mate to act like your slave?”
Beneath the growing anger was something akin to hurt and frustration. I
didn’t like being considered less than my mates. Not at all. “Are you going to
make me crawl on my hands and knees? Give you a blowjob?”
His eyes widened in horror before narrowing. “Fuck, no! You know we
don’t have an option.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” I retorted, glaring first at
Bash, then Lupe, and then Ryland. “You’re the princes, for fuck’s sake. You
can set a precedent.” I was panting, my chest heaving, as I implored them
with my eyes. Change started with one person, one brave soul willing to defy
societal laws and norms.
“Not at the risk of your life,” Lupe responded at last. At my penetrating
glare, he held his hands up placatingly. “I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not,” I hissed. When Bash procured a leash from his
backpack, I just about fucking lost it. I knew my eyes were hurling daggers,
but I couldn’t find the words to articulately express how pissed I was. In a
matter of minutes, they had belittled me and shamed me. I didn’t feel like
their mate; I felt like their property.
Annoyance and anger warred for dominance in the pit of my stomach, but
shock kept them adequately subdued.
What type of world were we entering that made my mates behave like
cavemen?
“Don’t punch me again,” Bash warned as he held up a sea blue collar.
When I remained stubbornly silent, too angry to speak, he sighed. “We’ll take
it off of you as soon as we enter our rooms. We’re doing this to protect you.”
“And what about the hundreds of other humans experiencing the same
treatment?” I bit out, allowing him to fasten the collar around my neck.
I felt like a fucking dog. A pet. I’d never experienced anything more
humiliating.
Bash’s lips pressed into a grim line, but he didn’t respond.
When the collar was secured, he hooked the leash to it and wrapped the
end around his fist.
“I know you’re mad,” Bash began, but again, all I managed to do was
level him with a glare capable of freezing lava. “Do you think I like doing
this? Do you think I enjoy seeing my mate on a fucking leash?”
“Oh, so now I’m your mate?” I scoffed. The collar was dreadfully
uncomfortable, scratching at my skin. Anger—in the form of liquid heat—
sizzled through my system. “I thought you didn’t believe in mates.”
He gave me a long, indecipherable look. After a moment, he sighed and
turned towards the lobby.
“Let’s get you to your room. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can
get this damn thing off of you.”
I swore my anger was a living entity. It festered in my belly like a tiny
seed and gradually began to grow and grow. Now, there was a decent-sized
hate plant blooming throughout my body. Its thorns rubbed against my heart,
pressing down on the organ until blood seeped out.
With Bash leading the group, we entered a surprisingly modern and
elegant lobby. The white flooring tiles had been polished so meticulously I
could see my reflection in it. Golden cherubs, each one with long fangs, lined
the ceiling. Each cherub was laced with white veins that bled into the cream
paint on the wall. I didn’t know if I found it terrifying or beautiful.
A bored clerk sat behind a desk, his head resting on his hand, but he sat
straight up when he caught sight of us. Leering, he gave me a critical once-
over that instantly put him on my “kill list.” It was a really fucking long list.
“Your highnesses,” he said with a reverent bow of his head. Bash’s
expression was glacial as he tugged me along.
“I believe Prince Devlin already checked us in,” he said as Lupe stood on
one side of me and Ryland took the other.
The innkeeper’s eyes flickered from me to the Mage prince and then back
to me again. To my disgust, the fangs poking his bottom lip were coated in a
strange, yellow substance. There was nothing I hated more than a Vampire
who couldn’t keep up with basic hygiene.
“He didn’t register a human,” the innkeeper stuttered out. Despite his
obvious unease, he gave me another lecherous look.
“She’s with us,” Lupe growled possessively. I just barely held in my
snort. If he didn’t want people knowing I was their mate, then he needed to
tone down the “mine” claims.
“Humans go to the stables,” the Vampire countered with a haughty smirk.
I had the distinct feeling that if I traveled to the stables, I wouldn’t be coming
back.
“She’s with us,” Ryland reiterated, tone almost indolent. He wrapped a
shadowy arm around my shoulders. “Ours to do with as we please.”
Oh, yeah. I was gutting that asshole as soon as we were alone.
The Vampire seemed flustered, but thankfully, he didn’t protest. With a
nod, he gave the men their room and floor numbers.
“And!” he called to our retreating backs. “The human stays on her leash
any time she leaves her room. We don’t want her making a mess.”
Before I could stab
my knife through his neck, Bash pulled me into the
stairwell.
“Cool it, Z,” he hissed.
“You cool it,” I retorted oh-so-wisely.
We didn’t run into any Nightmares or humans by the time we made it to
our room on the second floor. Devlin had rented out two rooms to be split
between me and my princes. Axel and the King-appointed servants stayed in
a room at the other end of the hall.
“How mad is she?” Devlin asked as soon as we stepped into the first
room. He sat on the edge of the bed, methodically pulling off each sock and
folding them. The man was anal about his clothing, that was for damn sure.
“She is fucking furious,” I quipped, ripping the collar off my neck and
tossing it at Lupe. “How could you guys do this to me?”
“We did what we needed to do to protect you,” Lupe argued patiently, as
if he was explaining a difficult math equation to a petulant child.
Angry tears burned my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Absolutely
refused. Despite my resolve, one traitorous tear escaped unbidden, trailing
down my cheek.
“That was humiliating,” I spat, wrapping my arms around my waist. “The
way he looked at me...”
“I wanted to rip his eyes out of his skull,” Lupe said darkly. His muscles
flexed as anger darkened his eyes.
“He’ll discover a very nasty surprise in his bed when we leave,” Bash
drawled.
“We’re sorry we had to do that to you,” Devlin added, rising from the bed
and stepping in front of me. He placed his hands on my shoulders until I
finally looked up at him. His violet eyes glimmered in the dim lighting, flecks
of gold appearing. “I can’t promise that it won’t happen again—we’ll do
what we need to in order to protect you—but I can promise you that not one
of us, including Bash, sees you as a slave or servant or anything less than the
goddess you are.”
Some of the anger melted out of me at the sincerity in his tone. I knew the
guys didn’t see me the way the rest of the population saw humans, but the
pain and humiliation from earlier didn’t entirely abate.
“I want to be alone,” I admitted softly, stepping away.
Devlin hesitated—only briefly—before he nodded tersely. “Of course.
We need to prepare dinner for tonight, and I need to check in on Killian.
We’ll be just next door, okay?”