Lifting my knees, I rested my arms on them, then plunked my chin down too. It felt good to stretch my back, which was aching thanks to the presence of my wings as I’d slept, and I let them pop away, hiding them for the moment.
When I felt one of their hands on me, I fought hard to ignore the need to shiver, but when they traced the upper curve of my spine, it was hard not to respond.
“Why don’t you have wing stubs?”
Joseph.
It was his touch that made me feel like gooseflesh was about to overtake every inch of my body.
“I do.” I let the stubs show. “I’m just used to hiding everything, that’s all.”
“How do you do that?” Matthew asked, his tone gravelly with curiosity.
“I’m not sure.” I sucked in a breath when Joseph rubbed the stubs—holy Sol, that was like... Well, I didn’t want to say it was like rubbing my clit, but sweet Sol, it was definitely enough to get my heart pounding. “The night they came through, I about had a panic attack. I legit thought my heart was going to implode with terror. I used every spell I could to hide them, and then, every other spell under the sun to get rid of the nubs. Eventually, I found one that worked, but it made sleeping in college a nightmare.”
“Why?” Daniel queried, evidently puzzled by the statement.
“Because, the first year at my college, we had to share a dorm room. If my roommate had seen the stubs, shit would have hit the fan. I didn’t sleep well that year, not unless she took some of these drugs she had for insomnia.”
“That must have been tough,” Seph muttered.
“It was, but I coped.” I shifted around, my feet and legs tangling slightly in the sheets as I turned so I could see them all.
They were rumpled and messy with sleep, and though I’d always thought they were handsome, I’d always overlain their handsomeness with the fact they were pricks, but also, that they were Fae. And I hated the fucking Fae.
Didn’t matter that I was half of the fucking race. I just loathed them for their ambitious and cruel ways.
And what I’d learned at the Academy hadn’t made me grow to love them any.
Still, I stared at the men and recognized their beauty more than my hatred for them.
Was that the Virgo bond at work?
“Why are you looking at us like that?” Daniel asked warily.
Couldn’t blame him. Only Gaia knew how my feelings were expressed on my features, and I had resting bitch face anyway. I probably looked like a Black Widow—ready to entice and devour after I’d had my way with them.
Ducking my head to hide my smile, I mumbled, “I don’t hate you as much as I did yesterday.” I shrugged. “It’s a new development.”
“It’s the Virgo bond,” Seph replied caustically. “And aren’t you supposed to be nice to us? We don’t have to be your Virgo.”
“No, your father certainly taught you that, didn’t he?” I rasped with a huff. “If you think I’m going to kiss ass just because you’re my Virgo, you can think again. I don’t do shit just because I’m supposed to.
“My grandma lived without her Virgo, and so can I. If it means that I have to submit to you…” I heaved out a laugh. “You can fuck off.”
Well, there went the probationary period.
Oops.
“Well, that was charmingly put,” Daniel muttered, but at least, he was laughing.
Biting my bottom lip for a second, I slowly admitted, “I don’t do bullshit. I’ve had to live a lie for seven years, and I frankly don’t care whether you accept me or not. Either way, we’re stuck together as a troupe. Unless you toss me to the Assembly, of course. That changes shit…” My laughter was cold. “But then, that would undermine the exact reason you picked me, wouldn’t it? You evidently thought my being the next hybrid was going to do wonders for any troupe you were in.”
When they cut each other sheepish looks, I knew I had them.
“Don’t do me any favors, and I won’t do you any either,” I growled at them, sweeping my legs out from under me and shuffling off the bed.
The second my feet connected with the ground, however, I knew I’d made a big mistake.
“Sol!” I groaned as my legs crumpled underneath me.
Talk about destroying my plans for a grand exit.
Eight
Matthew
“Have you ever met anyone more contrary in your fucking life?” Seph growled as we watched Daniel help Gabriella stagger over to the bathroom.
Her feet were still numb, which was evident from the way her toes were flexing at odd angles, and she was cursing up a storm at the pins and needles that were plaguing her.
“No,” I admitted drily. “But, I’ve met some that would come close.” Like my grandfather. He was not long for this realm now, but he was a contrary old coot that would, without doubt, clash with Gabriella. I almost wished the two of them could meet—whether that was wise, was another matter entirely.
Seph rubbed his temple. “I didn’t expect this, Matthew.”
“What? A mate?” I snorted. “Why would you?”
“Why aren’t you more disturbed?”
I’d been thinking about this since they’d fallen asleep. I hadn’t been able to, my mind had been too full of what was happening here. Slowly, I explained, “We were bound to protect her the day we made her a part of the troupe, what is this if not an extension of that?”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“Because it is. Why must it be complicated?” I retorted. “It is what it is. We don’t have to take her on as her Virgo, but we’re bound to the death as her troupe.
“We always knew the second her origin was revealed, there’d be an explosion. This is merely the start of it.”
Seph winced because he knew I was right. “What’s the next step?”
“Control. She needs to control her magic better. Her temper will get the best of us if we’re not careful.”
“How do we do that?”
I sighed. “That I don’t know.”
“Sex,” a familiar, feminine voice stated—and I’d thought we were safe once she was tucked away in the bathroom.
Apparently, I was wrong on that score.
The word fell among us like an A bomb, and the fallout had us all coughing.
“Sex?” I sputtered, twisting around to seek her out. She wasn’t there. Daniel was. Leaning against the wall beside the bathroom door. But she was definitely not in the room with us even if she sounded like she was.
“You do know the word, don’t you?” she grumbled.
“It’s rude to eavesdrop.”
“We’ve already ascertained that I’m nosy.”
“When did we ascertain that?” Seph grumbled.
“When you were sleeping. Anyway, the wind carries whatever information I need to me. It’s a spell I’ve been working on the past week.”
“And you needed to spy on us?” I questioned.
“Of course. Who else is worthy of my eavesdropping other than the Virgo who don’t particularly want to be my Virgo?” she called out, and fuck if what she said earlier wasn’t true. The wind carried the words to us as though she were on the bed beside us rather than in the bathroom with, if my ears weren’t mistaken, the water running.
“How will sex help your control?”
“Sex helps with everything. If you Fae don’t know that then no wonder you’re all uptight fucks.”
My cheeks burned at that. “We’re not uptight.”
“No?” She snorted. “Seems that way to me. Either that, or you’re all walking around with a stick shoved up your asses. That would probably make more sense, but you’re all prudes too.”
“We’re not prudes,” Seph groused. “We like everything in its proper place.”
“Said like a prude,” Daniel teased as he raised his hands when Seph and I glowered at him. “Sol, it sounded prudish even to me!”
I grunted. “That’s because you’re not from warrior stock.”
Hi
s eyes narrowed at that. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that we’re held to different standards,” I told him easily. “I meant no offense, Daniel. If I had a problem with your parents’ caste, I would never have invited you to the troupe. But I did, which is proof enough that I have no issue. However, you can’t hide from the fact that we are far stricter with our rules.”
He shot me a look, but his aggression leaked away as he nodded.
“Are we playing nice, boys?” Gabriella murmured as she slipped back into the room, her feet working once more and her swagger, unfortunately, back in full working order even though she was only dressed in a towel. How she managed to make that look regal, I’d never know. “Doesn’t sound like it to me.”
“How the Sol do you think we’re supposed to share you?” Seph demanded. “Such behavior is the exact opposite of—”
“Do you always behave? Have you never, not once in your life, rebelled?” she retorted. “Anyway, I already told you, I don’t need you. But, seeing as you picked me for this clusterfuck of a troupe, and all because of what I am, it seems pretty stupid to outright reject something that comes as part and parcel of my powers.”
I shoved Seph in the side with my elbow. “She has a point.”
“Of course I do. I’m usually right,” she told us, her tone pleasant enough to have my lips twitching.
“Usually? I’m surprised you didn’t use the word ‘always.’”
“Gaia forbid I be so arrogant,” she demurred, her eyes flashing pink.
Sol, that was a strange sight to behold, even if I’d already seen it a few times.
“Your temper is on the rise,” Daniel pointed out softly, and he reached out, gripped her arm firmly, and gently squeezed.
The second he did?
The pink disappeared.
Shit.
Was she right about the sex?
I winced at the thought of seeing the others’ dicks. Sol, worse, seeing them during climax.
Only the worst reprobates did what Gabriella was suggesting.
It was for the deviants and the whoremongers to peddle such wares.
I reached up and rubbed my bottom lip between my thumb and pointer finger. “If Daniel’s touch eases your temper, maybe that’s all it will require.”
She shrugged. “Either that or don’t piss me off.”
“But you get pissed off so easily,” Seph countered, his own temper stirring. “In fact, you’re the most prickly pain in the ass—”
A laugh escaped her, stopping him in his tracks.
“What?” he snapped.
Another shrug. “I’m just glad my reputation precedes me.”
“Oh, it does,” Daniel said dryly. “Look, there’s no point in discussing any of this. We need to learn to work together, and at least now that the truth is out, we can do that.
“We need to focus on the trials. They’re approaching. And now that we’re all in the know about what we can do, then Gabriella, you can start to use your powers to help us pass, even if you can’t pick up a sword without—”
“I can pick up a sword,” she grumbled. “I just can’t do anything after that.”
Seph snorted. “Same difference. Either way, you’re still useless for our cause.”
“Should have thought about that—”
“Arguing is getting us nowhere!” Daniel butted in, before he walked over to the coffee table where, last night, we’d dumped all our weapons.
Grabbing his saber, he returned to Gabriella’s side and shoved it at her, hilt first.
“What? Do you want me to play pin the tail on the donkey with Seph?” she responded, cutting him a narrow-eyed look. “It’s not like I’m dressed for the occasion, is it?”
He ignored her sarcasm. “No, I want you to try to hold it and use your magic to fight.”
She shook her head. “Magic isn’t like that. We can do no ill with it.”
“But can you protect yourself?” he countered.
When she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, I held my breath in the vain hope she knew of some sort of defensive spells that would help us.
“I’m certain there’s magic out there like that, but I-I was never taught it. My mother didn’t think I was very capable, so she didn’t teach me anything other than what was required for all witches.”
It didn’t take a mind reader to hear how that had stung her pride.
“Maybe she’ll help you now?” Daniel prompted. “She did say she wanted to help.”
“I doubt it. She’s too prickly for that—she’s mad at me for hiding the truth from her, and while I don’t blame her, I’d have been damned either way. She’d have closed ranks around me, wouldn’t have sent me to the Conclave like some parents might, but she’d have kept me close, would never have let me leave Miami…” She gulped, face crumpling as she whispered, “I couldn’t have stood that.”
Daniel frowned. “Why?”
She plucked at her towel, her fingers nervously twisting the fabric as she muttered, “I don’t even know why I’m telling you this but being around my family was hard. I had to have a lot of guards up as a child, because my line is quite powerful. We were renowned in Havana, and when we moved here, we had to downplay our gifts, our power. My mother has a chip on her shoulder about that, and when I didn’t seem to be all that talented…”
“It was like rubbing salt in the wound?” I hazarded a guess.
“Exactly. Anyway, if she were to teach me, I’d need to be at home, and I can’t leave here until the second trial is over with.”
I winced. “True. But can you adapt what you do know and use it for our gain?”
She pondered that. “Maybe.”
Daniel pressed the hilt against her hand. “How about… You used the wind to carry the sound of chatter to you. Could you use it to discern which way a sword or another weapon is coming at you?”
“Good thinking, Dan,” Seph praised.
“Us admin types are more adept at using our brains than our brawn all the time,” he explained grumpily, and I grimaced— I deserved that for belittling his people.
Gabriella frowned, and, in the blink of an eye, so fast that we didn’t even see her naked, she was suddenly wrapped in her leathers. Her cheeks were flushed, and she blew out a breath. “I wasn’t sure if that would work. My magic doesn’t always behave.”
Ah, that was why she was pink—she’d thought she might flash us.
Joseph, in a tone so low only I could hear him, muttered, “More’s the pity.”
I couldn’t disagree. Sharing Gabriella was an alien concept, but she was too beautiful not to want to see her naked. And that was a fact.
Now fully covered, she grabbed the sword from Daniel. Gabriella patted him on the arm with her free hand, and I watched his feathers cease their bristling.
Whatever soothing power he had over her, she had over him.
Did that extend to us too? Or just Daniel, because he’d been exposed to the pink glow more than either Seph or I had?
And why the fuck that angered me, I couldn’t say, but the bitter snarl of jealousy did indeed unfurl within me. Great timing, or what?
She blew out a breath. “The only way to know is if you try to attack me.”
Daniel reached for another sword, and as he did, Seph and I clambered off the bed. I willed some of the furniture out of the way, my house bands burning with the display of magic as I emptied a wide space for them to practice in.
As we headed closer to the fray, Seph called out, “Take it slow, Dan. Sounds obvious, but you’ll need to move at an eighth of the speed you usually work at.”
Whatever I had to say about Daniel’s beginnings, his talent with the sword was enviable. Though he wouldn’t have been raised with a warrior’s training like Seph and me, his ability was phenomenal. Very few Fae could even get close to us, but Dan often did.
“En garde,” I murmured as Daniel approached her.
Gabriella had picked up eno
ugh to get into the stance at my declaration.
“Prêt,” Seph warned.
“Allez,” we said together.
Their sabers clashed at the middle, and Daniel pulled back, slowly dropping his to belly height before stabbing forward.
The second the bout began, Gabriella didn’t bother moving her sword, instead, she closed her eyes before following a pattern with her chin—her head twisted to the side before she tipped her head back.
I wasn’t sure what she was doing, but when her sword moved and struck Dan’s out of the way, we all sucked in a breath.
Dan, grinning at me, moved around in a twirl. He used the momentum to strike from overhead. She raised her arm, braced it, and took the force of his strike.
“Two for two,” Seph muttered.
Daniel switched hands, letting his saber soar from one to the other, before he stabbed forward—only to be held in place by her—then stepped back and out of the hold, before arcing his blade through the air and swiping in front of her in a quick crisscross section.
When her sword thrust up, straight between the crisscross pattern a second before he could finish the formation, we applauded—she deserved it.
Her eyes popped open at the sound. “It worked?”
I nodded. “Four for four.”
“Only trouble is, I doubt a warrior takes his time in an attack,” she said with a sigh, and I saw sweat beading on her brow from just that small bout. “Nor do they fight with their eyes closed.”
I grabbed one of the water bottles I’d brought earlier from the canteen and headed over to her. She saw me and didn’t let me come any nearer—which, I’d admit, stung like a bitch—as she reached for the bottle with her powers.
It soared through the air and straight into her hand.
The act, though it irritated me, made me realize something. “The day I saw you use your powers… were you injured?”
As she opened the bottle with her hand, she shrugged. “Probably. I was very careful not to use any magic unless it was necessary.”
“You were in the library—”
She snorted. “And you expect me to remember the day I used it? I’ve been injured a lot here. Especially during the Phys-Ed classes.”
The Ascended: The Eight Wings Collection Page 13