“What a fucking double standard you guys have,” I spat, seeking to twist the topic to my advantage. “Was she not good enough for you? Not pure enough for a race that fucking thrives on wild orgies?”
Llyr snarled. “It’s not about her damn purity, and you know it. It’s about her not fucking knowing she’d been fucked before.”
“Because she can’t fucking know, or Fate will kill her!” I shouted back, a fresh gust of wind slamming into us. This time it wasn’t Deva’s unchecked emotions riling it up—it was mine.
Before Llyr could huff a new set of angry demands, I shifted, caught one of the violent currents, and let it carry me up into the sky. The fucker could follow if he wanted, but I was done talking about it. There was nothing I could do except make sure Deva stayed distracted by the other guys so that her attention was diverted from our link to each other. As long as she didn’t examine it too closely, as long as I kept my distance, she’d be safe.
But if there was a chance we could fight back like my grandmother suggested, and these rogue fate hounds were the way to do it, I had to see that through.
* * *
Despite the agitation that lingered after my confrontation with Llyr, I pushed on. I flew in a grid-like pattern across the city, keeping my eyes peeled for sight of our hounds. It took ages, but eventually I caught sight of another violet streak near the beach and banked on the breeze, angling down toward it.
The creature was trotting down the Santa Monica pier amid the crowd of tourists and locals, all of them completely oblivious to its presence.
My adrenaline spiked when I saw a familiar thread of violet energy like the trail of soul-bleed that had flowed from Keagan. It was the wrong color, but the right quality of magic, and trailed faintly off in the direction of my house.
But as I grew closer, none of what I was seeing made sense. The hound was right there, yet the magic didn’t flow to it. It seemed the hound was sniffing out the magic, rather than linked to it. I kept flying, tracking it with my predator’s eye.
In my periphery, I caught the shape of an enormous pelican and knew that Llyr was keeping pace, still as intent on our mission as I was. He picked up speed with a few heavy flaps and arced upward, surging ahead above the colorful lights of the park rides and the enormous Ferris wheel to try to outpace the hound we tracked.
I flew past the hound as Llyr circled around and finally caught sight of the person standing at the very end of the pier. It was a middle-aged man in a suit, well-put-together, yet haggard and exhausted. His jacket hung open and his tie was half undone, his shirttails hanging out.
He stared off into the blood-red sunset, rubbing at his chest the way I’d seen Rohan and Bodhi do repeatedly today, but until we’d cast the spell to allow us to see the hounds, I hadn’t realized that what they were doing was worrying at the wounds on their souls. But the bleeding trail of this man’s essence still clearly aimed north in the direction where I believed it should have originated: at my house.
If the victim was here, then the other end of that trail had to be the hound that bit him. So why was this other hound tracking him?
I wished I had Rohan on hand to shift and clothe himself to talk to the guy. I didn’t have the ability to conjure clothes the way a dragon could, and it’d be pretty damn crazy to wander up stark naked and try to have a conversation.
I circled around, and Llyr took the initiative once more. He coasted down and landed on the end of the pier near one of the fishermen, who cheerfully tossed him a small fish, which he gulped down like he loved nothing more than begging morsels where he could get them.
When the hound came into view, it broke into a trot, then a run, teeth bared and eyes leaving glowing violet trails as it blurred down the pier straight at the soul-bitten man. I let out a screech of alarm and Llyr squawked, lifting off with a flap of huge wings and soaring over the water before plunging directly at the hound.
Before either of us could reach it, it launched itself at the man, landing on his back and burying its teeth into the side of his neck. The man lurched, his eyes widening and his hands flying to his neck, but he couldn’t grab the incorporeal beast, couldn’t fight it off as it tore out his jugular and raked its sharp claws down his back.
He didn’t even have time to cry out before the beast had rendered him mute, and as he fell unconscious, he toppled over the railing, his body plummeting into the dark, chilly ocean with barely a splash.
The row of fishermen began to yell and point, someone running off to get help. The hound popped back into view at the edge of the pier, staring down into the water with a look of smug satisfaction.
Beside the hound, a figure appeared—a majestic being of indeterminate sex garbed in a violet gown. The denizens of the pier seemed oblivious to it, still focused on the body that had disappeared beneath the waves.
I glided down to land atop a piling just beneath the pier only a few yards away, still within earshot. The victim’s corpse was all but invisible in the shadows, the glowing trail of his soul essence slowly fading before it disappeared entirely.
In a chilly, affectless voice, the stranger murmured, “Good puppy. Now we just need to find the strays who are trying to match this filthy bloodline with their soul mates. Nobody gets to play Fate but me.”
* * *
FOOL’S FOLLY
Fate’s Fools Book Two
Don’t f*ck with Fate.
Deva Rainsong has found her dragon soul, but she still feels incomplete. As a chimera, bred in a lab from the blood of all four higher races, it will take no less than a fragment of a soul from each to complete hers.
Yet even as she starts to believe that she can finally be complete and all her powers awakened, her hopes are dashed when her soul gifts comes with unexpected side effects. And to top it off, more fate hounds have been systematically killing other members of the bloodline, putting Deva’s suitors in danger.
Everyone knows that Fate doesn’t like loose ends, but Deva is still scrambling for an explanation for the attacks. Will she be able to discover Fate’s plan before it’s too late?
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Read on for an excerpt…
Fool’s Folly
Fate’s Fools Book Two
1
Deva
Until I had a soul, I never grasped how exquisite the feeling of being bound to someone else could be. I envied my family for their ties to their soul mates, fascinated by the beauty of the intricate knots that the tendrils of their entwined energy made between them. But it had always been an abstract wonder at the beauty of the magic at work. It was a purely visual enjoyment, which was all I was capable of, even if I was the only one of my family who was capable of seeing it.
Now that I had my own bond with someone, and was no longer living vicariously through my loved ones, the sublime effect it had on me astounded me. I had a soul. I had a soul. Something I never believed I could possess without being, well, possessed by someone else’s spirit wholesale. It was only a small piece of someone else’s soul, but even that tiny gift meant everything in the world to me.
The sensation of it buzzed warmly in the center of my torso, somewhere just south of my breastbone and above my belly. No matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t actually see my own soul, yet I knew it was there from the comfortable tug of power that linked me to my soul mate.
Another warm, comfortable sensation that was every bit as delicious enveloped me when my soul mate’s big arms wrapped around me and he nuzzled the back of my neck. I snuggled back against his solid, hard body and sighed in contentment, reveling in the sleepy haze of dreams that lingered.
“Mmm, I love you Ozzie,” I murmured, twining my fingers through the bigger ones that splayed across my bare stomach. “Last night was a dream come true.”
His fingers tightened in mine and he pulled me closer, his arousal pressed hotly against my ass. “It was, but I’m sad to say Ozzie missed out. He hasn’t
come home yet.”
My eyes flew open and I stiffened at the sound of Rohan’s gravelly voice against my ear. I spun in his arms, my face pinched with chagrin. “I’m so sorry! I honestly have no idea where the hell that came from. I love you, Rohan. Not Ozzie.”
His golden eyes fixed on my face and he smiled sleepily. “You forget who you’re in bed with, Deva. Don’t deny that poor fucker your love just because you chose me first. I think I already made it clear I’m willing to share. Besides, I’m pretty sure he captured your heart before I did.” His gaze searched mine, brows slightly lifted as though he waited for me to confirm his statement. I glanced away, heart still pounding at my misstep.
I’d been dreaming about Ozzie only moments ago, I realized, which felt like such a betrayal to Rohan. But the dream had been so vivid, every sensation so real and the connection with him absolutely palpable, but now that I was awake it had faded. I wasn’t linked to Ozzie, though it seemed my subconscious still wished I was.
“I’m sorry,” I said, rolling back onto the pillow. “I still care about him. I just don’t know what to make of his attitude. I can tell he cares, sure, but he keeps me at arm’s length. And I’m going to stop talking about him now because it isn’t fair to you to have to hear about my stupid crush on some other guy right after we . . .” I turned my head and reached out, tracing my fingers over the glowing pattern I’d etched into his chest around the Fate’s Fools tattoo he already had. “Mated? Is that what we did?” I asked, my face heating at how much of a novice I was at this aspect of my world.
He propped himself up on his elbow and grazed his fingertips over the upraised golden glow of the matching mark he’d given me the night before. “Mated,” he said, his lips curling into a smile. “Marked. Soul bound. Or if you like human terms, wedded.” His teasing fingers strayed lower and I arched up, eager for his touch as he traced light circles around my nipple. “You are mine, Deva,” he said, dipping his head and replacing his fingers with his tongue. He continued to speak, his lips grazing over my hard nipple. “But more importantly, I am yours. I will always be yours no matter how many dreams you have of the others or how many join us in the flesh. I’m not that easy to get rid of.”
My mind only vaguely registered his words through the decadent haze of pleasure his touch wrapped me within. With his mouth at my breast, he hooked an arm around me and pulled me on top of him. I grabbed his shining brass bed frame for balance, keeping my breasts within reach of his lips and tongue, breathing heavily now as he continued to suckle each dark nipple in turn.
He wrapped his arms around me and sat up, knees splaying wide for balance as he held me close, his face pressed between the soft mounds of my breasts. I curled my fingers into his hair, blood surging hot through the flesh between my thighs when my core pressed against the thick, rigid length of his cock.
No words were necessary to acknowledge what we both needed. I lifted up on my knees and reached between us, found his cock and aimed him at my core. As I sank down onto him, our eyes met and held, that first exquisite slide of friction sparking pleasure that made his golden irises glow with power. Between us, his dragon mark flared brightly as well and I placed my palm over it.
“Hold off on this,” I whispered. “I’m not ready for babies, all right? Just having you is enough for a while.”
His lips quirked and he took my hand in his and squeezed. “Fair enough,” he said, the mark going dormant and leaving behind only the barest shimmer of power. If we both desired to breed, our marks would signal our willingness to share that deep a bond. I relished the idea that it was even possible now. Something I had never dreamed I could have, I now had the unnamable pleasure of being granted that choice. All I had to do was want it enough, and if Rohan wanted it too, we could make it happen.
Right now I just wanted to drown in the pleasure of having him as my own. I didn’t even need a dose of his breath to feel completely overflowing with joy as we rocked together and found our peak simultaneously in each other’s arms.
He held me tightly with his cheek pressed against my chest while our bodies came down from the high we’d flown on together. I combed my fingers through his hair, still marveling that he could be mine—that he’d wanted me so much he would grant me such a priceless gift as a piece of his very soul. While we embraced, I hummed softly, stopping only when he lay back down and cradled me against his side with a satisfied sigh, pulling the sheet back up to cover us.
“The songs you sing . . .” he began. “Did you ever sing one to Ozzie?”
I looked at him, frowning. Why was he so curious about my history with Ozzie? “Not sure why it matters, but yeah. I idolized him at the beginning when he protected me from Meri. My songs don’t really do anything. You realize that, right? Singing to him didn’t mean anything. I just . . . had a crush, I guess. Silly, if you ask me.”
“Hey, I get it. He’s hot and talented. I’m in awe of him most days and I can promise you if Ozzie were into dick I’d have been all over him ages ago. Keagan, too.”
I stared at him, eyes wide as I considered the implications of what he’d said. “It never occurred to me that he wouldn’t like . . . dick.” I giggled softly at the use of the term. “I guess I’m used to having pairs of dads who love each other as much as they love my moms. I mean, except for the ones who are brothers. Why do you think Ozzie is different?” The question that really niggled at me was if he preferred women, what was wrong with me? I shoved the thought aside. I had Rohan now. I didn’t need Ozzie.
“The same reason Bodhi was a little hesitant to fool around with me. He just likes women more. A lot more. I have a feeling Bodhi’s exploring the rest of the spectrum now though.” Rohan grinned and wagged his eyebrows.
I glanced toward the wall that separated Rohan’s room from Keagan’s. The house was silent in the misty pre-dawn light with nothing but the muted susurrus of the ocean far below the bluffs outside. But if I shifted my sight, I could see the faint glow of two auras through the wall where Keagan and Bodhi lay in bed together. Their auras were separate yet tinged with each other’s magic, suggesting they’d been joined together recently. From within Keagan’s aura bled a faint thread of greenish light that snaked through the wall and into Rohan’s room toward the foot of the bed and the rogue fate hounds still sleeping there.
My heart sank with disappointment. I desperately hoped that Keagan could find his soul mate in one of the others, but if a night with Bodhi wasn’t enough to bind the pair of them together maybe it wasn’t going to be that easy.
“What is it?” Rohan asked. “We just had sex and now you’re all sad for some reason. I’m clearly not doing my job as your mate.”
“It isn’t you. Keagan’s still not fixed even after hooking up with Bodhi.”
Rohan turned on his side and speared me with an intense look. “You didn’t seriously think just a hookup was going to fix him, did you? What you and I have is deeper than that. I felt it when we met. It doesn’t surprise me that the two of them didn’t.”
“They could have. You can’t know.”
“If they could, they would. I can see Keagan’s life force clearly, or whatever that green glowing trail is that connects him to Jewel. He and Bodhi were probably just together out of convenience. Filling a void.” He sat up and cast a worried frown toward the wall. The change in his mood was palpable.
I shivered and slipped my arms around him. “How can they have a void if they have each other?”
“Keagan taunted that hound to attack him for me. We’ve been friends for a while. Lovers for the past year. We can’t just brush off the possibility that what they’re doing is a reaction to my bond with you.”
“They don’t know we mated. We don’t have to tell them.” But even as I said it, I winced. I cared too much about both Keagan and Bodhi to lie to them.
Seeming to sense my mental backtrack, Rohan sighed and shook his head. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen. And who knows how Oz and Llyr are going to react. I think
we’d better brace ourselves when we share the news.”
I frowned at him. “Why do you think it matters so much to them? It isn’t like they don’t have other options. Ozzie still has a chance to find his One, at least. Llyr’s probably the last unmated satyr on the planet. He could have a whole harem of happy nymphs if he wanted. Keagan . . .” I trailed off and sighed, at a loss for any options where Keagan was concerned. He and Rohan had been a bachelor pair before I came along. I’d stolen his partner.
“It isn’t about me, Deva. They all want you.”
“That’s ridiculous. I haven’t got anything to offer. Or I didn’t. And I kind of still don’t. I can’t be their soul mate because the only soul I have now belongs to you.”
Rohan took a deep breath and slipped out of bed, standing and stretching like a big, golden cat before looking down at me thoughtfully. His mood brightened and the light in the room along with it.
“And I gave it to you willingly so it’s yours now. But nothing’s keeping them from doing the same thing: sharing their souls with you. Come take a shower with me.”
Baffled by his suggestion, I took his hand and let him lead me around the four dozing fate hounds into the bathroom. I glanced over my shoulder to see one of the beasts open a single eye and blink at me.
“Stay,” I mouthed silently. The creature just closed its eye again and exhaled in a little huff, its breathing slowing as it slept once more. I left the bathroom door open, preferring to avoid putting barriers between me and the hounds if I could help it, even though they could pass right through walls. They seemed to thrive on the magic Rohan and I exuded now that we were mated and that meant they leeched less from Keagan so I wanted them to have as much access as possible. Keagan, whose poor soul was still damaged after he’d provoked an attack by one of the hounds I’d just spent half the night trying to communicate with.
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