“I hate this fucking job,” Mai muttered.
Elain held out a fist, Mai bumping with her.
* * * *
Once Zack had the incendiary goddess of snark calmed down and far less likely to set the house on fire, they sat down at the kitchen table again to sort through things.
“None of this makes any sense,” Mai said. “How are we supposed to know what’s tied together and what’s not? It’s like a crazy damn puzzle assembled by a drunk person.”
“Almost too crazy,” Elain said. “Like someone doesn’t want us putting the pieces together too soon.”
Zack sat up a little straighter. “Baba Yaga?”
“I don’t know.” Elain took a deep breath and blew it out again. “I mean, we know she orchestrated some things. But why tell us about a nuclear bomb and give us that to chew on if she didn’t want us to stop it in the first place?”
“I don’t trust her,” Lina grumbled. “Baba Yaga has an agenda. Has for eons.”
“I didn’t say I trust her,” Elain said. “But so far, the stuff she’s apparently engineered is for the overall good. Stopping a bomb from exploding is good. Right?”
“Yeah,” Lina quietly groused.
“All right,” Zack said. “I’m calling an end to today before someone accidentally gets charbroiled. Mai, Elain, you two need your rest. You won’t do anyone any good if you wear yourselves out. We’ll pick this up again tomorrow.”
Mai and Elain hugged them both and said their good-byes before walking back across the field toward where their own houses were.
Despite the heat of the mid-August afternoon, Mai walked with her arms tightly wrapped around her.
“You all right?” Elain asked.
“Not really, no. I feel useless.”
“Join the club.”
“It’s not bad enough I don’t have any kind of handle on my powers like you and Lina do. Now this. Just when I thought we were hitting our stride as Seers. Why did everything just…disappear? Why can’t we see the vision?”
“I don’t know.” It nagged at Elain, even though she didn’t want to say so aloud, that maybe something in the vision she’d had about Edgar and Mercedes’ mother would provide her with a clue.
They parted ways at Elain’s back door. She didn’t know why they couldn’t collectively see the vision of the nuclear bomb anymore.
But maybe that wasn’t where Elain needed to point her focus.
Chapter Eleven
Elain was still in that blissful not-puking-all-the-time-but-smaller-than-a-house phase of her pregnancy. That night, as they all snuggled in bed together, Elain knew she needed to try again for a vision. Something to maybe clarify why she’d had the sudden insight she had about Lina and Edgar and Rodolfo.
Not that it was any hardship trying. Three hunky Alpha wolves who loved pleasing her in bed?
Uh, duh.
She rolled over onto Ain, who’d been on her left side. Without a word she kissed him, hard, grinding against him.
That was another nice thing about this part of her pregnancy. If she wasn’t puking, she was horny as hell.
Ain’s hands glided down her back and settled on her ass, his cock hardening between them as she kissed him. He arched his back and sank his cock home inside her pussy, easily sliding his entire length into her.
“Oooh,” Brodey said, sitting up to nibble on her neck. “Someone’s horny.”
“Good,” Cail muttered, changing positions. “Because I’m horny as hell and I didn’t want to bug her.”
Elain let out a soft moan as she felt Cail drizzle lube down the seam of her ass and start working a finger into her rim. She whined, enjoying the familiar pinching burn that quickly turned to pleasure while he finger-fucked her ass. He soon added more lube and finger number two, and by this time her clit was throbbing.
Brodey took over kissing her as Ain held her hips still so Cail could do his thing and get her ready.
“Gonna fuck you real good, mate,” Brodey silently told her through their mate-bond. “Gonna make you scream the way you know you love.”
Another moaning whine was swallowed by Brodey as he kissed her. He softly chuckled before changing position so she could reach his cock. He gathered her hair in his hands and she eagerly opened to swallow his hard shaft.
“That’s it, baby,” he muttered, his voice low and growly and full of Alpha need. “You swallow every bit of that. That’s all for you.”
Ain’s cock filled her pussy, pressing against her G-spot as Cail’s fingers slowly thrust inside her ass. Cail took his time working up to three fingers, Ain holding her hips still so she couldn’t grind against him and get herself off until they were ready to let her get off.
Even better. The more of a frenzy they worked her up to, hopefully the clearer her vision would be.
If she had one.
Elain tried not to focus on her desire to have a vision and instead tried to focus on the nice, hard cock she was currently sucking. Brodey’s hands gently cupped her head, letting her set the pace as she worked up and down his cock with her lips and her tongue. He was already moaning even before she reached out and cupped his balls with her hand and gently rolled them along her palm.
Now that she wasn’t nursing Ellie any longer, she wasn’t against the men gently playing with her breasts. Gently being the key word there. Ain let go of her hips and his warm, callused palms cupped her breasts. When he brushed the pads of his thumbs over her sensitive nipples, she let out another moan, muffled by Brodey’s cock in her mouth.
“Oh, yeah,” Ain murmured. “We know what our mate loves. Nothing better than hearing you make those noises.”
The feeling was mutual. Maybe it was selfish of her, but she loved that these three hunks loved her, wanted only her, and were more than happy with her.
It was a dream come true in so many ways, a dream she’d never even known she’d wanted before meeting them.
Cail withdrew his fingers from her ass, wiping his hand on a towel before sheathing his cock in a condom and then adding more lube. When he knelt into place, she held still, waiting as the thick head of his cock slowly breached her rim.
More whining from her. She knew exactly what to expect, and as he slowly thrust, back and forth, gaining more ground with each stroke, her body responded.
She wanted a long, hard fuck from them.
All the better to have visions with, my dear…
Okay, interior snark monologue had to get shut off so she didn’t accidentally crack herself up and start laughing and spoil the mood.
Once she felt Cail’s thighs pressed against her ass, he stroked her back and let out a contented sigh.
“Oh, yeah,” he whispered. “This. This is great.”
She started moving, knowing it wouldn’t take long for her to get over tonight. She likely wouldn’t even need an assist from them with fingers or edicts, as hot and horny as she felt. She slowly rocked on Ain and Cail’s cocks, working them as hard and deep as she could inside her with every thrust, the men letting her set the pace.
Brodey grunted. “God, that’s fucking hot, baby. I can barely hold back.”
But she knew he would try his damnedest, because she loved it when all four of them came together.
It didn’t hurt that she thought it gave her visions some extra oomph, too.
She tried to savor it but as she felt her orgasm building, growing, with their cocks stretching and filling her, her mind slipped.
In the vision she saw a guy, middle-aged, but he was talking to an older woman.
The woman from their visions. And this vision bore a blue tinge, meaning it hadn’t happened yet.
Before Elain could explore it, it slipped away and was replaced by Elain seeing herself talking to Ryan and Purs while holding Ellie. That was also tinged with blue. She wasn’t sure what they were talking about, because that also faded. Then a memory, one she couldn’t forget no matter how hard she tried, of that afternoon on the top of the rock pile, of
Brighton laying there dying, bleeding out, and Ryan grabbing Brighton’s amulet and snatching it from around the wolf’s neck.
That’s when her orgasm hit and she was slammed back into her body, letting out a muffled cry around Brodey’s cock as the men started fucking her, picking up the pace of their thrusts. Another orgasm washed over her, this time finishing off Ain and Cail, who both took final thrusts before burying their cocks deep inside her. Brodey exploded last, the taste of his cum rolling over her tongue as she swallowed. A brief, blissful peace settled over her.
Damn.
Everyone fell still for a moment, waiting on her to move first. She sat up and kissed Brodey, who offered her a steadying arm as she climbed off Ain and Cail and went into the bathroom to clean up.
A few minutes later, they were all cuddled back in bed again, and she was physically a happy girl.
Mentally, however, she was less than thrilled. Especially since she couldn’t drop into the nuclear bomb vision.
The guy—she had no idea who he was. She’d never seen him in any of her previous visions. Was he the guy who gave the woman the cell phone she used? Or the call she made in their vision?
Was he a cockatrice?
And what about the vision regarding Ryan, and his guy, Purson, and Ellie? What was that about?
Feeling dejected, she lay there stewing even as her guys fell asleep around her.
I’m a sucky damn Seer.
Chapter Twelve
Despite the really good sex, Elain still couldn’t sleep. Finally, she quit trying. She put up her “don’t disturb them” bubble, slipped out of bed, got dressed, and headed down the hall to the last bedroom. She decided to contact Ryan the old-fashioned way—via text message.
You awake?
He texted her back.
You dressed?
She grabbed her citrine amulet and said, “Ryan, vado tu appareo.”
She found herself in a living room of a small apartment or condo, but not the one in Atlanta where she’d talked with Ryan in the past.
She turned and spotted him standing there in a robe and looking disheveled.
“We really need to stop meeting like this, love,” he joked. Then he pushed away from the wall. “Tea?”
“Uh, where are we? Um, oh, my god. I’m so sorry. Were you—”
“Relax,” he said. “I was alone. We’re in Florida. A condo in Tampa I keep for certain purposes.”
“Whew! I mean, not that you were alone—”
He turned. “Elain, dear, what did you need?”
“To talk to that guy of yours again. Purson.”
He frowned. “Why?”
“You said he can see things, right?”
“Yes. And you were right there, and I hope paying attention, when he couldn’t see anything pertaining to the vision, were you not?”
“Can he see inside souls?”
His brow furrowed even deeper. “I am a patient man, but will your train of thought pull into a station anytime soon?”
“Brighton. I want to know where he got that cockatrice spell book and how long he’s had it. Had had it.”
Ryan carefully studied her for a moment. “How do you feel that will tie into the bomb vision?”
“I don’t know. I’m grasping at straws.”
His gaze narrowed. “I thought you could see into souls?”
“I…can. If I have to, I’ll do this. I’d rather not, though.”
“Why?”
“Because in this life, he’s not Brighton anymore. He’ll be my son. And unless it’s a vision I have through my wacky supernatural powers, I’d rather not know about the things I suspect he might have done in the past, based on what you told me.”
His expression seemed to soften. “You don’t wish to color your feelings for him.” It wasn’t a question.
“Exactly.”
He nodded. “Very well. I’ll put some tea on. We might be here for a while.”
“It’ll take him a while to do it?”
“It’ll take me a while to get his attention this time of night for a non-emergency.”
“Why? Aren’t you his boss?”
He smirked. “You’d think so, right? But our Purs is what is affectionately called a horndog.”
It took Ryan nearly thirty minutes and apparently an archdemon version of an emergency alert system call-out to finally get the man there in Ryan’s living room.
He didn’t look happy either when Ryan finished explaining to him what they were looking for and why. Elain was beginning to regret not having waited until morning.
Purson glared at her. “Why are we doing this now?”
“Because knowing now would be more helpful,” she said.
“Do you know what I was doing?”
“Rather who you were doing,” Ryan drawled, “but I agree, this is urgent.”
He scowled at Ryan. “Why?”
“Because she’ll possibly be going back to sleep after this. Any additional information she might have could trigger visions. She is a Seer. I’m sure your piece of arse will forgive you with a little of your subtle persuasion.” He pointed to Purson’s amulet. “You saw the visions she’s had. This is within the purview of our authority, to stop a supernatural, off-Earth threat. The amulet that I took off Brighton came from off-Earth.”
Purson let out a snort and finally walked over to sit next to Elain on the couch. “You blast me like you did Abernathy and those others, I’ll make the shitweasel bring me back as one of your babies, and I swear I’ll cockblock you until I’m twenty-one and then some.”
She finally smiled. “I won’t do that.”
He finally took her hand in his, holding his amulet with the other.
“Drop your mental barrier. Duh.”
She did. “Sorry.”
“Shh.” He closed his eyes.
She felt him rummaging around inside her soul, then disappear deeper into the depths of that nebulous region. While she didn’t follow him, she knew exactly where he’d gone.
Watching his face, she saw him frown, then look confused, then recognition dawned. Whatever had happened, she sensed he’d retraced his steps a little and realized he’d ended up inside the wrong baby at first.
Then…his expression went blank for a moment and Elain sensed Ryan step closer, until he was in her line of sight, one hand on his amulet and the other extended slightly, as if ready to reach out and help Purs.
The blankness transformed again, this time an almost sinister, calm placidity taking over before it was gone in a flash.
Purs opened his eyes. “Holy crap.”
“Are you all right?” Ryan asked.
“Yeah.”
“Do I want to know?” Elain asked.
Purs stared at the floor for a moment. “Wow,” he softly said. “He was…wow.”
Fear filled her. This guy was waaaay older than Brighton, and had likely seen a lot of shit in his life. If Purs was hit that hard by what he learned, she could only imagine how bad it was.
“He’s not going to be a wackadoodle in this life, is he?” she asked.
“No, no,” Purs quickly assured her. “Actually, good call on asking me to do this. I get it now.” All hints of grumpiness had disappeared from his tone.
“It’s one of his talents,” Ryan quietly said. “Purson can connect with previous incarnations without causing problems. In some cases he can draw them forward, if necessary.”
“What did you see?” she asked.
He let out a deep breath. “He really had a skewed view of the world. It looks like once their sisters were killed, it kind of tipped him over into a morally…loose place.”
“Morally loose?” Elain asked.
Ryan stood with his arms crossed over his chest again. “The means justified the end?”
“Don’t you mean the end justified the means?” Elain asked.
“No,” Ryan said.
Elain’s stomach rolled. “Oh.”
“Exactly,” Purs said. “In h
is case, sometimes using the word ‘loose’ is being extremely generous and metaphorical.” She didn’t rush Purs, sensing he needed time to compose his thoughts. “Brighton apparently found that amulet and it led him to the book and the knife he had.” He stood and headed to the kitchen. “Where you keep the booze here, boss?”
“Upper right cabinet over the sink. Glasses next to it.”
She looked up at Ryan.
“He’ll be back momentarily. Needs to brace himself.”
“I gathered.”
Purs returned with a large glass filled to the brim with amber liquid and started to drink it like it was iced tea. “Fuck,” he muttered, retaking his seat next to Elain. “Sorry.”
“Thank you for doing this.”
He snorted. “You thank me now.” Another deep breath, another slug of booze. “He slaughtered an entire nest of those things to get to the book and knife. Normally, I wouldn’t have a problem with cockatrice being killed. But he didn’t just kill adult men. Or adult women. He laid in wait for the adults, took them out one by one, until he was down to the children…”
“Tell her,” Ryan finally said when Purson seemed reluctant to continue.
Purs took another drink. “He caught a woman who told him where the book and knife were hidden. Then he killed her. Instead of just taking the items and leaving, which he could have, because there were nothing but children and babies left in the house at that point, he…”
She swallowed hard. “He killed them,” she whispered. “When he didn’t have to.”
He nodded.
“How many?” she asked.
“Over a dozen. Several of them just infants. That’s not the worst of it.”
She stared at him in stunned disbelief. “How can it get worse?”
“It’s how he killed them.”
She felt the blood drain from her face. “Oh, no.”
He grimly nodded. “Burned them alive and sat there, reading the book, listening to their screams while they died. He sat outside to wait just in case any of them made it out.”
“So he could kill them,” she whispered, horrified.
Ryan wore a grim expression. “Times were different then, dear. Keep that in mind.”
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