One good thing had most certainly come of it. As we approached the northern cliffs, I spotted a small cluster of people, one of whom wore a pair of powerful dark wings. They flapped idly behind him as he stood waiting for us to arrive. While those wings might have belonged to Silas, there was something unmistakable in the stance of the gargoyle. Tall, commanding, intense. It was Jasper. He really had awoken from stone. A grin split my face, so big it hurt my cheeks. Tears filled my eyes, but for once, they were tears of happiness and not pain.
Just to see him like this, alive and well and flesh and bone, it was worth everything that had happened on Mont Circeo, even if it meant I could never touch him. This time, I wouldn’t make the same mistake. This time, I wouldn’t give in, no matter how impossible it seemed.
When we touched down, I launched myself from Sebastian’s arms and rushed toward Jasper, stopping short just in time. My body arched toward him, and his body toward mine. The dark wings whispered around me, the sharp edges dancing only a breath away from my skin.
He frowned when he saw the tortured look on my face. All I wanted was to sweep him in my arms and feel him again, to confirm that he was no longer stone. But I stepped back.
“Ro, what’s wrong?” he asked in that familiar deep rumble of his. That voice. That sound. How I’d missed it, even though it had been mere days since I’d last heard him speak.
“You can’t touch me,” I said, breathing in the misty scent of him. At least I had that, if not his touch. “The Fury tricked us all, but thankfully, we have her blood. Where’s Zoe?”
“She’s off scouting the magic hunter location,” Kipling murmured as he strode forward and placed two hands around my cheeks. “They told me what you did. The deal you made.”
I swallowed hard, ripping my gaze away from Jasper. “Are you angry with me? I know how much you hate the fae.”
“I think, in this instance, I might have been too harsh against our newest guest,” the steward said. “The illusion has protected us all in your absence. Several boats full of magic hunters keep coming and going, but there’s nothing they can do to get to us as long as that illusion holds. They’ve even tried flying a helicopter overhead.”
My heart thumped. I’d never expected the hunters would try to find the city even if they couldn’t see it. “What happens if they try to parachute in again?”
Kipling shook his head. “No one knows, not even the fae. It’s not a situation that anyone has ever had to deal with before.”
“Shit.” Things still weren’t perfect, not by a long shot. “And Zoe and Belzus are keeping tabs on things?”
He nodded. “Silas is in the tower, but the hunters have coasted out of view. Zoe thought it was a good idea to log their location and see if they were planning anything. It’s actually very good timing for you to come back. We’re not entirely sure what will happen if the hunters attack from overhead.”
I blew out a hot breath and glanced at Jasper. The swell in my heart at seeing him alive and well was doused by the storm-cloud of magic hunters that followed me around, no matter how hard I tried to outrun it. Zoe had said there were hundreds. If they could somehow manage to attack the city, despite it being hidden from view, it was next to impossible for us to survive.
Under my breath, I cursed Hecate. She knew this was happening, and yet she chose to stay hidden in the safety of her own realm, to leave her witches to fend for themselves. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. She was no true goddess, if that was her choice.
“So, what’s this about a Fury?” Jasper edged in closer. “And why can’t you touch me? Everyone thought that my coming back to life meant that the oath was reversed. How am I flesh and bone if it hasn’t been?”
Sebastian grunted, an echo of how I felt inside. It was such a long, torturous story that I wished nothing more than to give the short version, though I knew that wasn’t fair to anyone else. So, I took a deep breath and explained it all. From our strange arrival at Mont Circeo, to the rules we agreed not to break, from the entrapment in the caves, and then to the fight for the Fury’s blood after she tricked me into agreeing to an oath I would never break.
When I was done, the crowd on the cliff was utterly silent. Nothing but the winter wind roared around us, drowning out the heavy thudding of my heart. After a moment, Kipling raised his eyes to look over my shoulder where Sebastian, Marcus, and Eli stood clustered behind me.
“You lovable, sappy idiots.” He sighed and shook his head, a slight smile turning up the corners of his lips. “You’ve mated with Rowena, haven’t you? It’s the only thing that would explain your rage at the Fury.”
Sebastian was the first to answer. “Don’t look at me. I had nothing to do with it.”
“I knew it.” Kipling laughed. “No wonder you went after her blood. Otherwise, it wouldn’t matter if Rowena could never touch you. And you must have left the Fury alive. Otherwise, the curse would have taken hold. You lovable, lovable idiots.”
“Why is that a problem?” I finally said. “As much as I hated what she did, it didn’t seem right to just kill her.”
Kipling’s smile vanished. “Furies hold grudges, my dear. I fear that she will one day make you pay for what you all have done to her.”
Chills swept down my spine. That was ominous. When we’d left her, I hadn’t worried about how she might retaliate. As soon as we reversed the oath’s bond, all the power it had given her would disappear. And before I’d agreed, she’d practically been powerless, her wings refusing to work after years spent on Mont Circeo. There wasn’t much she could do. At least not right now.
“Ah. Here they are.” Kipling’s face brightened at the sound of rushing wings. Zoe and Belzus had returned, and with them, news of the magic hunters.
“We’re going to have to keep an eye on them. They’re planning something, but it’s hard to tell what,” Zoe said as she dropped into the sofa and kicked her legs onto a circular footstool. We’d moved from the cliffs to the Scriptorium to discuss her findings.
Impatiently, I paced back and forth. It was important to hear her out, and we needed to know the movements of the hunters, but I was antsy to get a move on with this spell.
“What were they doing?” Jasper crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. “I don’t see what they possibly think they can do when they can’t see where we are.”
“That’s just it though,” Eli cut in. “They do know where we are, at least in theory. They’ve seen the city, and then they’ve seen it disappear. I think they probably have a pretty good idea of the location.”
I nodded and sighed. “So, the illusion might not be a permanent solution.”
“I think we need to do some prep, just in case,” Kipling said. “Get the city ready for an attack because we might not know when they’re coming next.”
Chapter 21
After the meeting concluded, I strode across the room and dropped the bloodied cloth by Zoe’s feet. She raised her eyebrows and glanced up at me. “Well, I have to say, this is certainly the strangest gift anyone has given me.”
“It’s blood from the one who forced me to make an oath I did not want to make,” I said. “Can you reverse it?”
She let out a low whistle and snatched the cloth from the floor. “I’ve never reversed an oath before, but I can certainly try. Can I have a match?”
Marcus was at the desk before I was, rummaging around in the drawers. A moment later, he extracted a matchbook and tossed it to Zoe. She caught it mid-air and knelt on the ground, placing the cloth on the stone floor. A moment later, the cloth was ablaze, filling up the expansive room with smoke and the acrid stench of burning blood.
With my heart roaring in my ears, I knelt beside Zoe. She closed her eyes, muttering hushed words under her breath. Shadows danced along her skin, pulsing and pushing against her body. I couldn’t help but stare. She was a shadow witch. That much was true, but she was also something more. Her magic was different. It was stronger. It made her skin buzz with a strange kind
of electricity, one that was deeper and darker than anything I’d ever seen in the witches from Dreadford Castle.
The cloth exploded into flames, and then vanished in a loud burst of light. Nothing was left of it. Nothing but a pile of ash on stone, one that stank of a darkness so profound that it made a tear slip from my eye.
Zoe opened her eyes and smiled. “Well, there you go. That should do it.”
I pressed my hand to my heart. “Are you serious? It was that easy?”
“Trust me. It wasn’t as easy as it looked.” She jumped from the ground and dusted her jeans, spraying the char into the dimly-lit room.
“So, the oath no longer exists,” Marcus said quietly as he stared at me, the silver flecks sparking in his violet eyes. “I can touch Zoe, and Zoe can touch me. And no one will turn to stone?”
“Yes, you’re free to be mates with no repercussions,” Zoe said before turning to give me raised eyebrows. “And that includes all of them, not just Marcus here.”
My emotions knocked me sideways, and I leaned heavily against the wooden desk. Never in my entire life had I felt so overwhelmed by relief, as if I couldn’t even stand against the intensity of it. Jasper was by my side within moments, his strong hands curling around my arms, and then my shoulders, and then pulling me against his chest.
It all rushed out of me then, all the fear and pain I’d been bottling up just to make it through the quest intact. I cried, tears melting into my cheeks and soaking his shirt. I didn’t care, and neither did he. All we needed was to wrap our arms around each other and hold on as tight as we could. Even though I’d been determined to bring him back, I truly thought I had lost him. And now he was here, strong and steady and sure.
Footsteps echoed on the stone floor, slowly growing quieter and quieter until they vanished into silence. Jasper and I stayed like that for moments longer, neither one of us ready to let go of the other. Finally, when he pulled back and I looked into his eyes, that same piercing expression of his broke into my soul.
He loved me. I knew it without a doubt. Before, I’d chalked it up to nothing more than lust, an attraction he felt that had only been fleeting. After he’d given in to the kiss again, I’d known it was more, but I hadn’t realized it went as deep as this. It took my breath away.
“Rowena,” he whispered, tracing his finger along the curve of my chin. “Thank you for saving me. I heard you make that promise, you know. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that you could do it.”
A throat cleared from behind me, and I twisted in Jasper’s arms to see that there were still two people who hadn’t left us alone in the Scriptorium. Eli and Marcus both stood watching, arms slung over their chests.
“Marcus.” Jasper nodded at my first mate before turning to my second. “Eli. I’ll have you both know I kissed her first.”
“And yet, I was her first true mate,” Marcus said, his voice betraying no emotion. “We have to go through the ritual. Otherwise, you know our instincts will take over, and we’ll end up throwing you through the wall.”
I blinked and stepped away from Jasper when he let out a low growl.
“Okay, this is ridiculous,” I said.
They completely ignored me, continuing with this crazy dance of testosterone. Or was it something more? Sebastian had said their actions were driven by pure instinct, a primal drive specific to gargoyles. If I didn’t step aside and let them get on with it, there was no telling what might happen.
I certainly didn’t want anyone to get thrown through a wall.
Jasper stalked toward my mates, and his dark wings ripped from his back, shooting through his shirt as if it wasn’t even there. Marcus and Eli responded in kind, their wings pulsing out and trembling with intense energy. They crept closer together. Each one’s face was power and fury. They curved their wings forward until they formed a tight circle, blocking out the light of the room.
And then they began to move. First, they went left, and then they went right. It was some strange dance I didn’t know the steps to. Marcus rushed toward Jasper, and Jasper rushed toward Eli. Their fists were raised, and the talons of their wings were sparking with red. For a moment, fear clutched my heart. Were they not going to accept Jasper into the fold? And what would happen if they didn’t?
But within moments, the fury and wings disappeared into their bodies. They each gave each other a clap on the back. As one, they turned my way.
“Soooo, does this mean I have three mates now?” I could barely hear my voice over the roar of blood in my ears. I was excited and terrified and more than a little turned on. If I had three mates now, and there was nothing stopping any of them from touching me, I desperately needed one of them to take me to bed and kiss away the stress of the past few days.
“Yes, you have three mates.” Marcus shot me a wicked grin. “Jasper tried to challenge me to become your first mate, but I’m not giving up my status that easily.”
I furrowed my eyebrows. “What’s a first mate?”
“It just means he’s your first,” Jasper said. “The original mate. Your number one.”
“You guys. I don’t want a number one. You can all just be equal. How does that sound?”
“Sounds amazing to me.” Jasper hooked his hands around my thighs and lifted me from the ground. “So, how about you take your equal mate to bed?”
My heart fluttered and excitement shot through my veins, though I couldn’t help but be very aware of both Marcus and Eli. They were watching us because of course they were. Was it wrong to be so affectionate in front of them? I didn’t know how any of this worked.
“Don’t look so worried, my love.” Marcus strode over and dropped a quick kiss on my lips. “We’ve all accepted each other as your mates. There’s nothing to be worried about, or ashamed of. Go on and have your fun with Jasper.” He gave me a wink. “I just hope you save some energy for me later.”
“And me,” Eli said. “We still have some unfinished business.”
My mouth dropped open. All I could do was gape. Somehow, I—Rowena Mortensen, a girl who had once thought she might never meet a man in her entire life—had three hunky mates who wanted me. And they were more than willing to share. Life had just gotten a hell of a lot more interesting.
Chapter 22
Jasper carried me through the stone hall and kicked open the door to his room. He strode inside and dropped me on the bed before closing the door behind us. His eyes glittered as he raked his gaze across my body, and I sucked in a breath. I was nervous, but I was also more than ready for what I knew he had in mind.
He dropped to his knees and traced a finger along my thigh, smiling gently. “Why don’t you get undressed? I want to see you, Ro. All of you.”
I obeyed. My clothes fell to the floor, and I inched back on the bed, gasping when his own clothes dropped around us. His muscles rippled as he climbed on top of me, the ridges of his abs highlighted by the soft glow of firelight. His eyes sparked with lust and need and something else. An intense emotion we hadn’t yet put to words. He felt it. I felt it. But neither of us were ready to say it aloud. I slid my arms around his neck and pulled him closer, pressing his hot lips to mine.
His kiss was full of hunger and a raw aching need I felt between my thighs. I spread my legs and arched my back, desperate to feel his body touching every inch of mine. He was so deliciously warm, and his abs were pure steel. So strong, so powerful.
Jasper pulled back, and I gasped, desperate for more. With a grunt, he flipped me over and twisted his hands around my wrists, pinning me in place. My eyes widened, and excitement throbbed in my veins. This was different. And I certainly wasn’t about to complain. I lifted my hips and ground my body against him.
The moan that exploded from his throat sent shivers down my spine. I’d made him feel that kind of passion, that kind of need. And something about knowing that I was driving him just as crazy as he was me, that only caused my excitement to ramp up another notch. I ground even harder, fireworks exploding in my eyes when
I felt just how turned on he was, too.
He grabbed my hips, digging his fingers deep into my skin.
“My god, Rowena.” His voice was rough and raw. “I wanted to take my time with you, but you’re making it impossible.”
He pushed my hips against him, and he entered me. I arched my back and moaned. Our bodies slid against each other, and my core shuddered from the contact. I’d long for this, yearned for it. When he’d turned to stone, I’d thought I’d never get to touch him again, least of all like this. Now, he was here. All those feelings. All those fears. It felt as if they were finally pouring out of me, replaced by how Jasper made me feel. Alive, hopeful, loved.
Jasper gripped my hips tighter, and I rocked against him. Our bodies clashed together, our tempo increasing with every needy thrust. The world began to blur around me as Jasper pounded harder, his powerful wings exploding from his back. They flapped in time with our rhythm, blowing a whirlwind of misty air around us. Our passion had become a tornado, one I wanted to be lost in for hours.
Together, we came. His roar shot through the room, and his wings arched behind him. My breath was ragged, my body spent, but I wasn’t done yet. I wanted Jasper again, already. I wanted him over and over and over, in every position imaginable.
When we fell onto the pillows, I whispered those words into his ear. He let out a laugh, one that was relaxed, happy, and warm.
“Give me five minutes, Ro,” he said with a wink. “And then I’m all yours as many times as you want.”
Chapter 23
The next morning, breakfast was a strange affair. I entered the hall rested and relaxed from my night spent with Jasper. At some point, I’d drifted to sleep, basking in a sensation I’d rarely felt in my twenty-two years of life. I felt happy. Safe. Comfortable. The threat of the magic hunters still loomed large, but the fear was dulled by the excitement of having three mates who adored me more than I probably deserved.
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