by C. M. Owens
It’s almost embarrassing how quickly I fall off the edge with an explosive climax that has me arching off the bed. My back doesn’t even come back down before he suddenly thrusts into me, his pants now gone.
Damn magic.
I can’t even come down from my high because he’s drawing it out my filling me, making all the sensations come to life as my walls continue clenching around him. His mouth comes down on mine, bringing the taste of my own arousal, but I’m too far gone to even care.
“Gage,” I say in a whimper, too overly stimulated for him to start this so soon, but he buries his head in the crook of my neck and pulls back to thrust back in, ignoring my plead. His fingers dig into my flesh as he sets a rhythm that has me already closing in on a second climax.
With his feet still on the floor, he has all the traction he needs to drive into me with enough force to severely cripple a more fragile being. But I’m not fragile, and he knows it. He’s proving it to me. It’s a glorious punishment, and my fingers go to his back, clawing at him to get closer.
He smiles against my neck before I feel my breath catch in my throat. I feel the pull of being dematerialized, and just as quickly, we’re back in full form, and I’m against the wall as Gage continues pumping into me.
I kiss him hard, needing that connection as my body starts filling with wild sensations. That incredible tongue works inside my mouth like a skilled professional. Centuries of perfecting his kissing skills… I’m hella lucky right now.
He bites on my lower lips just before angling my hips differently, gaining more depth, and I cry out his name before going limp in his arms. The fiery aftermath charges my body with exhausting pleasure, and I weakly cling to him until he stills inside me.
Thankfully, Calypso cast a spell a long time ago to keep me from getting pregnant, because Gage has yet to use a condom. Even though I thought I could only get pregnant from a visionary, Calypso still spelled me, considering visionaries are very secretive about their identity, and she didn’t want to risk me accidentally ending up in bed with one. Considering the new information we’ve gathered, I’m really happy she worried.
The steel of his lip rings become my toy as I suck them into my mouth, and I feel him smiling as he moves us toward a different part of the room.
In a blur of motion that takes my breath, we’re in a shower, and the water comes on without being touched. I could get used to being with a dark user.
Grinning, I tighten my legs around his waist and draw out the sweet kiss.
“I still didn’t get to thoroughly explore your body,” he murmurs against my lips, and I smile bigger as the water sprays over us, soaking my hair.
“There’s always next time.”
He laughs lightly, and spins me so that I’m fully under the spray of the shower. It’s not until then that I realize that there are five shower heads inside this massive tiled shower. He’s higher maintenance than I realized.
“Nice house, by the way,” I say before trailing a few kisses down the side of his smooth jaw.
“You accumulate a few things after being around as long as I have been.”
He keeps me against him as the water continues to wash over us, and I just breathe in deeply, feeling at peace. But there are still questions I need answered.
“What happened to Sadie?” I ask him, leaning back to look into his eyes. “My family’s life is tied to her, and now she’s missing. It has me worried.”
He sighs while dropping his eyes to my chest. His arms tighten around my waist as he drifts into silent thought.
“Are you asking because you want the mystery solved or because you don’t trust me?”
That question catches me a little off guard.
“If you tell me that I don’t have to worry, then I’ll believe you. No explanation needed. I trust you, and this isn’t a mystery that is clawing at me to be solved.”
His lips twitch as his eyes come back up to meet mine. “You really trust me?”
I lean in closer, just enough to brush my lips over his. “I don’t know why, but since you showed up at the Somage safe house, I’ve trusted you. That’s not something that ever happens. So yes, I trust you.”
He nips at my lower lip before saying, “I would never let anything happen to you. There’s nothing to worry about.”
I really can’t believe that’s enough to push aside all the worry that was there just moments ago.
“Okay.”
He tilts his head, studying me. “You really do trust me.”
I laugh lightly while tilting my head back, enjoying the feel of warmth on my skin from the shower.
“That’s important to you, isn’t it?”
“Very,” he says without hesitation, and I bring my eyes back down to meet his serious gaze. “Trust is everything. Everyone claims to trust someone, but the second the trust is tested, they walk away.”
He’s talking about Alyssa, and I’m not too crazy about that topic right now. Not with us naked and in a shower. He kissed another girl while dating her, but only because he was doing his job and coaxing information. She couldn’t understand that. Considering I’m in the Somage, I understand.
It’s a common tactic—seduction. It’s what our kind does best. Not that I ever want to see him kiss another girl. In fact, I wouldn’t take that very well. At all. There’s a reason we’re flawless in the eyes of humans and immortals alike. We’re designed to be seductive, because you run from a beast, but run to something you crave. The best predators are the ones who lure you in without having to chase you.
“I don’t like that frown,” he says, kissing the corner of my down-turned mouth.
Surprisingly, that makes me smile a little. “It’s not just about Alyssa,” he says, apparently reading my expression.
“The other girl?” I ask, glancing down at my necklace.
He lowers me to the ground, and the water shuts off before a towel snakes through the air and wraps around my waist. I really wish I had some witchy powers.
I watch with heavy appreciation as the naked Gage steps out and grabs a towel the old fashioned way for himself.
“Her name was Morgana,” he says as he tucks the towel into place, letting it rest low on his hips.
That perfect V sticks out enough for me to consider bypassing a conversation about another girl and going back to bed. But intrigue wins out over hormones.
“And you loved her?”
He shrugs while heading back into the bedroom.
“At one time. But she chose someone else. I got us out of that house, and I promised to take care of her, but…” His voice trails off as he drops to the bed, tucking his arms behind his head as he stares up at the ceiling.
“But?” I prompt, slowly climbing up the bed myself until I’m lying half on his body and half on the bed.
“But my power is strong. As you know. I was just becoming immortal, and I had no one to teach me how to use it. So, when I used too much without knowing my boundaries, I went over the edge.”
Realization dawns. “Like Drackus.”
He nods slowly, his eyes vacant.
“What happened?”
“I destroyed… well, everything around us. I managed to stay lucid enough not to hurt her, but I did kill several others. They were coming after me. They thought they could kill me, but I was too strong. It scared her, and even though I promised to never use that much power again until I learned control, she didn’t trust me enough to believe me.”
I start tracing the lines of his ink, moving up the tribal marks on his chest.
“So she chose someone with more control or less power?” I muse idly.
“Both. And she chose someone that I trusted the most. I lost the only two people I cared about that day. So trust is a big deal to me, because I’ve had it betrayed, and I’ve had people not trust me when I needed them to the most.”
I kiss his neck, and then slide over until I’m on top of him. When I’m fully straddling his body, I sit up and stare dow
n. He keeps his hands behind his head, but his eyes meet mine. When I have his attention, I speak again.
“That’s why you’re so fascinated with birds—the trust. The way they go with the shift seamlessly.”
He smirks before nodding. Leaning down, I kiss him softly.
“I have meaning behind everything,” he says, slipping his hands into my hair. “Even if you don’t know what it is. Trust.”
I start to say something else, when his phone rings beside us. I notice it on the nightstand right before it shoots over to his hand. That really is cool. Ella rarely uses her powers for personal use.
“What?” he asks, slipping his hand under my towel.
“Get down here,” Chaz says over the phone. “We have a problem.”
Gage’s head thuds against the bed, and he screws his eyes shut. “Always a problem,” he mumbles before hanging up.
I start to get up, when he blurs us out of the bed. It takes less than a second before we’re heading out the door. I start to protest because I need clothes, but when we reach the top step, my clothes suddenly appear on my body and the towel is missing.
“Okay,” I say to myself. “A little impressed.”
He looks over his shoulder and winks at me, and I clutch his hand as we jog down the stairs. Everyone is assembled downstairs in the kitchen when we arrive, and Kane groans when he sees our wet hair and joined hands. Ella laughs at him, but smothers it with her hand when he glares over at her.
Alyssa elbows him in the ribs, and he pouts lightly before putting his arms around her and pulling her back to his front. Deke and Sierra are next to them, wrapped up in each other as always. Amy and her night stalker elected to go into town to gather supplies.
“What’s going on?” Gage asks them.
“No clue,” Alyssa says, hopping up to sit on the bar. Kane moves in closer, wrapping his arms back around her waist, just as Chaz and Zee walk through the door.
Karma walks in with Dice, her eyes warily raking over everyone, and Drackus comes in with Calypso at about the same time.
“You’re worrying me,” Thad says from the corner, going over to drop his arm around Ella’s shoulders.
“You should be worried,” Chaz says while tossing a knife down in front of us.
“About a knife?” Dice asks, half laughing. “Mortal weapons are useless on us.”
I stare down at the unremarkable blade. It’s silver, nothing special. A small symbol rests on the otherwise plain handle, but it’s too small for me to see what it is.
“It’s an anointed weapon,” Chaz says, his lips thinning.
I’m not naïve. I’m actually very well versed on our world, but I have no idea what the hell they’re talking about.
“Anointed weapon?” Ella asks, clearly confused.
“That’s what I said,” Zee says.
“Yeah… I’m old as fuck, and I’m lost on this one, too,” Dice adds.
Drackus, however, looks pale. So does Calypso. And Gage looks like he isn’t too happy either. What the hell is an anointed weapon, and why is a room full of immortals discussing a knife?
Chapter 16
GAGE
As if there isn’t enough to fucking worry about. But it’s true. Staring at the symbol on the knife in front of me, I know it’s true. I can feel the power the blade holds from here.
“Where’d you get this?” I ask Chaz, turning the handle on the blade to see if I can learn what clan this one belongs to. Surely they haven’t all crossed through.
“Found it when we went to scout the ring closest to us. It’s just two planes over, and in the same sort of town, only it’s an Arctic plane and there aren’t exactly locals running around.”
“Freaky plane,” Zee grumbles. “And it’s weird to let a duster disassemble your body and drag you through the planes. Just thought I’d throw that out there.”
Kimber smiles, but only because she’s young. Zee too. They don’t know the gravity of this situation, but I do. Chaz is white as a sheet, so apparently he knows.
“We were scouting, and two of them got too close,” Chaz says, running his hand through his hair. “I vaporized us and moved us deeper into the snowy woods. Wonder boy tripped over something, and it turned out to be a bunker. Since it was quiet with no guards on it, we went in and investigated. The whole damn thing was loaded with weapons like these.”
He points to the knife. “Crossbows, swords, daggers, knives… It’s bad. If the anointed are back… Well, we’re going to have more to deal with than we thought.”
“Someone had better fill me in before I get a migraine,” Karma says, looking over at Chaz like she expects him to morph into a dragon or something.
Chaz ignores her, since she’s been a bit of a bitch toward him.
“The anointed were humans that were granted extraordinary powers back when magic collided heavily with the breathing plane. They’re as strong as us, as fast as us, and as physically alluring as us, but they are easier to kill. To level things up, they had the ability to craft weapons and wield them against us. But they didn’t just craft them for themselves. During the Dark Ages, they made enough for armies to slaughter us.”
Kimber sucks in a sharp breath, reaching over to touch the knife once more.
“And now… what? They’re suddenly back? Why haven’t we ever heard of them?”
The hits just keep coming. Gripping my head, I let Drackus take over the explanation.
“You haven’t heard of them because it’s a blemish. It’s humiliating for our kind to admit that an army of humans nearly eradicated us,” he tells her. “No one speaks of it. No one writes about it. As far as we’ve all been concerned, this problem disappeared centuries ago as though it never happened.”
“How did you deal with it back then?” Karma asks. “Can’t we do it again?”
Calypso frowns, and this time she answers. “No. Magic was much stronger back then. Unnaturally powerful. Spells could be cast with effortlessness, and they held more strength than any spell can today. The anointed essence was stripped from the humans it had been bestowed upon, and it was cast into purgatory along with the bloodlines that carried it. No physical being was put in there, but the right to bear a child was. If the essences escaped purgatory with the bloodlines…”
Her voice trails off as she starts worrying her bottom lip, studying the knife again.
“Then there are people out there who have been growing for twenty-two years almost,” Chaz says. “And apparently the rings know about them, since they’re using their fucking weapons. They probably have a few enslaved.”
Karma leans up on the countertop. “Or they could still be in purgatory. Someone could have just stumbled upon some of the old weapons.”
Calypso shakes her head. “No. The power of the anointed weapons died when the essences and bloodlines were banished from the breathing plane. If they’re working again, then we’re seriously fucked.”
“So we’re talking Sam and Dean kind of people, right?” Dice asks, not making a damn bit of sense to me. Who?
“No,” Thad scoffs, moving closer. “We’re talking Buffy on steroids.”
I’m apparently out of the loop on this one.
Dice swallows hard before picking up the knife. He studies it for a moment, taking in the simplistic but deadly design, and without any warning, he flings the knife beside him, stabbing Zee in the upper leg.
Zee grunts and curses as the blade sticks inside his leg, and blood spills from the wound he shouldn’t have. Metal bends against our skin. It shouldn’t penetrate it. And now our fears are being visually demonstrated.
“What the fuck was that for?” Zee growls while pulling the knife out of his leg, freeing the wound for more blood to spill from.
Dice grimaces, and then he takes a step back. “Just making sure we weren’t freaking out for no reason.”
Zee glares at him while applying pressure to his leg. It’s slow to heal, so that’s not a good sign.
“So you just ha
ppened to stumble across this?” Karma asks him, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
Chaz turns a cold stare on her. “Yes. We did. You have a problem believing that?”
She doesn’t cower, but I see a slight shiver go up her spine. “Dusters are just full of surprises, aren’t they?”
Everyone stares at the odd showdown. I still haven’t discerned what Karma’s problem is with Chaz.
“You said you’ve met one of my kind. What happened to him or her?”
She glares at him before flatly stating, “They killed her because they felt she was too much of a threat to keep.”
Chaz leans over the counter, propping his elbows on it, and meets her icy glower.
“And what would they have done to you? Let you go free?”
Her face falters, and a flicker of pain settles in her features. “No.”
“Why is that? Because you’re harmless? Because you’re so valuable?” he taunts. “Or is it because you’re too much of a threat to their operation because of what you can see or do?”
She swallows hard and backs away from the counter. Chaz continues, “That’s what I thought. Believe it or not, I’m not the bad guy here. You and I have something in common.”
Karma says nothing, but she’s not warming up to the harmless duster any time soon.
“Am I missing something?” Dice asks, looking between the blonde duster and the brunette demon hybrid. “Because dusters are the least threatening within our realm. They’re only light, and Chaz is squeaky clean.”
Karma says nothing while averting everyone’s eyes, and Chaz leans back up, ignoring Dice while turning back to the problem at hand.
“We loaded down my trunk with as much as we could get out of there without drawing attention,” Chaz says, redirecting the focus of the strayed group.
Just as I’m about to speak, Kimber steps up. “Good. Then we’ll use their own weapons against them. Maybe this will give us an edge instead of a disadvantage.”
“Who the hell knows how to work a sword?” Dice asks incredulously. “What immortal has ever needed to know such a thing?”