by Ophelia Bell
“Mother had the power of the Thiasoi on her side, thanks to her blood meld with them. She wouldn’t have been able to bind you otherwise, would she?”
Gavra blinked at her, surprised at her swift understanding of the situation, though perhaps he shouldn’t have been. This was her home, and the blood meld was part of her heritage, even if it had been outlawed since she was a child.
He shook his head. “Without their blood meld, we’d have had a stalemate at the very least, or would still be fighting each other now.”
“We have to do it too. If we do, we can merge our powers. We’ll be three times as strong.”
Silas shook his head. “There are a dozen of them. They’ll still have an advantage, especially with Nyx in control.”
“They’re missing the one thing we have,” Assana said. “She’s never properly melded them the way lovers do. The way we have already done. We have a much deeper connection to each other, thanks to that bond. I feel it even when we’re apart.”
She hopped off the bed and dug through the rubble, searching for something. When she came back, Gavra saw a sharp, jagged piece of glass held in her hand. Understanding dawned and he swiftly grabbed the shard.
Assana stared at him. “We have to do this. It was your idea! You were right, I realize that now.”
“Not like this,” he growled. “If we blood meld, we do it right, with a proper mark that honors our union.” He looked at Silas. “It’s your turn, brother. You’re the only one who hasn’t left his mark on us.”
Silas opened his mouth, then shut it again. He blinked several times and shook his head. “I don’t know what you’ve heard of ursa matings, but it’s the female who marks the males.”
“Not always,” Gavra said. “Male ursa’s marks have power too, as will yours because of what we’ll do after. Assana, are you still wet with our seed?”
She dipped her hand between her thighs and drew back fingers slick with aromatic juices. “As wet as I’ve ever been.”
Gavra grabbed Silas by the hand and pressed their palms together.
“Manifest your claws,” he said.
Silas complied, his expression still bewildered. His hand transformed into a massive paw, giant claws jutting out from the tips of what were once his fingers.
“Brace yourself. This is going to burn,” Gavra said. He inhaled and breathed a steady fountain of flame at Silas’s claws, careful to avoid hitting flesh, but singeing some of the fur off nonetheless.
Silas winced and his arm tensed, but he held still until Gavra was finished. When all five claws glowed red, Gavra turned his chest toward Silas.
“Mark me. Your claws should break my skin, now that they’ve been tempered in my fire. Then do Assana and yourself.”
Silas gritted his teeth and pressed his claws to Gavra’s chest. White-hot pain shot through Gavra’s body and he inhaled sharply, holding his breath as Silas sank his claws into flesh and tore a series of deep gouges down in a diagonal pattern above Gavra’s left nipple.
Gavra clenched his eyes shut, gasping for breath. His world had turned red, but he told himself over and over that red was his world and this was right. His blood was meant to flow for these two people. He would bleed for them and only them.
His head still buzzed with pain and his chest was a burning coal when he felt the gentle, cool caress that calmed the raging agony. Slowly he opened his eyes to see two heads bent to his chest, and two tongues licking at his wounds.
His mates pulled back a second later, lips stained crimson with his blood.
“We’ve done each other,” Assana said. “It’s your turn to do us.”
“Then she’ll seal our wounds,” Silas said.
In a daze, Gavra could only nod. The pain throbbed in the background now, his blood inside them already forming a bond. His body was increasingly aware of the deepening senses of two others as though they were extensions of his own consciousness—his own being.
He bent to Silas’s bloodied chest and licked, tasting the earthy tang of iron. Then he bent to Assana’s breast and did the same, marveling at her blood’s honeyed flavor.
In an instant, his senses exploded into a kaleidoscope of colors and images. He gasped out loud, and heard his mates’ voices echoing his own.
“Oh, Gaia, this is wonderful!” Assana exclaimed. She gazed around at the other two, her eyes meeting Gavra’s, and he clearly saw himself the way she saw him—larger than life and more strikingly red than he’d ever imagined. Her gaze slid down his body and he raised his eyebrows at her open admiration.
“You want me now,” he said, giving her a cocky grin.
She rolled her eyes and said, “I always wanted you. That’s no secret.” She dipped her hand between her thighs and smeared a layer of fertile liquid over his wound. The claw marks stitched together, leaving a series of pink scars behind.
When all their wounds were sealed, Assana stood and found her gown, then dug through the detritus of her room some more.
“We should get moving,” Silas said, hovering at what used to be the door.
“There’s something we need first,” Assana said. “I could swear I saw them when Mother showed up. If she was carrying what I thought she was, they’ll help.”
She kicked over an upturned vase and knelt. “Yes!”
Gavra went to her, kneeling down and reaching out for the pair of items she held in her hands.
“What is it?” he asked, worried by the fresh tears that streaked her cheeks.
In one hand she held a long staff-like object made of polished aqua stone. It had a bulbous head at one end and lush green vines coiled tightly around its handle. In her other hand was a goblet crafted of the same iridescent stone with more vines wrapped around its base.
“These are the ceremonial marriage talismans, the bride’s chalice and the groom’s scepter. Every nymphaea family has a set that’s passed down. This pair belonged to my parents and were meant to go to my brother when he took a mate. She must have intended to give them to me and Silas. Oh, Mother, why couldn’t you have seen reason?”
Gavra took the scepter from her. The length of polished stone immediately glowed a bright blue and the vines wrapped around it writhed into motion. He cursed as they coiled up his arm and he tried to drop the object, but the vines held it firmly to his hand.
Assana laughed. “They won’t hurt you. Look.” She held the chalice up to show him the vines traveling down her own arm. They seemed to sink into her skin, leaving behind a deep blue tattoo that covered her arm from wrist to shoulder. Slowly the mark faded until only the subtlest glow remained.
“It’s just another way to signify the bond between mates. It knows we are bound together. Silas, if you grip the staff, I think it will mark you too, now that we’re blood melded.”
Silas reached out hesitantly at first, then with a sure grip he held the lower end of the scepter beneath Gavra’s fist. Vines coiled up his arm as well, made their marks and disappeared beneath his skin.
“How will this help us?” Silas asked.
Gavra met Assana’s gaze, their minds attuned well enough that they need not speak what they both knew he would need to do. A moment later, Silas nodded as he grasped the plan.
“If you think you can pull it off, I wish you luck,” he said to Gavra.
“Shall we go save the Haven?” Gavra asked, standing and looking down at them both.
“I’m ready, but you need a little work first,” Assana said.
“Right. Mother forgive me for this.” Gavra hated himself for the trick he was about to attempt, but all the higher realms depended on his success.
Reaching deep into his memory, he focused on the image he required. His old friend’s face was one he would never forget, and as he transformed his body into the new shape, he silently asked forgiveness from the man himself.
“Nereus,
if you are out there anywhere, please forgive me for what I am about to do to the woman you love. It is necessary, and with luck, you will soon return to undo the damage.”
He took a deep breath and opened his eyes.
“Well?” he asked, holding his arms wide and looking down at Assana.
She grimaced at him.
“Not right? What needs changing?” he asked casting his gaze down his transformed body. He’d gotten the lower half right, at least, from the cloven hooves all the way to the fur-covered legs, but he couldn’t see the rest without a looking glass.
“Oh, no, you are absolutely perfect. I’m just completely creeped out by the idea that I just fucked a guy who now looks identical to my father.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Assana
For the first time since she’d come of age, Assana didn’t fear her primal form. As she stood amid the rubble of her ruined quarters, her blood sang with the flow of power that linked her to her two mates. Gavra’s command of fire and blood warmed her lungs and flooded her heart. Silas’s command of the living earth steadied her limbs and strengthened her bones. When she called on the wild, fluid grace of Dionysus that gave her kind their power, both men responded, their bodies shining with the dewy sheen of desire and swaying toward her like they were about to begin a mating dance.
The fact that Gavra now resembled the giant, fertile satyr whose image filled her earliest memories only bothered her a little. It was merely a mask he wore. The flesh and bone beneath that image was hers as much as her own body was, and she knew the shape of what lay beneath the illusion as intimately as she knew her own heart and soul.
They moved as one, their minds melded more closely than ever, their souls superimposed on each other until their magic flowed together, the energy amplified exponentially as they synchronized.
No words were needed now. They were in perfect harmony—one being in all but their physical forms.
Assana’s own purpose was clear—release her sisters from the blood bond to her mother while Gavra distracted Nyx with his disguise. Silas would use his power to protect the Source at all costs and preserve the flow of sacred water to the Sanctuary. Through his power, he could channel what was needed to the two of them.
No doubts troubled their minds; there was only the driving need to act and to prevail.
As one, they drifted to the Source, each one landing equidistant outside the circle of Thiasoi who were now bound in the blood melding ritual her mother had coerced them into. Only this time was different than the first one Assana had witnessed. Her mother hovered in the center of the circle over the swirling waters of the Source. Her arms were outstretched and blood flowed from open veins in her wrists. Her magic controlled a constant arc of red fluid into the mouths of the Thiasoi and their upraised wrists were a mirror to hers, the crimson liquid merging to land on Nyx’s tongue.
Their eyes were closed, all twelve women completely unaware of the appearance of their visitors. Assana’s mother was overconfident that there was no way she could lose.
Assana would have to take her mother’s place in that circle, but they needed to get the attention of the Thiasoi, first.
“We are one, Assana, remember,” Gavra said. “I dare not destroy my illusion by using my true powers. You must do it for me.”
She knew what she must do. Taking a deep breath, she filled her lungs and exhaled. The air felt heavy and rich as it left her lungs, the same way the water magic felt when she controlled the flow of it from her fingertips. Instinctively she knew she could control this smoke as well. She silently commanded the red tendrils of dragon magic to part, and they split into a dozen wispy strands, coiling above the circle of nymphs and sinking down around their heads.
Though they were water shifters, even nymphs had to breathe, unless they were prepared. The smoke easily flowed into the nostrils of all the women and their bodies convulsed. The flow of blood ceased as the eleven Thiasoi went rigid, their backs arching as though they were all overcome with pleasure. They let out soft moans and sighs as the red magic took effect, flooding them all with desire.
Nyx’s eyes flew open and fixed on Assana. Fresh rage blossomed in her cerulean depths. She bared her teeth, coated red with the blood of her soldiers, and raised her blood-streaked arms, calling forth the power of the Source she levitated above.
“Don’t be a fool, daughter. You cannot win this battle.”
Assana held her back straight and her head high. The thrumming power of the dragon smoke was still tightly bound to her mind, connecting her to the deep desires of her Thiasoi sisters. With the smallest tug on that connection, they easily responded, the circle parting as Clio and Ephyra stood aside, leaving a gap for Assana to approach.
She spared only the briefest glance to the other nymphs, but it was enough to see the struggle for control they all had and the hope that blazed in their eyes.
“I was not as strong as you before, Mother, but I found something that you seem to have lost when you began this misguided quest.”
Again, she mentally tugged at the threads of smoke that now filled her sisters’ minds. Across the wide pool of the Source, the circle parted again. Assana motioned to that side.
“Look who I have found. Would you disagree that your power is nothing compared to what it was when your love for Father was strong and true?”
Nyx gave her a baffled look and turned. When her gaze landed on the figure on the other side, she stiffened and then began to slowly shake her head.
“It cannot be. I don’t believe it!”
“Give her more, Assana. Now!” Gavra silently commanded.
Assana exhaled another lungful of red power, directing the full force of it to her mother this time.
Nyx’s antlered head still shook in denial, but she took a small step closer to the figure who resembled her lost mate. Assana took advantage of the slip and redoubled her mental command of the seductive smoke her mother had inhaled, instinctively knowing to fill it with the influence of her own strong desire for love from the essence of the man who wore the disguise her mother responded to.
Gavra stood unmoving on the other side of the pool, staring back at Nyx with Nereus’s deep blue eyes. He was so convincing, Assana’s heart hurt at the look of betrayal in his eyes, and had the urge to beg forgiveness from her father for not honoring his memory more often over the years.
His black brows drew together and his mouth turned down in a disappointed frown. His eyes were filled with hurt and heartbreak.
“My love, what have you done to these nymphs? What could be so important that you forgot your own sacred promise to your people?”
“Is … is it really you?” Nyx asked, her voice cracking as she took another step toward Gavra.
Gavra held his stern expression, his brows tightening slightly. “Who else would ever have the balls to call you on your foolishness? This is not the woman I fell in love with. That Nyx was kind and passionate. Unwavering in her loyalty to her people and always fair. What have you become while I was gone?”
Nyx clenched her hands into fists. “You don’t understand how hard it’s been. The enemy has all but destroyed us. The dragons have stolen our children. We have no more friends among the higher races. I was forced to take action to protect the Haven—our home—at all costs. It would have been a dishonor to your memory for me to do anything less.”
“But I am here now. I will keep the Haven safe.”
Assana took another step closer, reaching the edge of the pool and the sides of her sisters. She gave both Clio and Ephyra a gentle squeeze of their hands, but didn’t dare let her concentration falter until Gavra had succeeded in convincing Nyx to go.
Nyx still hesitated, shaking her head. “No, you must be a trick of my mind. Have I gone mad and conjured you from memory?”
“I am here, Nyx. In the flesh. I have returned to you for good.
Leave this place and let your nymphs have their freedom again. With my love and blood combined with your power, the two of us can ensure the Haven is safe. Come with me and let me help you redeem yourself.”
He held his arms out wide, as though inviting her into his embrace. In one hand he held the scepter, which glowed from the fresh bond he’d made with her and Silas. Before Assana’s eyes, the vine tattoo flared beneath his skin, snaking its inky pattern up his bare arm again.
With a gasp, Nyx ran to him and launched herself into his arms. “Nereus! You really are here!”
Assana’s skin prickled with a chill as she watched him press his lips to her mother’s. The image looked just the way she remembered the two of them, but despite how convincing it was, she knew it was only an illusion, and it made her sick to see her lover kissing another woman.
“This is all it will be, Assana,” Gavra reassured her. He exhaled a long breath while his lips were fixed to Nyx’s, filling her lungs with an even more potent cloud of his smoke than Assana had been able to conjure. Nyx let out a moan against his mouth and pressed her body to his.
“Take me and make love to me, Nereus. It has been so long.”
He wrapped both arms tightly around her, and gave Assana and Silas each a nod. Gavra’s figure with Nyx in his embrace grew translucent like a shimmering fog. The pair seemed to flow together, and then they disappeared into the drift.
Silas and Assana both burst into motion.
“Hurry!” Silas said, rushing to the edge of the pool.
Assana turned to Clio. “Does she have your mind still, sister?”
The tall, athletic nymph slowly shook her head. “The connection is still there. Stronger than before, but she is gone. We’re beyond the point of breaking the bond now, though. We can feel our minds fading. She could return at any moment. How … how did you find Nereus?”
“I didn’t,” Assana said. “And you’re probably going to hate me for what I have to do, but it’s the only way to break her hold on you. Give me your dagger.”
Clio handed the shining blade to Assana and she grasped it tightly in her hand, steeling her will for the distasteful thing she had to do in the name of restoring order to her home. She lifted a foot and moved as though to step into the water of the pool, summoned the power within her, and stepped forward.