The Wanted

by Rory Miles

  “I’m coming with you.”

  “Um. What?”

  Dawn elbowed me, scowling before smiling at Ezme. “That would be great! We have plenty of beds, don’t we, Winter?”

  Ezme and Dawn looked at me expectantly.

  “Yup.”

  Did I really have a choice? Dawn had already made up her mind and while I still wasn’t sure about what Ezme could bring to the table, we weren’t exactly in a position to refuse help.

  Dawn rolled her eyes. “Ignore her, she gets grumpy when she is hungry.”

  Orval’s shoulders shook with laughter. Dawn gave me a look when I glared at her.

  “You do. You know you do.”

  I shook my head, brushing back the hair that fell in front of my face. “Maybe you should bring more snacks if you don’t want me to get grumpy.”

  She canted her head, stepping over a rock. “Do I look like your mother?”

  “Yeah, a little bit. She’s kind of a bi—”

  Dawn cut me off. “If you call me a bitch, I will punch you.”

  My mouth snapped shut. “Let’s go home and eat. Then we can make our plans.”

  Ezme beamed at me, humming some silly song the whole way back to the cottage. Too happy, that one. Had she really defeated her mother to ascend to the throne? At some point, I’d need to clarify just what the fuck happened with that disaster. Also, where was Flynn?

  Kace glanced up from whatever he was cooking when we walked in, giving Ezme a double take.

  “Bringing home strays?”

  I snorted. “She’s hardly a stray. Kace, meet Queen Ezme of the Blue Waters.”

  His mouth opened, eyebrows scrunching as he gave her a once-over. “She’s younger than you.”

  “‘She’ is standing right here, and trust me, you aren’t the first one to doubt me.” She crossed to stand in front of him, placing one hand on her hip while extending the other. “Nice to meet you.”

  He stared at her outstretched hand. His palm engulfed hers when he squeezed it and gave her a confused smile. “You too.”

  “What are you making?” I asked, shifting the focus to the important things.

  With a smirk he turned off the stove and pulled out some bowls. He scooped fried rice into them, wisely handing me the first bowl. I fist-bumped him before going to sit down at the table next to Shawn.

  After lunch, Dawn and Ezme went for a walk. I closed myself in the bedroom, needing a moment to breathe. The bed dipped when I crawled onto it, leaving my shoes on the floor. Just as I settled under the covers, Kace came in.

  He shook his head at me. “Bed already?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe just a nap.”

  He took off his shoes, lying on the bed next to me. His head rested on his hands and he stared up at the ceiling, watching the light shift as the tree outside the window swayed in the wind.

  “Is this the new normal?”

  I rolled over, studying his face. “For now. Once we beat Daman it will change again.”

  His chest deflated. “Do you really think we can beat him?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  We lay together for a while, watching the shadows dancing. All the while, I couldn’t help smiling at how far we’d come.

  “Winter?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m really glad you’re here.”

  My eyes misted and I reached out to grip his arm, squeezing it before leaving my hand to rest there.

  “You too, Kace. I like having a friend.”

  He turned his head and smiled. “You’re still a punk.”

  “Shut up,” I said, laughing with him.

  “We should probably go back out there.”

  I scrunched my nose up. “Do we have to?”

  “Her Highness might need some pampering.”

  “I don’t think she’s like that. She worked when she lived here.”

  Kace quirked an eyebrow at me. “Here I thought you didn’t like her.”

  I sighed. “It’s not that I don’t like her. She’s just young.”

  He made a noise.

  “Seriously! She’s perfectly nice.”

  “Right. That doesn’t mean you like her.”

  “Goddess, Kace.” I smacked his arm playfully. “Can’t an annoying know-it-all princess get on my nerves without you giving me shit?”

  “You mean queen.”

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  He sat, tugging me up along with him. “Come on, princess.”

  I scowled at him, placing my hand in his with an indignant huff. I was no princess. He chuckled and I smiled back at him despite my mild annoyance.

  Talking with him had relieved the stress I’d been feeling, at least momentarily. As we left the bedroom, every worry came rushing back. What came after Daman’s attack? If there even was an after. The reprieve with Kace had been nice, but the sooner I dealt with reality, the sooner everything could go back to normal.

  The next morning, when everything was ready to go, we set out toward the step-portal. Dawn filled Ezme in on the portal, the gate, and the fight that had almost taken Sloan from us. I noted the way Shawn and Kace stared straight ahead, pretending not to hear Dawn’s hushed recollections. Despite her attempts to be discreet, her voice carried on the wind. She’d gotten to the part where Bron and I woke up, when I started to sing loud enough to draw her gaze. She glanced at me, then to the men before pursing her lips in understanding. She stopped, holding Ezme back.

  Orval brushed past her, squeezing her hand lightly before continuing on. He fell in step with me, his deep timbre melding with the melancholy song. Together we sang the last line.

  Your soul bound to mine, we’ll meet again when the stars align.

  When we finished, Dawn had stopped talking. The sadness lining Ezme’s face spoke of her own loss. Something fresh. Red had told me a bit about Ezme the last time I saw her, but I’d been too distracted to pay attention.

  The portal shimmered ahead, the goddess’s magic undulating. Kace and Shawn had pulled ahead of the group. They stepped through first. Both carried bags full of supplies. Orval had the other large bag filled with weapons. Dawn, Ezme, and I carried the smaller bags with clothes and other non-essentials.

  Ezme sucked in a surprised breath. “Goddess magic.”

  I quirked a curious brow at her. “How did you know?”

  “Her magic is white.”

  My brows scrunched. When had she seen the goddess’s magic?

  “Have you met our divine goddess?”

  She looked at me, eyes cloudy with memories she didn’t care to share. “Once.”

  I studied her face. This was the first time I’d seen her weighed down with regret. Once again, I wished I hadn’t ignored the details of what had happened in the waters when Red told me about it. All I’d gotten was the gist—Ezme defeated deep magic and ascended to the throne.

  Dawn cleared her throat, inclining her head toward the portal and Orval, who stood next to it. Ezme shook off whatever haunted her, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips as she nodded.

  “Of course. We’ll share stories another time.” Without an ounce of hesitation, she embraced the shimmering portal magic.

  Having zero worries about the portal seemed abnormal, but I was just happy I didn’t have to push her through it kicking and screaming. I appreciated her bravery, even if it was all false bravado.

  Dawn and Orval went next. Through the murky depths of the magic, I saw them gathered outside the cave, waiting for me to join them. With a final glance at the forest, I pushed through the magic. The familiar swirl and tug of divine power rushed over me before I popped out on the other side.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  After filling the guys in on Sloan’s stable condition, Bron insisted on a training session to help prepare everyone for the upcoming fight.

  “All right. Dawn, now I want you to anticipate Winter’s next steps. You shadow her like your life depends on it.”

  Normally I’d accuse Erik of being drama
tic, but Dawn’s life could depend on whether or not she could keep up. Sweat pooled in the small of my back and dripped between my breasts, which were secured under a workout band. My green tank top clung to my skin, damp with perspiration.

  Once Dawn gave me the nod, I moved, twisting, ducking and rolling away from Erik and Bron’s magic with ease. Dawn followed unscathed until she tripped over Bron’s power. Her muscles froze, her body swaying before collapsing to the ground.

  I turned to make sure she was okay, glaring at Erik when he hit me with a silencing spell.

  “What?” he asked innocently. “The bad guys aren’t going to stop when she falls.”

  Gripping Lumi in my right hand, I held out my left and shot a spell at him, smirking when he fell flat on his ass, the same paralytic magic he’d shot at Dawn causing him to fall. Of course, I knew in the heat of a real battle the bad guys wouldn’t stop. That didn’t mean I couldn’t make sure she was okay now. We’d been working for hours. Ezme had proved far more competent; Corban and Noah worked with her, dodging as many spells as they shot at her.

  A wicked smile pulled at her lips, her dark hair whipping in the false wind Noah shot at her. When she stayed upright, he growled. Before he could hit her again with a spell, Ezme’s green magic slammed into his chest, throwing him back and knocking him to the ground. His head lolled to the side, chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm.

  She laughed when Corban redoubled his efforts, clearly enjoying what was supposed to be practice. Dawn watched her with envy, rubbing her ass now that the spell’s effect had worn off.

  “I’m hopeless.”

  She wilted under my scowl.

  “What? I am! Look at them. You guys are just as good. I’ll just be in the way.”

  Time to stop the pity party.

  “Listen up, Dawn. Get off your ass and try again. We’ve had years of experience. You won’t be as good as us within the next day, but trust me, when your life actually depends on how you move, the adrenaline will help save you.”

  She shot me an annoyed look. “Can’t I wallow in my misery?”

  I smiled. “No. Now get up.”

  She laughed, returning my smirk with a small one of her own. “You’re lucky I like you.”

  “Same. Otherwise I’d already have kicked your ass in practice for being a mopey little punk.”

  Her eyes lit with delight when I sucked in a shocked breath, the power of a deep magic spell meant to maim heating Lumi and scalding my skin.

  “Don’t worry about me. I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.”

  Bron crossed over to us, his eyes alight with humor.

  “Why didn’t you use that sooner?”

  She sighed. “I thought we were focusing on me following Winter.”

  He scrunched his eyebrows together. “We are, but if you have magic like that, you need to use it.”

  Her gaze slid over his body, not so much checking him out but more of an appreciative, I’d hate to destroy any of that body look.

  “I’m not making Winter mad.”

  I turned away, hiding my smirk when I heard Bron ask why I’d be mad. Dawn brushed him off with some ridiculous answer that only confused him even more.

  Erik wrapped his arms around my stomach, nearly getting punched in the dick because my body was still in fight mode. Lucky for him, I recognized his fresh rain smell before I hurt him.

  “Why don’t we wrap this up? We don’t want to wear ourselves out.”

  Bron’s dark gaze flitted to me, his eyes lingering on Erik’s hands wrapped around my waist. I waited for the twitch in his jaw. When it didn’t come, I frowned. That was odd. Dawn went to find Orval while Ezme went to take a nap—her royal highness taking advantage of the downtime. Kace and Shawn were in the cave, prepping a deer they’d killed for dinner.

  Corban, Noah and Bron came over to where Erik and I stood. The sun rested high in the sky, beating down with unrelenting heat. Sweat beaded and dripped off of each of us. Corban’s ice-blue eyes slid over my body, the slow perusal bold and telling. My thighs clenched together when each of them focused their attention on me. We hadn’t had much time together, and these minutes could be our last.

  “I found a small river the other day,” Erik whispered against my neck, sending shivers down my spine.

  My eyes fluttered closed. Rinsing the filth off of my body was just what I needed.

  The river ran through the middle of two jutting rocks, the current slow enough for us to jump in and enjoy the water without worrying about being carried away. Any modesty issues I had didn’t matter when I heard the water trickling over rocks. Shucking off my top and bottoms, I splashed in until the cool liquid reached my shoulders—about halfway across the river—and sighed contentedly.

  Corban swam around me, sending gentle waves lapping over my shoulder.

  “I missed you,” he said, stopping in front of me.

  My smile hurt my face. “I missed you too.”

  He dipped under the waters, bubbles breaking the surface until he reappeared, rivulets of water running down his face. The little glint in his eyes should have tipped me off that something was up. It wasn’t until a hand curled around my ankle that I realized he’d conspired with Erik, distracting me with his concern and good looks. The little shit. I screeched, then promptly shut my mouth as I was dragged under. I lashed my other foot out, lightly hitting Erik in the stomach before kicking up.

  “You’ll pay for that,” I growled at Corban, who only laughed in response.

  Bron and Noah swam up beside him, sharing a conspiratorial look.

  “Oh no you don’t,” I warned, swimming away from the three of them.

  Strong arms wrapped around my waist and I bumped into a solid chest. I looked up at Erik, hoping to find an ally. He winked at me before dunking under the water with me. His hands ran over my body, barely caressing my most sensitive spots.

  I gasped for air when he let me swim to the surface, breathless from being groped and dragged underwater. Doing a few quick breaststrokes, I put distance between us. When I glanced over at the other men, I realized Bron was missing. My mouth closed seconds before his rough hands gripped my thighs, dragging my body against his as he dunked me. More demanding than Erik, his fingers dipped to my core, applying just enough pressure to relieve the growing tension, before he pushed me up. Noah, goddess bless him, didn’t dunk me. Instead he crushed his lips to mine, one hand pressing my body to his until we were fused together.

  He handed me off to Erik, who accepted me with open arms. His kiss was gentle and playful, his teeth pulling at my bottom lip before kissing away the hurt. Corban’s kiss was more serious, and the way his tongue played against my lips made my core tighten.

  Corban turned me in his arms, my eyes colliding with Bron’s sultry gaze. When he gave me a gentle shove toward Bron, I closed the distance between us with one hard stroke. My lips pressed firmly against his, demanding as much passion as he asked of me. He tore himself away from me, fingers digging into my hips hard—nearly bruising.

  “We don’t have time to finish what we’ve started.”

  My lower lip poked out.

  He cupped the back of my head, placing a chaste kiss on my pouting mouth.

  “We’ll have plenty of time later.”

  I frowned, knowing he was right. There was no time for this, but that didn’t mean I was okay with not having him inside of me. They’d all teased me to the brink of insanity. My thoughts were driven by the primal urge to take them, one at a time, and bring them to fulfillment.

  Corban swam over, smirking at me. “Don’t worry, love. We’ll make it up to you.”

  “Damn straight you will.” My head swerved with the words.

  Erik barked out a laugh. “I love you.”

  “What?”

  His head reared back, his smile falling a bit. “Too soon?”

  No. Never.

  A smile bloomed over my face. “I love you too.” I glanced at Noah, Bron, and Corban, making sure
they understood I meant all of them.

  When their lips curled up into the most breathtaking smiles I’d ever seen, my heart swelled. Why couldn’t every day be like this?

  We returned to the cave after drying off. Kace had made a simple dinner with the deer and some of the food we’d brought. Dawn and Orval were joking around about a donkey and a horse or something I couldn’t understand. His deep rumbling laughter brought a beautiful smile to her face. Erik and I shared a smirk. We knew what that look meant. I still hadn’t figured out how Dawn fell for Orval, but based on the looks they shared, he’d fallen just as hard as she had.

  Loud crashes came from outside. A rush of discontent tingled down my spine. My sandwich hovered in the air, halfway to my mouth. Wind howled through the tunnel and into the cave, the breeze blowing my hair back. Ezme’s green eyes met mine, a moment of pure understanding passing between us. The air was tinged with violet magic, the rancid power seeping through the cracks of the cavern. I jumped to my feet, tossing the food aside and racing for the entrance.

  “Down!” Ezme screamed just as the largest bolt of deep magic I’d ever seen slammed into my body.

  My hands shielded my eyes from the bright light. I heard people falling to the floor, unsure if Lumi could absorb all the power or if it would spill over and go for them. When the power faded, Lumi vibrated against my skin, leaving me only one choice.

  “Stay back!” I yelled over my shoulder at Bron, who had half risen, no doubt to come grab me from harm’s way. He still didn’t understand I didn’t need to be saved. Love does that to people. With a cry of pain, violet magic burst from my fingertips and shot back down the tunnel, hurtling toward whomever attacked us. I heard a screech before a familiar, terrifying growl rippled over my skin.

  “I’m done playing nice, Winter.” Daman’s words grated down my spine.

  Bron grabbed my elbow, pulling me away from the entrance of the cave and shoving me against the wall.

  “Are you trying to die?” he asked, face red with anger.

  “That magic would have hurt everyone.” I gripped his neck, smashing my lips to his for just a second. “I love you, but I’m not hiding from this fight.”