by BETH KERY
Saint put his hands on her hips and lifted her several inches off his cock. It gave Teslar the give he needed. Teslar growled as he flexed his hips, pressing his testicles against her ass.
Saint reached with his thumb, rubbing her clit briskly.
“Come for us, Stina,” he demanded in a rough whisper. “Come for me.”
He settled her back on his cock and she followed his order, exploding in climax.
A moment later she stared down at Saint’s enraptured face as her entire world quaked and rattled. Clumps of dirt and splinters of wood fell to the floor of the chamber while Saint held her ass steady and Teslar fucked her from behind, his grunts and growls blending with the creaks of the wood reinforcement and the crumbling earth.
But none of them seemed capable of reacting to anything but the hot inferno of their need.
“Your ass is on fire,” Saint growled.
She grimaced as Teslar thrust into her, and his pelvis made a smacking sound against her buttocks. She stared at Saint in dawning wonder.
“I can feel it,” he mumbled. Sweat drenched his face now. “We’re dying in your fires, lovely.”
The chamber shook around them. Teslar plunged into her and an otherworldly howl tore from his throat. Christina felt both males swell inside of her, the sensation causing an orgasm to zip up her spine like lightning. Her scream of shocked pleasure twined with Saint’s shout.
A dark veil fell over her consciousness as ecstasy engulfed her.
When she came back to herself she was in Saint’s arms, his face pressed against her neck. She felt the wetness of tears against her skin. She glided her hands across his hard chest and shoulders, soothing him without thinking to do so.
Something struck the earth in the distance and lumps of dirt fell to the carpet. Christina lifted her head, blinking to clear the haze of lingering magic and sexual bliss.
Earlier, she’d assumed that the entire earth was shaking around them in a quake, but now she realized the chamber shook because something heavy was being hurtled against the tunnel walls repeatedly.
“Saint,” she breathed out warily.
“I know.” He gently lifted her off his cock, both of them wincing at the sensation.
“Get dressed. Quickly,” Saint ordered.
Christina began to do as he said, despite her rising disorientation. Distant thunder occasionally shook the underground chamber.
She pulled her T-shirt down and stood, fully dressed. She glanced around the now-dusty chamber.
“Where’s Teslar?”
Saint glanced up from fastening his button-fly.
“He’s gone, Christina. I thought you understood. I used to control Teslar from without. But, because of you, I can now contain him from within.”
His magnificent muscles flexed as he drew his shirt over his head. Christina gaped when she saw the scar on his left pectoral muscle. It wasn’t the same scar that had been on Teslar…this one was newer, pink, and less jagged looking.
Still, it was in the same position and was precisely the same shape as Teslar’s had been.
“Teslar’s inside you?” she whispered in awe when Saint stood before her, fully dressed.
“In a manner of speaking,” Saint said quietly. “Better to say that because of you, I was able to absorb him. I always told you we were one. Teslar was my shadow…my dark half. We sprang from the same mother cell. But now I hold ascendancy over him. Don’t be afraid, Stina.”
She wondered what expression had showed on her face to make him say it with so much emotion.
She’d known there was magic at work in their lovemaking, but she hadn’t expected this.
“I’m not afraid of you,” she admitted shakily. “I’m just…stunned. Even though I thought I understood before…it’s still quite a shock.”
He nodded once.
“We have to get out of here. The Iniskium’s attack on the Scourge revenants is going to collapse this ancient tunnel.”
“That’s what’s causing the shaking?” Christina asked as Saint took her hand. They dodged falling earth and timber as he led her out of the carpeted chamber.
He nodded grimly. “And from the sounds of it, it’s the worst battle the Iniskium have launched in several centuries.”
Saint moved aside the thick carpet and Christina followed him.
They stepped straight into chaos.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The ancient freight tunnel that stretched ahead of them was thick with dust and both inert and writhing bodies. Christina’s eyes went wide when a huge, dark shadow came springing in the air toward them. Saint grabbed her arm, holding her in place behind him. He slashed with his right arm and then kicked.
She stared in horrified disgust at the muscular, panther-like prowler that fell to the floor with a dull thud. The severed head Saint had kicked with his booted foot bounced next to its chest, the cruel jaw frozen in a snarl around jagged teeth.
Saint didn’t spare the beheaded revenant a glance. He grabbed her wrist with one hand, holding his heartluster in the other, and led her down the chamber. They had to pick their way across dozens of bleeding bodies, some of them still, some in the final throes of battle.
Saint slashed with his heartluster several times as they moved, abruptly ending the struggle of what might have been mortal combats. Once, he knelt and touched a fallen woman’s cheek.
“Help is coming, Shrinar. Can you hold out?”
The dusky-skinned female smiled weakly. Blood and dust covered her face. “I saw to it that Marcellus lost his head. I wouldn’t dream of leaving the immortal life until I’ve gloated over that fact for at least a century.”
“You did well,” Saint said, respect in his tone.
Shrinar shifted her head carefully to glance up at him. “It was like the revenants just gave up there…at the end. You know as well as I do that I’m no match for Marcellus.”
Saint’s eyebrows went up in interest at Shrinar’s words, but he said nothing else and continued leading Christina down the tunnel.
The metallic scent of blood and sulfur burned in her nostrils. She made out a flicker of gold in the distance, the light intermittently occluded by two figures fighting. The battle they waged was vicious, nothing like the waning struggles of exhaustion they’d passed so far in the tunnel.
“Isi,” Christina whispered miserably, looking around Saint’s body when he paused, still fifty feet away from the dangerous battle.
Javier Ash had just sent a rocketing fist into Isi’s jaw, causing the Iniskium warrior to fly against the wall like a projectile from a missile. The earth trembled around them. Much to her shock, Isi sprang forward immediately, a look of determined hatred on his face.
His retaliatory punch and rapid kick to Ash’s chin and gut caused the revenant to howl in pain. Saint raised his heartluster in preparation to cross the distance and enter the battle.
“Leave him to me!”
Isi’s bellow echoed in the subterranean shaft. Ash struck the wall of the chamber forcefully and fell, motionless.
Saint stilled. Christina sensed his hesitancy as he lowered his sword.
She saw that several figures stood as though waiting in the far distance—on the opposite side of Isi and Ash. She realized that Isi spoke not only to Saint, but to the other Iniskium who had gathered, watching the fight. Apparently Javier Ash was the last revenant standing guard between the Iniskium and Teslar, Saint, and her.
And Isi had made it his mission to finish his foe one on one.
She let out a tiny scream of shock when Javier Ash suddenly leapt up from his faint. He flew through the air, taking Isi by surprise. The revenant bared a mouthful of sharp teeth, tearing at Isi’s shoulder. Blood droplets arced through the air. Both males fell to the floor heavily, shaking the chamber.
Ash’s jaw closed and Isi howled in pain.
Ash unfastened his jaw and raised his head, just inches away from biting through Isi’s neck. An anguished shout echoed in the chamber and
a slight figure raced toward the battling men. Quicker than Christina could think, Saint called sharply and tossed his blade through the distance.
“Alison!”
Saint’s heartluster sliced through the air, the metal flashing in the dim light. Alison grabbed the handle and plunged at the same moment that Ash glanced around in surprise.
She drove the sword into Ash’s opened mouth.
The blade stifled the revenant’s scream; his filmy eyes went wide in shock. Ash didn’t even whimper when Isi threw him off his body and withdrew his long knife from the sheath at his waist.
Christina winced in disgust. She wanted to plunge her face into Saint’s back and avoid the sight at all costs.
Instead, she watched as Isi sliced through the Scourge revenant’s neck methodically, pausing only to whisk Saint’s heartluster out of Ash’s throat when metal blade struck sword.
A moment later, Ash’s severed head rolled to the floor of the shaking tunnel.
“Ugh. You owe me for this, Saint,” she threatened, her face pressed against Saint’s back.
He grunted.
“For that, and so much more,” he murmured.
“Let’s get the injured and get out of here before this tunnel collapses,” Saint shouted to the Iniskium.
Christina tripped after him, coughing as earth, wooden planks, and old mortar rained down on them.
Epilogue
There were only thirty-six surviving Iniskium following the tunnel battle, less than half of their original number. Christina sensed Saint’s profound sadness for the great loss to an already near extinct tribe of unique beings. They had successfully rescued the injured survivors and the dead for burial before the tunnel began to collapse.
“It’s the end of the Scourge revenants, at least in this city,” Fardusk said stonily as they all stood on a delivery platform on lower Wacker Drive. They’d been a bloody, bedraggled group and the solemnity of the moment showed on every surviving Iniskium’s face. Alison seemed equally as sober as she stood with her arms wrapped around Isi’s waist, looking for all the world like she believed she was solely responsible for holding up the brawny warrior.
“Apparently Teslar imparted them with a certain level of strength,” Saint had muttered. “When he was conquered, the Scourge revenants were diminished. Only Javier Ash remained strong, but I’ve thought for a long time that he was no typical revenant. Chances are, he was something unique even before Teslar turned him.”
Christina noticed that Saint never stated the manner in which Teslar had been vanquished, and the Iniskium never pressed as to how he had accomplished what was thought to be an impossibility.
They had all gone to Whitby, where Saint designated a plot of land beneath a small grove of redbud trees as a graveyard. This was where Christina found him standing alone in front of the freshly dug graves two nights after the freight tunnel battle.
They had been together frequently over the past forty-eight hours, checking on the injured and spending time with Aidan. Not just Aidan, but Christina and Saint were learning about Aidan’s new powers. All three of them were slowly assimilating to the idea that Saint was Aidan’s father. Christina knew the process would take time, and Saint seemed to sense this as well.
They’d been together often during the past two days, but rarely had they been alone unless they were making love in the darkness of night, their hunger for one another seemingly only growing stronger, or sleeping in each other’s arms.
Until now.
“It’s a lovely resting place,” Christina murmured from behind Saint, referring to the graves. He didn’t turn at the sound of her voice, but she knew he’d sensed her approach. The wind rustled in the trees and she heard the sound of the waves hitting the shore in the distance. She thought of how she’d always sensed the mystery that cloaked Whitby at night, intuited the enigma of Saint himself.
Now that the mystery had been revealed to her, it seemed no less awesome.
Saint turned toward her and held out his arms.
She pressed her cheek to his chest and he combed his fingers through her hair. For several full moments, neither spoke as they held one another, and the night embraced them both.
“Fardusk is taking the Iniskium away from Whitby later tonight,” Saint said after a while.
She leaned back and gazed at his face in the dim moonlight. His chest felt solid and warm beneath her palms. She could feel his heart beating, steady and strong.
“So soon?” she asked in a hushed tone.
Saint nodded.
“Where will they go?”
“To the crystal chamber. Fardusk has a plan for renovating the tunnels around it, making it a more comfortable place for them to live.”
“What will they do, now that Teslar and the revenants are gone?”
Saint shrugged. “They will continue to protect those in need. They’ve fought against evil for too long now to stop. And the gods know there is enough violence and injustice to combat in this city.”
Christina had to agree with that.
“Alison has decided to go with them.”
Christina started at his words. “Really? With Isi?”
“Yes.” Saint must have noticed her doubtful expression. She hadn’t been pleased when she’d heard about Alison’s betrayal, but she hadn’t been surprised either. The girl had a long history of emotional problems, and no matter what Saint said about her supposed strength, Teslar was nearly impossible to resist.
How well Christina knew.
“She’s a grown woman. You can’t be responsible for every decision one of your charges makes. Don’t you think Isi can keep her safe?”
“I suppose. But Alison is so fragile—”
“She’s about as fragile as I am,” Saint interrupted. Her eyes fixed on his small smile. Saint had to have the sexiest mouth in existence. His lips twitched and she wondered if he’d read her mind.
“Alison insisted on going with Isi to the tunnels the other night. He couldn’t talk her out of it. I don’t know how hard he tried to stop her, considering how angry he was with her for having betrayed you and Aidan. Maybe he figured she had whatever was coming to her if she came up against a revenant.”
“Well he doesn’t feel that way anymore. Not after Alison stepped into the middle of that fight and saved his life. I wonder if they can actually be happy together,” Christina mused.
“They’ve got their own battle ahead of them, that’s for sure. Ought to be interesting,” Saint said wryly.
“I suppose it makes sense that Fardusk would take them to the crystal chamber,” Christina murmured. “Since they can take nourishment from it.”
Saint’s eyes gleamed in the moonlight.
“What?” she asked, intuiting that he wanted to tell her something.
“I have not been to the crystal chamber for days now, Christina,” he said gruffly.
Her eyebrows knit together in confusion. “I…I had noticed that. But I thought it was because of our lovemaking. I thought I was sustaining you,” she whispered.
He slowly shook his head. His eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight. “I am able to eat more…to take nourishment from food. Only the food you prepare, food infused with your vitessence…with your soul. But I’ve been eating it regularly. I’ve been able to eat your food occasionally since I’ve known you, but only in small amounts. Only your meals appealed to me.”
“Really?” she asked in amazement, thinking of how he’d told her at the party—had it really only been several weeks ago—how he could only eat her food, and she’d assumed he was joking.
He nodded before he leaned down and nuzzled her nose with his own. His lips brushed against hers in a warm, firm caress. She shivered, but the topic at hand was too important to let Saint’s delicious kisses sidetrack her.
“But what does it mean?” she asked.
He kissed her slowly and thoroughly. She tasted the new, subtle hint of bitterness in his rich, delicious flavor and embraced the complexity
and sheer power of his soul. His kiss enveloped her, and she promptly forgot what it was they were discussing as her body began to hum with increasingly familiar potent sexual arousal.
“I spoke with Kavya about it,” Saint said huskily next to her seeking lips a moment later.
She blinked, recalling their conversation. “And?”
“He says that when I absorbed Teslar, when I accepted my dark self and took domain over it, that my soul was fully crystallized. I can feel it now, Stina. I am no longer one of the soulless ones. I can give as well as take.”
She looked up at him through tear-filled eyes, moved by the depth of feeling in his voice. She figured now wasn’t a great time to tell him that he’d always given to her, always shared himself in a way that made her feel vibrant and alive.
“I’m so grateful you realize it now, Saint.”
He swallowed thickly and bent his knees. He pressed his forehead to hers.
“That isn’t all. Kavya says that through the transformation that occurred in the chamber…I became mortal. In gaining a soul, I set the term of my life.”
She leaned back in alarm. “What?”
He gently placed his hand at the back of her skull and pressed their foreheads together. His breath was warm and fragrant as it brushed against her nose and lips.
“I’m not dying now. Kavya wasn’t sure how long I will live, but he guessed I will begin to age now in a way that’s similar to other humans. Is that so bad? For us to grow old together, Christina?”
A tear skipped down her cheek when she shook her head. “No, no. I would love nothing more than to grow old with you.”
“Stina,” he growled softly. He enclosed her in his arms and kissed each of the tears that fell from her eyes.
Then he settled on her mouth hungrily.
A moment later, he pulled her down to the soft, cool grass and lay on top of her, belly to belly. She sighed blissfully, loving the feel of his weight and hardness pressing against her. He nuzzled her breast with his nose and mouth and then, ever so gently, bit the tip, scraping his teeth over a beaded nipple until she shivered.