The wide doors swung open, and all the lycans turned towards the newcomer, growling in threat.
"What the fuck is going on here?" Romulus strode through the door, his beard longer than it should be for only gone a week. His eyes were glittering dangerously, and I could see his hands were half shifted already.
If Romulus was here, that meant Ella must be here too. I could feel Brom next to me, his breath hitching as her scent likely washed over him. Relief knotted my stomach and I wondered at the sensation. I never knew you could be sick with it. But I was and the only cure was to have her in my arms and her lips under mine. I met the lycan's eyes, and he nodded, ever so slightly. She was safe. She was here. She was home.
"Kind of you to join us, nephew," Genevieve, always the cool boss, answered as if we hadn't narrowly avoided an all out brawl. She gestured towards the lycans gathered. "We are here discussing the lycan's choices of allegiance. To the phoenix or to the warlocks."
"Ah," he answered as he crossed his arms over his chest, one hand reaching up to scratch at his beard. Seriously, how fucking long were they in Tír na nÓg for his beard to grow that long? "The answer should be easy," he said, looking over the crowd before him. "We side with Eleanora Bediver. Both Phoenix and warlock."
Howls went up on half of the room and protesting barks on the other. They died away as Ella walked into the room, a radiant mask covering her face, but her blue eyes shone brightly, her blond hair falling in waves around her shoulders. The mask was a gorgeous work, and I knew instinctively it was made by the fae. No human craftsman could achieve such delicate beauty, crafting a mask out of feathers, painted in a beautiful mix of golds and reds so that the feathers looked like the mythical lore of a phoenix.
I reached out to her with my magic and paused at the difference I felt. No more did her magic feel like she was a simmering vat of molten ore, ready to burn her surroundings. Her magic was pure... ancient... intoxicating. Inevitable.
Eleanora Bediver was inevitable.
"I know that you fear the phoenix," her voice rang out in the silence as we all stared at her in wonder. I knew suddenly why, in the terrister's bible, the angel's cried out 'Fear me not". I felt my own knees weaken at her voice, the power shining through her with the power of the sun. I would happily spend the rest of my life on my knees before her, worshiping her as my own divinity. "I know that you have been told for many years of the destruction I shall bring upon the world. I will not deny my power, nor the strength of it. But I have traveled to the land of the eternal and met my celestial brethren. And I have returned, not to destroy, but to herald in a new beginning. I am not the ultimate death you fear, but the rebirth that is needed."
She walked as she spoke, until she was in the center of the room. Every single gaze was on her, as if we were hypnotized. Her simply clothing of jeans that hugged her waist and a loose shirt was at odds with the majesty in her posture. She raised both hands to her side, spinning in place slowly.
"You only know the pain that fire can bring. But let me show you the life."
Her power exploded out of her, a blazing white orb, and the gentle heat of her magic filled each of us, gripping our hearts in her hands and stealing our very breath.
Chapter 14
Eleanora
I drew my power back inside of me, the euphoric connection to the universe dampening until once again I could be contained within my body. Each time I used this evolved—more enlightened—version of my phoenix power, I grew more certain that it wouldn't last forever. Like my celestial siblings, one day I would burn out in a glorious demise.
When I opened my eyes at last, I did not see the lycans, cowering in awe before me. I didn't notice how I had filled them with the purity of starlight, recharging them until they bristled with power.
All I could look at were my lovers, Brom and Merlin. Their eyes were blown wide from the rush. In seconds, they focused on me and the flush of need and love their gazes sent through me made my arcane ability seem trivial. Where I knew that my power would one day leave, the emotions they inspired within me was akin to eternity.
They recovered faster than all the lycans save Romulus. I felt them, their magical presence, converge on me. Brom reached me first, taking my hand in his and bringing it to his lips a moment before Merlin slipped his hand around my waist and burying his face in my hair. Romulus's palm rested between my shoulder blades, grounding me as I drifted in the eddies of their emotions.
"Welcome home," Brom said as he lowered my hand. Merlin pressed a kiss to me before pulling away, the reluctance in his touch and gaze twin to mine within my heart.
"Miss me?" My voice was watery even as my throat tightened.
"I'm trying to think of a clever remark," Merlin began, "but I'm just too damned happy you're back."
My heart leapt into my throat, and I was happier than words could describe. This is why I couldn't have stayed in Tír na nÓg. I couldn't have gone my entire life without their love, without them beside me.
"Lass," Romulus reminded me gently of the crowd, and I finally looked at the lycans around us.
Brom and Merlin shifted to my sides as I looked to Genevieve. Pride shone brightly from her eyes and I felt my grin spread wide under my mask at her approval. Romulus's father quivered beside her, fear and anger warring on his face as he glared at his son behind me.
"I will not threaten you," I spoke out. "I am not cruel or blind with my power. It is a burden placed on me by fate, the stars, the syndicates—whomever it is easier to believe for you. I have made the pilgrimage to Tír na nÓg, and I have met Siannch Aoife. I've faced the creator of my powers."
Hushed silence met my words and I made a point to meet as many gazes as I could while I spoke.
"Our society is sick. Power and wealth are concentrated in only a few. They fear the fire because to be cleansed to them means to be made powerless. My purpose, though, is to make the powerless powerful. To restore the balance that has kept our world safe. To tip the scales back to something more just."
"Will you take up the mantle of leadership, then?" A woman with raven black hair asked, her sharp eyes flickering between the four of us. She straightened with a clear shudder as if trying to cast off the memory of my power.
"I don't know," I answered honestly with a hapless shrug. "I do not know if it is my destiny to lead this new order. Hell, I don't know if it's what I want." She stared at me, her head cocked as if testing the sincerity of my words. "I was powerless for years under Madam Jupiter's control. She hid me from the world, unable to kill me outright else lose access to my estate. I don't want anyone to feel the way I did for years. The way I know those in this society must feel."
"How do we know you won't be worse?" Another lycan asked having shifted back into human form, indifferent to his nudity.
"You don't," I said. "All I can promise is a new order. I cannot promise if that new order will be better or worse. It is up to us all to make a better world. Where creatures of all kinds are welcome in this city, in our world. I can only offer the promise of change. No, not a promise. The inevitable change." I hardened my voice, willing them to understand the gravity of this. "I will be victorious against Madam Jupiter, even if she is to send all her loyal warlocks against me. She is a candle compared to my starlight. Yes, brighter and easier to touch, but with a breath—can be extinguished. I am a maelstrom, my powers stretch across galaxies."
"Let us vote," Romulus's father cried out, his jowls shaking as he raised a fist. "I am the leader of this syndicate, and as such, heed my words. Madam Jupiter upholds the beliefs that make our syndicates great. She will make us great again. This pup"—he sneered the word and Romulus growled behind me—"will be defeated and run off with her tail between her legs. Do not make the wrong decision and put your faith in pretty words and flashy powers."
I forced back my grin at my lovers’ responses. Brom’s lips curled into his cruel sneer, Merlin squared his shoulders, his magic coiling around him, and Romulus growled low inde
ed. They didn’t move though and I was reminded of the respect they held for me and their belief in me. They knew I was strong enough to face this sad lycan, but willing to handle him if I asked.
But I would not be like Jupiter.
“I would not wish anyone to stand beside me who did not out of their own free will,” I said directly to Tiarnán. I spread my arms wide in a submissive gesture. “I will not fault any who choose to support my godmother, but the day of reckoning will come and when it does I will not stay my hand. Do not make your decision with haste,” I cautioned. “Where you decide to stand has consequences far into the future.”
“In three days,” Romulus spoke up from behind me. “All who choose to stay within the syndicate and support Eleanora Bevider against Madam Jupiter will gather at the Romulus estate. Those who choose to oppose are removed cleanly from the syndicate with no consequence. But you will no longer have the benefits of the united clans.”
“You speak for me?” His father snarled, and Genevieve cleared her throat. The man side-eyed her as Romulus stepped around us and approached his father.
When a predator stalks its prey through the woods, they gather their entire strength behind a single purpose. Animals who glimpsed their shadowy sought cover, their adrenaline pumping as they hope the predator passes them by. That was how Romulus stalked towards his father. Each step, his boots thumped against the floor, and silent tension once again gripped the room as a new confrontation began.
“I speak for the Connacht clan in the syndicate,” Romulus stated as he crossed his powerful arms. His father looked old, fat, and weak in direct comparison to the pillar of virility Romulus was. “It is time for the young to send the old to their retirement.”
His father sputtered and shoved right up against him, their chests pressed together, but Romulus didn’t sway or step back. He looked down at his father with contempt.
“Is that a challenge, son?” He growled.
Romulus huffed with amusement.
“I was looking to spare you the humiliation of defeat. Do not think you could win in a challenge ring. You’ve gone too long since a real match. It wouldn’t lend well to the family reputation.”
“Keep your dignity, brother,” Genevieve barked out, and the men jumped. “You have known your position was only yours until Romulus decided to take on the mantle of leadership. That day has come for you, and now it is time to step aside.”
He glared at his son, and it pained me to see there was no love lost among the men. He stormed towards the door, stopping to turn his anger upon me. I refused to look away from the hate in his eyes. He spat at my feet; before it had even landed, Brom had the lycan’s throat in his hand and dragged him close.”
“You will not disrespect her,” Brom hissed. No lycans moved to his defense. Their traditions meant their loyalty was now moved to Romulus. And Romulus watched indifferently.
“She has offered safe passage from this room, but I have not,” the vampire continued, his fangs extending. Tiarnán tried to shift, his hands turning into claws. Brom threw him to the floor, the hardwood cracking under the force.
“Go, cur, cower to your bitch before I change my mind.”
“Connor, Rory, please escort my father to his car. Someone needs to inform Madam Jupiter of the change in leadership.”
The two lycans snapped to attention at Romulus’s order, and soon the old leader had left and the new king, already shouldering the responsibilities of his realm, looked over the crowd.
Discord turned within me. As much as I knew that Romulus had always been intended to rule the syndicate, I didn’t want to be the source of anguish between father and son, and while I knew there was no true love between them, it still gave me pause. But I knew he didn’t blame me when he looked at me and all I could see was love. He whispered to his aunt’s ear and he bounded towards me.
“It’s time to take you home,” he said as he stepped close.
He looked to Brom and Merlin, a question in his eyes. Brom answered easily. He looked to me, and let me decide. His voice was quiet as he spoke, “We can go to my new home in the estate, or we can go to my penthouse. Or even your own estate. The repairs are nearly done.” It didn’t take me more than a moment of decision.
“Take me to your penthouse.”
Chapter 15
Eleanora
Brom’s penthouse was exactly the way I remembered it. Even though our lives had changed so much over the last few weeks for them—days for me, or was it millennia—his home was exactly how it had been. How I needed it to be. It wasn’t new to me like my own home, or Romulus’s, and honestly, haven’t even gone to wherever Merlin lived. He dismissed his place as a small apartment, claiming he never saw the need for anything bigger.
Being with these three men, all massively powerful in their own right, should have intimidated me. The moment I had walked into the room where they had all gathered the first night of the masquerade, I should’ve been terrified. But I wasn’t. It was as if my soul knew these three men were my counterparts. That they completed me and I completed them. And it was like that once again as we walked into Brom’s apartment. A level of comfort and trust that I’d never experienced before. And I knew I would never experience it without them again.
Gentle hands touched my shoulders, and I knew it was Merlin. Every part of him was made with a strength earned out of battle and conviction, and yet he touched me with such a gentleness I craved. I reached back and carded my fingers through his dark, choppy locks.
“Let’s get this off you.” I felt a tug at my veil. “I’ve been dying to kiss you.” He had it off of me and then he was turning me in his arms, crushing me to him. This force was exactly what I needed and the feel of his fingers dragging down my back to grab handfuls of my ass made me grind into him, opening my mouth to let him take me.
I clutched at his hair, pulling as our tongues fought for dominance. A sharp lift and a grunt from Merlin and I was in the air, wrapping my legs around his waist. He walked with me in his arms, not to the bedroom, but to the couch in the middle of the open floor plan. The curtains were open, and the light from the city at night sent blinking shadows and neon splashes over the black furniture.
The warlock laid me down, the leather chilly through my shirt, his mouth placing harsh kisses against my throat as if marking me. My stomach flipped at the idea of him marking me, of them all marking me. I turned my head to look for Romulus and Brom. Romulus was by the wall, dimming the overhead lights until all we were left with were the chaotic shadows and spillways of color. Brom was slipping off his jacket as the lights dimmed around him, hiding him in the darkness, watching Merlin mark me with hungry eyes.
I arched into Merlin, crying out in pleasure, and the vampire rumbled. Having Brom watch us made every touch of Merlin’s even more intoxicating. It was as if his hands were with Merlin’s, that they were both touching me, holding me to them.
“You like it when I’m watching you?” Brom stepped closer and into the light, his thumb trailing over his lip. He kept moving until he was at his side bar, pouring himself a drink before sitting in an armchair, his eyes taking in every movement of Merlin’s languorous torture against my neck. “I am more than happy to oblige, little bird. I could think of no better performance than Merlin taking you, your beautiful body arching under him, your breasts pressing against his chest, your legs squeezing tight as your pussy grips his cock until he’s dry.”
“Fuck, Brom,” Merlin groaned against my skin, and he pulled back enough to tug my shirt upwards over my breasts. I could feel his cock, thick and straining at his jeans, and I knew he was getting as aroused as me.
Romulus walked around the couch and sat in the matching armchair, and our audience grew to two. I met his eyes and there was a fire behind them. Where Brom grew darker the more he showed his desire for me, Romulus became an inferno. And Merlin? Well, he was hungry, a man starving for my touch, needing to feel my arms around him, and my lips to kiss.
“Would
you care for a drink?” Brom’s casual tone made me burn hot, goose bumps running over me as they watched me. Something about the way they made this feel normal sent me higher, and I wanted to perform for them, to let them watch me whenever they wanted. I was theirs.
“I’ll take my enjoyments directly from Ella’s pussy,” Romulus answered, more for me than the vampire. But Brom’s lips stretched into a salacious smirk, as if he were considering that same thing.
“Go on then, Merlin,” Brom said just before taking a sip of his whiskey. “Make our little bird sing.”
It was as if Merlin had been waiting for his permission. He yanked my shirt upwards, my arms tangling in it as he pulled it over my head. His kisses went from trailing over my neck to the newly exposed skin while I threw the shirt into the darkness and moaned as Merlin’s lips sucked on my nipple through my unlined bra, his hand teasing and pinching my other.
It was amazing, but I wanted something more, something more convicted. I wanted to be reminded that I was theirs. I shimmied my hips, grinding against Merlin’s hardness, his cock teasing my core, nearly distracting me from my purpose.
“Undress me,” I whispered into Merlin’s ear as I reached down to undo his jeans.
“Any time,” he answered and moved back before I could free his cock. His hands went to my pants and I lifted my hips as he wrenched them off of me, his thumbs hooked through my panties and removing them with my pants. One hand found the clasp of my bra, and together we pulled it off before flinging it to join my shirt in the darkness. I reached up and pulled his shirt up over his head, my hands going right back to his waistline and freeing his cock. I pushed his jeans and tight boxer briefs down over his ass.
I wrapped my hand around his cock, hot and smooth, pumping it as he groaned, dropping his forehead to rest against mine. He didn’t stay still, though, and he leaned down over me, forcing me onto my back, the hand not bracing him cupped my pussy, stroking broadly and discovering exactly how wet this was making me.
Throne of Embers: A Reverse Harem PNR (Beautiful Secrets Book 3) Page 8