by Lila Jean
They walked through her temple gardens, his phone filled with the pictures from their day. With his arm around her shoulders, he led her over a bridge by a koi pond as the final hours of his time with her ticked away.
He didn’t want it to end, and her hand around his waist suggested she didn’t either. They paused to watch the fish swim through the water beneath the bridge, and Tina let out a soft sigh.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“You really got my hopes up back in the restaurant,” she said.
Flynn rubbed her shoulder, and her chest against his torso sent a soothing ripple of pleasure through him. “About the other, uh, visitors to Olympus?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry.”
She shrugged, her head against him as she stared down at the fish.
He kissed the top of her head, and the sweet scent of roses wafted up from her hair. “You may be the only one, but that makes you all the more special. Besides, you’re never alone and you will always be safe. Whether you come to Olympus or not, I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
She looked up at him, those hazel eyes reeling him in. “You don’t have to pledge yourself to me, Flynn. I don’t know who I’ll choose, and I’d hate for you to make a vow you have to break.”
“I don’t give anyone lip service. If I say it, I mean it.” He spun her around and held both her hands, pulling her near until they were only inches apart.
She smiled and brushed her nose against his. “Thanks.”
Her proximity flipped off the rational switch in his mind. With her this close, he wanted more. From his experience, a woman this powerful shouldn’t be this kind, and yet here she was, a beautiful enigma inches from his face, luring him in.
He closed the final gap between them and pressed his mouth against hers, the kiss slow and sweet. He pulled on her waist, pressing her hips against his body as they both leaned into each other.
She ran her hands through his hair, and her touch warming more and more the longer they explored each other’s mouths. Confused, he peeked through one eye to find her skin glowing, the soft white light pulsing from deep within.
He smiled through the kiss and deepened it. Even if she didn’t choose him, at least he had helped her embrace the new magic in her soul. He would never push his way into her bed, but he knew he stood the best chance of winning if he could show her what life with him would be like in every sense.
23
Tina
On her first day off since the contest began, Tina lay on her bed feeling absolutely smitten.
Smitten by the goddess and the way her body hummed with energy, stronger every day. Smitten by Anthony’s protectiveness, Draven’s raw sexual power, and Flynn’s overwhelming compassion.
Tina pressed her finger against the white ink tattoo on her wrist, and white light shot up the veins in her arm. Where before she had flinched from it, she now smiled at the reminder of the power brewing in her core.
By now, she had expected to already hate one or more of the men in the contest. It would have made sense for anyone used to their level of authority and wealth to be prima donna nightmares, but no one had so much as demanded a thing from her.
Frankly, she was having a blast.
Tina kicked her legs over the edge of the mattress and stood, her bare feet pacing over the hardwood floor as her mind wandered. She sifted through each of the men she had spent time with up to now, mentally tallying pros and cons.
Thus far, the pros list on each far outweighed the cons.
The door swung open, and Ray entered with a wrapped present in her hands. The blue paper had a pink bow elegantly tied at the top. The high priestess carried the gift as though it were a squirming baby she didn’t want to hold and offered the box to Tina.
“From Amy.”
“Thank you. Can you knock next time?”
Without answering, the high priestess pursed her lips and shook the box a bit as if to say take it.
Frowning in annoyance, Tina grabbed the present and sat on the bed, tugging at the pink bow until it unraveled. She ripped open the paper to find the white box for a cell phone Tina had wanted for ages but never had the money to buy.
Usually, she would never have accepted an expensive present like this from her rich friend, since Tina didn’t want Amy to feel like she had to buy Tina’s loyalty. Given the circumstances, however, she couldn’t have been happier to turn it on.
Before she could lift the lid, she noticed all four of the security seals across the edges of the box’s lid had been cut. Tina glared at Ray. “Did you open this present before it came to me?”
Ray clasped her hands in front of her in that annoying, patronizing manner that seemed to be part of her default setting. “It’s for your safety, Tina. I had to ensure the package was safe and actually from Amy.” Without another word, Ray left and shut the door behind her.
Tina shook her head, half of her understanding while the other half fumed from the invasion of privacy. It wouldn’t have surprised her if Ray had really opened the gift in order to add her own bug to the device. Tina tugged the phone out of the box and examined it, even though she didn’t know what a bug or GPS tracker would look like.
Tina turned it on and a welcome screen flashed before her. Amy had already set it up for her, and Amy’s number was the only one in the contacts list. Tina hit dial and waited for a familiar voice to answer.
“She lives!” Amy shouted in greeting.
“Yeah, for the moment.”
Amy snorted. “You’re always so damn morbid. Tell me everything! Have you seen any glorious shifter booty yet?”
Tina got straight to business. “I’m not sure this line is secure, little miss super spy.”
“Of course, it is. You would not believe the strings I pulled to get you this thing.”
Tina rolled her eyes. “My doting high priestess got her hands on it before it got to me.”
Amy groaned in annoyance. “But I—damn it all! Why is this so hard? Okay, hold on. I’m going to go get my favorite nerd. He can walk you through checking the phone for bugs. Hear that, Ray? Fuck you!”
Tina laughed. Whether Ray liked it or not, Tina would have a secure phone line by the end of the day.
It turned out that it only took an hour for Amy’s “favorite nerd” to walk Tina through the possible ways the phone could have been bugged, both via hardware and software. She wasn’t sure where Amy found this guy, because his knowledge of how to spy on people was scary good.
They found only one instance of spy software on the phone and easily removed it, thanks to Super Nerd. She would have to keep the phone on her at all times to keep it from getting bugged again.
As the day ticked on, Tina told Amy about everything. Her excitement. Her magic. Her fear. The kings. The princes. The death threats. As the hours wore on, her throat hurt from all the talking, but she needed to get this out and clear her head.
“Holy shit,” Amy finally said when Tina finished.
“No kidding,” Tina agreed.
“I could tell Anthony was interested in you, but wow. He’s head over heels for you now.”
“You don’t think he’s just trying to win?”
“Never. If he didn’t want you, he wouldn’t try regardless of the power struggle at stake. In the past, he has always overcome the odds and won even if his opponent is stronger. That’s just what he does.”
“But the others—”
“Look,” Amy interrupted with a tough-love edge to her voice. “This is your life now, babe. Smoking hot men. Power struggles. Political intrigue and unfair demands of you and your time. This is why I said I didn’t envy you. Considering everything you are and everything you can be, there will always be people trying to control you. At the end of the day, you just have to trust yourself. With Damara, your intuition will never fail you unless you ignore it. If you trust her, she will protect you.”
Amy let out a slow breath as she continued. “I can tell you loa
ds about those princes, Tina, but everything I know, I learned through Anthony. It’s all biased. In the end, you need to ask yourself what you think. Trust your gut.”
Tina sat up straighter, and in that second it all clicked for her. “You’re right.”
“Duh.”
Tina laughed, but the thrill of her new realization thrummed within her chest. “You’re right. Flynn said yesterday that the more I trust Damara, the more powerful I’ll become. It’s a give and take.”
“Exactly. She wants you to not just survive but to thrive. To win. To love your life. If you’re happy, she gets to be happy vicariously through you. You’re her ticket to experience our world. She’s going to protect you no matter what.”
Tina stood tall and stared out her bedroom window at the glorious day.
“What is your intuition telling you right now?” Amy asked.
With her hand on her abdomen, Tina listened to the humming within her body. Energy and power swirled within her, churning like the storm she saw the day before. She thought over each of the men she had spent time with thus far, and the same words came to her for each of them: safe and sexy.
“I can trust these guys,” Tina finally said. “Anthony, Draven, and Flynn, at least.”
“Good. What about tomorrow’s guy? Who’s that, again?”
“Killian.”
Tina listened again to her intuition. She recalled the beady glare the eagle king had given her when he suggested they all kill her. In another instant, Killian stepped between her and his father, eager to dispel the tension.
Blips of emotion surfaced as she waited to make sense of what Damara was trying to say. Concern. Desire. Trust.
“King James wants me dead, but Killian does not,” Tina finally said.
“Good. What else?”
“My choice in this contest has serious consequences and, honestly, may not matter.”
On the other end of the line, Amy spit out whatever she was drinking. “What? Are you crazy? Of course, it matters!”
“The four princes I don’t choose will be disappointed, but their fathers will be furious.” Tina shook her head, more and more certain with every word she spoke. “The kings may even be angry enough to come after me. At least one of the kings would rather kill me than let my power go to someone else. Regardless of who I choose, there will be a war.”
She would need a backup plan in the very likely chance things went south when she made her choice. At all times, she would need to be careful and have a means of escape.
Tina leaned against the window and stared out onto the day, her mind racing with options. It seemed like Zane’s offer was even more meaningful than she had imagined. The question was, would he still help her even if he wasn’t chosen?
No, she couldn’t think about this right now. She had to focus on the task at hand: choosing one of the tantalizing princes vying for her attention. Deep down, though, she had to confess her growing affection for each of them. Choosing would be difficult, and she wasn’t sure if she even could choose just one.
Her fingers itched to be kept busy, and since her mind was racing too much to sit down and read more about Damara, she grabbed the dagger her dragon shifter had given her and ran through the now-familiar techniques he had taught her.
“Focus,” she said to herself, doing her best to remember the pointers Draven had given her. “Tense the core. Swing.” She slashed at the air, imaging King James’ face beneath the blade.
To test herself further, she turned her attention inward, eyes closed as the ran through the techniques in her empty bedroom. As she had in the garden with Flynn, she tapped into the magic in her body, connecting with the sensations all around her. Every breath, every breeze, every beat of wings on the air as birds flew by, it all swirled within her, bringing her to life. Deep within her core, her magic hummed and churned, vibrant and powerful.
Even though she was alone, she instinctively listened for heartbeats. To her surprise, a distant one thrummed to life. She could feel it coming closer as she connected with the stranger’s body, the pulse somehow familiar even though she didn’t know who it belonged to.
With too many things to focus on, Tina paused her dagger practice and listened completely to the approaching heartbeat. She gave herself completely to her magic as the person reached her door and knocked.
“Yes?” she asked, not bothering to open the door.
“Tina, it’s me.” Draven’s muffled voice came through the wood, and she shook her head at his gall. “You ready to train?”
With a sigh, Tina’s grip on her dagger tightened. Part of her wanted to open the door and let him “train” her between the sheets, to allow him to break her rules yet again so he could please her. However, he was forming some bad habits, habits she needed to put a stop to. “It’s my day off, Draven. You don’t get to have extra days in the contest.”
The locked doorknob rattled as he tried to get in, and she frowned in annoyance. He sighed through the door. “I thought we agreed you need as much training as possible.”
“I do. I’ll train with each of you.” She took a deep breath, officially annoyed by his antics. “As for today, I’m set with solo practice.”
“Tina—”
“No, Draven.”
“Come on, just—”
Since she was still connected to her magic, his heartbeat thudded in her ear. She tapped into it, pressing the accelerator ever so slightly to drive home her point. He gasped, and the door shook as something heavy leaned into it.
“I’m sorry,” he said with a gasp.
Tina released her hold on his pulse, and on the other side of the door, the dragon shifter sighed with relief.
“That was actually crazy hot,” he said through the door. “You have me wrapped around your finger, Tina.”
She smirked. “Good. Now, I’d like to have today to myself.” She took a deep breath and lifted her dagger, ready to slide into the next technique. “Thanks for the visit, Draven.”
His heartbeat began to fade as he walked away, and Tina smiled to herself. These boys were a handful, but at least they were fun.
24
Zane
Zane wandered the halls of Damara’s temple, memorizing the hallways as he passed the time waiting for his day with Tina. He wondered if she had further considered his offer, and mostly he hoped she would never take him up on it.
His enhanced cat senses caught the scuffle of fighting men, and he hurried toward the commotion. Based on the direction and intensity, it sounded as though it were coming from the training hall. Perhaps a few of his competitors had decided to hash out their differences.
He ended up in a massive open space lined with gray stone walls. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, likely as old as the temple itself. On the mats below, Killian and Draven dueled.
“Point!” Killian shouted, raising one fist in victory.
Draven grimaced in annoyance and shook out his hands, ready for the next round. Judging from the smirks on their faces and the light blows against each other’s chests, they were merely sparring. No hard blows. No blood.
They didn’t acknowledge him, so Zane leaned against the wall and crossed his arms to observe their duel. He studied every movement, looking for patterns. Slowly, habits and preferred strikes began to emerge. Killian preferred to circle, feint, and strike, while Draven threw his superior brawn around.
Anthony appeared beside Zane, silent as a ghost. Zane flinched with surprise, but the werewolf didn’t acknowledge his existence. Seconds later, Flynn appeared beside the wolf shifter, and all three of them watched the match in silence.
Zane really needed to keep better track of his adversaries’ movements through the temple. It wouldn’t help him to know his way around if someone could still sneak up on him.
“And match!” Killian shouted. He bowed, as if to an adoring crowd.
Huffing with exhaustion, Draven merely shrugged. “I’m a better lover than a fighter anyway.”
“To
win Tina’s heart, you’ll need both,” Anthony said with a smirk.
Draven glanced over Anthony with a cool and disinterested air. “I think she rather enjoyed my expertise during my day with her. Did you have the same luck?”
Anthony’s smirk faded to a scowl, and his eyes flashed gold in warning.
“Simmer down, ladies.” Flynn stood between the two shifters. Tiny bursts of lightning crackled over the demigod’s skin, but Zane knew better. Flynn couldn’t control more than a few clouds in the sky.
Apparently incensed from his loss, Draven gestured to the mat. “How about you, Zane? Care to spar?”
“No thanks.”
“Come on, show us what you can do.”
Zane snorted in annoyance. He had never been much of a fighter, especially in human form. He could hold his own as a tiger, but his human form was better suited for study.
Draven spread his arms wide, challenging Zane outright. “Scared you’ll lose?”
“Scared he’ll have a black eye for his day with Tina, maybe,” Anthony said with a chuckle.
A snarl escaped Zane’s clenched teeth.
Draven laughed. “Aw, did the big bad wolf make the widdle kitty mad?”
A low growl rumbled in Zane’s throat. If he had been in his tiger form, his tail would have twitched with anger. “This widdle kitty is about to eat your fucking face. Don’t back a tiger into a corner, dragon.”
That earned a few chuckles from Killian and Flynn. Even Anthony shook his head, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
“Fine,” Zane said as he stepped onto the mat.
Draven lifted his hands into fighting position, the loose fists by his temple to protect his face. Zane didn’t bother taking a fighting stance. Relaxed and at ease, he set his hands behind his back and lifted his chin, looking down at the dragon shifter as he prepared to give his competitors a taste of what he could do.