by Meg Xuemei X
Now they both were dead, but we were still here.
I jerked my thumb toward my mates. “They killed the bad guys.”
My mates’ eyes sparkled, as did Celeb’s.
“The tales about you have gotten out of control,” Celeb said to me. “Many witnessed what you did with the most powerful mages’ collective magic in the Academy. Neither Hades nor Pluto is blind to such a power on Earth.” He turned to speak to all of us. “So Pluto might choose to reach out now, not to us, but to Cass. The messenger picked her when she was alone in the shopping center and lured her to pursue after him. He must have learned that Cass loved the chase.”
My face flamed in humiliation. Right, I’d been easy prey to lure into a trap.
“The messenger didn’t work with Apollo,” Alaric said, his arm still wrapped around my waist as if he never intended to let me go. “Cass is sure about that. So, there are two possibilities. If the messenger was sent by Pluto, he would want my mate to kill the gods, particularly Hades. If the messenger was sent by Hades, he may also want Cass to kill the Olympian gods, particularly Zeus. Hades tried twice to overthrow Olympus when the gods were on Earth last time. He’s quite bitter to be shackled to his eternal position in the Underworld, either in this realm, or any realm he goes.”
“Apollo and Ares want me to kill Zeus, too.” I glanced at my mates and said dryly, “It’s awesome everyone wants me to be their blade.”
My mates had also planned for me to be their executioner’s axe before they’d found me and discovered that I was their fated mate.
Lorcan looked mournful. “They won’t achieve that, dulcis. We won’t allow it. No one uses you.”
“We’ll guard you at every turn, with our every breath,” said Xihin, the giant vampire with darker-skin. He was the only vampire guard I liked.
I waved at him. “I don’t need more guarding.”
“They’ll have to crawl over our dead bodies to get you again, Cass,” Hector said, and his cadre nodded vehemently, their hands moving to the hilts of their swords.
Somewhere along the way, they’d all warmed up to me.
“Uh, no one dies,” I said. “Or I’ll be pissed!”
“The messenger has delivered the message,” Lorcan said. “And now we’ll find this Rabbit Hole.”
“According to the myth,” Celeb drawled, “it’s in the shifter’s realm, Moonshine.”
15
__________________
We stood in the center of the shifters’ rustic assembly hall.
The hot-blooded shifters seemed to prefer a simple lifestyle, unlike the vampires, who were all about lavishness and modernizing. I thought it was because vampires were unnatural, except my vampire mate, and shifters were the opposite. They drew their shifting magic, strength, and speed from Earth. Their kind was even closer to Earth magic than the fae.
But I didn’t voice my humble opinions. I had no idea what might offend the shifters. My mates had told me that the shifters mostly kept to themselves. They didn’t like other species and they didn’t cooperate well with other races.
“They’d better get in some kind of training and learn to work with others,” I’d said. “The war’s coming. Everyone must bring something to the table. We aren’t going to be the only ones putting our asses on the line for everyone!”
When it came to that day, we would put our asses on the line, though.
Reys even made me promise not to antagonize the shifters.
“I understand your penchant for kicking doors down and being a badass, Cass baby,” Reys coaxed. “The shifters aren’t like the vampires, though both species are strict on hierarchy and social rules.”
I glared at him. “I’m not in the habit of kicking doors. It would hurt my toes more than the door!”
He chuckled. “We’ll see.”
Standing in the shifters’ hall, Lorcan and Alaric on my left side, Reys and a golden panther to my right, we made quite the impression. Our elite warriors—Hector and his cadre, Xihin the vampire, and Celeb the half-demon—posed like solid walls of muscles behind us. And Amber planted herself between the fae like a cute, short tree.
We stood facing three alphas on a dais.
They were all massively built, with broad shoulders and very narrow waists. The stark contrast was considered attractive for male species. I bet their fit physique had a lot to do with shifters’ metabolism.
They stared back at us, their expressions unreadable, so I couldn’t tell if they’d be friends or foes. Their minion shifters, however, surrounded us along the far stone walls. Only fools would believe what they saw, assuming that the shifters were giving us space. They could reach us in a blink of an eye with fangs and claws if a fight ever broke out.
The alphas sat on identical thrones made of some incredibly rare wood. Pyrder had told me beforehand that it was African Blackwood, as if I could register the significance.
“What brought you to Moonshine, Prince Reysalor, Prince Pyrder, King Alaric, and—” the alpha lounging on the left throne paused for a heartbeat and asked, “High Lord of Night?”
Vampires and shifters were natural enemies since the beginning of time.
The speaker had wheat-colored hair straight down to his shoulders. His face was relatively kind compared to the other two, and he carried the air of a scholar. I thought he must be Dustin, the only shifter in the High Council of the Academy. He’d voted against making me carry a magical bomb as a punishment before Apollo had abducted me.
I hoped he was on my side again today.
“It’s a visit long overdue, Alpha Dustin, Alpha Wyatt, and Alpha Cadmar,” Reysalor said formally. “We also brought our mate, Lady Cass Saélihn.”
My lips curled up. I liked him introducing me as a lady rather than a goddess.
“I want to see the view,” I said.
The shifter perching on the right throne grinned at me. He must be Cadmar. His intense brown gaze held too much interest for my liking.
The curly blond looked younger than the other two alphas and more handsome. He didn’t put on full formal attire but left his well-defined chest on display. His trousers hung low on his hips. That was convenient if he ever needed to shift.
Unlike my fae mates, the shifter kind had to shift naked if they didn’t want to have their heads trapped in their pants by accident.
Cadmar kept looking at me, as if nothing else interested him.
Lorcan hissed. Alaric growled. Pyrder, the golden panther, bared his teeth.
Reysalor’s smile didn’t touch his eyes, and when he smiled like that, it was never a good thing. He usually snapped the neck of his opponent the next moment.
I knew I needed to remind the boys of the fact that we shouldn’t start a bloodbath before our mission was accomplished.
I sent my question to them through our mating bond. Our real target is the gods, right?
I hoped they received that. We were still practicing mind communication.
“Is there something about my mate that interests you, Alpha Cadmar?” Reys asked.
“Yes,” Cadmar said, smirking. He even had a dimple to go with it, but his dimple couldn’t hold a candle to Alaric’s. “I like what I see.”
Dustin cleared his throat in warning.
“We can discuss that later,” Cadmar said dryly. “I think my brothers have something they deem more important to say first.”
The three alphas were also bonded brothers, so they co-ruled the shifters in the continent.
“Do you enjoy the view, Lady Saélihn?” Cadmar opened his mouth again. He just couldn’t help it. I’d said earlier that I came to see the view of the Moonshine, and he believed he was it.
“What view, Alpha Cadmar?” I snickered.
My mates were like arrows nocked on taut bowstrings, ready to strike their target mercilessly.
Dustin clasped his hands. “Bring refreshment for our guests.”
He finally offered us seats and snacks. I hoped the shifters were good at baking. If
any cake was good, I would ask for the recipe and bring it back to Boone.
We settled down on a row of chairs before us—the only chairs in the hall.
Our guards took standing positions behind us.
“We don’t have all day for this meeting,” the alpha in the center throne said curtly. “If you came here to persuade us to join your army and fight with you, you’re wasting your time and ours.”
He must be Alpha Wyatt then. His dark, slick hair was combed all the way back, very much like a mafia boss in the old movies. I debated if I should tell him that his hairstyle went out of favor a few years ago.
He was also good-looking like all shifters were, but his lips were too thin and cruel for my taste. I decided I didn’t like him much.
“Your kind isn’t safe, either,” Reysalor said softly, yet lethally. “Look around and see the land. The gods have burned half of the Earth. When the mortal world is gone, our realms will also collapse. And all of us will be wiped out.”
“You don’t know that for sure,” Wyatt said. “We’ll take a chance preserving our species here instead of joining you in a hopeless crusade against the gods. Besides, we don’t fight alongside bloodsuckers.” His eyes landed hard on Lorcan. “If it weren’t for the host law our ancestors honored, we’d shed the very blood of the vampire lord who dared to cross our threshold.”
“You can try,” Lorcan and I hissed at the same time.
And I shot to my feet and pointed two fingers at Wyatt. “You’re nothing but a big bully brown bear!”
A surprised look passed by the alphas’ faces. They hadn’t expected an outsider to tell their animals, and I didn’t look that experienced.
“Right,” I said, snickering. “I know exactly what you all are. Dustin is a black lion. Cadmar is a little white wolf.” Cadmar frowned at me. No one liked to be called little, especially a male, but I ignored him. “I know everyone’s animal side in this room, and their color and power grade.”
“See, brother,” Dustin said. “I told you it wouldn’t be a hopeless cause to fight the gods this time. The girl is powerful. She channeled hundreds of mages’ magic and turned it into a storm the likes of which has not been seen in this century.”
Wyatt sized me up as if I were an auction item. “So you’re the one everyone has been talking about, little girl.”
“I’m not a little girl,” I said. “And I’m more than an immortal. When you and your children’s children turn to dirt and dust, I’ll still be here.”
A gasp sounded from the shifters around the hall. I bet no young women had ever talked to their alphas like that, and I was thankful that my mates let me run wild, as they usually did. They didn’t step in to do my shit when I could handle it. There was solid trust between us, though I knew, mostly, they just liked to spoil me.
They accepted me in every form and shape. Even my flaws were perfection in their eyes. And if that wasn’t love, I didn’t know what it was.
“At least you have some fire, girl,” Wyatt said. Then he pursed his thin lips and ordered, “If you’re what they say you are, show me your power. We’ve seen too many phonies. I’ve grown weary of all the claims.”
“I don’t claim anything,” I said. “And I have no intention to show you my power because you aren’t on my list.”
“And what kind of list is that?” Wyatt snorted.
“You aren’t privy to know, either,” I said. “I don’t take orders from anyone, and definitely not from you. I, Cass Saélihn under this sky or any other sky, follow no one’s laws and rules, except mine and my mates’.”
“Talk like a goddess,” Amber whispered.
The only ones I’d ever allow to dominate me occasionally were my mates.
“She’s powerful,” Cadmar said. “I can sense her deep magic. If she doesn’t want to display her power, so be it. Let’s forget that list.”
Wyatt growled, and Cadmar narrowed his eyes, which turned molten gold.
That was the problem with three alphas. They could never agree among themselves.
“We’ll consider joining forces with you and fight the gods if you accept one of our terms,” Cadmar said.
“And what term is it?” Lorcan asked without any emotion.
“Lady Saélihn has a vampire, two fae, and a demigod as her mates,” Cadmar said. “It isn’t equitable that she left out shifters in her harem. We don’t want to look bad in the supernatural community. If she takes one of us into her bed, then it balances out all things. Among my brothers, I volunteer.” He grinned at me, his dimple deepening. “And I promise to satisfy you in every way.”
To enhance his charm, he flexed the cut muscles on his chest and biceps and winked at me.
My mouth gaped open in shock.
I’d thought trading brides for alliance was a thing of the past, but it seemed the supernatural clans still practiced it. And the shifter alpha believed that he could compete against my mates in my bedroom. He thought it was a competition.
My mates snarled. One more word from Cadmar and they would attack and forget all about the task at hand—we must get into the Rabbit Hole through the shifters.
Taking more mates, or not, into my bed was actually my decision.
I grinned back at Cadmar wickedly.
“My mates are too polite to inform you how they’ve gotten into my bed,” I said. “The matehood is by fate’s arrangement, and my mates have earned my absolute loyalty. It won’t be given to another male. And for your information, the last one who volunteered almost got his palace burned down. You’ve probably heard of the God of Sun and Prophecy. When he didn’t understand that no meant no, my mates and I had to leave a beheaded Deimos, the God of Fear, in Apollo’s torture chamber as an equitable gift.”
Wyatt snorted. “No mortal, or immortal, can behead a god. And the God of Fear has inflicted the world with his blight since the beginning of time. But your perfect little mouth does know how to talk. No wonder a little girl like you can make even the most powerful males smitten like puppies. Even my little brother, who never treats any woman seriously, wants to join your harem. I don’t think you have the power of which you’ve bragged, but I bet you’re excellent at sucking dicks.”
“What the fuck are you doing, Wyatt?” Dustin hissed. “They’re our honored guests. And do you even know whom you’ve just insulted?”
Before my mates charged, my icy air current lashed out, carrying their snarls that promised to break the shifter alpha’s bones.
Wyatt flew into the air, then turned upside down—spread-eagled, strung up by my air. He kicked his legs and flung his arms frantically, endeavoring to reach the ground but to no avail. My magic was too strong for mortals and immortals alike.
He cursed, but I had no desire to hear more.
My air formed in the shape of an invisible hand and cupped his rough cheeks, forcing his thin mouth to open. Then a penis-shaped ice column thrust between his lips and pushed further, its size and coldness gagging him.
Alaric chuckled amid complete, shocked silence in the shifters’ hall. “Looks like you’re the one who’s an expert at sucking dick.”
Wyatt’s face burned purple. His eyes bulged.
“Alaric, you’re rude,” Reys chided. “He can’t agree or disagree with you. He’s too busy now.”
All the shifters, except for the alphas, shifted in an instant, bellowing, and charged toward us. They had over a dozen kinds, though wolves were the majority. A few lions, tigers, and grizzly bears loomed amongst the smaller wolves.
“They have bobcats!” I cried in joy.
My mates drew their flaming swords, except for Pyrder. He would battle in his panther form. The warriors instantly formed a protective ring around Amber and me.
“Sto—” Dustin and Cadmar shouted, but their order died in their throats, choked back by my magic.
I wanted the shifters to assault us so I could have a big opening to show them what I could do. In a world dominated by brutish males, reason often fell on deaf ears
. They bowed to nothing but blunt, brutal force. That I could show them.
I allowed the army of shifters to reach the middle of the hall before I blasted them with my air current. It froze them like a scene in a cartoon movie, their paws and claws hanging in the air. Even the expressions of their nasty snarls were preserved in the frame.
The only two who could still move freely were Dustin and Cadmar. If the dashing shifter alpha Cadmar hadn’t ordered his gangs to halt the assault, he’d have joined his bonded brother in the air.
Dustin and Cadmar stared at the scene in utter shock.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like this,” Cadmar murmured. “Now I’ll never get a chance to court the lady.”
Dustin strode toward us, his hands rising in the air to show us that he meant no harm. “Prince Reysalor, heir to Sihde, could you please ask your mate to let go of my men and my brother? I know my knucklehead brother brought all this on himself. This might be a good lesson for him. But I promise none in my realm will ever attack you or your people again.”
“Ask my mate yourself,” Reys said coldly. “She makes her own decisions.”
“Lady Saélihn,” Dustin called. “Could you kindly release my men and my brother, please?”
My blue fire of Earth flowed out, circling the frozen shifters, examining them in curiosity.
“We came to your realm to pay our homage,” I said. “We even brought expensive gifts. You aren’t going to get them now. We’ll carry them back, and we don’t negotiate.”
Dustin blinked. Of course, he wasn’t going to get any jewelry!
“And this is how you treat your honored guests? Who’ll ever come to your doors again?” I kept scolding them. “And all of you will end up old and lonely.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but I raised a finger to stop him. “I’m not done talking. You didn’t greet us with kind words. You didn’t even offer us refreshment.”
“I did, but before the refreshment arrived, this happened,” Dustin said, gesturing around in a grim expression. “I heard you like cakes, so I had hundreds of cakes made for you.”