Eyes, black as night, bright as day. Shadow blocking out her reflection. Swirling, shimmering, shifting. A mirror to another world, a mirror to him. He could help her, save her, change her. Young and naive, foolish and rash, stupid and believing.
As her lookalike’s hand grabbed her throat, Lena muttered, “No.”
A single, lone promise. A bargain that would forever change the child’s life. Reaching, accepting, giving. The abyss called, and the child answered. A prick of blood was all the mirror took. A prick of blood was all it needed to fill its insatiable hunger. A promise of blood.
The hand that curled around her neck no longer belonged to a lookalike; it was black and intangible, though its claws were all too real as they pricked her skin. Suddenly, the presence behind her felt too large, too wide.
Squeezing her eyes shut, she yelled, “No!”
Chapter Ten
Tamlen wasn’t quite sure what happened. He intended to pull her undergarments down and push his face between her legs when she simply collapsed, falling backwards onto the bed. Both he and Vale surrounded her, trying to shake her awake.
“This is exactly what happened when we left the crypt,” Tamlen said.
“I remember. But why?”
Shaking his head, Tamlen reached for her forehead. Just as he thought. “She’s burning up.”
“Can’t you help her?” Vale asked. “Fire is your element.”
“Not when it’s part of a sickness.”
The other man paled. “You think she is ill?”
Truthfully, Tamlen didn’t know what Lena was. He’d never heard of anyone collapsing like this if they weren’t delirious with fever—and she’d done it twice now. And her fever came out of nowhere; her skin was not so warm before. He didn’t know what to think, but he was concerned for her, more concerned than he ever thought he’d be over a woman.
She was his, damn it. Theirs. And yet they were helpless to this, whatever it was. He gritted his teeth. How he hated it.
Her eyes popped open, her voice muttering a soft, “No.” Lena sounded so…sad. Beaten and broken.
Tamlen picked her up, drawing her in for a hug. Just like that, her flesh was back to the warmth it should be. Whatever came over her was gone. Vale wrapped his arms around them both, clinging to her back.
“I’m sorry,” Lena whispered against them.
“Sorry for what?” Tamlen asked quietly.
“Sorry for everything,” she said. Vale and Tamlen let her go as she shook her head. “I think something’s after me. Something…bad.”
Tamlen’s jaw clenched. “You mean your High Enchanter—Gregain?” He watched her shake her head. “Who, then?” When she said nothing more, he added, “I will never let anyone hurt you.”
“Nor will I,” Vale promised.
Lena sighed. “No, you don’t get it. I said something, not someone. Have…either of you heard of Zyssept?” Zyssept. The name was unfamiliar to Tamlen, just as it clearly was to Vale. “What about Issept? They’re old gods. Issept was the god of life, and Zyssept…”
“The god of death, I’m guessing,” Vale muttered. “I’m also going on a limb and guessing that the god of life isn’t the one you’re talking about.”
She grew teary-eyed. “I think it found me when I was young. I think…I never told you, because I didn’t want you to think that I’m a monster, but—” Lena held her arms across her chest, hugging herself. “—I burned down my parents’ farmhouse when I was eight. I was the only survivor. A chevalier from Sumer found me and brought me to the College. I think Zyssept gave me the power to set that fire.”
Vale stiffened; he didn’t like mages who couldn’t control their powers, but he already knew that Lena was not a malicious sort. If she’d done what she said she’d done, it was an accident, whether this Zyssept was real or not. The decision on that was still out.
While Vale studied Lena in a new light, Tamlen did, too—but in a different way. He had no idea she held such a troubled past. He wanted to cradle her to him, hold her close and promise that nothing bad would ever happen to her again. The urge to protect someone had never been stronger.
Tamlen reached for her arm, taking one away from the hug she gave herself. His fingers mixed with hers as he swore, “I promise you, Lena. I promise that I won’t let anyone or anything hurt you. Whatever this Zyssept thing is, we’ll figure it out.” With any luck, that would involve leaving this gods-forsaken room.
Sniffing, Lena turned to Vale, who hadn’t said anything in a while. “If you hate me,” she whispered, “I understand. I’m dangerous to be around. If you want to leave, you can. Both of you can.” Her watery eyes turned to Tamlen, a silvery-violet sheen on them from the moon’s light. “It was selfish of me to keep you here. You both deserve to live…as long as you don’t start another war.”
“No,” Tamlen spoke quickly. He did not release her hand, nor would he as long as she spoke like this. “I’m staying. I’m with you, Lena. Through thick and thin, I’m yours and you are mine.”
Vale was measured in taking her other hand, holding it against his bare chest. The man still sat there, naked, but he didn’t seem to mind as he said, “I’m staying, too. I am yours.” He brought the hand up to his lips, kissing her knuckles. “And you are mine.”
“Together,” Tamlen whispered, leaning into her, nose against her ear, “we can stand against anything, even an old god.” He had no clue how they’d stand against an old god, or even what an old god truly was, but they’d do their damned best, that was for certain.
Taking back her hands, Lena swiped at her tears, a gentle smile on her beautiful face. “Gods, I think I love you, both of you.” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, and she immediately clamped a hand over her open mouth as if wondering, why did I just say that?
It was true they were still new to each other, that they didn’t know much about each other. Their connection to her, to each other, drew them close. Considering everything, love didn’t seem that far-fetched, especially with the way Tamlen’s heart swelled after she said it.
Love.
He was pretty fucking sure he loved her, too.
But the blasted Vale beat him to it as he whispered, “Don’t regret saying it. I love you too.” And then he kissed her, salty tears or no, pulling her against him after tugging the hand off her mouth. Her arms slid around his neck, and she moaned into the deep kiss.
Tamlen waited a moment, noting how, almost immediately, Vale’s cock perked up as soon as Lena touched him. It grew and grew until it was rock hard. Growing impatient, Tamlen tore her from his grasp, moving her to his lap and giving her his own kiss, hard and rough and fast, how he usually liked it.
He moved his mouth to her neck, biting softly. Gods, after that declaration, he wanted to fuck. Could they? She was tangible, she was warm and real—and she didn’t disappear, even when she fell unconscious. How long did they have before the potion thing wore off?
“Now,” Tamlen said, “let’s find out what happens to your clothes if you take them off.”
Laughing quietly, Lena moved off of his lap, allowing them all to see that his own erection had sprung up, regardless of the fact that he’d ejaculated twice—once in Vale’s mouth, and once in his ass.
He leaned over to Vale, whispering, “How’s that ass?”
Vale’s azure eyes flicked from Lena to Tamlen as he said, “Missing your cock.”
Damn. The words made his dick throb beneath his trousers.
As Lena started to hoist up her robes, revealing a lacey pair of undergarments, she said, “Just kiss already.” Her breasts bounced free immediately; whatever padding that normally held them back must have been inside the robe’s stitching. As the robe fell to the floor—no, even before that—when it first lost all contact with her skin, it vanished into thin air, leaving nothing behind.
Vale needed no other instruction. His mouth crashed against Tamlen’s, forcing his lips open, his tongue—the same tongue that swirl
ed around his cock not too long ago—running along his, setting a fire in Tamlen’s stomach. Vale only ended the kiss after Lena stood there, utterly naked after having shed her last undergarment.
With the taste of Vale’s tongue still in his mouth, Tamlen slunk off the bed, crawling before her. Running a finger between her legs, through her creases, he found that she was slick with desire already. He spread her knees, gazing up at her, smiling. He’d be the first to taste her like this.
Tamlen kissed her pelvis softly before running his tongue along her. The smell of her sex made him work harder, licking and sucking, paying special heed to that little bump, so lovely and swollen. His tongue circled it, and she shivered, moaning as she struggled to remain standing.
A presence stood over him: Vale. Vale leaned over him, hitting the back of Tamlen’s head with his balls, as he grabbed Lena’s face and kissed her hard. Tamlen did not particularly enjoy having another set of balls, not to mention a rock-hard penis, right by his face, but did he have any room to talk?
No, he really didn’t.
He stuck a finger inside her, eventually getting two in as he continued to shower her sex with affection. Lena started to buck, pulling herself away from Vale’s kiss as she muttered, “I think I’m going to…” She couldn’t even finish the sentence before pleasure took over every nerve in that sweet, sexy body. She shivered, her inner muscles contracting around his fingers. Vale held onto her, the only reason she didn’t fall over.
Pulling back, Tamlen smirked up at Vale. “You’re not the only one who’s good with your tongue.” Before he had the time to think better of it and change his mind, he got to his feet, one hand on Lena’s lower back and his other on Vale’s. He pressed the other man against him, crashing his mouth to his, sharing the taste of Lena’s juices, which dotted his chin and lined his lips. This time, it was Tamlen’s tongue who went inside Vale’s, and the other man instantly reached for the outline of his dick, gripping it hard.
“Wow,” Lena murmured, moving to the bed, watching the two men together. “You two sure got close today, didn’t you?”
“Somebody woke up with a hard-on,” Vale said once their kiss was over, though his grip remained firm around Tamlen’s crotch.
Tamlen wanted to shove him away, but then he’d lose that hand. “Actually, it wasn’t that hard until you started coming onto me and touching me. I had no choice.”
“And when I offered you my ass? No one forced you then.”
His dick ached at the memory of being inside something so tight. Tighter than a vagina, less wet, but still—it felt good.
“I think you should repay the favor,” Lena suggested, spreading her legs wide, giving them both a good view, thanks to the light of the nearly-full moon. “Isn’t that right, Vale? Don’t you want him on his knees before you?” Her nipples, sitting atop large, round breasts, were two hard points.
Chuckling, Tamlen finally pushed Vale away. “No,” he said. “I don’t think so.”
Vale shrugged. “It’s all right. I’ll get him eventually.”
Throwing him a glare, Tamlen swore to himself that that was not true. He’d never suck on another man’s cock. That was not something he’d enjoy. Fucking a man was different, kind of like being with a woman. And mouths, really, they were all the same, right? But to have another man inside his mouth—that was just too much.
Tamlen pushed Lena over, giving him her back. She giggled into the sheets, her feet on the floor, backside in the air. She wiggled her cute, little ass. “Does it look like Vale’s?” she asked, which made both her and Vale chuckle.
He hurriedly shed his body of his clothes. “Just for that,” Tamlen whispered into her ear, positioning himself near the hole that would give him least resistance, the hole that his fingers were inside mere moments ago. “I’m going to punish you.” Her body shivered under him, trembling ever so slightly with a flushed excitement.
She gave him no resistance as he pushed inside her. Lena was still so wet, slick from her earlier orgasm. A soft, breathy groan left her as he started pounding into her, much like he’d done with Vale, only this time, this hole—it was made for his dick. The best hug his cock had ever gotten.
It didn’t take long for him to shudder as pleasure took hold, surging through him faster than ever. His thrusts became quick and successive as his seed came forth. When it was over, Tamlen sighed as he pulled out, rolling to the side of the bed Vale was not currently sitting on while watching.
Of course, then it was his turn to watch as Vale and Lena embraced each other.
If someone would have told him where his life—or his second life, rather—would go, Tamlen would’ve laughed in their face and then punched them, probably. Risen from the dead, that was a doozy right there, but to throw in a relationship between three people, one of them another man—the man who’d ended his first life with no hesitation? It sounded beyond far-fetched and ridiculous.
It sounded insane.
But, Tamlen decided, crawling up to lay on Lena’s other side after she and Vale were finished, it didn’t feel insane. This strange thing between them, the love that grew within him even though not much time had passed, felt right. He felt at home with Lena and Vale near him. This bed, shared between the three of them, was theirs.
Lena laid on her back between them, eyes droopy. Vale ran his fingers through her strangely-colored hair as he whispered, “How much longer do we have you before the potion wears off?”
Yawning, Lena murmured, “I’m…not sure. Ingrid…didn’t say.”
“What of us?” Tamlen asked, moving her hand to his face, gently kissing her knuckles. “How much longer must we remain here?”
“I have to figure out…what to do with—” There was a long pause before Lena finished, “The High Enchanter.” Her eyes were fully closed now, her breathing slowing. She was falling asleep before them both.
Tamlen gripped her hand hard as he said, “You must promise us that you won’t do anything rash, not when Vale and I aren’t there to protect you. If that tome belongs to your High Enchanter, there is no telling what he’ll do to get it back. You must stay safe.”
Images of a hurt, injured Lena tore through his mind, faster than he could stop them. They were the worst thoughts he had in a while, even more terrible than the realization that he was buried beneath Vale in a nameless, forgotten tomb. Tamlen didn’t know who this High Enchanter was. He seemed to be a man that Lena admired greatly, but every man had a weakness. Even if this Gregain was an old man, he did not trust him with Lena.
Gods, how badly he wished he could be there to protect her. Alas, he could not, and when Lena faded from the bed, leaving Tamlen and Vale alone, he held back a sigh. He’d do anything to be with her right now, again, to truly be with her. To be in her bed each night, hold her close, keep her away from the terrors of the world. Protect her from everything.
Even herself.
When Lena woke up the next morning, safe in her own bed, wearing her dull yellow robe still, she had to sit up, slowly reacclimating to her surroundings. No Vale or Tamlen. Right. She was back in her chambers in the College. She must’ve fallen asleep sometime after she was with Vale, and during that time the projection potion must’ve worn off.
Her head pounded a bit, and she fought the headache as she got up and washed herself. She changed into a new robe after checking to make sure the tome was safe in her drawer. It was, though its eerie cover seemed to whisper to her, wordlessly asking her to pick it up and use it again.
What dark magics were imbued inside it? Why did Lena feel its call, like she was some black sorceress? Some mage who took to necromancy all the time? She wasn’t. And even now she had no idea how exactly she’d risen the dead, no clue why Vale and Tamlen were fully alive and functional while the other skeletons were just that: bones with the urge to kill.
As she slipped on her boots, Lena paused. Were the skeletons going to kill her, or were they grouping around her because she’d risen them, because she was their
master? Had she been so freaked out that she didn’t even notice? Gods, she was stupid.
She hurried to the dining hall, grabbing a plate and filling it before finding Ingrid. Eggs and toasted bread were her two main go-tos for breakfast. Ingrid merely had a bowl of fruit before her, her eyes open as she munched, but her mind was elsewhere until Lena sat beside her. Her brown hair was up in a braid, curled around the crown of her head. Bags hung under her eyes, as if she’d been up all night.
“How was your night?” Ingrid spoke.
Lena felt herself growing hot as she recalled the scene in the inn. Tamlen and Vale together, then Tamlen’s mouth and tongue pleasuring her in a way fingers couldn’t, and then…well, she needn’t recall every detail as she sat beside her friend. So she simply said, “Good.”
Ingrid chuckled as she popped a piece of fruit into her mouth. “Uh-huh. I bet it was very good. You know, you still never told me the details—”
“How was your night?” Lena asked. “Did you make me that potion? You seem to be awfully tired yourself.”
“I’m working on it. Need more firedrake venom.” Ingrid winked, and that was that.
“Firedrake venom? I am not going to drink any potion with venom as an ingredient!”
“Just a bit, Lena. Enough to—”
She stared at Ingrid, frowning slightly. “I wanted my natural color back. Not another bright hue that’ll only cause more eyes to be on me.” Lena dug into her plate. “I don’t need any more eyes on me. You know that.”
Ingrid was slow to nod.
Lena wanted to tell her friend about Gregain and the tome, but she couldn’t. Not until she knew for certain. But how would she know? How could she find out if the Noresh text was truly the book Gregain was looking for? It was a library, full of books. What were the odds that he was the one who left the text? It didn’t make sense. He was the High Enchanter, the leader of the College, second only to the King. He had authority and power; what did he need with a tome about necromancy?
Spells and Necromancy: A Reverse Harem Fantasy (Unfortunate Magic Book 1) Page 18