Insatiable (The Curse of Avalon Book 3)

by Sariah Skye

  “Aye. But not half as awful as Mathias, if you don’t get yer hot arse out there and start learning those stunners. He’s on a mission after last night, ye know.” He motioned to a handful of silver stunners that all appeared like very futuristic or alien-like weaponry, laid out on the counter. Including the one I ripped off from Swarthy. I still felt a sense of satisfaction thinking about that one. “Yep, stunners, daggers, maybe even that damn Excalibur. Somehow. Though it’s little more than just a metal stick right about now,” he said, making a sour face.

  Remembering what Bash said earlier, I said, “We might want to start with that one. Even though I don’t know how, I can barely lift the thing. Bash said that Igraine told him the sword is key for defeating Arthur.”

  Trystan stood silently, looking thoughtful, while he reached over and absentmindedly tousled a lock of my wet hair. “Ye think it’s coming to that?” he asked, with concern.

  I nodded reluctantly. “Sure sounds that way. Arthur is on a mission.”

  “And, ye know this how for sure? Yeah, ye met him for what… an hour a few days ago? Does that really mean he’s hellbent on world domination?” Trystan asked, incredulous. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Well, Lachlan said he was, so did Igraine,” I answered assuredly.

  Trystan’s forehead wrinkled, his brow puckering in confusion. “Ye lost me there, lassie.”

  “Ah, I guess you don’t know.” I suppose he wouldn’t, we bolted so soon after the incident at the Stargazer and unless he had run into Xander, who knew only half the story anyway, there’s no way he could. So, I regaled what both Xander and Bash had told me; about Igraine coming to Bash while I was being… subdued… about his suspected “new” power, about what she said about Excalibur and that spell to summon Avalon—for whatever reason, and about Xander being in my room at the time my father was able to communicate through the Round Table portal.

  And the ominous message that they both seemed to have:

  War.

  “Shite,” was all he said, wide eyed. He nudged past me to get into the fridge, reaching for a bottle of beer. “I’m gonna need something stronger,” he mumbled, incredulous. He twisted off the top, and took a long drink, and proceeded to unleash a tirade of angry sounding words in Gaelic.

  “English, eagle-man,” I said, poking him in the arm.

  He grinned naughtily. “I just cursed Arthur, his mother, and his mother’s mother, and wished one of them had swallowed.”

  “Well, that’s a lovely thought in the morning.”

  Trystan chuckled loudly. “Morning? Luv, it’s almost one o’clock!”

  My eyes widened. “Shit. Where the hell is everyone, then?”

  “Well,” Trystan began with a smirk, and his half-lidded eyes bordered on scandalous. “Xander came stumbling down about an hour ago, looking like hell, claiming he needed ‘sustenance’ and made a giant sandwich and went up to his room, I think. Wonder why he’s so tired?” He asked suggestively. I tried not to blush.

  He continued, less smug this time. “Rhys was diddling around with the pups for a while—think he’s taken a shine to them,” he chuckled, “when Mathias came downstairs on the warpath he shimmered away, and no one’s seem him since.”

  “Damn,” I said, under my breath. “Really need to talk to that bastard.”

  “He’ll be around, probably after Mathias sees you. He’s been worried sick, but he didn’t want to interrupt… whatever it was you had goin’ on up there.”

  I scrubbed my hand over my face. “Does everyone know? Sheesh…”

  Trystan exhaled slowly, reaching a hand over my shoulder to lean against the fridge, shifting his body so he was only inches away from me. “Look, Avie… I told ye, I don’t care. I’m happy ye’re happy, I’m happy my friend is happy. Friends, even. I mean that. Whatever this… Avalon stuff is inside you, it’s done a number on ye since the ritual. First ye were afraid, and now that it’s more controlled, the lust falls off ye in waves. Hell, even if I wanted to, I don’t think I could keep up with yer libido right now.” Then his full, kissable lips spread into a lazy smile. “Well, maybe right now I could, but Mathias would kill me if I kept ye from what you need to be doing. Which isn’t me right now.” His tone was low and husky, taunting me as he whispered into my ear and I shivered, his warm breath tantalizing on my goose-pimpled skin. “However, there is one thing I went ye to do, before ye go find Mathias.” He just barely skimmed his lips over the length of my neck, and my knees wobbled as he lightly licked the edge of my earlobe.

  Actively trying not to moan, I struggled to speak. “And, what’s that?”

  He pulled away and grinned. “Come take a look at the cars I’ve been looking at for ye.”

  I rolled my eyes and ducked under his arm so I was no longer pinned. “Dammit, I don’t want to buy a new car! The Toyota can be fixed, can’t it? Those things are supposed to last forever! It’s only on one-hundred and fifty-thousand miles!” I was pouting now, actually stamping my foot like a brat.

  “It’s been in an accident before, luv. We checked its history,” Trystan said, setting his mouth into a firm line. “Pretty sure the odometer’s been rolled back too; Bash figured that out. Somehow…”

  Crossing my arms over my chest, I scowled, looking up, down—anywhere to avoid his gaze. I knew he was right, but I really didn’t want to admit it. I only bought the car about five months ago, and I only bought it because the price was right. Meaning, I had the cash. That would mean admitting I messed up, though, and I didn’t like that one bit.

  “All right, luv.” His expression was stern. “If you can start that car right now, I’ll let it go. If it even turns over some, we’ll find a way to fix it. But if not… ye’re coming with me to look for cars. Deal?”

  I grumbled audibly. “Fine.” He motioned towards the front door and reluctantly, I stomped towards the entry, grabbed my considerably heavy keyring that now held keys to all the guys’ vehicles, and Trystan followed me out to the garage. Nudging past Mathias’ Suburban and Xander’s Subaru to the beat-up piece of crap in the left stall, I muttered obscenities the entire way. Trystan was amused but when I turned to glare at him, he pretended to be straight-faced. I roughly opened up the door with a loud squeak and slumped down into the driver’s seat. “It’ll be fine, mark my words. Bash fixes things, that’s what he does,” I mumbled.

  “There are certain things that can’t be fixed or aren’t worth fixing, luv,” Trystan said, smugly leaning against the hood of the car, his brow raised expectantly as I shoved the key into the ignition and turned.

  Nothing. Not even a click. Yesterday it at least turned over for a second before it died, showing there was hope. Snarling, I tried again… and nothing.

  “Goddammit!” I smacked my forehead against the steering wheel, accidentally setting off the horn. I jumped loudly. From nearby I could swear I heard Rhys scream which made me feel a bit better. Admitting defeat, I slid out of the car and slammed the door shut, kicking at the doorframe. “Fucking traitor,” I grumbled at it.

  “Aw, don’t get upset. It was a great car—for someone else. How much did ye buy it for?”

  My upper lip curled into a sneer. “A thousand bucks.”

  “Well, you probably got your money’s worth out of it, then.” Trystan draped an arm over my shoulders and gave me a tight side hug under his arm. “Unless ye have Bash’s superhuman hacking skills, ye couldn’t have known, seriously.”

  “Yeah… okay.” I was unconvinced, mostly because I was still pouting. “I guess I’ll just drive yours for now.” I grinned widely at him.

  “Ye sure can, luv. We’ll find ye something ye like, trust me. And, ye have the money now. Last night despite the, uh, publicity stunt, everything was a huge success,” Trystan said, leading me out of the garage, away from the traitorous Toyota that gave up on me. “Everyone really seemed to like the changes, even if there were a few rowdy supes who were angry there was no Underground.”

  “What happened
with that, anyway?” I questioned.

  He shrugged. “Eh, a couple of shifters who didn’t quite believe Morgaine was dead. No big deal. Between those dragons, Mathias, and I; I think we scared them enough not to come back.”

  “Did I hear a car horn?” Mathias’ voice echoed into the garage suddenly.

  My eyes widened as I took him in. His usual suit was traded for black sweats and an extremely tight black tank. His hair, considerably longer on top, was actually tied back with a ponytail holder, his brown eyes and bone structure on prominent display. Mathias never dressed like this; Trystan was right, he was on a mission.

  Trystan bent over and spoke in my ear, “Come find me so we can look at those cars. I’ll leave ye to it.” He gently swatted my ass—jerk—and disappeared into the house.

  Mathias stood there, looking powerful and menacing in all black, but his face was broody and emotional; I swear his eyes were shining with tears that were about to fall. He looked uncomfortable under my scrutiny and shuffled his feet a little. “It’s, ah, getting a little long. Looks ridiculous, huh?” He said with a small, awkward laugh.

  “What? No!” And it didn’t, I just wasn’t used to seeing him like that. “It’s… kinda hot, actually.”

  He seemed surprised. A blush spread across his cheeks. “Thanks?” He said, then he snorted. “Yeah that’s dumb. I’m sorry, I am not sure how to act; last night you were…”

  “I’m fine,” I insisted, and closed the distance between us, wrapping my arms tightly around him. It wasn’t completely true, but I felt like I was getting there.

  Mathias let out a breath, and folded himself around me, resting his cheek on top of my head. “I’m thankful Bash was behind me yesterday because when I saw… I saw…” he trailed off, not able to speak the words.

  “I know.”

  He nodded gently. “All I saw was red. Shit, I’ve never been so freaked out in my life,” he said shakily.

  I cocked a brow, looking up at him skeptically. “Really? In what—nineteen-hundred years, and how many battles you’ve fought in, that was the most you’ve ever been freaked out?”

  Mathias set his hands on my shoulders and looked directly into my eyes. “Ava, you have to understand. All those battles? I hoped beyond hope that one of my opponents had the power to kill me. I wasn’t afraid, I was ready. I wanted to die, my life was never-ending, and empty.”

  I frowned and looked down at my feet; I didn’t want to even fathom what would have happened had he actually been killed. Nor could I stand to look at the pain in his eyes. “That makes me… sad, Mathias.”

  He slid both his huge hands under my chin, urging me to look up. He swept his thumbs in languid strokes over the apples of my cheeks. “What is even sadder, Ava, was the thought of having to live life without you. I couldn’t go back to… what I was before. I can’t.” The emotion in his eyes was intense, like they were piercing through my very soul, but so beautiful they made my heart sing, because this man was mine.

  “Mathias… I’m not going anywhere, okay?” I said softly, even though that might not of exactly been true. “And if I do, you’ll come too, right?”

  Mathias smiled slowly. “To the ends of the earth. Or… dimensions or wherever Avalon is,” he said, with a chuckle, before his face darkened. “Seriously, what happened last night? As long as I’m alive, it’ll never happen again.”

  “No, because you’re gonna teach me to kill stuff, right?” I said, almost gleefully.

  He tipped his head back and laughed; it was a bit higher-pitched. He only did that laugh when he seriously couldn’t control it. “Well, yes… sort of. But I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you’re safe.”

  “I know you will,” I said quietly. I gripped one of his hands that now rested on my shoulders, entwined my fingers with his, and placed a sweet kiss on his knuckles. “You know I love you, right?” The more I said it, the easier it got. I wanted to of course but knowing he’d already said it made it just a bit easier.

  Mathias blushed. He brushed his hand over my cheek and leaned in for a light kiss; it wasn’t a passionate or seductive kiss, but an expression of love. A declaration that left a permanent mark on my heart. It was tender and sweet, without a hint of lust. When we parted, my breath caught in my chest, thoroughly enchanted by this man with all his kindness, his attractiveness and most importantly, his heart.

  I was saying it to myself at least five times a day. How the hell did I get so lucky?

  “And, I love you… Ava.” He pulled me in for a hug, his arms so tight I could barely breathe, but I didn’t care. His nervous heart pounded in his chest, even though he outwardly remained calm. I sighed, just enjoying being there with him. I don’t know how long we stayed there until he finally released me. “I should let you get back to Trystan; I’m not quite ready yet.”

  “Uh oh, what are you doing?” I asked suspiciously.

  “You’ll see.” He winked. “It’s not anything too fun so don’t get excited. Make sure Trystan hasn’t picked anything out too ridiculous for you.”

  “Like what?” I laughed.

  He shrugged. “Like some Ferrari or some crap. Hopefully you’ll get something a bit safer than his giant yellow banana,” he rolled his eyes slightly. When I began to protest, he rose a dismissive hand. “I know, I know. Immortal. But I don’t want to tempt fate.”

  “Understood,” I agreed. Before we parted, he didn’t kiss me but brushed his nose against mine. It was sweet and adorable, especially for him. It was amazing how someone who seemed so harsh on the outside could be so tender.

  Before I slipped through the garage door, I paused, peeking out letting out a low whistle as he walked away.

  He paused and turned over his shoulder. “I heard that.” He grinned at me before sauntering off again.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Of all the bedrooms in the house, Trystan’s was surprisingly the coziest, even being on the main—and loudest—floor. There was usually a dog or two in there at least at all times, and what little décor and color he had in there reminded me of a sunset. Burnt oranges and pale yellows and deep blues from the plush bedspread, to the armchairs that sat around a faux fireplace. The walls were painted in a warm taupe, and furry rugs—fake of course—were draped everywhere on the floor. A simple computer desk with a PC sat on one wall, with a spinning red chair and as he only had one, I sat in his lap as he perused the vehicles he’d picked out for me. Surprisingly—or not, I wasn’t sure—Trystan’s list of approved cars to show me wasn’t all that ridiculous; an SUV that looked more appropriate for Mathias (but low mileage), and a couple others but it was a black Dodge Charger with white racing stripes down the center, with tinted windows and spinning, silver rims that caught my eye. Apparently, the driver was a real “show-boater” but his new wife was pregnant; said the car had to go. Poor thing. At least, that’s what Trystan said when he called the guy to ask about it. V-8, supercharged… I was in love. He made an appointment for the three of us to view the car tomorrow: himself, me and probably Bash I assumed, and Mathias summoned us—everyone in the house—a short time later. I was disappointed there was little time for us to fool around. Sitting in his lap had me thinking naughty thoughts but it’d have to wait until later; Mathias sounded pretty adamant.

  Xander and Bash were already sitting at opposite ends of the sofa, so I proceeded to flop myself in the middle, and stretch out between them. Xander, who still appeared a bit tired, draped an arm over my shoulders, and I leaned against him, and Bash took my legs in his lap while he messed with his phone. I noticed the two of them barely looked at one another, and anytime one of them accidentally caught the other’s eye, they’d quickly turn away. Hmmm… I wonder why it’s so strange for them; it’s not like they hadn’t shared a woman before. Because it was me? I’d have to get to the bottom of it later.

  Trystan grabbed a large cushion and tossed it on the floor in front of us, and I threaded my fingers in his hair absentmindedly, my other arm slung in Xander
’s lap. Nessie the wolf came ambling in, followed by Sierra and Rocky; Nessie took her place next to Trystan on the floor. Mathias glared daggers at Rhys who finally ambled in the front door and cowered on the chair farthest from Mathias. I gave him props for not teleporting this time.

  The former gladiator was pacing back and forth slowly in front of the window, cracking his knuckles and pounding a fist into his palm. He had released his hair from being fastened in back and it flopped in all directions.

  “Fuck!” Bash called out suddenly.

  “What?” Mathias asked, thin-lipped.

  “This is bad. Bad bad bad bad bad!” Bash held the phone, looking anxious, grabbing at the roots of his hair with his free hand.

  “Goddammit, man—what?” Trystan demanded, irritated.

  “Sorry,” Bash said sheepishly. “This is… worse than missing supes.”

  “Incubi?” Rhys supplied, with a shrug. “Just a guess. I know what happened last night. Where there is one, there is probably more.”

  “He’s right,” Bash said with a sigh. “A couple of college guys went missing a couple of days ago—it was on the news, but I didn’t think much of it. Now, there has been a rash of attacks on women, but not reported by the women. Their friends, because the women defended it; said they were in love with them.” He arched a brow. “Sound familiar?”

  Mathias’ expression was dour. “What college?”

  “Up north; St. Cloud State, apparently.”

  “And that came off your little… shadow web thinger?” Rhys questioned, with a wave of his hand.

  “Void web. And, yes,” Bash replied.

  “What does that have to do with anything?” Trystan mused. “Couldn’t it just be a coincidence? There are other incubi out there, ye know.”

  “Yes, but… listen to this. There is an article in their school paper. A certain folk-sounding singer entertained at a frat party last week; there were well over a hundred people there. Look, someone posted a video.” Bash touched the screen and flipped the phone around to show the video. It was crude, and dimly lit, but among the sea of swaying bodies—in perfect unison almost—was a certain ethereal, thin, blonde singer.