by Jeze Xyn
“It’s already forgiven, Kesah.”
“Okay, now you have to tell me what that word means. There’s no way it means ‘one we’re protecting’ like I was told.”
Malik’s chuckle of amusement was nice to hear. “But it does mean that. We simply left out the part that it is an endearment used for the one we feel connected to, the one we would protect with our lives.”
“None of you even knew me the first time it was used, Malik. Why in Goddess name would you use an endearment on me?”
“We might not have known you, but the moment we were close to you, all four of us knew we were connected to you. We discussed that connection while you slept the first night you were here.”
“Oh. Okay then.” I yawned and smiled sheepishly at him.
“You should sleep, Kesah. The others will be at your door sooner than you think.”
“Will you stay? I don’t think I want to be alone tonight.”
“Of course, Vesalea. Where you are is where I always belong.”
I sighed when he kissed me and then snuggled into him. The gentle trailing of his fingers along my side was soothing, relaxing, and soon my eyes were drifting closed.
“Sleep, Vesalea, and know I would give my life to keep you safe,” I heard Malik whisper before I drifted off to a dreamless sleep.
Chapter 10
Arianna
I awoke to a pair of arms wrapped tightly around me, and a very tender ass. My mind played back all that happened the night before—from the moment Selene arrived to falling asleep in Malik’s arms—and a sleepy smile lifted the corners of my lips.
“Good morning, Kesah.”
Malik’s voice rumbled through his chest and I tilted my head up to kiss his jaw. “Good morning.” I glanced at the time and arched a brow. “It’s almost eight and no one has bothered us yet? I’m shocked.”
“They’ve come and gone while you slept. I assured them you were fine, and that we would join them for breakfast once you woke.”
“You mean all three of them were in here and they didn’t stay? I’m utterly shocked.” I put my hand against my chest in mock surprise.
“Careful, Kesah, I don’t think your ass could handle another spanking so soon. How are you feeling this morning?”
I thought about his question. “To tell you the truth, Malik, you’re right. It couldn’t. I’m kind of sore. A certain someone gave me the first spanking I’ve had since I was a child and then proceeded to pound into me.”
“Don’t pretend you didn’t enjoy every second of it,” he countered with a growl.
I laughed at that. “Oh, I’m not. I definitely enjoyed it, but I could use a soak in the tub before we go get breakfast. Especially if the others plan to torture me with more training today.”
His chuckle had me scowling at him. “It’s not funny! I still hurt in places I never knew existed.”
“Then we need to ease your muscles. Stay, I will get the tub filling for you.”
“Will you use the Rosemary oil?”
“Hmm. No, I think today you need the Eucalyptus. Trust me, Kesah, it’s not overpowering, but it will ease more than the ache in your muscles.”
“I trust your opinion, Malik.” I watched him go and admired his ass. Hell, I admired his entire body. I was surrounded by some of the sexiest men I have ever met, and I’d only seen two of them naked so far.
When Malik returned, he scooped me up into his arms and carried me toward the bathroom. “I can walk, you know.”
“Perhaps, but I’d rather carry you. Are you complaining?”
I nuzzled his neck. “Nope. Will you relax with me?”
“As you wish, Vesalea.”
The press of his lips to my jaw made me sigh. “Thank you. The last time I relaxed in the tub, I fell asleep. I’m a little…worried it might happen again.”
A growl erupted from him and I looked up at him.
“You will never soak in the tub without one of us near again. We will not lose you, Kesah.”
“Zaine said almost the exact same thing. You’ll have to forgive me if I have a hard time understanding the way all of you react to things. This is all new to me.” I gave him a cheeky grin.
“You’ll learn, Pet.” He set me in the tub and then slid in behind me. As his arms wrapped around me, I relaxed against him and let the hot water and the Eucalyptus oil soothe my aching body.
There was a comfortable silence between us and I wondered where his thoughts were. Mine were on all I’d learned—and yet to learn—about myself and my family. So many secrets, so many lies. Why?
Half an hour later, the water was cooling, and I reluctantly climbed out of the tub with him to dry off and dress.
“I’m going to change clothes. I’ll be back in a few minutes, Kesah. Wait for me here.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “I’m not helpless, Malik. I can walk up the stairs all on my little old lonesome,” I countered.
“Someone didn’t learn from the spanking she’s already received,” he growled. “Do you need another?”
“Um, no. I’m good. Fine, I’ll wait right here for you.” I crossed my arms and when he left my quarters I stuck my tongue out at the door.
True to his word, five minutes later Malik was back in a pair of dark jeans and a t-shirt that clung to him like a second skin. I wanted to kiss my way along his abs. Maybe next time I’d get to.
“Keep those thoughts up, Vesalea, and we won’t make it to breakfast.”
I swallowed. “You can read my mind?”
“No, but I can smell exactly where your mind is.”
I blushed. “Okay, that’s just so unfair. How am I supposed to be able to hide anything from you guys if all four of you can smell it when I’m turned on?”
“Easy. You’re not.”
“Oh, ha ha, very funny, Malik.”
When we reached the main floor two new men had joined us, both of whom were seated on either side of Calix.
“About time you dragged your ass out of bed. We’ve all been up for hours. How in the fuck can you sleep past dawn?”
I gave Calix a dark look. “How can you wake up before the sun is even up?” I countered. “I’ve never been a morning person. Get the fuck over it.”
Calix’s laughter surprised me.
“Damn, you are going to be keeping these four on their toes. Before you go stuff your face, let me introduce the new additions to the training. On my left is Tanyth Ruvaen and on my right is Reylen Versys. They’re both experienced working with Demonic magic—no offense Malik, but given your connection I thought you might be inclined to go a little easy on her—and they’re here to test the limits of what you can do.”
Malik growled at Calix before he reluctantly nodded. “You’re right. If I saw Arianna struggling, I would stop,” he finally admitted.
“What fun, more training. Don’t get me wrong, I get why all of you are worried, but can’t I get even a day to process everything that’s happened so far?”
“Sorry to disappoint you, Sister Dear, but the Council wants you brought before them in three days and they will test you in ways you can’t even imagine. If you’re not prepared, it will be extremely painful.”
“Fine. Let me eat and then you can torture me for another day,” I grumbled.
“It’s not so terrible, Kesah. We’ll be with you the entire time,” Bastien informed me.
I waved away his words, went to the dining room table where platters of food were spread out like a buffet, and piled a plate with everything from spicy sausage links to scrumptious danishes. At the look I received from Dax I set the plate down and put my hands on my hips while glaring at him. “What?”
“Damn, Kesah, if I didn’t know any better I’d think you were a shifter. Work up an appetite did you?”
I felt my cheeks heat with a blush and I turned my glare on Malik when he chuckled. “Not. One. Word. And none of this ‘you didn’t learn’ blah blah blah, either. This is neither the time nor the place. But to answer yo
ur question, Dax, yes I did work up an appetite. Jealous?”
Before I had time to react, I found myself pinned between Dax and the table. I could feel just how much he wanted me by the bulge digging into me.
“You’re damn right I am, Kesah. My cat has already claimed you, and if it wasn’t for the fact I know that you’re bound to all four of us, it would be impossible to keep him from coming out and attacking Malik and Zaine right now.” His eyes were a deep gold and his voice trailed off into a growl.
I swallowed and then lifted both hands to his face to hold him in place. “No need to be jealous. Like you said, I belong to all four of you.” I rose up on my toes and pressed my lips to his. “I’m sorry for teasing you.”
I watched as his eyes faded back to their normal pale gold. The breath he took into his lungs shook his entire body. When he leaned his forehead against mine I waited calmly for him to respond.
“Thank you, Kesah. I know you meant nothing by it, but it’s not easy to keep my cat in check when he’s smelled your arousal from almost the moment we met. It doesn’t help that twice now we’ve smelled sex on you and it’s not from us.”
He spoke about his beast as if it were a separate entity. “Why do you say ‘we’?”
“My cat and I may share this body, but we are separate at the same time as being one and the same. Later, after your training, I’ll try to explain it better. All right?”
“Sure. There’s so much about the Supernatural community I really don’t know about. It’s weird. Growing up, I thought the little I learned in school was all there was to it, but I’m finding that human education barely scratches the surface.”
“You have no idea how right you are,” Calix interjected. “We’ll be in the training room when you’re ready,” she added before she, Tanyth, and Reylen left.
“Eat, Ri. You’re going to need all your strength to get through what those two will throw at you,” Zaine informed me.
“Ri? Huh. Why didn’t I think of that?” Dax questioned.
“Because I’m smarter than you,” Zaine joked. “Ri is quicker and easier to say, and it is as unique as our girl is,” he added.
“There you go talking about me like I’m not standing right here,” I teased. I carried my plate to the sofa, sat, tucked my legs beneath me, and focused on devouring my breakfast.
Chapter 11
Arianna
The first thing I noticed when we entered the training room was the large circle that took up a good chunk of the floor. It was drawn with a powder that shimmered in the overhead lights. “What’s that?”
“It’s a protection circle. It’s drawn with a mixture of salt, silver, and powdered sage.”
“Oookay. For those of us—aka me—who don’t know what a protection circle is for, mind elaborating, Calix?”
It was Tanyth who replied. “A protection circle is drawn when working with Demonic magic. It’s done for two reasons. The first is to keep any unsavory Demons who may be drawn to the power from wreaking havoc. The second is done to establish a link with the practitioner so that only he or she can drop the barrier. It keeps others from interfering.”
He picked up a chalice that was covered in runes and approached me. “We need you to cut your finger and place five drops—one for each element—in the chalice. Once the three of us”—he motioned to where Reylen stood near the circle—“enter the circle, the contents of the chalice will be added to the protection barrier.”
He held put a dagger and all four of my men made noises of displeasure. “It’s fine, guys. I can handle a little cut to my finger,” I assured them.
I held my hand out and winced when Tanyth pierced the tip of my pointer finger. Five drops of blood were squeezed out and as each one hit the mixture in the chalice, I felt a zing of awareness. The awareness strengthened when the three of us entered the circle and the mixture was poured at the four points of a compass—North, South, East and West.
“First, you need to relax, Arianna. We’re only here to help and the tension in your body is going to screw with your focus,” Tanyth informed me. “Take the North position. Reylen and I will take East and West.”
Once I moved to where he wanted me to stand, I turned so I was facing into the circle. “Now what?”
“Now, you defend.”
I frowned at Tanyth’s words but their meaning was clear seconds later when a fireball came sailing at me from Reylen.
Instinct took over and a wall of black surrounded me. The fire struck it and was instantly doused as if it had hit water.
“Okay, that was cool.”
The training started with the elements, beginning with fire. Next came Earth. Rock grew from the floor and tried to cover me, but black tendrils of magic slithered between it and my body before pushing out, shattering stone. Air was third. A vortex opened above me with the force of a tornado, but my magic kept me grounded and sucked the energy out until the vortex faded to nothing. Last was Water. Ice coated my skin, chilling my blood until it began to slow, but again my magic fought back. Heat filled me, melting the ice, and radiating out to the edge of the circle.
“Nicely done,” tanyth commended. “We know you can react to Elemental magic. That will come in handy with some Demons as well as witches, mages, and Fae. Other Demons are far more insidious.”
Searing pain erupted in my mind, making it feel like my skull was about to explode and I fell to my knees.
“Arianna!”
I heard my name being called, I could feel the others pushing against the protection circle in effort to reach me, but the magic holding the barrier up was too strong.
“Fight it,” Tanyth hissed.
As soon as I realized where the pain was coming from, I focused on Reylen. There was a red aura around him, and for just a moment he shimmered. Superimposed over the human form he presented the world, I saw flashes of horns and nails that looked like talons.
“Demon.” My eyes narrowed at him and I struggled to my feet. “Get. Out. Of. My. Head!” I screamed the last word and black flame shot out, slamming into Reylen had enough to fling him against the barrier.
“Rey! If you fucking hurt him, I’m going to kick your ass!” Calix seethed and I turned to stare at her.
“Do you really think that’s wise to threaten right now, Sister Dear.”
Even to my own ears my voice sounded different.
“Calm, Vesalea. You’re no longer in danger. That’s it. Good girl.”
I listened to Malik’s voice and the rage faded. With it, my magic faded and concern filled me for the man I’d hurt.
“How do I get rid of this damn thing?” I asked, motioning to the barrier. Tanyth was kneeling at Reylen’s side and was too focused on the other man to be concerned with the circle.
“Erase even a small part of the circle, and the barrier will drop,” Zaine answered.
I smudged the circle with the toe of my boot and felt the zing as the barrier dropped.
Calix rushed past me to where Tanyth was helping Reylen to his feet.
“What kind of Demon is Reylen?”
“How did you know he was a Demon?” Dax inquired, voice tinged with curiosity.
“I saw it, when I realized what was going on and I focused on him. He has a red aura, and I kept seeing flashes of horns and talons.”
“Reylen is half Volgaruth Demon. They’re a class of Nightmare Demons,” Malik informed me. “You shouldn’t have been able to see his Demon form.”
“Yeah, well, I only saw it when I pushed back to get him out of my head. Like, right now, I can’t see it even though I’m trying to.”
When Dax came to me and wrapped his arms around me, I sagged against him. I didn’t realize, until that moment, how drained I felt.
I watched as Calix, Tanyth, and Reylen approached us.
“You need to learn to control it when you push back. Once you’ve gained control, I pity the Demon who tries to get in your head,” Reylen said to me before he turned to Zaine, who seemed to be th
e de facto leader of our group.
“Zaine, you need to find out how far back in her family line the Demon goes, but more importantly, you need to know who she’s descended from. Your girl may need their help to harness her magic.”
“Meaning?” Zaine questioned.
“Ask her.” Reylen nodded at me and all eyes turned to me.
“Well, Ri?”
“When I pushed back...if Malik hadn’t used our bond to calm me, I don’t know what would have happened—to me. For a few seconds, it felt like the magic was going to rip me apart.”
“Shit. No more training with Demon magic until we get some answers, Zaine,” Dax growled as his arms tightened around me.
“Agreed. I should be hearing back from my contacts tonight. If they don’t have any answers, then we’re paying your parents a visit, Sweetness, and they won’t be able to lie anymore.”
I nodded mutely. What else could I do? We—I—needed answers because what had happened within the protection circle had scared the shit out of me.
Chapter 12
Dax
After the near disaster during training, Zaine had called an end to the day. It didn’t matter that it was only late morning, it was obvious that Arianna was exhausted and shaken.
“Ri and I will be in the theater room if anyone needs us,” I informed Zaine, Malik, and Bas. I’d decided to make it my mission to get her mind off of everything for a few hours.
“Come with me, Kesah.” I held a hand out to her, and when she placed her palm in mine, my fingers tightened around hers.
I led her through the main floor to the theater room. We had a massive, 80-foot screen, plush recliners, and a large, comfortable sofa to relax in. I took her to where the movie selection was and motioned to it.
“Pick your poison, Doll.”
I watched as she went through the list. I noticed every detail, from the way her nose wrinkled at certain movies, and her eyes lit up at others.