The Lionheart (The Harbinger Book 4)

by Candace Wondrak

  “No, silly, I’m laughing,” she said, sliding off the bed, still holding onto her cup as she crawled to sit before him. “I’m thinking of monster dick.”

  “I…” Dracyrus’s brows creased, and his mouth thinned. “I do not know what you are talking about.”

  Right. He probably had no idea what a dick was. His kind didn’t use that word. They probably had some fancy name for it, because their dicks were extra special or something. Faith could not stop giggling, regardless of how much she tried. She’d piss off the Dracon before her in, like, two minutes at this rate.

  Dracyrus glanced to his left, muttering, “It is…she seems inebriated.” He was quiet as he listened to whatever whoever was telling him. If only Faith was there, then she could be a part of the conversation.

  “Who is it?” Faith asked, slurring her words just a bit.

  “Light and Jag. They are worried about you, as am I,” he said.

  They were worried about her. How sweet. Faith set her cup down, moving to crawl on his lap. They could touch across distances, and she wondered if she could smell him. She hugged herself to his chest, muttering something that made sense in her brain but made absolutely no sense after she said it out loud: “Oh, I’m worried about you, too.” It was the thought that counted, right? Not the actual delivery of the line.

  Dracyrus’s body tensed under hers, and he muttered, “She’s embracing me.” The guys must’ve said something to him, started to yell at him, for he turned his head away from Faith and growled, “I would never attempt to do anything like that.”

  The chest her cheek rested on reverberated with the growl, and her already warm body started to become even hotter. Why did she find his growl so sexy? Was she really that drunk, or did she like the Dracon’s growling because it sounded feral? Possessive. Dominant. She would gladly be the submissive one out of the pair…

  Faith buried herself into his muscular chest, whispering, “Growl again.”

  Dracyrus was quiet for a while, eventually saying, “She wants me to growl again.” Though he did not outright growl, his chest did hum with a steady, low reverberation. It was a sound, low and guttural, she could fall asleep to.

  But, wait a second. There was a reason she called Dracyrus, and it wasn’t to cuddle with him or to make him growl for her. Or anything about his dick. That would come later, provided she didn’t scare everyone off with what she was about to say.

  “I have a confusion to make…I mean a confession. A confession, mister,” Faith muttered, recalling Rose’s lips pressed against hers not too long ago. After Dracyrus relayed the message to the other two, and she supposed the extra Dracon they were with, since the commotion had probably woken him up, too, she went on, “I kissed a Fae girl.” Buried against his chest, she squeezed her eyes shut. “She kissed me, but I didn’t stop her at first. I didn’t…I don’t know. Her lips were kind of nice, but I think it’s because I’m so far away from you guys and I’m lonely…”

  She was just rambling now, wasn’t she? Faith grew quiet, knowing she sounded like an idiot. She blamed the glowing drink and her warm extremities, but then again, she was sure there were some people out there who would label her an idiot whether she was drunk, buzzed, or not.

  Faith focused on the warmth seeping from Dracyrus’s chest as she listened to him tell the others. How badly she wished she could be there, hear them freaking out. She deserved to face the brunt of their anger firsthand, not secondhand.

  Dracyrus didn’t say anything for a long time after that, which caused her to mutter, “How mad are they? Do they want to kill me? Break up with me? I don’t think I can handle doing this alone…” Being the Harbinger, finding this Fae chick who would take over each world if she didn’t stop her—how could she ever hope to do any of it alone?

  “Light is…” Dracyrus paused to choose his words carefully. “Still half asleep. Jag, however, is wide awake and curious.” He frowned. “I believe the Malus enjoys the thought of you with another female.” To Jag, he must’ve said, “Don’t grow irate with me, you fur-covered animal. I only speak the truth—”

  Faith pushed herself off his chest, staring up into his black eyes. “So they don’t want to leave me?”

  “No,” Dracyrus spoke. “Though I believe Light simply wants to go back to sleep. The other one is, unfortunately, wide awake now with the thought of you with another female.” He started to scowl, the typical Dracyrus expression. “He will be even more unbearable than he already is.”

  “I’m sorry,” Faith whispered, dragging her hand down his chest, feeling his strong, thick muscles beneath her fingertips. She’d seen him naked in the waterworld, she suddenly remembered, though she had tried her best not to focus on his midsection, AKA his dick. From what little she could remember with her fuzzy brain, he was hung like a freaking horse.

  Hmm. The logistics of that would be difficult to figure out, because there was no way he was ever fitting that thing inside her. Then again, Faith shouldn’t be thinking about Dracyrus’s dick when she wasn’t even sure the other guys would be okay with her seeing it in a non-professional capacity.

  Her brain was so wrapped up in how to go about this—because she wasn’t one for relationships before coming to the Second and learning she was the Harbinger, let alone one for a freaking harem of guys devoted to her—she didn’t even realize when sleep took her.

  Chapter Sixteen

  A raging headache pounded in her brain when Faith woke up the next morning, finding herself in the middle of the floor in a pile of her own drool. Her body felt a little stiff, mostly because she’d been on the hard ground all night and not in the downy, feathery bed on the side of the room, and when she got to her feet, she had to stretch and crack her back.

  What the hell happened last night?

  When she took a step, her foot knocked over a cup, spilling a purple liquid that still glowed somewhat all over the dirt floor. Oh, yeah. Faith drank perhaps a bit too much—although she only had one and a half cups, so that shit must be strong. She’d called Dracyrus because she…she…

  She kissed Rose. Or, technically, Rose kissed her, but it was the same thing, really.

  Just as Faith started to spiral yet again, a knock pounded on her door. Since she was already up, she went to answer it, finding Swift and Foresh standing in the hall, grinning at her. At least Swift was. Foresh just looked tired and worn out. With everything he did last night, Faith didn’t blame him. Her body had hurt after that group session with her guys, too. Kind of like how it hurt now, only today’s ache was simply because she’d slept on the floor. Fallen asleep right on Dracyrus’s chest.

  Foresh held a tray of fruit and some other drink that glowed a dull yellow. Faith focused on the drink and instantly shook her head. “No, guys. I think I had enough last night.” Still, they pushed past her and made themselves comfortable in her room.

  “This will help with your pounding head,” Swift said, grabbing the wooden cup from the tray and bringing it to her. When she gave him a look, he held his other arm across his chest and bowed his head. “Hart instructed us to take care of you before your fellowship arrives.”

  That was probably true, which was the only reason Faith begrudgingly took the cup from him and sluggishly brought it to her mouth, taking a small sip. It was a soothing, cool beverage. Kind of like honey, sweet and thick. “And that?” she asked of the other stuff on the tray Foresh set on her bed. They looked like fruit, but no fruit she’d ever seen.

  “Food,” Foresh stated. “You missed the morning meal.” His gaze landed on the dark circle in the dirt in the center of the room. “Were you…were you sleeping on the floor?”

  “Uh, yes?” Faith shrugged, moving to her bed. She set the cup down and reached for the nearest fruit. Three of them, all the same. Pink and purple, they fit in her palm, a slight fuzz around it, almost like a peach. “Are there seeds in this?”

  Swift and Foresh glanced at each other before Swift said, “That is the seed.”

 
These were seeds, and she was just supposed to eat them? Was that what they did here? Maybe seeds from her world and seeds from this world were two very different things. Faith brought it to her mouth, tentatively taking a small bite.

  Okay, these were definitely not like earth seeds. Seeds were always tiny and hard, inside the fruit, usually. This was…it was tasty. Juicy and sweet, like a strawberry and a peach rolled into one, a taste unlike anything she’d ever tried before. She had one eaten fully and was moving onto the next as the Fae sat cross-legged on the floor, carefully avoiding her slobber stain.

  Foresh was right. The drink did help with her head. Just one sip later, and her headache had already lessened. She took another sip of the drink before starting on the second fruit thing. “So how was your night?” She didn’t need to ask; she knew exactly how good their night was.

  “Nights are always good here,” Swift answered, grinning ear to pointed ear. “How was yours?”

  When Faith said nothing, Foresh glared at his friend and his lover, narrowing his green eyes. “What he means to say is we saw Rose this morning. She told us what happened last night. She wanted to come here to apologize again, but we figured we’d come to you first, see what you thought of it.”

  “Of what?” Faith spoke with her mouth full. “The kiss?” After munching on the bite and swallowing she said, “Rose is nice. She’s pretty, but she’s…a she.”

  “So what?” Swift asked.

  “She’s also a pure-blooded Fae,” Foresh added, as if it mattered to Faith, which it didn’t. To Swift, he added, “She might not like that.”

  “Unlike you guys, I don’t have a prejudice against pure-blooded Fae,” Faith spoke, finishing off the second fruit and taking another sip of the yellow drink. Her headache was mostly gone now; she could really use a shower. Or a bath. Something to stave off the sweat she knew her body had created since the last time she’d cleaned herself. “I don’t like girls like that.”

  Neither Fae understood her. It was obvious they had different views on things, especially things like this. Fae were so free with their love, their bodies; there probably wasn’t a Fae around Swift hadn’t gotten to know. Foresh seemed a bit quieter, but still.

  “Plus,” she went on, grabbing the third and final fruit, “I can’t just be with whoever I want. There are other people I have to think about. My—” God, she hated the word she was about to say; it was like she was caught in some romantic shifter book. “—mates.” Faith wanted to gag on the word.

  “Your mates won’t let you be with someone you want to be with?” Swift leaned forward, resting his chin on his fist, eager to hear her answer.

  “That’s not how relationships typically work,” she told him.

  “Relationships sound awfully boring,” Swift spoke with a frown, glancing at Foresh. “I’m glad our kind don’t really have them. Only when we’re focused on procreating, I suppose, we devote our time and energy to a single person, usually from another species.”

  “So all the sex that was happening last night won’t result in any full-blooded Fae babies?”

  Foresh shook his head. “Sex and mating are two separate things when it comes to Fae. The Fae have to want to procreate, otherwise nothing connects inside. No children sprout from the womb.”

  Faith had to stifle a laugh. “It’s not like that for us. Sex and mating are the same.” She had an IUD in, so she was good for a little while. A few years. Then, assuming she wasn’t dead, she’d have to go back to earth, to her doctor, and get it replaced. Kids were not on her agenda anytime soon. “Humans have accidental pregnancies all the time.”

  Giving her a crazy look, Swift said, “How odd. I cannot imagine a Fae having an accidental pregnancy.”

  “Me either,” Foresh agreed.

  Hmm. Must have something to do with all their magic, Faith decided, because she was pretty sure sex and babies went hand-in-hand for most other races and species, even in the Second.

  She finished her fruit and stood, stretching. The two Fae before her only watched. If they still wanted to bug her about Rose, they held back, which was good. The last thing Faith wanted to think about was the Fae girl who’d kissed her last night. The only reason Faith didn’t pull away immediately was because she was drunk.

  Drunk. Off a single cup of that glowing stuff.

  “Where do you guys bathe?” she decided to ask, abruptly changing the subject. Faith assumed they had to, because none of them smelled quite as rank as her. There had to be water somewhere nearby, otherwise a big tree like this wouldn’t prosper so much.

  Swift leapt to his feet, his sandy blonde hair swaying with the quick movement. “Come. We’ll show you.” He was the first out of the room, overeager and overzealous to reach the destination. If he thought he was going to watch Faith bathe, he had another thing coming.

  Down, down, down they went. Deeper into the ground, the temperature of the air remaining the same. This place teemed with magic, so it didn’t surprise Faith at all. Same with the glowing flowers on the vines that lit the space—those were just freaking awesome. She wanted some for her room back at home. Natural light, self-dimming. What wasn’t to like?

  They brought her to a wide opening in the Eldertree’s root system. Also a giant underground pond. The water seemed to glow, or maybe it was just the water’s surface reflecting the vines’ light on the roots that made up the walls. It was a beautiful sight, so pretty and calm, serene and tranquil, that she had no words to say.

  None except “Wow.”

  “Yes, you know, it isn’t much, but I like it,” Swift went on, sarcasm laced with every word.

  She glared at him, and then at Foresh. “Out. Both of you. Make sure no one else comes in.” Faith wasn’t a prude, but she didn’t want to flash her goods at anyone other than her guys. No one else should see her naked, just like no one else should kiss her, pretty Fae with soft lips or not.

  They wanted to argue—okay, mainly Swift wanted to argue—but they didn’t. They walked away from the pool, heading to the adjacent hall. With any luck, they’d keep a good lookout and stop anyone from waltzing in and getting a nice view.

  Faith worked on shedding her clothes, standing there naked for only a moment before heading in. The water was warmer than she anticipated, and as she lowered herself down, she realized it wasn’t the water’s surface reflecting the flower’s bright blooms that made the water iridescent.

  The water was home to dozens of small, floating, somewhat-see-through creatures, all glowing a brilliant blue. Kind of like jellyfish, although she hoped that since neither Fae warned her against touching them, they weren’t dangerous.

  God, this place was full of beauty, wasn’t it? Faith thought, relaxing for a moment, letting the floating underwater creatures slowly move around her. One brushed up against her arm, and it didn’t sting her. It only felt like something small dancing across her skin, a little ticklish.

  How could someone want to destroy all of this miraculous beauty? Faith would not let that Fae woman triumph. She would do what she had to to beat her, to knock her down a peg. To make her realize this didn’t belong to her. Dracyrus did not belong to her. Faith’s fate did not belong to her, either. Just because her magic was involved didn’t make her the mother of it all.

  Faith held her breath, dunking her head under the water, running her hands across her scalp and through her hair before resurfacing. And then she wandered to the edge of the water, leaning on the root that curled around the pond, separating the pond from the dirt. With a sigh, she closed her eyes. Her headache was gone, she’d told Dracyrus and the others—Light and Jag, at least—about Rose. She let herself relax.

  This might be the last time she relaxed at all.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Do you think Faith likes other women?” Jag was busy running his mouth, and Light wanted to tune him out. It seemed a skill both Dracyrus and Vyserous had, for the Dracon could pretend as if he wasn’t talking. Light didn’t have that skill. Jag was his fri
end; he felt like it was his duty to listen to him drone on and on. “Do you think she’d be with another woman and let me watch?”

  They’d landed a while ago, giving Fang some time to rest and drink some water out of the nearby stream. Vyserous and Dracyrus were busy talking to each other, the younger Dracon still miffed that Fang seemed to like Dracyrus better than him. Light and Jag were off to the side, upriver from the drake currently rolling around in the water.

  Jag was perched on a stone, balancing perfectly as he always did, his tail flicking back and forth as he thought about it. “I’d very much like to watch.”

  Light shot him an annoyed, exasperated expression. Why could Jag not shut up about it? It had happened days ago, and ever since then, when Dracyrus had woken them up in the night to detail what Faith was saying, Jag kept going on and on.

  Light himself wasn’t upset, not like he’d been when he’d learned of Finn. Finn was…wholly unlikeable in every way. Life was a lot better with Finn gone, too—though he hated to think Finn was with Cam somewhere. To hear Faith had kissed a girl was…a bit weird, but nothing that enraged him. He was not half as obsessed as Jag was; his friend put a new meaning to the word.

  “Jag, it sounded as if she was full of drink. I hate to break it to you, friend, but I don’t think she’d kiss or do anything with another woman with her head on her shoulders, whether you want to watch her or not,” Light said, bending to refill his canteen. Riding Fang had been jarring at first, his groin and his back ached, but it was a pain he had grown used to after a while.

  “Even if I beg?” Jag posed the question seriously, as if him begging would change things. “Even if I grovel? I am not above begging or groveling or licking her feet.”

  Light turned his blue eyes upon his friend. “I truly do not think Faith would want you to lick her feet.”

  Jag’s mind was clearly somewhere else; Light had to quickly avert his gaze as his friend adjusted himself over his pants. “I wish we were with Faith. I need her.”