by Leigh Kelsey
I remembered him saying I’m like you—I’m a beast, too.
Sceolan hadn’t just been locked in the dark, alone and starving and untouched. He’d been locked in vampire form, away from this—his hound. His joy now only told me how much he must have suffered to be a man for so long. I watched open mouthed as he bounded in front of us, reaching the wall first. He didn’t stop running, instead sprinting circles around us as we came to a halt, his tongue lolling out.
I slid off Alice, patting her side gratefully and using her to find my balance on jelly-like legs. My bones felt like they’d been rattled and rearranged inside me. As much as I was glad to have reached the wall much quicker, I didn’t want to get back on her any time soon.
“How are we going to get up there?” I asked Kwame as he dismounted, a quaver in my voice no matter how calm I tried to sound. I watched him, still as a statue as he tipped his head back, as if he could see the gatehouse at the top but that was impossible—it was so high we couldn’t even see the top of the wall. I couldn’t tell if there were guards up there but if there were, they’d have seen us ride up to the wall. There was nowhere to hide in this stark valley.
“I’m not—move!” I was too slow to catch his meaning, but he spread his arms and threw me behind him, using the bulk of his body to protect me. I peered around him, expecting vampires and Fear Doirche, but instead all I saw was Sceolan in his shaggy black dog form. Except he looked less shaggy and more well-kept, like he’d run a brush through his fur in the past year. And his belly was white…
A joyous bark from behind me made my heart lurch. That dog wasn’t Sceolan. Sceolan was behind us, rapidly bounding around us to collide with the new dog in a tumble of black fur and gangly limbs.
“Um,” I said, raising my voice to be heard over all the yipping and barking. “I’m guessing you know this dog.”
Sceolan transformed back into his vampire form. There was no transition, he was simply a dog one moment and a man the next. And still fully clothed. “This is my sister,” he told me, grinning from ear to ear. I was glad to see him so happy, but this close to the wall, I couldn’t match his smile.
“Nice to meet you,” I said to the second dog. “We need to go. Wait—how did you get here? Did you use the portal?”
“No,” replied a mirror image of Sceolan, but like her canine form, she was much better kept. And there was something about her that was more grounded, a calm stream compared to Sceolan’s wild ocean. “I travelled through the crossroads.”
I glanced at the valley around us. “What?”
She didn’t smile, but Sceolan did, practically bouncing in excitement. “We can travel via crossroads in our hound forms. I can feel one here—either there was one way back in time and the grass has grown over it, or there will be one at some point.”
“Right,” I said, my heart pounding. We were just standing there, out in the open. My eyes darted from them to the valley around us. “Can you use it to get us out of here?”
“Yes.”
I sagged in relief.
“You’re going to have to ride me, though.”
I balked, but if it got me out of here, I’d do it.
“And Kwame, you’ll have to ride Bran.” He turned to grin at his sister, his eyes bright with happiness until he looked past her and saw twenty vampires running towards us. My stomach hollowed out. They were halfway across the valley but at the speed they were coming, they’d be on us in a minute.
“Now,” I breathed. “We need to go now.”
“Climb on,” Sceolan said, and transformed. I wasted no time in scrambling onto his back, grabbing hold of his scraggly fur. He wasn’t as tall as Alice but he was much taller than a normal dog. I watched Kwame climb onto Bran’s back once she’d transformed, and spared a glance for Alice and the other horse. They were watching the vampires sprinting towards us with wary glares. They had to be more sentient than normal horses, some supernatural kind. A horrifying thought struck: I hope they’re just a magical breed of horse and not faeries trapped by Fear Doirche the way he’d trapped Sadhbh in deer form.
I didn’t have time for more thoughts. Sceolan lurched beneath me and I yelped, tightening my grip on his fur as he launched into a run in the direction Bran had come from. Closer to the vampires. I wanted to scream as we got nearer and nearer to them, enough to see they had stakes in hand and even more on belts across their chests and waists like Oisìn wore. My stomach flopped, my hands starting to shake.
We were three meters away from them, away from certain death, when a wind storm whipped up around us. I screwed my eyes shut, expecting to feel fangs and claws and sharpened wood bite into my skin and send me to my final death—but instead I felt a free fall, and heard Sceolan laugh.
I jolted and my tear-filled eyes flew open. We landed hard, like we’d fallen from the sky, onto the roundabout by Love Lane. We were so close to the Fair House, in the middle of Whitby with the beach to our right, and at the sight of a familiar place, the walls of my composure crumbled and I burst into ugly sobbing tears.
HOME
As traffic moved around the roundabout we’d appeared on, Sceolan and Bran transformed back to their vampire forms. I subtly glanced around to see if anyone had noticed us.
“Faerie glamour,” Sceolan explained with a wild grin. “Humans can’t see us when we travel.”
“Makes sense,” I said, wiping the last of the tears off my face. Kwame had given me a long, comforting hug and helped me calm down, ignoring his injuries in the face of my break down. I wouldn’t soon forget the way he’d limped to me and folded me into a tight embrace, his touch pouring comfort into the dark hole of my soul.
We were home. So close to being safe. I wouldn’t be locked up again, wouldn’t be hurt by Fear Doirche again.
I set off running down the road towards our home, vibrant green fields to my left and the coast spreading out on the other side, such a familiar comfort that my lungs squeezed tight again. I didn’t stop running until the house came into view. I almost crumbled again at the sight of Finn on the front path, scowling in the other direction. I kept running, past the shield and up the path, until I slammed into him. I held onto him desperately, not caring that I was aching and covered in blood and still gripping a dripping dagger.
His arms closed around me on instinct. “Ellie?”
He squeezed me tight, scattering frantic kisses across my hair, my forehead, my face as he stared at me. “How are you here? How did you get out?” He shook his head, holding me closer. “No, I don’t care. Tell me later.”
“I had help,” I said, motioning with my chin to where my new friends hovered outside the shield’s boundary.
Finn looked over my shoulder and his mouth fell open. “Kwame! Bran? Sceolan?” Finn tucked me into his side as he rushed over and helped them through the shield, grabbing Sceolan into a hug as tight as the hold he had on me. “Where have you been?”
“Locked in a fucking cell,” Sceolan replied sourly, but there was still something so happy about him.
I turned automatically when the front door behind us slammed open, and then Oisìn was there, his red hair tied back and his face in a stormy expression. “Fionn, she’s back, I can feel—”
His words died off and his mouth fell open at the sight of me, everything about him going still. I left a kiss on Finn’s cheek and scrambled up the front steps to throw myself into my mate’s arms. In seconds Allen was there too, his hand squeezing my shoulder and sliding down my spine, and I sagged, breathing deep and evenly. I peeled open my eyes, sensing Scarlett hovering behind them, and I held out my hand in silent plea.
She closed the distance slowly, hesitant, but when her fingers folded around mine she bowed her head, her breathing shuddering.
“I can’t forgive you for hurting Oisìn,” I said, my voice a harsh scrape of a whisper, “but I understand why you did what you did. I’d have done the same thing you for, or anyone else I love. I’m not mad anymore.” I dared to look into her eyes. �
��Are you mad at me?”
She laughed harshly, rolling her eyes. “Obviously not.”
I sagged a bit more, resting my head on Oisìn’s shoulder. I turned my head to look at Allen, feeling lazy and tired and safe. “Did you know Finn has cousins? Because I met two of them. They’re down there.” I waved a hand.
“That’s who they are,” Allen breathed, his mouth twitching in a smile. “I did wonder why Finn kept hugging them. Twins?”
I shrugged. “Looks like. The other guy is Kwame. He’s really nice. We should probably ask if it’s okay to keep living in his house, though.”
But for now, I just wanted to collapse into my bed and sleep for days.
“Alright,” Finn called. “Everyone inside. I want to know everything that happened.”
“I want to sleep,” I mumbled.
“Elara can sleep,” he amended. “The rest of you can tell me.”
“Excuse me?” Sceolan pursed his lips. “I’ve been in that place a lot longer than Elara. I get first dibs on a fucking bed.”
“Kwame?” Finn asked, a trace exasperated but not enough to disguise the pain and worry already haunting him.
Kwame nodded. “I’ll tell you all I can.”
I followed Allen and Scarlett inside, trailed by all the others, and I had a feeling my family had just grown by three.
PEACE
Allen and Oisìn crowded around me in my bed, and I couldn’t find a single complaint as I felt their touch, their warmth. They tucked me between them and I fell asleep quickly. I didn’t dream of anything, not that almost-there space where Oisìn and I had met while we were separated, not nightmares of the Mistress’s castle. I slept soundly and deeply and woke up when the sun had set, my room lit only by moonlight.
Oisìn cradled the back of my head against his chest and Allen had an arm draped over me, keeping my back tucked close to his chest. I sighed, snuggling against them, not surprised at all when Oisìn’s eyes slit open. I wondered if it was a mate thing, being so in sync.
“Are you alright?” he whispered as I lifted my head to look up at him.
I nodded. “I am now I’m home.” Although my ribs did ache badly, along with various other spots on my body. “Just achy,” I said, and quickly added, “You don’t have to—”
The warmth of faerie magic tingled at the top of my spine before sinking into my body and spreading comfort and relief through the rest of my body. I sighed, sagging against his chest. “Stubborn man,” I muttered.
He just laughed, a soft breath of a sound.
Allen came awake, letting out the cutest sleepy groan and tightening his arm around me. He curled around my spine, his hand fanning out on my stomach. “Morning,” he murmured.
I laughed out loud. “Allen, it’s midnight.” The clock beside my bed blinked 00:11.
“Same thing,” he muttered, snuggling closer. “We’re vampires, aren’t we?”
I laughed again but he had a point. “You’re not going to turn into a bat, are you?”
“Possibly,” he said with a smile, laying a kiss against my shoulder. “How do you feel?”
“Good,” I replied. “Really good, actually.” And I did. I felt properly awake, and relaxed. Even though a storm hung over our heads, and I needed a lot of answers to a lot of questions, right then I felt really good. And I wanted to keep the world at bay for a little longer.
I slid my hand up Oisìn’s chest, feeling his stomach hollow out as he inhaled a surprised breath. I leant up and kissed him, groaning as he nipped my bottom lip with his teeth. Allen rolled his hips against my backside at the sound, his hand spread on my stomach pushing me flush against him.
I startled a bit when he asked, “Do you want me to stay, or leave?”
I’d just assumed it was a given that he would stay.
“Stay,” I breathed, reaching around to lace my fingers through his dark, silken hair as Oisìn’s lips trailed open mouthed kisses down my throat. I caught my breath at the scrape of fang and exhaled his name like a curse. He laughed softly, tracing my collarbone with his tongue. “Stay with us,” I said, rolling onto my back so I could reach Allen’s lips.
Questions scattered through my mind, and they must have shown on my face because he paused right before he could kiss me. “What?” he asked, squeezing my hip as Oisìn lifted his head from my clavicle.
“You’re unsure,” Oisìn sensed, frowning.
“I just—” How did I even word my misgivings? “Oisìn is Finn’s son—and you’re Finn’s lover. And I just…”
“You’re expecting me to feel uncomfortable,” Allen guessed. He shrugged. “I stopped questioning my wants and needs a long time ago.”
I nodded. “I did too, just after I was turned, but—”
Oisìn laid a kiss over my heart. “I’ve been a vampire a long time, sweetheart. I know how our relationships work, and sharing partners doesn’t bother me much.”
I knew he was being honest but… “But he’s slept with your father,” I blurted, exasperated. I glanced away from them both and said, “So have I. That doesn’t make you feel awkward?”
“Possessive,” Oisìn replied with a growl lurking in his voice. “Not uncomfortable.”
I sighed, sinking back into the mattress. “Vampires are strange,” I said.
“You should see faeries,” Allen replied with a laugh. “They don’t care about public spaces or audiences—it’s not in their culture to be ashamed or embarrassed by sex. It’s a natural need and function and they’ll do it pretty much everywhere.”
Oisìn tilted his head, sitting up and making me almost cry out at losing his warmth and touch. As if he knew, he absently stroked my arm, but his eyes were focussed on Allen. “They do?”
“Yeah.” Allen nodded, smiling a little confusedly. “You were fae—wouldn’t you know?”
Oisìn shrugged a shoulder, so casual. “I know next to nothing about my natural species. I know we have magic and mates, we live long lives, giving our word is a deadly, unbreakable promise, and our power is usually inherited.”
“That’s it?” I breathed, pushing up so I could touch his face. “Oisìn, that’s nothing.”
He shrugged again, glancing down.
“Right,” I decided. “As soon as this coffin thing is over and Fear Doirche is gone, I’m finding you every book possible about faeries. I’ll interrogate Finn and Sceolan as well.”
His whole face softened, and he bent his head to kiss me slow and long until my I was on fire and needy for more.
“You can’t kiss me like that,” I said when he broke away to draw my earlobe between his teeth. “I lose the ability to think straight.”
His teeth sank into my ear—teeth not fangs, right on the border of hurting—and a lightning bolt of sensation shot right to my pussy. It throbbed, needing attention, touch, something. “Allen,” I exhaled, pleaded. “I need … please.”
“That’s clear,” Oisìn laughed, on the verge of sarcastic. “How are we supposed to know what you want, sweetheart, when you won’t say it?”
“Your tongue,” I gasped, looking into Allen’s heated amber eyes. “Your fingers. Anything—please,” I begged as Oisìn’s hands wandered down to scrape his nails across my breasts. Through my clothes, it felt incredible, and my nipples hardened.
Allen moved, settling between my legs and resting on his elbows as he glanced up at me. The combination of Oisìn teasing my nipples and Allen’s eye contact had me breathing hard, the need like a steady burn. Allen dropped a kiss on my inner thigh as he stripped my leggings off, running his soft hands up my calves. The skin-to-skin touch had me slumping hard, breathing raggedly at the mixture of acute comfort and fiery need.
I gasped as Oisìn moved my vest to expose my breasts, his hot mouth closing around a nipple, and I could have blacked out at how good it felt when Allen ran a finger from my clit to my core. And that was over my underwear. I knew I’d been away from them for over a week, locked up and deprived of touch, but I didn’t expect it to
feel this … heightened.
My hips lifted as Allen slid my underwear off and then his mouth was on me, so soft and cool compared to the furnace of my sex. His tongue caressed my wet folds, circling my entrance before sweeping back up to exactly where I needed him. My exhale shattered at that sharp lash of pleasure, and it was so intense a sensation that it felt like it had been years since I’d been touched there, not days.
My head fell back against the pillow as Allen lapped at me, my whole body shuddering and my eyes stinging, inexplicably on the verge of tears. I reached for Oisìn, needing to touch him, to ground myself, and he was instantly there, sliding up so he could kiss me, his thumb brushing across my cheek while his other hand anchored my hip to the bed, anchored me to the here and now, to this world, this moment. I exhaled a broken breath, blinking hard as I trailed my palm down his chest, across his heart, and to the waistband of his pyjama pants.
“Elara,” he rasped, holding my gaze as my hand pushed past the elastic to take hold of his hard length. His head fell back on a groan that had my pussy clenching, my clit pulsing hard beneath Allen’s tongue. My orgasm built so fast and suddenly that before I knew it, my hand was squeezing Oisìn’s cock involuntarily as my back bowed and I came apart.
I shuddered and jerked as Allen licked me through the bolts of pleasure and when I collapsed back to the bed, I was crying. Not silent, rolling tears but huge, body-wracking sobs that I couldn’t reel back in, couldn’t stop for a second.
“You’re alright,” Oisìn whispered, though his voice was strained. Probably because of my fingers still wrapped around his twitching cock. “You’re here. You’re home.” His hand slid through my hair as he kissed me once, a deliberate reassurance.
“We’ve got you now,” Allen said gently. His hand stroked comfort up and down my thigh. “We’re never letting you go again.”
I wanted to pull myself together, to keep going, but the emotion had risen and wouldn’t release me. Oisìn gently pulled my hand away from his cock even though I could feel his need, and he laced his fingers through mine. I blinked until I could see them both, Allen moving up the bed to pull me against him, his arms secure around me, and Oisìn’s thumb sweeping over the back of my hand even as his jaw clenched with strain and need.