"Yes."
My pussy clenched, preparing for another soul-shattering orgasm.
Cal bit his bottom lip as he watched me. "Come for me, baby. Come for them. Give them something to dream about when they're jacking off to the very thought of you."
His words were my undoing. That third orgasm rocked my ever-loving world, and Cal was right there with me, groaning as he spilled every last drop of his hot cum into me.
Finally, we collapsed onto our makeshift robe-blanket, and for the first time in a while, I noticed the extreme chill of the air around me. Instantly, my teeth started chattering, and I began to shiver. It didn’t matter that Cal was still on top of me, sharing his warmth, I was fucking freezing. I couldn't seem to get dressed or bundle up fast enough.
"You know, you could have just rolled her in the snow to begin with, and she would have been fine," Rob told his brother matter-of-factly.
Cal chuckled as he pulled on his pants, and based on the condescension in his tone, I'd say he quite disagreed. "I don't think you realize how much magic she used. She needed it. Bad."
"Did you even try to cool her off first?" Rob asked.
"No..." Cal was midway through buttoning his coat when his expression suddenly turned defensive. "What are you insinuating? Would you have tried to avoid sex with a super horny Alexis?"
Rob smirked, his eyes glimmering darkly before he shook his head. "Hell no, I wouldn't have. You gotta get it while you can."
I rolled my eyes and grabbed both of their hands, pulling them close to me for warmth. "Come on. Now that I'm functional again, I really want to see where this alicorn leads us."
Rob groaned and sent Cal a disgruntled sort of look, but he reluctantly walked with us into the woods, while the rest of the Storm princes followed.
We trailed the magical beast—with Chrissen slumped over her back—for so long, I was starting to think I’d made the wrong choice. Maybe it was a wild alicorn with nothing to show us at all? Maybe we were on a wild goose chase to nowhere?
Just as I was about to admit defeat and tell the guys we should turn around, a tuft of smoke appeared above the sharp peaks of the evergreens. I peered closer through the trees and found a tiny cottage nestled deep within their trunks.
Holy shit! The cottage of the mountain witch!
Or rather—hopefully—our missing demigod.
Chapter 9
None of us said a word. I didn’t know about them, but I was too speechless to talk. I hadn’t 100 percent expected to find anything on this little journey. Now that we’d reached the end of the road, I had no idea what to anticipate.
The alicorn shook Criss off into the snow, then meandered through the trees, stopping just outside the cottage front door. It huffed and snorted gently, as if announcing its arrival.
The front door popped open, and a young girl smiled brightly at the magical creature. When her twinkling gaze landed on us, the smile fell right off her face.
"Mother?" she shouted, shutting and locking the door behind her.
My heart hammered like a miner trying to meet their jewel quota.
It seemed impossible, and yet… was that Tia? Their long-lost sister? She didn’t look like them, but then again, none of them looked like brothers either. They all took after their mothers. So, the real question was, did she look like Francesca? I couldn’t be sure; I’d barely gotten a glimpse of her before she slammed the door in our faces. But she did seem to have the same strong facial features, so maybe.
Dan glanced at us. "You think that’s her?"
Rob rolled his eyes indifferently, striding over to lift Criss’s limp form from the snow.
Ash shrugged.
Ben and Cal simply stared at the door, waiting for it to magically open back up.
"I think it could be," I admitted, since no one else seemed to be venturing forth any replies. "The banshee said alicorns were drawn to magic. It must've sensed some in this cottage."
A moment later—just like Ben and Cal seemed to have been waiting for—the door burst open and a hunched old lady hobbled toward us through the snow. Her hair was long, gray, and stringy, like it hadn’t been washed in quite some time. Her nose was thin but crooked, and her dark eyes were harsh.
"Who are you?" she snapped at us in a withered, old voice. "What do you want?"
Cal did the diplomatic thing, stepping forward and bowing politely. "Good afternoon, ma’am. I am Prince Calvin Storm, Lord of Nightshade Castle, Ruler of Northern Blackwood. These are my brothers: Prince Daniel, Lord of Ebony Château, Ruler of Western Blackwood; Prince Benson, Lord of Obsidian Palace, Ruler of Eastern Blackwood; Prince Robert, Lord of—"
"Yeah, I know who he is," she interrupted impatiently.
Cal merely tipped his head and continued with his list. "Prince Chrissen, Lord of the Lunaley; and Princess Alexis, future queen of Blackwood."
I had no idea why he addressed me with such reverence when he hadn’t given anyone else that title. Technically, they were all future kings as well.
The old lady’s eyes scanned us suspiciously, almost aggressively. "I done nothing wrong. I keep to myself out here in the wild. I don’t want no trouble, least of all from a Blackwood royal."
"We’re not here to cause trouble," I assured her with a small smile.
"Then why are you here?" She raised a gray brow so high it nearly met her hairline.
The guys shuffled almost nervously beside me. What the hell were we going to say? That we wanted Tia to help us end a magical war against a tyrant and a war god? That sounded a fuck of a lot like trouble to me. Clearly, I’d spoken too soon.
"The girl," Cal said, nodding toward the door, "the one who answered when we first showed up, who is she?"
"My daughter." The woman’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. She either thought Cal had ill intentions or that he was prying too deeply already.
"What’s her name?" Dan asked, taking some of the “bad guy” persona onto himself instead of his brother.
"You don’t even know my name," she countered saucily. "Why would you need to know hers?"
Rob adjusted Criss on his shoulder and glared daggers at the old biddy. "Tell us both of your fucking names before I lose my godsdamned patience."
The old woman swallowed hard, her throat bobbing severely. "I’m Harriette. My daughter is Gretta."
"You sure her name isn’t Tia?" Dan asked, sounding a little too cocky.
"Of course I’m sure," the old biddy snapped. "Now, if you don’t mind, we have work to get back to. I’m sure you can see yourselves off."
She turned around and hobbled back toward the door.
"Wait!" I called, taking a single step closer. "Are you Queen Francesca's ex-handmaiden?"
I was hoping I'd catch her shoulders tense up or her back muscles tighten, but I honestly couldn't tell.
"No." Her reply was curt, and she started ambling away once more.
I sighed, wishing this could somehow be easier. "Whether you’re the queen's ex-handmaiden and the girl is the queen’s secret daughter or not… the Storm King is coming. He has a dragon. He’s decimating entire villages. No matter who you are, you need to leave. Leave before it’s too late."
She stood frozen to the spot, her back to me so I couldn’t see her face. I hoped she was considering my words closely. Trusting them. Thinking up ways to heed them. Or better yet, that she was contemplating telling me the truth, admitting who she and the girl really were and offering to help.
She stepped into motion a second later, shuffling back into the house and shutting the door behind her without another word. I had no idea what would happen to them, but I hoped we’d done the right thing by not pushing her. By giving them the warning.
"Well, now what?" Rob grumbled, hefting Chrissen’s limp form further up his shoulder. He glanced around, and I followed his lead, but the alicorn was nowhere to be found. Figures. She stuck around to lead us into this mess, but not long enough to lead us out. Fucking magical creatures, anyway.
Ben sigh
ed, then forced a warm smile. "We’re surrounded by wood. I’ll just whip us up a sled real quick."
Cal nodded once. "After that, we need to head back to Blackdell. King Thane could be there any day now—possibly even right now—and we need to be ready. Not only must we retrieve the Eye, but we also need to hold them off from going any farther south. This is war. We won’t risk unnecessary casualties."
Everyone nodded their agreement, but before we could head into the woods, the back door of the cottage sprang open and a young woman appeared. Her golden hair was tucked up into a dusty pink kerchief on top of her head, and her dress was barely more than a patchy, mismatched assortment of rags. Her face was kind though—soft, despite the leathery lines that a rough life had given her.
"Hello," she said gently. Her voice tinkled, sounding much airier than I'd expected. "I'm Gretta. I…" She hesitated, glancing behind her. "I heard my mother telling you to leave. She's furious that I came out here, at all. But I wanted to learn about the queen's handmaiden and the secret daughter, I wanted to know why you thought my name was Tia. Please."
I glanced at the guys before turning back to Gretta. "The villagers spoke of a mountain witch living amongst the trees," I told her. "Do either of you practice magic?"
Gretta shook her head. "No, neither of us."
My lips quirked to the side. "Anything strange ever happen in these woods? Anything inexplicable? Anything… magical?"
She hesitated. "I… I'm not sure. My eyes have been known to play tricks on me. Mother says it's because of my overactive imagination."
"How old are you, Gretta?" I asked.
"Nearly thirty, give or take." Her cheeks blushed a gentle pink. "We don't celebrate much out here in the wild. Every day is just about surviving into the next."
So she was about as old as the princes.
The pieces were slowly falling into place, so I decided to just lay it all out there. I smiled at Gretta and recounted what I believed to be the truth of her heritage. I told her about the Storm King and the gods, about Fran and her handmaiden, about the war and destruction happening now, and about how we desperately needed the lost princess's help.
It was probably a little much to take in all at once actually. The poor girl. But she managed.
"So you're telling me I'm the lost princess?" she asked. Her tone was borderline incredulous, and I couldn't say I blamed her.
"I believe so." I tightened the grip on my laced fingers in front of me and continued. "Alicorns are drawn to magic, and this one led us here. But, unlike the villagers, I don't think you're a witch. I think you're Queen Francesca's daughter, and also the goddess Hestia's daughter. I think you're a demigod. Fran said she named her baby Tia Everleigh. She wanted to avoid the 'Storm' surname due to obvious safety reasons, but I think it's you just the same."
Tia's eyes were wide. "Everleigh is my middle name. Gretta Everleigh Boggs. Do you think that's a coincidence?"
Rob rolled his eyes at her naivety, and I nearly jabbed him in the ribs.
"No, Gretta, I don't think it's a coincidence," I said encouragingly.
It felt like we were finally getting somewhere with her. Like the clouds were opening up. Light was spilling from the heavens. And Tia was about to admit to having powers, then pledge her undying loyalty and support to her long-forgotten brothers and sister-in-law.
"Even still, I can't help you," she said.
And just like that, my optimistic bubble popped and pissed all over my hopes and dreams.
"Why not?" I asked, trying to still sound positive.
"Because I don't know anything about the king—my father?—or any of you. I don't know how to use my powers—if I even have any—nor do I know how to fight, beyond wrestling with the laundry and dishes." She shrugged, looking defeated already.
"Neither did I at first," I assured her, reaching for her hand. "But I learned. And now, I'm using my powers for good. I can see that you're a good person. I know you want to do good things too."
She swallowed hard behind a sad smile and removed her hand from mine.
"I want to help, really I do, but I can't. My mother forbade me. Well, my mother's handmaiden did, I guess. And honestly, I wouldn’t be any help to you anyway. I'm sorry."
"You heard the girl, Jewels," Rob cut in, taking me by the shoulder and spinning me toward the woods. "She won't be of any help. Let's just get out of here and come up with a better plan."
I paused, staring at her over my shoulder, wishing there was something I could say that would make her change her mind. But I had nothing. Instead, I gave her the same ominous warning I'd given Fran's maid.
"The Storm King is coming. He's burning down everything in his path. Even if you can't help us, you need to leave this forest. You'll die if you stay. Or worse."
Her eyes widened, but she didn't ask me what could be worse than dying. "Thank you," she whispered. "I'll start packing right away."
As she spun around and scurried back into the house, I felt my hopes sink down into the snow at my feet.
I guess we'll be doing this without Tia after all.
We wandered silently into the woods and continued walking until the cottage was well out of sight. Ben reached out into thin air, touching nothing, and bent a nearby tree with his magic. It severed itself in a neat line at the base, and once it was fully detached, it sliced itself into strips, curling up at the front just like a sleigh.
Rob nodded appreciatively, depositing Chrissen onto the smooth boards and strapping him in with vine-like rope that Ben had provided. At the front, at least four other vines hung loose along the ground. We didn’t have horses here with us—we’d left them back at the Blackburn burn site—so I had to assume they were for us.
Dan gathered a big scoop of snow in the bowl Ben had made earlier and handed it to me. Using the smallest amount of magic possible, I melted the snow with barely a buzz of horniness scratching at my skin. Thank the gods.
While Ben drank to regain some of his sensory loss, Dan, Rob, Cal, and Ash grabbed a rope and pulled.
"You want a ride, Sexy Lexi?" Dan asked with a cheeky smirk. "I think four ripped dudes pulling one sleeping Soother is a bit excessive."
I grinned and shook my head. "What am I going to do? Sit on Criss?"
"He’d make a hell of an ass warmer," Dan declared, adding that cute little fact to his arsenal of defense. "Come on. Hop up. We’ll be back to the horses in no time."
I cocked my head, debating. I was fine—ish. My legs weren’t burning too godsawful bad, plus I'd taken longer hikes in my life—like, cough, the Lunaley. But the snow was daunting, and as prideful as I was, I could still admit that they’d make much faster time with me not on foot.
"Come on, Jewels," Rob demanded in a sexy, gravelly voice, "get your ass on the sled."
I stuck my tongue out at him like the mature adult I was and straddled Chrissen’s waist reverse cowgirl style. It was definitely an intimate position, and I secretly wondered if Dan had planned it that way. He was a horny little sneak most of the time.
We carried on in relative silence, each thinking our own thoughts, and none of us feeling like uttering them aloud apparently. Personally, I was disgusted that my Tia plan had fallen through. I didn't blame her for refusing to help—I probably would have done the same if I'd been in her shoes—but I was still bummed. I'd made such a big deal out of having her help, and now I felt like an idiot.
The guys tugged the sleigh over a small fallen log, and it jostled me just enough to feel another log-like bit of wood digging into my ass cheek. I glanced behind me and realized Chrissen was finally conscious. His eyes were still closed, but he was smiling like a devil at having me on his lap.
"I’ve been thinking," Criss said.
"Oh, that’s what you’ve been doing while we’ve been carting your ass around?" Dan asked sarcastically.
Criss rolled his hazel eyes and grinned. "About the spirits and not being able to heal dead bodies."
Rob sighed and shook his h
ead. "What about it?"
Criss sat up straighter and adjusted me in his lap, his erection grinding into me through my dress and panties, making me hot. "You know how you helped guide that guy to the Underworld after his spirit left his body?"
Rob glanced over his shoulder. "Yeah? That’s kinda what having the power to control spirits is all about."
"You can physically move them."
"Yes?" Rob sort of asked.
Chrissen’s face remained blank. "Can you move them back into their bodies?"
Suddenly, the sled stopped moving and all four brothers turned around, staring wide-eyed.
"You think we could essentially bring people back from the dead?" Rob asked in a whisper. His tone sounded almost… hopeful.
Criss took an apprehensive breath and let it out slowly. "Well, I can’t heal a body without a soul. So the contrary to that would be that if a body had a soul, even for a short amount of time, I should be able to begin the healing process and fix them so that their spirits can remain in their bodily vessels."
"Holy shit," Dan muttered, rubbing a hand across his face. "This is serious shit, you guys."
Rob nodded, turning to him. "I know. Like, we might be able to bring our mothers back, serious."
I was pretty sure Dan wanted to be excited, but he was far too terrified to allow himself. Instead he bit his bottom lip and bounced his leg as he stood in the snow.
Criss patted the sides of my butt, signaling for me to stand up. Once he climbed out from underneath me, he sat me back down and gestured for the guys to keep walking. The sky was quickly darkening, and while I doubted they were very scared of the dark, it simply wasn’t the smartest move to be traveling in the woods at night.
"I can walk, you know," I told them. I didn’t want to be carted around just because I was a girl or a princess. I wasn’t any better than them, and I didn’t necessarily like feeling superior. It made me uncomfortable.
"Hush," Criss told me with a wink. He grabbed an extra vine that may or may not have just now sprouted thanks to Ben. "So what I’m thinking is, we should try it on one of your moms. See if it works, and one way or another, see how much it costs us."
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