by Nikki Hunter
The men mostly stared at her blankly, confusion and concern crossing over their features temporarily as she spoke. Still she pushed through. They had to know the whole story.
“You’ll have jobs to take, an innocent life that you took once too and hopefully won't take again. But one of those jobs will bring us to the conclusion of what I’m telling you. What I want to save you from. Your queen is corrupt.”
The room was silent. She opened her mouth to speak again but she closed it so they had a second to process what she said. Kade eyed her, in the same untrusting way he had the first time.
Lance glanced back at Kade. They communicated silently. Camila knew Kade was telling him she was telling the truth.
Yehven huffed, “How dare she speak of our queen like that? We should take her captive and bring her to her throne immediately. Let the queen decide how she will handle this miscreant.”
Camila stepped forward until she closed the space between her and Yehven. The others tensed but made no move to stop her. “Would you like to tell them the truth, Yehven Medeiros? Tell them what you truly are? Why don’t you tell me how you managed to keep it a secret? How can I not smell it on you?”
“You know nothing,” he bit out.
“How could you not tell me?” Her voice broke as it grew louder. “How come you didn’t love me enough to tell me the truth?”
Yehven look appalled by her. He looked appalled but even more so, scared. Deliberately, he took a big step away from her then stomped out of the room.
“What the hell,” Zayn mumbled, watching Yehven leave in a hurry.
Camila turned back to the other three. “We were mates. The five of us. I can prove it to you too, when you are ready.”
“Wait.” Lance waved his hands in the air. “Wait, wait, wait. What is with the past tense? How come you talk about all these things that we have never heard before?”
Camila walked slowly to Lance. “Some things,” she let herself shift just slightly into the fae form, just enough that he could feel it and ran her finger over his lips as she spoke, sending chills over his spine. “You can’t read in a book, Lance.”
Lance sucked in a breath, his perfect pouty lips opening slightly in shock. Kade stepped up between them, pushing Lance away from her. She frowned.
“Kade you were the hardest to convince and I didn’t doubt you would be the hardest now.” Camila turned and walked up to Zayn.
She smiled, holding out her hand to take Zayn’s. “May I?”
He shrugged, placing his hand in hers. She ran her thumb along his knuckles, happily. She missed his touch. Had she resurrected him by coming back to the past? Did the three survive that fight in the forest? It didn’t matter now.
Zayn sent a goofy smile over to Kade, likely just to get under his skin a bit. Kade glowered which only made Zayn more playful. He kissed the back of her hand. Camila didn’t doubt that they could smell her arousal in the air. Zayn’s smile growing wider by the second.
“Answer, Lance’s question,” Kade said.
Camila rolled her eyes. She wished this was easier. “I traveled back in time.”
“You did what now?” Zayn asked, not making any move to let go of her hand anytime soon. His grasp was so gentle, he treated her hand like a fragile piece of glass. If only he knew how rough I really like it, Camila thought.
“I’ve done this whole thing once already. This is my second time.”
“And why did you go back in time to do it again?” Lance questioned.
“Because we did it wrong the first time. I got caught.” Camila let go of Zayn’s hand and crossed her arms.
Lance opened his mouth to speak but the three of them instead went rigid as the queen’s magic tightened in their chests. She had forgotten about that, the terrible magic that would destroy them should they waver to far from the queen’s command.
“We have to go,” Zayn fought to say the words as she stumbled back toward the door.
In the hallway, Yehven stood not even two feet away from the open door, his hand grasping at his own chest. His eyes were wide and weary as he blinked at her before forcing himself to turn and jog off toward his own room.
Camila left them to change, for what was to come now was inevitable. She walked down the stairs and made herself comfortable on their couch, watching them as they one by one appeared back in the living room with her.
“We can’t just leave her here,” Zayn said.
“We sure as hell can’t take her with us,” Kade hissed back. Knives and swords swung against their hips as the men continued to ready.
“Kade,” she spoke loudly. “Why do you not trust so easily? I know your magic can sense the truth. I know that you know what I say is honest.”
He looked down at her where she lounged on the leather couch, examining her closely. “I may know that the words you say are... truth. But I can’t confirm your intentions. Words can be twisted. It can be honest, but meaning another thing.”
“The man you are about to hunt down.” Camila paused, giving each of them her attention. “His name is Deemo. He is a good man. Please don’t kill him.” The last sentence she spoke was almost a whisper. She didn’t know how they might respond.
“I’m not making that promise,” Yehven growled, then let his magic flicker and take him away.
Chapter Eleven
Deemo
Camila sighed as she watched them each flicker away. Something like happiness tugged at her heart but it was weary and longing for their touch. Zayn was the last to leave her, always the loving, doting one. He raised his eyebrows at her and smirked as his image vanished before her eyes.
A smile tugged at her lips at the familiarity of it all and she urged her magic to follow them. It was hard. Not to feel for their bond, no that was there again and quite perfectly in place, but to use her magic.
The queen had drained her so much and so often then she used most of what she could access to get herself here. She needed to rest, let her strength build back up.
“They’re still pricks,” she snickered to herself. Like a familiar déjà vu she closed her eyes, taking purposeful breaths as she pulled at her magic and followed the bond. The bond felt fresh and new all over again and sweat began to form along her forehead from her strain.
When she zeroed in on the location and felt each of their presences, she snapped her fingers and disappeared from the living room.
She was farther away from them this time than she was when she had done this before. They stood a good forty feet away and she cursed under her breath as she began to jog closer. Camila stepped over the foliage she had once hid behind.
Four suns shined down over them the heat an annoyance on Camila’s back. As she grew closer the group became aware of her presence and Yehven and Lance turned around to watch her join them. She paused, her breath heavy and held up one finger.
Being held captive had apparently taken its toll on her body.
“Just a second,” Camila panted. “Need. To Catch. My Breath.”
“Oh, thank the gods, you’re here.” Yehven shook his head.
“Did you miss me?” She finally beamed, patting Kade’s shoulder.
Kade shuddered away from her touch. “How did you even get here?” he managed.
“I go where you go.”
Lance opened his mouth to speak but before he could start in, Camila began again. “We share a bond. I have all the permissions that you have to go wherever you go through said bond.”
Zayn ran his fingers through his messy hair. “Well, what do we–”
“I wont get hurt.” She stopped him.
“Well, princess,” Zayn drawled. “You better make sure those fighting boots are laced up tight. We have a job to get done and time is ticking.”
Camila rolled her eyes, gesturing for the group to lead the way before her. “Don’t worry.”
They all turned away from her marching along toward the entrance of the tear. Yehven fell behind the others, not by much, but eno
ugh. They don’t know me. They don’t know me. The sad thought replayed inside her head with each step.
She licked her dry lips and swallowed. Yehven sent her uneasy glances over his shoulder. He should be scared, she knew his secret. Yehven could use anger as a defense mechanism all he wanted but he was still demon underneath it all.
She still couldn’t smell it. Didn’t know how he could hide it from her.
“Yehven,” she whispered, making sure the others were deep in their own conversation even if they were also looking at her every so often.
He grunted in response.
“Why…” She swallowed again. These words were harder to get out than she thought they would be. “Why didn’t you tell me you were a demon?”
Yehven stopped dead in his tracks. “Don’t you speak those words again, genie. You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he sputtered.
“I won't tell them anymore without your approval. But I want you to tell me why.”
“There isn’t anything to tell. I’m fae.” He couldn’t even look at her.
The strands of her dark hair whipped from her ponytail and played before her face in the wind as they stopped before the ominous curtain between worlds. Each cell vibrated with a strange recognition of the overwhelming amounts of magic.
Not one of them gave her another look as they pushed away the fabric of the fae world and returned to the one she had thought she knew so well. They became cloudy images as they toppled between realms.
Camila followed now well versed in the travel. She continued to follow as they ran in and out of the hustle and bustle of people that walked the streets still. She knew they were covered from any prying human eyes while the men hunted Deemo.
“Lance.” She grabbed his wrist. “This man is innocent. He is fleeing to save his own life.”
He covered her mouth just as he had done so many weeks before, yanking her against him inside the doorway of a closed shop. This time she didn’t bite him. She longed for his touch too much for it to end so quickly. Instead, she leaned into him and savored every bit of his warmth.
Lance loosened his grip on her. He stepped away from her and toward what she knew was about to be a dangerous fight. She followed closely behind and surveyed Deemo. She knew what he had been through. She had felt that in her own veins.
Deemo watched as Lance’s gaze went up to the heavens and fell back down with the illusion of an iron cage falling around him. His eyes widened with shock and rage, his hands reaching for the metal and going right through them. Lance’s magic was a beautiful illusion but it was just that.
When he was focused on Lance, Yehven ran towards him from his own hiding spot in the human world. Yehven charged at him swinging his sword with a loud holler. Deemo met his move and sent Yehven backwards with a flash of brilliant white magic.
How much did it pain him to use the small amount of magic he had left in him? Unable to watch, unable to stand by while these men, her men, took an innocent life, she ran forward.
“Wait, stop.” Camila waved her hands in front of her at Zayn and Kade as they approached. “Stop!”
Zayn raised his arms up toward the star filled sky, hot electricity crackling within his palms. “Get out of the way!” Zayn shouted over the roar of his magic. He looked confused at her, confused and intrigued. Camila doubted anyone had ran out to try and stop the group, when they were together they were deadly.
“You said you weren’t going to get in the way!” Zayn said.
“No,” she said calmly. “I said I wasn’t going to get hurt. And I won’t.”
“Come on.” Lance frowned at her. The tension building in the air between them. Anger was rising and Kade wasn’t doing a thing to calm it down.
“You won’t hurt me, and you won’t hurt him.” Camila pointed behind her.
But Deemo was already gone. His back to her as he had twisted and run the other direction. He didn’t make it far, not before Yehven’s sword peaked out between his shoulder blades where he ran him through.
“I think you’re wrong about that.” Yehven yanked the sword out of Deemo’s body, watching him fall to the ground with a bone shattering thunk and not even looking remotely sorry for it either.
The noise still left Camila sick. She snarled at Yehven, lunging towards him. She wanted to get her hands on him, shake him till he understood. Or until she did.
Zayn remained completely composed at her side as he reached and grab her wrist, keeping her out of reach of Yehven. “That’s not how this works,” he said. “It’s his life or ours and quite frankly I’m not ready to give mine up yet. Especially not when someone as pretty as you has come around.” He added a wink as he spoke.
Camila gave him a blank stare. She had forgotten for the moment about the queen’s terrible magic that plagued the group. She thought she could save someone, anyone. But maybe she couldn’t.
“Don’t even think about it.” Yehven wiped the blood from his sword against his pant leg. Yehven gave a quick nod to Lance who gave a nod to Zayn and Kade. Camila knew what was coming and she let them take her as they flickered and faded into the night.
Deemo’s body was already gone when the flurry of the city’s night life began again.
Chapter Twelve
Captain Steroids
Back at their house the living room felt incredibly small as the four men circled her. Camila missed their attention. She reveled in it now.
“Why, why would you do that?” Yehven looked grim. His hands balanced on his lean hips. “I’m telling you, I’m telling all three of you now. We should report her to the queen.”
Camila rolled her eyes. “Oh, untwist your panties, Yehven.”
Kade was still pretty quiet. Camila could feel his powers stroking against her own. He wanted, needed, to know if she was really truly worth trusting. She shivered.
“Use some of your touchy feely crap on Captain Steroids over there before he explodes,” Camila said giving Kade a stern look.
“Steroids?” Zayn pondered aloud.
Lance held up his finger, eager. “I think I know this one. Humans can use a substance commonly referred to as steroids that can assist them with rapid muscle growth. They are frowned upon using for advancement in many sports. A side effect can be outbursts of anger and it can also cause the penis to shrivel in size.” He looked away from Yehven. “I’m assuming the joke is in reference to his large muscles and anger management issues.”
Yehven baulked, staring angrily at Camila.
“Ding ding ding. We have a winner.” Camila strode up to Lance and gave he a small kiss on the cheek. Lance froze, his cheeks heating from the attention.
“You know too much useless human trivia.” Zayn plopped himself on the couch.
Camila weaved through the others and joined Zayn, draping herself on the arm of the furniture and leaning into him. “You’re up for a cuddle, right?” Camila smirked.
“Oh, I’m always here for a good cuddle.” He winked at her.
“Excuse me, can we get back to the real issue at hand?” Yehven was red but Camila wasn’t sure if it was from his never ending anger or the possible embarrassment from her comment.
“Sure. Let’s get back to talking about your shriveled dick. Is that how you put it, Lance?” Zayn laughed.
“Yes, that’s what I said.” Lance nodded in agreement.
Kade chuckled from where he stood with his arms crossed but he made no move to sit down or join the conversation. On occasion he merely eyed Camila, his magic again running smooth fingers over hers. Camila ignored the sensation, he would figure her out soon enough. She just had to practice her patience.
“He is actually pretty blessed in that department.” Camila waved her hand in dismissal at the boys and their good humor.
“And you would know how….?” Lance trailed off.
“I told you. I time traveled back here to all of you. We were, are still in my opinion, mates.”
Zayn looked up at her. “You slept with him
?”
Camila shrugged. “I slept with all of you.” Her eyes flickered over each of them eventually landing on Kade. “Well, all except you. But we could change that any time.”
Kade raised an eyebrow.
“So…” Zayn grinned. “Who was better?”
Camila couldn’t help but laugh. “You were all satisfying in your own ways.”
“And who got to do it first?” Zayn leaned closer.
Yehven waved his hands in the air. “Okay, seriously. What are we going to do with the genie?”
“She can stay in my room.” Okay, Zayn is just horny now. Camila thought.
“Or we can put her up in the spare room?” Lance replied pushing his hair back out of his face.
“We’re keeping her?” Yehven stammered.
“I’m not a dog.” Camila looked at him blankly. Ugh, she forgot how rude he was before she was able to connect with him. “I’m betting I can change your mind anyway.”
“Oh, you think so?”
“Yes,” she purred. Then with a snap of her fingers she put on the fae form. With a roll of her wrists pointed ears sprouted, parting her hair and her skin took on an unearthly glow.
The room went rigid. Someone gasped, another held their breath, but they all felt the snap and tug of the bond Camila had talked about. Yehven let out a low growl, a warning sign to Zayn whose hand had drifted to Camila’s thigh.
A second later she went back to her natural form, the one she originally hid. The tension in the room lessened but did not completely dissolve.
“Holy. Shit,” Kade whispered.
Chapter Thirteen
Problems
“So,” Lance began. “She is all of our mates.” He nodded his head trying to compute the information.
“I don’t, I don’t even know how that’s possible,” Yehven stuttered, blinking hard as he watched Camila lazily draped over Zayn. She hadn’t moved far yet and Zayn didn’t seem like he was in a hurry to let her go.
“Do you want to spill the beans so I don’t have to? Secrets are an impossible weight to bear.” Camila cocked her head and narrowed her eyes. Now was his time to shine and show her he wasn’t such a lying bastard.