by Erin Raegan
I knew she was a bitch, no thanks to everyone else. But a murderer?
Vyr misted in front of me and threw her hand wide before wrenching it back and snapping the bone. I dropped down and out of the way as Vyr tossed her to Gryl. Uthyf ran up the stairs and shakily touched my neck.
“I’m fine, I’m okay.” I rubbed his back as he prodded at my wound.
Uthyf carried me out of the room, barreling through the frightened crowd. Lyran and Alyn were both shouting as the guards restrained them and dragged them out behind us.
“Tahk,” Uthyf growled.
Tahk nodded and directed them to the dungeon below the castle.
Ignyt and his crew were down there. They were terrifying and merciless. I felt no pity for what was about to happen to Alyn and her father.
Uthyf rushed to the healer’s room and laid me carefully on a cot. As Gryo patched me up, Uthyf paced and growled.
When I was back on my feet, I approached him. “Uthyf?”
He kissed me hard. “Go to our room. Wait for me there.”
“What are you going to do?”
He kissed me again then rushed out. Gyro turned me over to Gryl and the other guards, who walked me up to the room and ushered me inside.
“What is he going to do?” I asked.
Gryl shook his head. He was obviously angry and couldn’t stop staring at my neck. I sighed and walked to the bedroom. I could tell Gryl wanted to follow, but Uthyf had made it clear that our bedroom was off-limits.
I stepped inside and shut the door before sagging against it. It had all happened so quickly I still couldn’t wrap my mind around it. Why would Alyn try to kill Uthyf? It didn’t make any sense.
She could have been his queen. Though, Uthyf had told me it had already been over between them. Maybe she was angry. Maybe she wanted revenge. Had her father put her up to it?
A weird noise made me stiffen, and I looked around the dark room. When I didn’t hear it again, I blew out a breath and shook out my hands. I needed to calm down. I was coming off of an adrenaline rush.
I walked over to the closest bowl and lit the blue toyl stone inside.
A gust of air blew on the back of my neck, and I stiffened. Turning woodenly, I froze.
A Juldo stood behind me. He looked so much like Chyn that for a moment, I thought he was Chyn. But he was thicker, and shorter, and his hair was much longer.
I backed away and tripped, falling on my ass. I opened my mouth to scream, but the male lifted his finger, holding it in front of his lips ominously. Fuck that, I screamed—but it came out as a croak. Something held my throat in a tight grip. Something invisible. I gaped at him wide-eyed as he smiled and shook his head.
“Hello, my pet,” the voice from my nightmares purred behind me.
I froze.
Hands grabbed me and spun me around.
I looked up in disbelief. He was there. He had found me.
I was going to die.
23
Mona
The Juldo Master slapped my face and I slammed into the floor.
He shook his head sadly. “What did I tell you, pet? Hmm?” He crouched. “I adore you, pet. I have missed you, but you knew better than to disobey me, didn’t you?”
I nodded meekly, hating how quickly he sucked the life out of me.
He tutted and shook his head again. “Look at you, little human. You think you’re a queen? You are nothing but my plaything.” I whimpered as he squeezed my cheeks in his metal hand. “Your king is scheming with my assassin. That makes me very unhappy. But now you can help me. Do you want to know how?”
I stared at him, wide-eyed and trembling.
“They have no idea, little pet. They have no idea what’s coming for them.” He looked up and behind me. “Do you want a taste of my pet?”
The male behind me made a noise of disgust.
The master laughed. “Ah, but she is so sweet when she bleeds. Aren’t you, pet?” The master shoved me away and stood. He turned to the male again. “He’ll have known you’ve taken me by now. Are you ready to face your maker?”
The male grinned wickedly and pulled a blade.
“Alive, remember. I need him alive.” The master shook his finger at the male as if he was a naughty child. He suddenly shouted, “Where is my Josyd?”
Someone slammed into the door, and it splintered. Gryl and Yeln scrambled inside. The male who looked so much like Chyn grinned at them and stepped closer, twirling a blade.
“Ah, a warm-up. Go on then.” The master waved at the male. “Show my pet what you can do.”
The male’s black eyes latched onto Yeln, and the shadows bled from his skin. Just like the assassin and Vyr. I scuttled back. Yeln was suddenly on the floor, writhing in pain.
“Stop it!” I screamed.
Several more Dahk forced their way into the room and lunged at the male and the master. Gryl grabbed my arms and dragged me across the room.
“My pet!” the master screamed.
Gryl groaned and dropped to the floor, snarling and seizing. I crawled on top of him and held him down, sobbing. Something fisted my hair and dragged me away from him. I screamed, and the master chuckled.
Vyr misted into the room with Uthyf and lunged at the male. Uthyf drew his sword and lunged at the master.
The master pointed at Vyr in shock and anger. “You!”
Dodging Uthyf’s blow, the master fired a Juldo laser gun and Uthyf moved. The blast hit the wall, and marble rained down on my head. I crawled back to Gryl and Yeln and shook them. They both groaned and tried to sit up.
Aryx barreled into the room and helped me drag them through the door. Then Tahk was there with a whole new pile of Dahk, but there wasn’t enough room for them all. Tahk shouted something, and Fihk spun and lifted me. He took a running leap and dove off the balcony. We landed on the ice hard as several Dahk circled us. Looking up, I watched as a hole was blasted though the wall, then Uthyf and the master came tumbling down, cinched in an embrace.
Uthyf spread his wings, and the master slid down Uthyf’s thighs. Uthyf tilted and tumbled the rest of the way, slamming into the ground. I cried out, but he jumped up and spun on the master. They circled each other, their blows landing with sounds that echoed over the ice.
Vyr and the other male misted down and squared off as other Dahk flew down and circled the four fighting males. Uthyf shouted something and they backed away, watching anxiously.
“Gryl and Yeln?” I pointed at the balcony.
Fihk shook his head. “They are being taken care of.”
Vyr grabbed the dark red male and flipped him onto his back. The male chuckled, flashing a bloody smile, and spun on Vyr.
The master lunged for Uthyf, but Uthyf swung tight and quick and stabbed him in his side. The master gaped at the sword sticking out of his side, then he gave Uthyf a bloody smile and ripped the sword from his red skin, tossing it away. Uthyf snarled and bared his claws.
Suddenly the male fighting Vyr froze and looked behind the master.
The master stiffened then shouted as the tip of a blade emerged from the center of his chest. Chyn ripped it back out and stabbed it into the back of his head. The master let loose a sound of disbelief before he dropped.
The other male froze and looked at Chyn—who was gaping. At. Him. I didn’t know Chyn was capable of making that expression. The male grinned and bowed, then he misted away. Vyr lunged but fell through a cloud of black smoke.
Chyn blinked, hiding his blatant shock and looked at the dead master and cursed. Then he sighed and misted away as well.
Uthyf looked at Vyr. “What just happened?”
Vyr slowly shook his head.
24
Mona
“How are they?” Uthyf asked me from the doorway.
I looked at Gryl and Yeln and shook my head. They were alive but really hurt. Gryo said it would take weeks for them to recover.
The castle had been in chaos the last two days. No one knew why the master came h
ere, but Uthyf was convinced he’d wanted to take me away again. I didn’t think that was it at all. He had certainly been focused on me, but more like something to pass the time. He was waiting for Chyn. But I didn’t know why. And strangely Josyd. If they had some kind of relationship I was going to puke. Uthyf said she had been the master’s guest, after all. Who in their right mind would willingly stay with that monster?
And if the master had managed to escape Chyn’s dungeon, why come here? Why not disappear?
Josyd was currently being interrogated, thanks to me and what I had told the others. I tried to feel bad about it, but I couldn’t. The master had asked where she was as though he’d expected her to already be there.
Uthyf hadn’t left me alone since the attack. I wasn’t allowed in a room by myself, not even to bathe. But I didn’t mind so much. I liked having Uthyf with me for those things, and when he wasn’t, I was too shaken up to stay by myself.
Vyr had been searching for Chyn to get answers, but so far, he hadn’t found him. If that wasn’t worrying enough, we’d found out that other male was a Shadow Born, like Vyr and Chyn. But there weren’t supposed to be any more. Chyn had been the last one before Vyr, and he hadn’t shared how he’d made Vyr. If the master had managed to make a Shadow Born … how many were out there now?
“Come with me,” Uthyf whispered in my ear.
I let him lead me from our room and through the castle.
We stopped at the kitchen, and he pushed through the door. It was empty of everyone except Isin, who grumbled under his breath when we came in. I smiled at his griping.
“Not long,” he grumbled half-heartedly to the king. “Last meal still needs prepping.”
Uthyf nodded, and Isin left.
“Not long for what?”
Uthyf stepped behind me and pushed me to the counter with his hands on my hips. “Bake for me.”
“Now?” I asked, shocked.
Uthyf nodded and moved my hair off my neck. I smiled and tilted my head as he nuzzled me.
“Why?”
“I want to see you happy,” he said.
I sighed sadly, but I got to work. Baking was my happy place, and I needed a little of that right now. It had been a sad couple of days. If Uthyf needed to see me baking, who was I to argue?
Surprisingly, it worked. Uthyf rubbed my hips and shoulders as I mixed batter. Once it was in the fire, I started on the icing.
After licking icing from my finger, Uthyf sucked my finger into his mouth. I clenched my thighs then swiped more icing on my bottom lip. He smiled indulgently and sucked on my lower lip. He reached around me toward the bowl and swiped more icing down my neck before licking it away.
Pretty quickly, I was stripped down and laid across the counter. I panted as he licked the sensitive skin where my thigh met my hip. “Isin is going to be so mad if he catches us.”
Uthyf hummed and painted icing down the center of me. I groaned as he licked it away. I writhed on the counter as he drew a strong climax from me, then I dropped to my knees and repaid the favor. Uthyf watched me in amazement as I devoured the head of his cock, paying special attention to the bumps around the head. He clutched my hair as I swallowed him, then I was up and bent over the counter. He lifted my thigh over the corner of the counter and surged inside me. I gasped and clawed at the lavender marble.
“Who’s inside you?” he rasped in my ear, hammering into me.
“You,” I moaned.
“Who?”
“My king. Please don’t stop.”
“That’s right,” he rasped. “Your king is fucking you.”
“Oh, god.” I clenched around him. Who’d taught him that word?
He slapped his hand onto the marble and reached under my thigh with the other. Flattening his fingers, he pressed them on my clit and pushed me up. I bucked and ground down onto his hand, trembling. I dropped my head to the marble and whined, swirling my hips in a circle. He hammered into me as his hand stimulated me. When he bowed over me, I reached back to grab onto his horns, turned my head, and bit his bottom lip. He snarled and slapped me between my thighs. I screamed into his mouth as I blew apart, careening into euphoria. He grabbed my hips with both hands and hammered into me three more times before he roared and pulled me tight to his hips.
We panted into the counter, then he slowly stood and held me up. My legs were shaking and I had to lean against him so I wouldn’t fall. Uthyf swiped his thumb down my chest then stuck it into his mouth. I looked down and laughed. My upper chest was completely covered in icing that had spilled from the bowl we’d knocked over.
“What is that?” Isin shouted and ran into the room. “What’s burning?”
“The cake!” I shouted.
Uthyf wrapped his wings around me, covering my nudity, but Isin didn’t even notice. He moaned in despair as he pulled the blackened cake free.
“No, no, there is no time to make another!” he shouted and tossed the cake away.
Uthyf grinned at me. “That’s all right, I’ve already had my fill.”
My face heated.
Isin finally noticed us. He gawked at Uthyf’s naked backside and stumbled backward. “I’ll just …” He spun and ran from the room.
“Oh man, he’ll never let me in here again.”
Uthyf pulled my gown over my head and pulled up his pants. He lifted me and grinned. “My apologies, my queen.”
I laughed. “I don’t believe you.”
Epilogue
Mona
Four months later.
I would have liked to say the Dahk welcomed me with open arms after everything. I would have liked to say we lived in peace and everyday was unicorns and rainbows. But that would be a lie.
First, there are no unicorns on Home World. There are no rainbows.
Instead, there is war.
Home World was so much bigger than I could have ever imagined. There were so many cities. So many Houses. Enormous Houses. Houses led by council members that would not accept me. They would not accept humans. And they had House members that were torn between their House leader and their king.
Ilyndahdus had spoiled me and made me naïve. One night with them, saving their king, and they made me feel welcome. They visited the castle often and Uthyf and I returned the favor. But they lived so very close to their king and felt a loyalty to him that some of the Dahk did not. Ilyndahdus had watched Uthyf closely as he took the throne after Aryx’s ‘death’. They watched him fight for a better kingdom. Fight the Juldo to save his kingdom.
The rest of the planet hadn’t been so lucky. All they saw was the aftermath. They saw a king’s brother take the throne and invite humans into their world. Humans that shunned their beliefs and demanded a change.
We had one week of bliss before it all fell apart.
Three Houses on the southern side of the planet marched on the castle early one morning a week after Josyd’s imprisonment. They flew through the sky, their swords at their sides.
I had been devastated. Sick with guilt.
But Uthyf and Tahk had been prepared. They had expected it.
They knew Hull and Josyd hadn’t conspired against Aryx on their own. There was no way she could have taken her sons throne without an army at her back and so she had secretly assembled one. For years she met with council Houses that she believed would go against Aryx and eventually Uthyf. It hadn’t been enough; the Dahk were a loyal race. There was corruption, conspiracy, but not enough to overtake the throne. And so that was when she reached out to the Juldo Master.
A monster she had spoken to only once before, long ago. The day she had her mate assassinated. Had she been successful with Aryx and Uthyf, the Juldo would have attacked the Dahk’s planet on her and the master’s order. But through sheer luck and a Shadow Born Assassin, the master was no longer available to her.
The corrupt Houses weren’t about to back down though. They knew they were living on borrowed time. Uthyf would have gotten their names out of her eventually. And so instead
of waiting for their king to decide their fate, they attacked him.
Tahk had ordered his army to defend the castle and sequestered me and the other humans and house members away in a small cave fortress hundreds of miles away.
For seven days the Houses waged war on Uthyf. For seven days, Peyton, Bailey, Vivian, and I huddled in a heavily guarded cave to wait for small scraps of news. Our mates were off fighting for their king, and it was torture not knowing if they were still alive.
Those were a very dark seven days for all of us.
Peyton was so distressed she had been ordered to rest in bed by Vivian and Gryo. They were the only two healers allowed near us. Yilt, Gryl, Syn, and Borv were left behind with us and two dozen other guards. There were no windows, no balconies. Only two secret passages led in and out of the cave and both were barricaded all hours of the day.
Myrna and her mate’s other wives had coached us through the worst of it. They had been through it so often, their mate off fighting intergalactic wars for so long, they were pros. They were so calm and confident we tried desperately to latch onto just a piece of what they were projecting for our own sanity.
We lived in one room those days while seventeen of Uthyf’s House members hid in other rooms. I was the only one who ventured through the cave to see them. Uthyf had forbidden it, afraid there were still traitors amongst his House, but I had worked with them for months. Walked the castle walls with them. Cooked and cleaned with them. Seventy-four members had been cast out when I arrived on Home World all those months ago for my and the other humans’ safety and it killed me not knowing where they were now. If they were in danger. They would have been with us if Uthyf had kept them in their home.
So I talked to the members that were still with us. Heard their fears and did my best to offer comfort and friendship when I could. Gryl and my guards never left my side, but they didn’t stop me either.