by Gaja J. Kos
I writhed, ground against him, yet Afanasiy never broke our kiss.
With his powerful frame keeping us from sight and the spill of his hair offering additional censure, he kneaded my nipple, easing the pain yet building up a new ache at the same time. Gods, I was a shudder away from jumping him right in this damned courtyard.
Someone cleared his throat by our side, followed by a snort.
We went still, Afanasiy’s hand moving from my breast and coming to linger on the waist of my pants. Just as I inhaled to sample the air that all but flooded my lungs, a too familiar voice reached me.
“You, little sis, are incorrigible.”
I peered through the curtain of Afanasiy’s hair to roll my eyes at Jens. Then at Jürgen.
But whatever snarky comeback I might have had waiting was gone as Afanasiy brushed a single finger down the front of my pants, his particles buzzing in warning that he was about to change shape.
“Irresistible, too,” he whispered, then vanished into thin air.
15
“Look who we found smooching one of Raya’s demons,” Jens shouted once we entered the spacious chamber where the elite of the elite liked to kick back between meetings.
My brother’s voice was loud enough to inform every damn person on castle grounds about my love life, but with Afanasiy’s taste still coating my lips, caring was a bit beyond me.
“The dark-haired one that was at the meeting today?” Katja stepped away from the refreshment table beneath the arched windows and lifted an eyebrow. “He’s hot.”
We grinned at each other. I bumped her offered fist while a gargled sound of outrage came from Jürgen.
“Don’t worry, bro,” Jens offered. “You’re hotter.”
I snorted, but didn’t kick a pup when he was down. Although I had a distinct feeling my decision came as a disappointment to both of them. Those two were definitely wired in a whole different way than most people.
Still, as fun as messing with the twins was, I couldn’t give in to childish teasing when there was an entire roomful of people I had yet to greet.
After Katja went over to Jürgen and confirmed with a sizzling kiss that she, indeed, found her husband hotter, I padded across the space to Nathaniel. He was leaning against a pillar, part of his muscular frame descended in shadows while the rest was bathed in golden light, yet again confirming he was one of the most finely built humans I’d ever seen. The werewolf gene in him might’ve been dormant, but the presence was definitely there.
I experienced the full extent of said strength when I let him pull me into a hug—and found myself crushed from behind by a chuckling Rorik.
“Hey, there, Freundenberger,” they both bellowed.
So much for being a serious, responsible adult.
The Perelesnyk ruffled my hair and placed a light kiss on my temple, then retreated once Nathaniel shooed him away to have me all to himself. Rorik grumbled something under his breath that coaxed a round of rumbling laughter from the others, but his words were lost on me.
I was too enveloped in the fierceness of Nathaniel’s hug that seemed adamant to convey the gratitude I’d told him a thousand times he didn’t have to give.
But I’d saved his life during the Munich Games when I refused to let Isa use him as bait, and I guess that was something even a person surrounded by danger since they were a kid couldn’t just brush off.
My brothers’ pack mates came next, and although I didn’t know them quite as well, their affection wasn’t any lesser in magnitude.
Unsurprisingly, Nathaniel’s brother, Tim, snagged me first. He whispered “Thank you” low enough that none of the others could hear before he handed me off to Mark and Evelin, the couple whose youngest cub had stayed with my parents during the War and had become almost like a brother to Pablo.
“How’s Til doing?” I asked.
Evelin’s green eyes beamed as she took her partner’s hand. “Growing so fast we can hardly keep up sometimes.”
“We’re lucky his brother watches over him like a hawk,” Mark added.
“The twins did that with me whenever they were home. We usually ended up wrecking the house.” I chuckled. “I suppose Rafael is more sensible.”
“That kid is wiser than anyone his age should be.”
We all whirled around at the new voice.
Zarja came to join us, mirth touching the corners of her lips. “I keep telling them to enjoy the peace while it lasts because soon, all that brain will start causing trouble.”
Evelin snickered. “That’s when we’ll send him on a nice long vacation to you.” She tugged on Mark’s hand. “Come on.”
As soon as they walked over to the refreshment table where Jens and Jürgen were wolfing down snacks like their lives depended on it, Zarja scanned me with a critical eye. Then, contrary to my expectation, the athletic, rough-around-the-edges were nearly smothered me in her embrace.
“You have an air of a fighter about you,” she said discreetly before pulling back. “Do the rest know?”
I blinked at her, then quickly shook my head.
How in all the realms had she managed to sniff out that I was once again involved in the exact kind of work I’d sworn off was beyond me. But Zarja was military, as well as a descendant of Svantovid, which made her unnervingly attuned to traits of a fighter in an individual’s personality.
Still, the fact that she’d picked up on mine—I didn’t even want to think what it implied.
Once she stalked over to the rest of the group, taking me with her, I exchanged quick hellos with Serafina, the Koldunya who had become extended pack to my brothers before the War, and Sander, her coven master and one of the key players in ending the battle that had all but broken reality. The bronze mountain of a man was the most reserved of them all, yet despite the occasional whispers and snarky comments I’d overheard my brothers make, he was nothing but cordial to me, if a little distant.
I’d never admit it to the twins, but there was something I liked about him. A hidden depth I’d felt, secreted away from the world until the right person unlocked it.
He returned my smile with a touch of warmth in his bronze eyes just as Rose and Veles walked into the room. The final missing pieces of our merry ensemble.
The dashing were with strawberry blonde hair and midnight blue eyes sprinkled with the purest of gold almost crushed the air out of me as she trapped me into her arms. I chuckled, unable to even believe that I was standing in the same room as the most lethal, powerful individuals of this world, getting smothered in hugs.
And I truly was, because when Veles took me away from Rose with envious elegance, his fatherly affection cocooned me completely.
We hadn’t had much time for pleasantries during the Games’ finals, but the past minutes had more than made up for what we’d missed.
By the time I was truly my own person again, I was grinning like an idiot and scanning the people who were as much my family as were the twins. Gods, as if having six siblings wasn’t enough.
But I really wasn’t complaining.
“Morana is taking care of Amaris, and I’m fairly certain the little hellion experiences a power growth whenever those two are alone,” Veles said, fighting—and failing—to keep his mouth from twitching. “I suggest we take this party to them before any unexpected surprises have the chance to ambush us.”
I chuckled. “She’s becoming stronger a lot faster than you anticipated, huh?”
Veles’s smile was brilliant—and mirrored on Rose’s face. He draped his arm around her shoulder, heat flaring in their eyes for an instant before it died down and Veles met my gaze again. “She is the daughter of two deities.”
Rose scrunched up her nose. “I hardly feel like a deity when I’m picking up all of her toys.”
“Ah, but you do it with ethereal grace,” he purred, which gained twin snorts from Jens and Jürgen.
“She complains with ethereal grace afterwards too,” Jürgen mumbled. “And leaves me with a murd
erous tab to pay.”
I rolled my eyes at him, but shimmied under his outstretched arm. The rest of the group, save for Sander, Mark, and Evelin joined us as we shuffled closer, and not a moment later the reality surrounding us dissipated, casting us into darkness that spit us out in a tastefully decorated living room.
The goddess of death herself greeted us with a smile on her face and a beautiful five-year-old with stunning, fire-touched obsidian hair holding on to her hand. The same five-year-old who broke into a sprint and threw herself into Rose’s arms with such force the were nearly toppled over.
“Hi, Em,” she said past Amaris’s head. “She didn’t give you too much trouble, did she?”
“Not at all. We had a nice little chat about death and the essence of life she keeps sensing.” Morana smiled at Rose’s grimace, then accepted Serafina’s outstretched hand and leaned in for a kiss.
Together, the goddess and the Koldunya strode over to where Rose was still scowling—although with an obvious effort—then dragged her out of the living room with them. The rest of the party followed, and it didn’t take a werewolf’s nose to figure out everyone was headed to the source of the delicious scent that permeated the currents.
Clearly, Morana had done a lot more than babysit while the rest of them were gone.
I was almost out the door when Veles’s hand clamped down on my wrist. The lord of the underworld tugged me back and lifted the sleeve of my coat to expose my forearm, his power trickling across my skin.
The thorned mark manifested like a tattoo, captivating and utterly visible. I tried to tug my hand away, only Veles’s grip didn’t relent. But it didn’t hurt, either.
“This is more than seeking release in the arms of a demon, Lotte,” he said softly, then lifted his olive gaze to mine. “You bear Afanasiy’s mark.”
I opened my mouth and closed it. There was no point in lying to Veles, although I had hoped to leave the nightmares and bitter reality in Munich. Just for a few days.
“He gave it to me as a means of communication,” I admitted. The look in Veles’s eyes, however, told me it was far more than that.
He traced his lean fingers across the design, then released my hand, the mark fading. “Traditional demonic courts do not offer such power easily. It is intimate. Binding.”
I jerked and nearly upended the antique chest of drawers behind me. “I’m not bound to Afanasiy.”
“Yes and no.” His brow furrowed when he stared at my arm as if he could see the sigil despite it now resting beneath my skin. “It isn’t the binding of mates, but these marks are just as sacred. And infinitely more rare. I hadn’t seen one in over five centuries.”
“How come?” I stuck my hands in my pockets to keep myself from rubbing the faint pulse of warmth. “It looked like a fairly easy process.”
“But not one most demons are willing to take on.” He touched his fingers lightly to my shoulder and led me outside, but we didn’t move beyond the dim lights of the corridor. “Demonkind has worked hard to erase the knowledge of this type of binding. For the most part, they succeeded. Though it appears there are certain individuals who not only rebelled the ban and kept their knowledge of it a secret, but maintained its use.”
“Why? What makes the markings so important that no one should know how to do them?”
I could have sworn I saw a hint of respect swirling in those black-rimmed eyes before it faded into something else. A warning.
To keep my mouth shut. To keep people from finding out just what was etched beneath my skin.
“Veles?” My voice was barely more than a whisper.
His fingers moved down to my elbow, comforting and safe. His words, however, were anything but. “Through the mark, the demon gifts you a part of himself, Lotte. It isn’t a strength you can access, but it is one he may never get back. The reason you are able to call on him at any time is because you safeguard a sliver of his very being. More than that. You’re holding a part of his soul.”
16
I followed Veles down to the kitchen in silence. There was really nothing left to say. I carried a piece of Afanasiy’s soul within me, for fuck’s sake. I shook my head and took a turn down yet another elegant red-and-black corridor, shoving the thought away with all my will.
It worked, although just barely. The mark was a ghostly weight on my arm, but once the lively chatter of everyone gathered around what seemed like a too small table drowned out my thoughts, it at least became bearable. I squeezed in between Nathaniel and Jens, while Veles claimed his seat beside Rose, Amaris scooting from her lap into his.
“Where did the two of you disappear to?” Jens drawled from behind his pitcher. “Little sis keeping secrets worthy only of the lord of the underworld?”
I punched him lightly in the shoulder, but was saved from having to figure out a comeback as Morana placed a plate of medium rare ribs before me. My mouth watered, the aroma enticing my senses until it was all I could do to not wolf the damn meal down in a single bite.
It was only the sheer absurdity of death herself serving me a meal that kept me in check. A baffled mind tended to overcome base instinct.
Morana smiled and brushed her white-and-black hair away from her face. “It looked like you could use a little something extra.”
It was then that I noticed that my share was far larger than even the twins’.
I grinned up at her and winked. “As long as this isn’t my last meal…”
“Don’t worry.” She chuckled, a melodic sound that reached all the way to my soul. “You have plenty left in you.”
Although not as many as my brothers.
Jens and Jürgen had been gifted immortality by the gods, and while a part of me was immensely glad old age or illness could never whisk them away, I was equally grateful my life span would be merely that of a werewolf.
A nice one, if Morana’s words came true.
“Well, Amaris is out for the night,” Rose said as she returned to the living room and threw herself on the love seat next to Veles. She turned her midnight-and-gold gaze on me. “Now spill it, Lotte. How did you hook up with Afanasiy?”
I choked on my beer. That was one question I certainly hadn’t expected. Especially since the gleam in her eyes made it clear she wasn’t inquiring about the mark. Just the man. The unnervingly attractive man.
I cast a quick look around the room.
Our party had dwindled down, leaving only my brothers, Katja, Veles, Rose, and me, nursing our drinks. But even with the smaller number of people around, I felt my cheeks blush at the attention. Gods, did I actually like Afanasiy on more than just a physical level?
My gaze dipped down to the invisible mark.
This was commitment enough. The last thing I needed was to fall in love with someone who came from an entirely different world. I was impulsive at times, sure, but I also had no desire to get my heart broken by plunging into a relationship that couldn’t last. After all, had I learned nothing from Isa?
“We—” I scrambled for words, something to smooth over the truth. But when I took in all the powerful individuals surrounding me, I realized I didn’t have to hide the shades of grim and ugly.
“We met because one of my coaches, Voit, went missing.”
“Voitsekh?” Jürgen asked. The shock in his voice revealed the two of them had crossed paths. And apparently liked the encounters. “What happened?”
I swallowed a mouthful of beer, then placed the pitcher on the narrow club table beside me. “He was kidnapped.”
My words hung suspended in the air between us until a low curse slipped from Veles’s lips.
“That explains Raya’s absence. It isn’t like her to miss a meeting.”
“She might miss a lot more of them if we don’t find Voit in time,” I said grimly.
“We?” Rose arched a strawberry blonde eyebrow.
“Afanasiy. ICRA. Possibly even Munich PD, if they’re still working on the other disappearances.” I ran a hand through my hair, feelin
g each and every gaze on me. “Someone is performing experiments on supernaturals. Toying with essences, taking them from one person and trying to force them onto another. I don’t have all the details, but Isa believes that whoever is behind this wants to create beings to their liking. Circumvent the balancing laws of nature.”
I fell silent as power permeated the room, dangerous and suffocating. Rose’s eyes flared with gold that cut through the demure lights like twin beacons.
And burned brighter.
Veles placed a hand on her knee, the other on her back. Gradually the presence of energy lessened, and the air became breathable again.
“Trust me,” I said the instant clear oxygen entered my lungs. “If I had your strength, I would have probably burned down half of Munich when I found out what was going on.”
Quickly, I recapped the cascade of shit that had come to pass since the day Voit had failed to show up for work. It went without saying that I omitted Afanasiy’s mark, but aside from that, the single thing I altered was just how close I’d come to being snatched, making it appear as if I hadn’t been on the brink of losing consciousness when the police had shown on the scene.
The rest, however, was there for them to pick apart.
Although I felt like a massive mood-killer by the time I was done, I knew I would have had to warn them sooner rather than later. Isa had been surprisingly forthcoming with information, but I had no idea just how much the specific branches and offices shared among one another.
Somehow, I didn’t think intelligence was freely passed around, regardless of common goals. Greta sure hadn’t known about the case, and while she was just an agent, I suspected the same excuse applied to a much wider range of situations.
“I’ll alert the local heads of authorities about this,” Veles said, his olive gaze filled with shadows and a hint of fang gleaming beneath his lips. “If you require any assistance—”
“It sounds familiar,” Katja cut in.