by Kaye Draper
"What the hell's wrong with her?" Kai asked softly. "Gesa, honey, you've finally lost your little bird brain."
I couldn't stop laughing. My fingers started to slip from Hisashi's tail, and he grabbed my hand. "Hey! Don't let go of me, Gesa. Seriously."
Halstad patted my back. "S'okay girlie. Just delirium from the power drain. You don't have power like the rest of us...you just are power. That's what a shifter is. Big 'ol mass of unstable atoms."
I squinted at him, still laughing. "What?"
Kai leaned into Con. "I see sparkles," she whispered. "So pretty. So bright."
Halstad nodded seriously. "Yes. Because you're a shifter too. Even if you're old as fuck."
Halstad pushed his goggles back on his head and blinked his blood-crusted fae eyes. "Doesn't matter though," he muttered. "I'll be joining you in loopy land too in five...four...three...two...one...." He grinned. "Ah, fuck that's good. I feel like I'm floating. Who needs magic when you can just feel like this for a little while before you die?"
I shook my head. "You're talking," I said intelligently. "You never talk about anything but telling people what to do. Or how much you hate us."
He grinned, swaying drunkenly to the side. "That's cuz you all act like family is a real thing, and not some made up word. You're idiots."
I shoved him listlessly, feeling like the world was spinning as this place leeched away my essence. "Fuck you. It's real. It is."
He snorted. "Lot of good it's done you lot, huh?"
I shrugged. "Good while it lasted."
Hisashi tipped forward on his tiptoes, curling over Oisin and pressing the heel of his hand into his own forehead. His claws were out, and he curled them into his scalp, like was trying to tear his own skin off. "They've all lost it. What the fuck am I going to do?" he whispered to himself. A sob escaped him. "I've killed them all."
Con sat up beside me with a little lurch. He fumbled with a numb hand, reaching up to rub his belly. "Uh...guys...I don't feel so great," he whispered. "I feel like--"
I blinked when Con seemed to waver around the edges, going see-through. Then he was ripped from us. One moment he was there. The next he was just...gone.
"Con!" I screamed, standing to leap off after him into the gloom.
A pair of arms wrapped around me, one burly and rough, the other long and slender, but capable of crushing the life out of me in a blink. "Gesa!" Kai shouted.
At the same moment, Hisashi shouted, "don't you fucking dare let go of me, gryphon!"
Con...Con was gone. I hit my knees again, letting out a rough sob as desperate sadness poked through the fog in my mind. Con. My sweet Con.
Then Kai squeezed me harder. I met her wide, panicked blue eyes. "Gesa?" she whispered.
"No...no, no, no." I clutched her tighter as she faded, blinking in and out of sight. Then she was gone too, leaving behind the memory of her crushing embrace.
"No!" I screamed. This wasn't fucking happening. How did we get here? There had been nothing we could do this entire time. Every turn, we were fucking slapped around by fate. But my pride....
"Ah hell," Halstad said in a resigned voice. "Been nice knowing y'all--"
Then he was gone, his stolid, grumpy presence at my side replaced by a cold void.
"Hisashi," I gasped, feeling a tugging sensation in my middle, like being yanked backward on some ride at the county fair. "What's happening?"
His silver-rimmed blue eyes were overflowing with tears. "I don't know, Gesa. Gods, no!" He managed to wiggle one hand free from under Oisin and gripped my upper arm. But I couldn't feel the force of his hand on my skin.
Goodbye pretty fox. Gods, it wasn't fair that he was going to be left alone here. But I couldn't stop the force that tugged me out of existence.
Chapter 16
I shrieked as I was sucked backward into the black void. One moment there was nothing. No thought, no feeling. The next, I landed on a hard floor, still shrieking and trying to fight my way free of whatever had held me. My pride. I had to get to them. Had to save them.
"Gesa. Gesa! You're going to hurt someone!"
I took me a minute to register what the fuck was going on. I was sprawled on the floor, a warm body pressing me down, a strong grip holding my wrists pinned. I blinked up at Kai and nearly sobbed with relief. "Kraken?" I gasped.
She smiled at me but didn't let me go. "Calm down, we're home. We're safe. But you kind of lost it for minute there, my little birdie."
I took in a deep breath and glanced around. My pride was here, sprawled on the tile floor. All but Hisashi and Oisin. Kai turned her head, and I followed her gaze.
I opened and closed my mouth at the sight that greeted me, unable to form words as a sultry, pulsing energy washed over me, making my body tingle with want.
Orion Black was standing in my kitchen, holding his employer's hands, forming a circle as they worked some sort of strange magic. The incubus wasn't wearing glamour—and I only now realized the pretty man I'd see so many times wasn't his true form. His beautiful upper body was bare, probably to accommodate the set of big, royal blue bat wings that arched from his back and curled around him. Small, curled horns poked out of his caramel-colored hair, and his eyes glowed like blue fire.
He tilted his head to look at me. Our eyes met and I groaned. Jesus, Buddha, and Odin, was this what incubus magic felt like? Because fuck. Kai's grip on my arms loosened and she shifted her weight, making me realize we were both naked thanks to our recent shifting. And she was splayed out on top of me, one long leg between mine, her ginormous tits squashed to my chest, rubbing against my nipples when she moved.
"Orion!" White's deep voice cut through the haze. "Focus."
The incubus turned back to his boss, his voice dripping sex. "Sorry boss. But it’s hard to concentrate in this form...and just look at them."
White grunted and flashed a red-eyed look our way. "Stop distracting my secretary, gryphon, if you want the rest of your pride back."
I sat up, pushing Kai off me, trying to avoid planting my hands on the softer bits. Gods.
Con stood on wobbly legs and rushed out of the room. He was back a moment later with my robe and a crumpled ball of flower-printed cotton, which proved to be one of Kai's flowy dresses. I think he'd gotten them from the hamper in the laundry room, but I wasn't about to complain. This situation was weird enough as it was.
I tugged on the robe and tied it closed, enjoying the feel of the soft fabric against my skin. Hey, if I was high on incubus mojo, I might as well enjoy it. Kai pulled her dress on and plopped back down at my side.
I watched the demons as the energy in the room spiked again. White's skin turned a dusky, inhuman red color as he closed his glowing red eyes and gripped Black's hands. The incubus went wide-eyed and stared into space, an intense look of concentration on his face. "There!" he said in an urgent whisper. "Almost...yes. Right there."
Both their bodies went rigid, as if they were tensing every muscle to reel in a giant fish on the end of the line. I gaped when the air beside them shimmered, then sort of...ripped open. Hisashi spilled out, still clutching a limp Oisin to him like a child with their favorite worn out doll.
The hole behind Hisashi snapped closed and White let go of his employee's hands, his skin tone returning to its normal light gold color. His eyes were still glowing that eerie fucking red.
Hisashi glanced around in confusion and I noticed he didn't look quite right. His features were sharper, pointed and vulpine. He paced over to me, laid Oisin gently at my side, then rounded on the incubus. When he spoke, his mouth was full of razor-sharp, needle-like teeth. He was fucking terrifying. And I don’t think he was entirely with it. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who made the shift back to reality fighting. "What have you done, demon? I feel your energy all over my family," he growled.
The incubus crossed his arms over his chest as the fox paced toward him. There were long blue claws on the tips of Orion's fingers. His blue eyes were still lit up with magic.
"Calm down, fox," White said from the other side of the room, where he plopped into a chair and downed my orange juice straight from the damned carton like he lived here. "My associate was merely using his powers to find the essence in your runes and pull you back home."
Hisashi let out a low growl, but his shark teeth disappeared, replaced with his usual sharp canines, and his own claws retracted. He drew in a few panting breaths as his whole demeanor softened.
"Thank you," he whispered to the incubus, voice breaking as he seemed to realize the threat was over and he was back in the real world. "Thank you so fucking much." His voice broke at the end and I could feel every bit of panic he must have felt, watching us all vanish from his side.
The incubus uncrossed his arms and stepped closer, reaching out to run a hand over Hisashi's cheek. "Any time," he purred, moving into Hisashi’s space, his magic a live, pulsing thing that made me want to pant.
Hisashi froze as the demon pressed against him, clinging to the fox, his voice a sultry purr. "Do I get a reward for helping?"
The fox swallowed audibly and reached up to grip Orion's upper arms in his big hands. "What...."
A spade-tipped blue tail snaked out to twine among Hisashi's own fluffy appendages and the demon tilted his chin up, his perfect lips parted in invitation. "Please?"
Shaking his head, White stood and paced over to the two men, brushing Hisashi's grip off Orion's arms then gently, but firmly, prying the sex demon off my fox. "Come on, Orion," he said in an exasperated tone.
The incubus turned to him, eyes half-lidded and oozing sex appeal from every perfect, beautiful, scarred pore. "But he's so beautiful. Please let me have him, master?" He glanced at Hisashi again and shuddered. “So powerful.”
I watched in fascination as White bent and heaved the incubus over his shoulder. "I know you're hungry," he said in a patient voice. "But you'll hate yourself in the morning."
The incubus tried to wriggle free but was firmly trapped by the bigger demon. He propped his elbows on White's back, resting his chin on his hands as he stared at Hisashi. "Would have been amazing. His energy is delicious," he muttered.
White ignored him, turning to me with a forced smile that almost had me laughing out loud. "I apologize for my associate's behavior," he said, pausing to bat the tail away as it tried to poke him in the ear. "Using his magic the way he has tonight is draining and...well...."
"Incubus," I finished for him.
He nodded, glanced around at my pride, a commiserating look on his face. "It's trying sometimes, isn't it?" he said. "Keeping the powerful ones in line when they want to act like complete morons."
I bristled at him. "Don't insult my pride."
White grinned at me and I wanted to tear his face off. "I wasn't talking about your pride, Miss Lionheart. I was referring to you."
I was about to tell him to fuck off when the stoic man jerked and let out an undignified noise. "If you'll excuse us," he said hurriedly. "You and your pride appear to need some rest. And I need to get this creature home and ensure he feeds before I murder him. We will speak more tomorrow."
He turned, plopped Orion on his feet, and rubbed at a set of red teeth marks that had appeared on the back of his neck. "Out," he told the incubus, turning him and shoving him toward the door.
I stifled a laugh. I had never seen either of the uptight demons being so...not themselves.
White turned back to us, his eyes landing on Con. "Do you remember everything?"
Con nodded and let out a tired sigh. "Yes. Thanks."
I pushed to my feet and hurried to stop White from leaving. "Wait! What about Oisin's sister? I know she was up to something. She might be in danger back there."
White's red-rimmed black eyes narrowed in thought. Then he shook his head. "It will wait until tomorrow." He turned and was out the door in a flash.
I heard giggling coming from the hallway, followed by an indignant snort and heavy footsteps on the stairs. Then the demons were gone.
"What the actual fuck did I just witness?" I said to the room at large.
Hisashi, who had plopped down in a chair at the table shook his head. "I have no idea, but my dicks are still so hard they hurt."
I snorted. Kai perked up and shot a curious glance his way. "Dicks? Plural?"
I rolled my eyes. "Oh my Gods, we are not having this conversation right now, Kai. Hisashi can show everyone his dicks later."
I knelt by Oisin and caressed his cheek. My fae was still breathing, though is skin was deathly pale. I pulled the top of the trench coat aside to look at the runes that had been burned into his chest. They weren't quite as red and angry looking. Otherwise, he looked almost exactly as bad as he had before we dragged him unconscious across the Montana wilderness, into the otherworld and back.
Hisashi made a small, choked sound and I turned as Halstad limped over to him and gripped his shoulder. "Don't be doing that, now," the older man said in his gruff voice. "You did the best you could."
The fox looked at me as he spoke. "I almost got us all killed."
Halstad shook him. "Boy, the fucking fae almost got us all killed. You exploded their leader and got us away from the wild hunt. Give yourself a break."
I could see Hisashi shutting down, blaming himself. "Don't," I said firmly. "Hisashi, I swear to fuck. Get over here and see to your mate."
He hung his head and let out a heavy sigh. "Yes, alpha."
He slunk over to us and gently scooped Oisin into his arms, then stood.
"And don't fucking call me that," I muttered.
"Yes, alpha."
I growled. "I swear to fuck, Hisashi, I will beat your ass."
He turned toward the door, Oisin cradled in his arms. "Yes, alpha." But there was just a hint of humor in his deep voice. Thank the Gods.
Con stretched and cracked his back, then turned to rummage in the cupboards.
"What are you up to, my sweet half-hedge?" Kai said as she paced over to him.
He pursed his lips and let out a breath. "Well...I'm about to see if I really have any of those 'latent powers' White is always going on about. The things he taught me…they’re for healing."
I nodded to him and followed Hisashi to the bathroom. It took both of us—and a lot of finagling, since he was limp as a ragdoll—but we got Oisin cleaned up and tucked into bed where he continued to sleep like the dead.
"Is this...normal?" I asked, as I stroked the top of his shaved head.
Hisashi shook his head, sitting gently on the edge of the bed. "I have no fucking clue," he said tiredly. "I haven't interacted with fae much before him and...I’ve never seen a fae this fucked up."
I reached my free hand out to my fox, and he took it, squeezing so hard it felt like my bones would break. "He'll be okay," I said fiercely. "He'll wake up. He knows if he doesn't wake up, I'll kill him."
Hisashi snorted. "Well that should be motivation to get better."
A throat cleared and I turned to find Halstad in the doorway. "A word, gryphon?"
Hisashi rolled his eyes and stood. "I'm going to go get cleaned up and changed, then I'll come back to sit with him." He touched Oisin's head in parting, giving the mage a look that I couldn't interpret as he slipped out the door.
Chapter 17
I flopped down in the overstuffed chair on the other side of the room, rummaging around in the drawer of a nearby end table and coming up with a half-full bottle of Oisin's sickeningly sweet wine. I shook the bottle at Halstad in invitation and the mage came to join me.
"Fae wine is terrible shit," he groused. But he took the bottle from me and took a swig, grimacing.
I chuckled, taking the bottle back and chugging some myself. "Fucking awful," I agreed. But it was alcohol. And potent.
"Did you need something?" I asked the mage as he paced between me and the bed. He had a strange energy about him that was putting me on edge.
He glanced at Oisin's motionless form, buried under mounds of blankets. "Your witch will help with his
healing," he said, continuing his pacing.
I raised an eyebrow. What the fuck was wrong with the mage? He never seemed uncertain.
"That's it?"
He heaved a sigh. "Fae can go out like this for a while," he said in a rush. I stared at him, met his pretty, purple and gold eyes, and remembered he had a lot of experience killing fae.
"Oh?"
He nodded and ran a hand through his dirty-blond curls. "Yeah. If they're hurt or severely depleted, they kind of...go inside? It scared the fuck out of me, first time I saw it happen."
I let out a breath. Oh. He'd seen a fae go comatose like this before and it had terrified him.
"You...Halstad what the fuck happened to you?"
He shook his head and waved the question away. "Not important. That's old business."
I leaned forward. "It is important, you moron. Everyone hates you because they think you're some sort of killer. But I'm not stupid. You don't hate the fae. You don't do anything unless you think it out five different ways first. You wouldn't waste your magic killing for the fun of it."
He stopped his pacing and crossed his burly arms over his wide chest. "Of course I hate the fae. Sneaky, manipulative, ridiculous fuckers. Most of 'em."
I took another drink of the over-sweet liquor. "Sure, I believe you." He was lying so hard it hurt to feel it with my gryphon powers.
He sank into the chair opposite mine. "Mages don't get a lot of free will," he said, mismatched eyes on my own, meeting my gaze unflinchingly. "So yes, I am a killer. I was born, bred, and trained to kill on command. It's what mages are, sweetheart. Tools. Fancy guns made for people powerful enough to own them."
I felt sick. "Halstad...."
He ran his hand through his hair again, making the short waves stand up in stupid spikes that weren't adorable at all. Idiot gryphon.
"Mage contracts are like fancy soul bindings. I tried not to be a tool, once," he said softly. "Didn't fucking work out so well. End of story."
I could see we weren't going to get any big revelations today. He was wound tight. And probably exhausted after everything we'd been through, all the magic he'd exerted to keep my pride safe.