He licked his lips again and I remembered vividly how much pleasure he’d taken in licking me clean of the semen the other three had coated me with. In fact, all of them had been busy with their tongues on my body. My skin tingled and the room suddenly felt too hot, but I latched onto the implications of that memory.
“You didn’t just meld me. You melded all of them, too.”
Llyr waved a hand. “Keagan and Rohan aren’t so dumb they didn’t figure it out, or will once they wake up. Bodhi you might need to break it to slowly.”
“Let me guess,” I said in a suspicious tone. “You did it for my safety.”
He smiled. “Always. And making you come is the highlight of my day.”
“Was it Bodhi’s essence that told you whatever it is you figured out? Why he eases the pain when Ro and Keagan are with me?” Pain shot through my hand and I hissed, glancing down to see my talons had sprouted from my fingertips and were digging into the heel of my palm. I forced myself to relax.
“No. He tastes like a normal, healthy human male, aside from the dash of god essence in him. But when I saw his tattoos, it reminded me of something.”
“They’re beautiful,” I said. I was honestly a little envious of the colorful, brilliantly detailed artwork that adorned his body.
“Did you see the symbol on his back?”
I shook my head, trying to recall if I’d even seen his entire back but the last time he’d had his shirt off near me, it had been dark. Except for just now, of course, and I hadn’t exactly been in the frame of mind to care about his tattoos then.
Llyr stood and beckoned to me, then silently opened the door and slipped out. With a finger over his lips, he walked back to the rear of the sofa and pointed. I followed and stared down at the tangle of naked bodies in the middle of the floor.
Bodhi was on his belly, the intricate design on his back obscured partially by Keagan’s big arm. But at the base of his spine, just above the cleft of his ass was a symbol I recognized from somewhere.
“Antimony,” a low, rumbling voice said, making me jump. Llyr’s head shot up and he turned, then he relaxed when Willem slipped closer to us with a grim look. The big, white-haired dragon tilted his head toward the bedroom and we went back in, closing the door behind us.
“What does it mean?” I asked. “Is it some kind of magic glyph? Does Bodhi have powers?”
“No. Like I said, he’s a normal human aside from the touch of god blood. The tattoo’s older than Dion’s link to the bloodline. Bodhi probably has an unconscious understanding of where he fits with the higher races though. Regular humans wouldn’t even have an inkling.”
“Why does it look familiar to me?” I asked. I glanced at Willem who had moved to stand by the window and was staring out as though willing Sandor to come flying through the air outside.
“It’s the alchemical symbol for antimony,” Willem said, turning back to us. “We use it sometimes when crafting. Certain metals when mixed need an agent to help bind them together. The symbol itself isn’t just for the metal though. It represents humanity as a whole, at least to the higher races.”
Llyr gave him an impressed look and Willem just scowled at him. “I’ve been a craftsman for fifteen centuries. I understand the elements better than most. What I lack are the facts about her actual origins.” He pointed at me.
The satyr pressed his lips into a thin line and inhaled slowly, turning back to me. I didn’t like the look in his eyes. I knew everything about my origins, so why did that look make me feel like he had bad news?
“I’m just . . . a mishmash of genes, really,” I said, shrugging it off as if it were nothing, even though I knew it was far more complicated.
“Did you actually read Meri’s notes that she kept while conducting her experiments?” Llyr asked.
I opened my mouth and closed it again, too stunned to answer. Meri had notes?
Llyr cursed. “I didn’t think so. Your parents are too protective for their own good. Calder let me see them shortly after Neph assigned me as your guard just before the Equinox. That symbol appears in the later sections, before she finally succeeded in creating you.
“Meri tried for centuries to create an immortal vessel for herself. She bred all the higher races together repeatedly, forcibly, but we don’t breed well in captivity. Even within each race, we don’t conceive unless all the factors are present—the most important being at least a small glimmer of love between the two parties. But even with that, if any of her forced pairings ever did bear fruit, the child was always born the same race as its mother, and a pure-blooded one at that, despite the multi-racial parents. It wasn’t until your parents that Meri started to understand how to create a perfect hybrid of the higher races.”
I swallowed, starting to understand where he was going but still wanting to make sure I was clear on the points. “My biological parents were both human.”
“Yes. It was their unique traits that made it clear to Meri what was needed. Both Neela and Nikhil had been mutated by immortal dragon blood, which made them more receptive to the blood of the other races. They were human at their core still, but not entirely human by the time they mated and you were conceived. Nothing like that had happened in all the centuries of Meri’s attempts. Because she’d always discounted humans as weak and good only as cannon fodder, except for the Elites. But the three Elites were loyal to Nikhil and not useful as breeding stock until the end, when she finally figured out humans were the key to her success.”
“She used Dad because he was human?” I whispered. I was reeling. I’d always assumed my parents had been used because Meri could control them, and because they had at least some affection for each other, not to mention the centuries of higher races’ cocktails they’d been subjected to that had mutated them. But it hadn’t been the higher races’ blood that mattered. It had been their human blood.
“Humanity is the glue,” Willem said. “The higher races were never permitted to interbreed, but humans were fair game. They’ve always been at the core of our survival in some fashion and I daresay if they didn’t exist, the higher races would be perpetually at war. Hell, dragon-kind wouldn’t exist if not for humans.”
“Bodhi is supposed to be my glue, isn’t he?” I asked.
“Whether it’s him or not, you likely need to mate a human if you ever want your soul to be complete,” Llyr said. He didn’t press the fact that I needed him too, but he wasn’t the one I needed to convince. I didn’t think Bodhi would be a challenge or anything; he had just told me he was in love with me. But I wasn’t about to pressure him into it.
I sank deeper into the thick robe and inhaled, the salt-sage scent that clung to it giving me some comfort. I could wait as long as it took, but I didn’t intend to waste time before helping track down a soul mate for his mother.
The grim exchange of looks between Llyr and Willem told me the conversation wasn’t over. “What is it?” I asked wearily.
Llyr leaned his elbows on his knees and looked at me. “The fact that Fate abducted a turul who has no connection to the bloodline is troubling. We still don’t know what he wants with Sandor. As soon as Ozzie gets here, we can have a longer discussion about it since he has resources the rest of us lack.”
“Aren’t you going to go get him? He’s hours away.”
Llyr grinned at me. “I owe the fucker for this,” he said, pointing at his split lip and black eye. “Just be prepared for some yelling once he figures out that he can drift.”
22
Ozzie
The sound of rushing water filled my head, dragging me back to consciousness. I lay in a groggy, half-awake state for a moment, trying to reconcile why it sounded wrong. I lived within sight of the Pacific Ocean, of course I’d hear waves crashing.
Except the sound wasn’t crashing waves. As my brain came to full consciousness the sound began to fade, but it lingered. It must have been no more than the blood rushing through my ears.
I rolled over and stared blinking out
my windows at the sunset. Something else was off about this scene. I winced as I flexed one hand and looked down at my bloodied knuckles. I closed my eyes and cursed when jumbled images of my fight with Llyr barreled back.
We had to stop getting into it like that. But at least it had helped me get my mind off Deva long enough to catch up on some sleep.
Where was the bastard? I groaned and sat up, glancing around my room. His clothes were gone, and my fucking boots were gone too, but not the coat he’d borrowed. Motherfucker.
The back of my neck prickled and I sat up straighter. I had the distinct impression that someone was watching me, but the Wind’s whispers didn’t give me any sense as to who it was. I casually glanced around my room but didn’t see anything—or anyone in the deepening shadows.
I stood and threw on my jeans, casually calling out to Llyr as I did, but got no answer. As far as the Wind was concerned, I was alone. I didn’t buy it.
“Nanyo,” I whispered, hoping my grandmother was around. I had questions for her anyway.
No answer.
I pushed through the doors to the patio and strolled barefoot and shirtless out into the cool air. A light Pacific breeze caught my hair as I wandered over to the edge of the bluffs. The farther from the house the easier it was to hear faint messages carried on the wind.
Closing my eyes and tilting my head toward the deep, red-gold sunset, I listened and my skin instantly erupted into goosebumps, a sharp chill shooting down my spine.
I didn’t hear anything so specific as words, but a more general alarm that signified warning and distress among the turul. I was bombarded on all sides, from every cardinal direction—North, South, East and West. The same warning filtering through the currents.
“Fate knows.”
My eyes flew open and I turned toward my grandmother’s voice. She stood a few feet away, harried looking with dark circles under her eyes.
“Knows what?” I asked, though I already knew deep down. Fate knew about Deva. But did he know what I had done to protect her?
“You must run before Fate learns the full truth. Run before the hounds find you.”
A strange growling buzz seeped into my ears, as though reaching my aural nerve from inside my head. Sophia’s eyes widened and she darted a look toward the house. “They’re already here. You have to reach her before they do, Ozzie. Fly!”
Before I could even process her warning, a wave of blue-violet magic surged through the walls of the house. Dozens of hounds blurred through the air, across the pool as though it were a solid surface. Beside me, my grandmother let out an ear piercing screech as she transformed into a falcon and rose up into the air. I summoned the power of the Wind within me and shifted, barely avoiding the snapping teeth of three different hounds who’d reached me faster than a breath.
Deva. She was in danger. I had to get to her. The very second that thought formed, the world spun away as though flowing down a drain, and sucked me along with it.
* * *
“What the ever loving fuck!” I yelled once the spinning stopped and I could stand again. The sunset was now visible beyond a bank of windows and a balcony and I was surrounded by people. My grandmother stood directly in front of me, eyes wide. “A little fucking warning next time, all right? We could have flown away!” I yelled at her.
“That wasn’t me, grandson. That was you.”
“The hell it was,” I said, but the strange rushing sensation in my veins made me doubt the statement. I’d been drifted by others many times, yet had never gotten such a rush. And while I normally felt dizzy and nauseous afterward, right now my stomach was as calm as it could be.
My grandmother narrowed her eyes, then reached out a hand toward my face. I flinched back as she touched my lip, surprised by the dull pain there. Then my grandmother glanced at our surroundings. I turned, surveying the roomful of people. Keagan, Rohan, and Bodhi lounged on the sofa, their eyes all a bit glassy, like they were stoned. They looked relaxed and unaffected by my sudden arrival. Willem sat in an armchair nearby, more alert, though haggard.
Then I followed my grandmother’s gaze to Llyr who stood in an open doorway to a bedroom of what I realized must be a hotel suite. Llyr’s casually cocky posture and devious smile made me instantly suspicious. The tip of his tongue pushed lightly at the dark split in his lower lip that matched my own and white rage caught fire in my veins.
I launched myself at him. “You fucking fuck!” I had my fist back, ready to swing when a white-robed figure caught my eye just behind him.
“Ozzie?”
Deva’s stricken face nearly broke my heart. I instantly reined in my rage and shifted directions, pushing past Llyr and wrapping her in my arms. “You’re okay. Thank fuck,” I breathed.
She stiffened in my arms. “Don’t,” she said.
I released her, confused by the uncharacteristic coldness in her tone. But within her eyes I only saw hurt and confusion as she glanced between me and Llyr. Looking to him for some clue, I was met with an equally mournful look in his eyes.
“I really wish you hadn’t done that,” Deva said to Llyr, then turned on her heel and closed the bedroom door behind her.
Done what? I was on the verge of asking the question when the truth hit with crystal clarity. My ache to inflict more pain on the satyr fizzled, replaced by resignation. He’d tried to warn me, but I was too overcome with the need to purge Deva from my system that I didn’t care. I’d actually taken sexual pleasure in hurting the bastard. That revelation still paled in comparison to whatever effect blood melding him had had on Deva’s feelings toward me.
I hadn’t seen the usual open adoration she usually reserved for me. Just before she’d closed the door in my face, I’d seen disappointment and betrayal. The same look she always gave Llyr.
“Did you tell her?” I croaked under my breath, knowing full well he could hear even a whisper from me now.
“It’s just the blood. She doesn’t know anything,” he whispered back. “I’m reserving that honor for you because I’m sure it won’t pay to be the messenger once she learns the truth.”
I nodded and took a deep breath, glancing around at the others. I frowned. “Where is Sandor? And Deva’s hounds?”
“A lot happened while you were sleeping,” Llyr said. “Sandor’s been taken. Fate wants something, but we don’t know what. I suspect it goes beyond simply wanting the bloodline dead. Willem and Sandor tracked another victim just before the fate hounds kidnapped Sandor. Deva’s hounds are outside guarding the hotel.” His expression darkened and he pulled me away from Deva’s door.
“What is it?” I asked once we paused near a small desk by the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the San Francisco Bay.
“There’s something else you need to know,” he said in a softer whisper. “You should keep your distance from her if you want to keep your secret. The soul fragments she has don’t play well together. If more than one of her soul mates is too close at the same time, it causes her pain.”
Startled by the news, I blinked at him. “Ah, duly noted,” I said, frowning. Despite the disappointment that curdled inside me, it was for the best. I needed to keep my distance anyway.
Shaking my head I pressed on with my own news. “The fate hounds came for me, too,” I said. “An entire pack of them had overrun the house just before I . . . drifted here. Nanyo, do you have any clue what the fuck that bastard wants? He’s going after pure-blooded turul now.”
My grandmother narrowed her eyes and glanced at the door Deva had disappeared behind. She stepped farther away toward the opposite bedroom and I followed. The others watched curiously and my grandmother slammed the door in their faces with a wave of her hand. Glyphs glowed along her arms as she murmured a charm and the noises around us became muffled.
“I assume you still want to keep your secret,” she said bitterly. “But it’s only a matter of time before it’s revealed. Once one of Fate’s hounds laid eyes on the girl, Fate saw her potential for power if she gai
ns all the soul fragments she seeks. He also knows she is a loose thread like the rest of the bloodline—someone he has no control over. Until now, the bloodline was all simply a mess Meri left behind to be cleaned up but that’s changed. Deva is his target now. He took Sandor because he saw a thread that connected the pair, even if it was a faint one.”
I frowned. “He doesn’t know she has a turul soul, does he?”
My grandmother shook her head. “Not yet, but he is aware of her quest for a complete soul. He knows it requires a turul to add to it, and that turul will ultimately defy Fate’s curse. I bore witness to Sandor’s torture. Sandor only knew it wasn’t him, and said so—he had no reason to lie, and every reason to speak the truth. But there are few options left for Fate to investigate. You and Deva and everyone close to you are in danger. There is nothing to do but run.”
“We can’t run forever, Nanyo,” I said, despair gripping hard at my heart. “There must be an alternative. A way to convince Fate to leave us be. To spare her at least. If I could convince him I have no intention of following through . . . that my soul gift to her was out of necessity. Is Fate going to blame me for that?”
She set her jaw. “If he so much as discovers she has it, that would be enough ammunition to punish the both of you, regardless of your intentions. I will try to think of something, but my own arguments fall on deaf ears. Fate is a bored old divine aspect and sees this as a game now that this new twist has occurred. He’d rather have control of the bloodline than kill them, I can tell you that. But until he finds a way to do that, he’s more entertained by hunting them down. And now hunting her down.”
My spine prickled with dread. “He can’t track me through you, can he?”
“I would not risk your life that way. Fate has a very singular focus. Sandor is his new toy, so I was able to slip away. This hotel won’t be safe for long, though, despite the safeguards the dragons keep around it. Once Fate’s hounds catch up to Deva and he follows the proper threads of Deva’s life, he will find ways to reach her. She may not be his blood, but she is his grandchild in a fashion. I only hope that Fate grasps that link. He has been known to be sentimental on rare occasions.”
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