“You want me to meet your Goddess?” Katrina asked. Aeron had no idea why she sounded so surprised.
“You are our mate, my love,” Aeron wheezed in reply.
“Save your strength, Aeron. Please.” She gently cupped his face and delivered a sweet kiss to his forehead.
“Take each of our hands,” Alak said to her, and she easily complied. They were sitting in a circle in their garden with Aeron propped against a stone pillar, the top of which contained growing wildflowers from seeds obtained in their lush forest. He could hear the sounds of a nearby waterfall and the rustling of leaves made by a gentle wind. This was where he and Alak by far felt the most peaceful. “There is no one we’ve ever wanted to introduce to our Goddess more than you, my beautiful dragon, and no one worthier. Close your eyes and concentrate on the vision we will share with you.”
Katrina closed her eyes, and then Aeron followed suit. He and Alak, through their bond, focused on Rysanna and the cozy living room she liked to meet in. There was always a roaring fire and two plush adjacent facing couches waiting for them. He and his brother showed this vision to their mate, and within moments, the three of them were seated together opposite their Goddess, her long dark hair braided and draped across one shoulder.
He glanced over at his mate to find her staring in awe at his somber-looking Goddess. Katrina then schooled her features quickly. “Please help my mate, Goddess Rysanna,” she pleaded.
He admired his mate’s bravado, caring for her mate more than the fact that she was for the first time in her life face to face with a deity. And she was right of course. There would, he hoped, be time later for proper introductions. Right now, his pain still bordered on excruciating.
“Of course, dear one,” Rysanna said as she stood from the couch and walked toward them. She knelt in front of Aeron, her eyes wide at the sight of his wound. She closed her eyes and furrowed her brows. Aeron could feel her energy around him, in him, and immediately he understood she was trying to connect with and gauge the properties of the poison within him. It was what he and his brother had done with Corrine’s darkness. When Rysanna opened her eyes again, they were wide and fearful, and Aeron felt a sadness sink deep into the pit of his stomach.
“My sister’s children did quite well with this wound, but not enough, and I’m afraid even I cannot heal him—”
“No,” Katrina shrieked, jumping up from the couch. “He has been loyally serving you for practically his entire life. Do not tell me that a powerful Goddess such as yourself cannot help him.”
“It’ll be all right, my love,” Aeron said, reaching for her hand. When she gave it to him, he gently squeezed, and she took her place beside him again, a heart-wrenching sob escaping her.
“Hush, my child,” his Goddess cooed. “You did not let me finish. I cannot heal him alone, is what I was about to say.” She closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them again, she said, “All will be well soon.” Turning to Alak, she added, “In the meantime, tell me what you’ve learned. I felt your presence leave the human realm and enter the one of Shadow. Is this not true?”
“You are correct, my lady.” Alak filled her in on what transpired in the Shadow Market and all they had learned. All the while his Goddess continued to hold Aeron’s hand, lessening his pain in the process.
“What is that?” Katrina suddenly asked.
Aeron followed her line of sight and immediately discovered what she was referring to. Granted that part of the room was cast in shadow and all three of them had been preoccupied when they had first arrived, but there was no mistaking what he saw now. A prone figure lay in a fetal position just off to the left of the couch they were currently occupying.
The Goddess sighed, a sad expression on her face. “I heard him call for me among the flames that burned him, but he was less than cooperative. And now I know why he was burning.”
“So you killed him?” Katrina asked aghast.
“He was already heading toward death, daughter of the Earth. He managed to give me one bit of information, so I soothed the pain that I could before he met his end. I know that he had chosen a dark path, but he was still one of mine. A mother’s love never fades, even if that child turns away from her…”
Among the flames that burned him. “He was one of the Underfae from the market.” It wasn’t a question. Aeron already knew the answer.
Rysanna nodded anyway. “My children, I have not been completely forthcoming, and I see the folly in that now.” She turned away from them and faced the man lying on the floor. “It was truth I spoke when I explained I did not know what this new threat was, but a lie by omission I did not state that, in fact, I had my suspicions. You see, a long time ago, my dear Allyria and I had another sister.”
Both he and Alak gasped at this revelation. Their Goddess, who chose and entrusted him and his brother to be the protectors of their people, did not disclose something as important as the existence of another Goddess.
“Please understand I withheld this information not to deceive, but because it was too painful to discuss,” she went on, still looking away from them. “Lilliana was the space between light and dark. She was emotion, desire, and the best and worst of both of us. She called the creation of our children burdens and too much responsibility, so she chose not to have any. Though she never seemed to regret her decision, she wanted so desperately to be loved by them. They respected her, yes, but their love was for Allyria and me.
“One day, she fell in love with one of my Dark Fae children, but as the three of you well know about the existence of mates, he was not hers and he did not return her love. My sister and I watched as she slowly fell into despair, and then madness. They were silly tantrums at first, but then they escalated to something much more sinister. She brought both Fae Realms to their knees with the force of her earthquakes and floods. Many had perished before we had the chance to intervene, for my sister and I did not know the depths she would sink to.
“We meant to capture her, to make her see reason, until we discovered exactly how far she had gone. She killed the mate of the Dark Fae she was infatuated with and turned him into something unnatural and grotesque, enslaving him in the process. She wanted to make him suffer, and to bear witness to her attempts at creating the perfect being, one who would love her eternally. She tampered with our children, both Light and Dark, and she even used the children of Gods and Goddesses of the Earth realm. Somehow, she became stronger and more powerful by creating her own type of dark magic and ingesting it. The things she had created,” Aeron heard the disgust in her tone, “they were too twisted up inside to be capable of such an emotion as love, but they worshipped and followed her, and all the while their outwardly appearance, as well as their souls, decayed over time.”
Rysanna turned her gaze back on them and let out a shuddering breath. Tears pooled in her eyes, but they remained trapped. “We had no choice. Liliana could not be reasoned with. Her creations attacked our children on her command, killing them with their dark poison.”
“It was right of you to end her, my lady,” Alak said. “You did end her, did you not?”
Rysanna nodded. “My sister and I vanquished her and her creations, or at least we thought we did. Some of her dark magic lingered over centuries, it seems, as we have discovered with Frederych and the dark artifacts creeping up as of late. We assumed there were followers of this magic and groups of Dark Fae being corrupted by it, but we also began questioning whether they also followed someone.”
“You think your sister is behind all of this? That she survived somehow?” Katrina asked.
“I can’t be sure. When I felt the departure of my High Dorum into the Shadow Realm, it made me even more suspicious. If she somehow managed to cling to that realm, to wield its power instead of suffering from it, it’s quite possible she survived.” She gestured toward the prone figure. “He called my name in desperation, but when I pulled him from his madness, and he had a moment of lucidity, he remained loyal to who I deciphered from his ravings was
his master. His Dark Furae, he had called her. He would give me nothing else.”
“So they do have a leader,” Aeron acknowledged. “We know that for sure now at least.”
“And you really think it could be her, dear sister?”
All four of them turned toward the fire and saw the Goddess Allyria standing there in her flowing gown, her head, neck, and wrists adorned with jewels. Unlike Rysanna’s natural appearance, the Light Fae sister was dressed for a ball or perhaps even a coronation, with her face perfectly made up. Aeron had only laid eyes on her once before when he and Alak had needed guidance years ago and they called to their Goddess while she and her sister had been visiting.
Allyria practically glided toward them, her face just as pained as her sister’s.
Katrina shook her head in disbelief. “Look, if we have to do battle with a freakin’ Goddess now, you need to cure my mate so that we’re ready. This entire situation is turning into a shit-show, and I won’t have him fighting until he’s one hundred percent. So you two need to do whatever,” Kat whirled her hand in the air like she was holding a wand, “it is that you do, and fix him.”
Aaron couldn’t help but smile at his mate’s fierceness. Even in the face of two divine beings, she still put him first. She was exceptional, and he could tell from the look on their Goddess’s face that Katrina’s protectiveness had won over her approval.
“Please,” Katrina begged. “He’s in so much pain.”
“We need the power of Light and Dark combined,” Rysanna stated. “The poison is far more powerful than the previous version we’ve encountered.”
“How so?” Aeron had to ask, especially since those had been his earlier thoughts as well.
“This Dark Furae has found a way to corrupt Light magic as well.”
Aeron and Alak both gasped while Allyria shook her head, her eyes gleaming with sadness.
“Your body did not have time to recover as quickly from its weakened state in the Shadow Realm. The creature carried and poisoned you with this new, more potent magic.”
“She’d want to be more powerful than both of us this time,” Allyria whispered right before she and her sister each placed a hand, one on top of the other, over his wound.
A blinding white glow emanated from within them, filling the entire room and causing him to have to shut his eyes. His scream died in his throat as he was then plunged into darkness. He felt himself gasping for air, and he felt pressure holding him in place. Aeron soon realized it was his brother and his mate keeping him from flailing around. He heard both Alak and Katrina, pleading for him to stay with them and it made him fight harder through the darkness.
Aeron had no idea how much time had passed before he resurfaced, but when he did, he felt whole again and a fierce determination set in to destroy this new threat, no matter how powerful it may be, Goddess or not.
Both Alak and Katrina hugged him tightly. “Don’t you ever do that to us again,” his mate chided while her face was buried against his neck.
Aeron looked around the room to find Allyria had already gone, the figure on the floor along with her. Rysanna was once again seated opposite them on the other couch.
“I could not have wished for a better mate for my High Dorum,” Rysanna said addressing Katrina. “I see a loyalty and strength in you that matches them completely. Go and rest now, my children. Know that you will not be fighting this battle alone. My sister and I have much to make up for.”
Aeron stood from the couch with his full strength now returned, Alak and their mate beside him, and he focused on home. Their home. The one that he and his brother would share with their beautiful cougar who had the fire of a dragon. He had already forgiven his Goddess, for even she was not infallible. There was a long, bloody battle looming on the horizon, but for now, even though it would be brief, he wanted to savor a few moments of rest with his brother and his mate by his side.
Chapter Nineteen
As soon as they returned to the garden, Aeron stood and held his hand out for Katrina. She didn’t just take his offered hand, she leapt at him, confident he would catch her, and he did not let her down. Her only concern was to get as close to her mates as possible. She wrapped her legs around Aeron’s firm waist, settling her arms on his broad shoulders before she buried her fingers in the thick waves of his hair, and claimed his mouth with her own. The fact that he allowed her to control the kiss, to exorcize the demons that had plagued her since she watched him weaken beneath the onslaught of the poison that rocked his system, showed how attuned to her distress he had been.
When she pulled back slightly, to rest her forehead against his, she breathed deeply, taking his scent right into the heart of her, and she shuddered against him in relief.
“I was really scared,” she whispered, trusting him with a side of her nature she had never shared with another soul. Not even her Alpha. Fear was not something anyone associated with Braxas’s second. The way Aeron’s arms tightened around her told Kat that he understood what that admission cost her.
“I know, my love,” he said, his voice soft. His hand shook slightly when he reached up to sweep her hair from her face. “It pained me to see you distressed. If I could have spared you that, I would have.”
Kat was already shaking her head. “No. This, you, me, and Alak, everything that we are and can be to each other is inextricably linked. I have to know everything that you are feeling, and I sure as hell want to be there when you are hurt. Just as I know you will both be there for me when I get hurt.”
She felt and heard Alak’s growl of displeasure as he pressed against her back. “It will displease me greatly to see you hurt, dragon.”
Kat smiled at the way her mate talked. So otherworldly and outdated, but so damn sexy.
“If Aeron and I were to witness your pain, we would not take it as calmly as you did ours.”
Kat reached back to grip the back of Alak’s head as he pressed an open-mouthed kiss to the side of her neck. “I’m not sure about how damn calm I was. I yelled at your Goddess, and if she were able to read my mind, then she would have known I was promising bodily harm if she and her sister had not been able to heal Aeron.”
Aeron laughed and Kat reveled in the sound. “She would have simply been pleased that our mate is as loving as she is fierce. Something that I for one found extremely arousing.”
Kat grinned. “Really?”
“Oh, most definitely.”
“A possessive streak is hot as fuck in a mate—as I believe the expression goes?” Alak pressed closer, his teeth closing against the side of her neck for a brief moment, driving a hard spike of arousal through her entire body. “Something I am sure you will come to agree with us on … eventually.”
Kat was practically panting, every fiber of her being calling out for the two men who held her between them. “Not so sure about that, my mate. But I am sure on this one thing. I want you. Both of you, and if you don’t take me now, then you are going to have one pissed off cougar on your hands and deal with the cost of the damages my cat is likely to do to your beautiful garden.”
“Our garden,” Aeron corrected.
“Right,” she said. They hadn’t exactly discussed future plans yet, but she knew her home was wherever her mates were, and the three of them certainly would be cramped in her studio apartment. She couldn’t care less about living arrangements at the moment, however.
Kat gasped when she felt the world suddenly shift around her, and found herself lying in the middle of the large, king-sized bed. Naked. As were her mates.
“Wow,” she exhaled slowly. “Now that’s a handy power to have.” The covers were crumpled at the foot of the bed, and the sheets beneath her felt softer than the softest silk. She very much doubted there was a thread count in the Earth realm that could match it.
She took another deep breath, trying to get her equilibrium back, but her men took that moment to put their mouths on her body and all thought of calming down went out the window. She couldn’t h
old back, crying out in pleasure as Alak took to her left breast, while Aeron went to work on her right, both men using their tongues, teeth, and just the right amount of suction to have her arching up off the mattress.
Mindless with the sensations racing through her body, Kat threw her hands above her head and gave herself over to the pleasure. She inhaled sharply as Alak began to lick and nibble his way down her torso and then shivered with anticipation, her thighs falling apart as he settled between them. She cried out his name when his mouth moved without hesitation to her pussy. The sweep of his tongue and the slight suction he applied to her clit had her rolling her hips against his lips and sobbing in need.
“Goddess,” Alak growled, and the vibrations of his voice against her sensitive skin had her quivering, pulsing on the edge of a massive release. “The taste of you is so addictive. I want nothing more than to take you over the edge and into the maelstrom of pleasure, to feel your beautiful pussy quivering against my tongue.”
Kat groaned at the sensual picture he painted. She was more than ready for that.
“But I want you too much,” Alak finished.
Kat squealed as Alak moved—so fast she could have easily thought he was a shifter—to stand at the foot of the bed. He dragged her along the mattress, not stopping until he had her up and in his arms.
“You are so beautiful, my dragon,”
Kat sighed at his words and the soft expression on his handsome face.
She held onto him, drowning in the intensity of his gaze as he turned to sit on the foot of the bed. When he was completely seated, she lifted up onto her knees and straddled his lap before reaching below her to take the hard length of his erection in her hand.
“I think you’re both pretty beautiful, too,” she murmured as she shuffled forward, and placed the head of his cock against the slick heat of her pussy. “I have a feeling I’ll be fighting the women off of you in both realms.”
Alak grinned, and she loved how easily his smile appeared for her. He was her more intense mate, and he certainly hadn’t been quick to smile when they’d first met. He made her heart swell with love.
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