by Heather Long
“It’s good for him,” Rogue said and pressed a kiss to Fiona’s temple. “Do you still want Fin to fetch you bacon?”
That delighted smile she gave him resolved all his issues. “As my lady wishes,” he told her with a wink. “I’ll be back. Do try not to let them destroy the island.”
CHAPTER 15
“A king is not complete without his queen.” - Anonymous
FIONA
A lfred had been serious about Wyman pledging to me. Worse, after he and Maddox tore another swath through the beauty of the island, I had to accept. Not because I particularly wanted the grungy bastard’s allegiance. What the fuck was I supposed to do with it? Accessorize? Ugh. They needed a rule book, or at least a complete idjit’s guide to being a hybrid queen.
Maybe I should write one.
Yeah, that wasn’t going to work. I could barely focus on the construction of my house anymore. Kind of bothered me, though now and then, if I unfocused my eyes, I could see the sea beyond the windows as the sun set.
“Kitten,” Maddox murmured as he draped a soft, furry cloak over my shoulders. The entire hall was close to freezing, though Fin nearly had the stones back in place to repair the gaping hole our visitors had left in the wall. Apparently, the battle at the keep had involved a great deal of damage from their magical bombs.
You have access to magic that can do fantastic things, and you make bombs? The world was populated with monsters.
I tilted my head back as the dragon wrapped me up and then settled behind me on what was left of the dais and pulled me back against his chest. To be honest, the whole hall was freezing, but the cold hadn’t bothered me as much. They’d all promised the bathing rooms hadn’t been hit, but I hadn’t been allowed to see the library.
That was Rogue’s request, and I found it almost impossible to tell him no.
Wyman’s booming laughter came from the servants’ hall, and I swore my upper lip curled. He was such a loud bastard, constantly telling the worst jokes and flirting with me like it was his occupation. Maddox grumbled and Rogue gave him cool looks, but it remained mostly harmless.
“There you are, Your Majesty,” he called as he appeared, summoned as if drawn by the very thought of him.
Kill me. He’d also taken up that address because little miss and hot stuff had Alfred hulking out with dark fire.
The dark fire was hot in so many ways.
“They’ve been putting together a supper for all of us now that the hard work is done.”
Fin’s scoff from the entrance where he manipulated the stones as Rogue literally held back the icy wind made me smile. “You mean now that we have done all the hard work?”
“Takes lots of work to look as good as I and Her Queenness do.”
Maddox groaned and rubbed his cheek against my hair. He’d gone almost catlike in his need to touch, and to be honest, I wasn’t saying no because it soothed me nearly as much as it did him.
“Fiona is effortless in her charm,” Alfred announced as he entered, dressed once more in a dark shirt and slacks and looking absolutely devastating. Every cell in my body vibrated to life, and his eyes flicked to me as if sensing it. The huff from Maddox told me my desire was definitely in the air, and I didn’t care.
I could eat Alfred up.
You’re drooling, Beautiful.
I know.
I also didn’t care.
The curve of Alfred’s lips made me wiggle back against Maddox, and his very interested dick thickened against my ass as he tucked me more securely into his lap.
“I don’t think she’s even listening to me,” Wyman complained, but I ignored him, because I definitely wasn’t listening. Instead, I tracked Alfred’s progress as he inspected the newly finished wall and then helped to actually secure the new doors. To my immense shock, Wyman, the lazy bastard, helped as they maneuvered the spelled doors into place.
“Well, she must be getting to know you already,” Alfred said. “Brilliant and beautiful.”
“A deadly combination.”
Maddox huffed a laugh next to my ear. “He’s trying to get you to like him.”
I wrinkled my nose. Somehow, I doubted that.
“He doesn’t generally talk to people he doesn’t like,” Maddox soothed as he began running his hands up and down my arms. “Do you need anything, Kitten?”
“I’m good,” I promised him. We’d dined on a huge spread of food, including several pounds of bacon that no one else touched until I’d had my fill. Then Wyman had made good on my demand and gotten to work on repairing Rogue’s cottage. At least until Rogue banished him away from it because he’d rather do it himself.
After Fin tended to the damaged trees, we’d returned here to dig in. Alfred had also sent emissaries to the rest, informing them of the new rules. Something my asshole had apparently left out in his tales of how the Seven were equal and made their calls, was that he’d been their leader before they fell and he’d blamed himself.
What I hadn’t figured out was whether he’d purposefully cut himself off so they could have freedom they might not otherwise get, or if he’d never been moved to create a whole plethora of sycophants and followers.
I leaned toward the former truthfully, despite how it had looked when he first awoke and the courtiers and admirers had flooded these halls seeking their favor. A lot of it had begun to make sense to me.
“Are you really calling in all who swore allegiance to Alfred?” That question had been troubling me since we left the isle.
“No,” Alfred answered for me as he strolled over to join us. His new shadow moved just a pace behind him. I hope the new pet, as feral as he was, understood when I had the boys put him out of our rooms at night. I didn’t even want someone else up in that hall.
The rather startling thought crystalized more firmly after they made the decision to return here. Alfred brushed his knuckles down my cheek, and I smiled up at him. The reaction was instinctive, needing the shine of his attention as much as I wanted to give him mine. I searched his face for any sign of weariness, but all I found was deep acceptance.
“I know this is difficult, Hellion,” he told me. “But we’ve decided to summon the remaining Six. They can choose or not to bring their forces. If they do…”
Wyman cracked his knuckles. He’d taken the news of being only Six pretty well, all things considered. Though they’d failed to mention my participation in the removal of Keeley. Even without Fin’s well-meaning let us have this please, Beautiful and Alfred’s hidden but very firm wink, I’d already chosen to hush. I had nothing to prove.
Not to any of them, and I didn’t give a single fuck what Wyman thought, as long as he didn’t betray Alfred. If he did that, I’d kill him without a second thought.
The being in question caught me staring at him, and he raised his hands. “I didn’t do it.”
“Yet,” I tacked onto the end for him with a smile. Then there was a clang as the last door settled into place. I flicked my gaze over to where Rogue and Fin examined their work. The library was next on their list, or so they’d said, but first, our defenses.
“Tough audience,” Wyman commented, though he didn’t sound too put out by the observation. “I’m going to check out your staff and see if they’ll feed me, unless you want me to stick around here.”
Leaning my head back against Maddox, I asked, “Are you really on our side?”
The whole of the room hushed. Even if the sound of work had quieted, not even the heartbeats of those servants still present intruded. What, did everyone hold their breath?
“Are you challenging my word?” Wyman asked. Maddox didn’t tense behind me, so either he didn’t perceive a threat or he wasn’t concerned about what threat might exist.
“Your word doesn’t mean anything to me,” I told him as simply and honestly as I could muster. “Your loyalty has value to Alfred and to the others. I just want to know that you’re truly on our side. Or if it is the five of us against the five of you?”
Scratching his
beard, Wyman contemplated me for a moment, then slanted a look at Alfred. “She’s worth it.” It wasn’t a question.
“I know,” he told him.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Wyman continued when he faced me once more. “I am on your side and theirs. It will be at least the six of us against three of them. Synove wants nothing to do with this fight.”
“So she says.” Alfred’s mild tone suggested he felt otherwise.
Work complete, Rogue and Fin wandered toward us. Fin’s grin was both lazy and playful, but Rogue was far more content if watchful.
“Synove doesn’t want war, Alfred,” Wyman said, sounding weary for the first time since I’d met him. “She lost her lover in the last one, and it turned her stomach for war. This battle…this battle is a pointless exercise to cling to a past we carved out in blood and tears because some are afraid of what change will bring to their lives.”
With a shrug, Alfred said, “Then they will lose. They only see Fiona as a threat to their consolidated power, and they’ve made their intentions clear. I will not suffer a single hair to be harmed on her head.”
Not the time to bring up my split ends.
Fin’s eyes flashed as he sent me the cheekiest grin, and I winked at him.
“Well, we can try to negotiate—” Wyman cut himself off as he yawned, then added, “But that’s boring and they won’t go for it. We’re all too stubborn and unchanging. Set in our ways.” He paused a beat, then glanced from Alfred to me and back again. “Or some of us were. Apparently, you can change, Your Majesty.”
“For her?” Alfred sent me a look that warmed me all the way to my toes. “I’ll change everything. So when you reach out to them,” he continued, speaking to Wyman without ever releasing my gaze, “make it clear there is no negotiation, only capitulation. Before they attacked, I would have let them be. They made their first mistake when they moved on her before we’d even found her. They made their second when they came here after her.”
The heat in my chest bloomed so fiercely as his dark eyes held me captivated.
“There will be no other chances for them.” Only then did he look to Wyman. “And I want the two called Dimitri and Isaac. Alive and in my hands.”
“Incentive?” Wyman asked almost lazily.
“No,” Alfred told him. “A demand.”
“Understood.”
With that, Wyman gave an almost mocking bow that he ended with a very real salute before he strolled away from us.
“He’s a real asshole sometimes,” Fin commented. “But I like him.”
“You would,” Maddox said with a chuckle.
“It’s why we get along,” Fin teased, his grin growing, and the warmth in my chest continued to spread. Of all of them, though, Rogue remained guarded. Twisting against Maddox, I pressed a kiss to his jaw before I slid out of his lap. He gave me a little squeeze but seemed more intent on wrapping the blanket around me. I passed Alfred and Fin and went to Rogue.
His quiet smile as I tucked up next to him did little to lift the reserve in the rest of his expression. “Yes, little sváss?”
“Is the bathing room secure?” It was the first place that came to mind. I’d prefer the garden in some ways, but it was frigid outside and they didn’t want me exposed. Besides, it might give Alfred and Maddox time to talk war.
Already handling us, Beautiful?
Maybe.
But Rogue made me laugh when he swung me up, tucked my face to his neck, and ran. The swift passage of air promised we’d relocated from the main hall down to the bathing room, if the hot, steamier air wasn’t a giveaway. Inside, I didn’t need the heavy fur, but Rogue set me down gently before going to get the fire lit.
I sometimes worried about him in the intense humidity and warmth of the room, but nothing in his demeanor changed. It was still careful and guarded.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as I stripped out of the clothes I’d mixed and matched from borrowed and mine. Despite the warmer air, my skin pebbled. I’d grown very fond of this dark little chamber with its grotto like hot pools.
The room had seen me through a myriad of changes over the last few months. Had it only been a few months? Hot on the heels of that came thoughts of Elias. I needed to warn him. He had to know a bigger battle was coming, then again…if they came for us here, they wouldn’t be going for him there.
“War is never pretty, little sváss,” Rogue answered me after I slid into the water and he stripped his own clothes to follow me. I loved that he didn’t pretend something wasn’t wrong or try to humor me and lull me with a different set of security.
Also, the minute I sank into the water, I groaned. I hadn’t realized just how much I needed a bath. I still carried all of their scents, not that I objected, but at some point, the skin did begin to itch. Pushing away from the side, I moved to where he sat. He’d dunked his head under as soon as he’d climbed in, and it plastered his beautiful blond hair to his head.
Lathering shampoo into my hands, I began to run my fingers through his hair. He gripped my hips lightly and tugged me forward until I straddled his lap. After, he ducked his head to grant me easier access.
“I can’t imagine it is. But we’ve already waged a few battles.”
He nodded, then moved to dunk his head again, rinsing out the shampoo without ever releasing me. After I conditioned it, he gave me an almost sweet smile before he urged me to dunk my own head so he could return the favor.
“War always demands a price, often in blood. My people paid one such price, as did Maddox’s.”
His fingers scraped gently over my scalp, and I wanted to purr at the caress.
“I will not allow you to be the price paid in this one.”
Eyes half-closed, I studied him. “To be clear, I won’t allow any of you to pay that price either.”
Not now that I’d found them.
“I may not be good at this or even understand it most of the time. But before you, only Elias ever seemed to care about me for me. I adore him, but those feelings do not hold a candle for what I feel for you or Maddox or Fin or Alfred.”
“Even when he infuriates you?” It was the gentlest of teases, and I smiled.
“Especially then,” I admitted. “Or when you’re bossy and domineering or Fin is flirty and fun or Maddox is growly and possessive.”
Fingers digging into my hips, Rogue dragged me closer until my breasts brushed his chest. “You should remember we’re all possessive.”
“Right back atcha,” I told him, then brushed my lips to his. It wasn’t about passion or demand or sex. If anything, it was more about affection and caring. From the moment he stole me from Maddox and Fin to the first time he’d claimed me to answer the wild hunger inside of me, he’d always been controlled and dominant. But there’d been something else there, always. A softness I doubted anyone else got to see.
And I was extremely possessive of that.
He chuckled, then urged me backward to rinse my hair and I took my time, arching my back so my breasts were on full display for him. He stroked a hand over them, a soothing petting motion that demanded nothing and offered everything as I sat up, then he squeezed the water from my hair.
“Little sváss…”
Oh, that tone was serious.
“I know just how strong you are.”
“I’m going to hate this, aren’t I?” I didn’t have it in me to be angry, even if I half-suspected what he was about to ask me.
“Probably, but you carry all of our hearts, and more, you carry the future we never expected to have.”
The squeeze in my chest grew tighter.
“Should the tide turn, one of us—likely Fin, if I have my way—will take you from here. I need you to promise me you will go.”
“I won’t abandon you,” I argued. “You all made me run before when you and I went. Then she found us in that town.”
“I know,” he admitted. “That is a risk, but if they begin to overwhelm us, we need to know you are safe. If I die—”
I clapped a hand over his mouth. “Don’t. You. Dare.” Anger turned incendiary within me. “You are not allowed to die. Do you understand?”
He kissed my palm, then peeled my hand from his mouth. “Nor are you, little sváss. Nor are you.” This time when our mouths fused together, it was as much battle as love. I wouldn’t let him go, nor, it would seem, would he release me. “Will you promise me?”
The quiet need in that one question threatened to destroy me. How could I promise to leave them? Any of them?
“I will see,” I told him. It was all I could do. Because in truth, I did a thing called what I wanted. What I wanted was them. This time when he kissed me, he shifted our angle, and then his cock filled me with one thrust and we never let up for a breath as I rode him.
We needed together.
We soared together.
We’d win this damn thing together too.
CHAPTER 16
“War does not determine who is right – only who is left.” - Winston Churchill
A part of me had expected—well, dreaded really—that Alfred’s invitations would either be ignored or bring hundreds to the doorstep. Wyman had vanished from the keep for a couple of days. Though Rogue had been circumspect, I’d caught him returning from some mission very early one morning when I’d snuck up to the library. It truly had been half-ruined. Many of the books on the shelves showed some scorch or water damage, what few books remained. The art had also vanished from the walls, along with more than half of the bookshelves themselves.
The walls were blackened in places, and magic seemed to be keeping the weather out, but there were huge open swaths where the valley was quite visible. The chair I often used by the fire had gone totally to pieces. There was a hint of a water-stained cushion and a few bits of wood that had formed the legs. The cold fireplace just seemed a sad echo of the sunnier room.
It was only turning my back on that destruction to stare out at the sunrise that I caught Rogue’s return. He descended from the sky as this great owl and then reformed as a man when he touched down. I didn’t mean to hide, but I pressed close to the bit of wall that offered some cover as he straightened.