by Emily Dawn
“So, Lamb, what’s this job that brings you into the company of this group?” Zora asks as she passes food around the table.
“We’re looking for the Saudade Amulet,” Lenna states.
Gloria throws a sharp look my way. “Oh, are you now?
Why would that be, vampire?” She growls at me.
144
Emily Dawn
Lenna looks up, startled by her aunt’s intensity. “We’re trying to stop it from falling into the wrong hands.”
“Lamb, whose hands do you think are the wrong hands?”
Zora asks. “Has he,” she points at me, “explained his past with the amulet? Why he’s perhaps not a safe person to have it, nor safe for you to be doing this with?”
Lenna looks at me, needing me to start to explain. Fuck. I’ll have to choose my words carefully here. “I have a bit of history with the amulet. My sire was the leader of the clan who last used it. I was there when we ravaged the fae realms. I was a willing participant.” My gaze never leaves Lenna while I explain. All her feelings have flitted across her face while I’ve explained; shock, surprise, horror, and anger. She shoots a furtive glance at Gloria.
“I stopped in the middle of the dark fae realm when I realized what we were doing was wrong. I left and never returned to my clan. I haven’t fed from the vein of any living creature in centuries.” I plead, entirely uncomfortable with a hint of desperation in my voice. I can see Lenna rethinking every single aspect of her interaction with me, with all of us. “I only want to keep the amulet from Cassandra.”
145
Unbound
“He’s telling the truth about drinking from the vein,” Vance interjects. “I’ve never seen him do it and we’ve been inseparable from the 1770s.”
“What do you know about Lenna?” Gloria asks us. “Why did you seek her out?”
Lenna inhales sharply, and Ross slides his hand onto her knee. He’s probably the best one of us to comfort her right now.
She’s going to need that reassurance when we come completely clean.
“We know that she is half shifter and half-fae. She is immensely powerful magically from both sides of her lineage.
She also possesses a vast control over that magic, even in dire situations.” I feel a surge of aggression and protectiveness from my brothers and myself. I know we were all thinking of Liam attacking her. “After the war, when we were alerted to amulet going missing from the Supernatural Library archives, we began our search. While investigating, we met a seer who told us of a prophecy about a powerful crossbreed and her mates who will stop the war to end all wars. We were told we are the mates and once we found our mate, we would all know. Vance and I-” I’m stopped by a kick under the table from Lenna. “We are both 146
Emily Dawn
certain she is ours, and we are hers. I can’t speak for Ross and Hayes.”
All three of the women look at Ross. “I’m sure. My fox has been sure since I first shook your hand,” he gives a shy smile directly to Lenna, which she returns. Vance and I share a look of relief, her reaction to that last part was positive. Then she and her aunts turn their attention to Hayes.
“I think prophecies and fated mates are bullshit,” he states matter-of-factly. “But I care about my brothers, and they care about her so,” he shrugs his shoulders, “I guess I care about her, too.” He’s such a dick sometimes. He can lie to himself all he wants, but we know he’s full of shit.
“For once we agree,” Lenna looks directly at Hayes. “I do have feelings in one form or another for all of you, though. I don’t see how I could have a hand in ending a war though. I’m a librarian for fuck’s sake and part-time supernatural archeologist.
A shifter who can’t shift. A partial dark fae who can’t use her magic because she’s the result of a frowned upon marriage between supernatural races. There’s nothing special about me.”
She sits back in her chair and finishes her glass of wine.
147
Unbound
“That’s,” Zora looks at Gloria with raised eyebrows, “not entirely true. You can actually shift. Your powers were bound when you were born. We’ve discouraged your use of fae magic not because of your parent's taboo marriage but because of what line your mom comes from.”
“Your mom is a High Priestess of the Obsidian Court; she gave it up to be with your father.” Gloria says gently. “You’re the heir to the strongest hereditary fae magic that exists. With the added strength and dominance you inherited from your father, you would have been sought as a weapon or killed because you are such a threat.”
“Why am I just now hearing all this?” Lenna looks back and forth at her aunts, anger beginning to seep out. “I’m 28 years old!
I have a right to know all this about myself! All these years, I’ve thought I was defective because I couldn’t shift! I have never, ever felt so betrayed.” She pushes up angrily from the table. “I can’t, I have to-” she grabs Vance, “get me out of here. Please.”
Vance looks unsure, but then Gloria and Zora say simultaneously, “We love you.”
148
Emily Dawn
“Lamb, we’ll be here when you are ready to talk about everything.” Gloria reaches for Lenna, but she steps into Vance’s arms and pushes him into a shadow.
Zora walks over to Gloria and presses their foreheads together. “She’ll be okay,” she whispers as tears stream down Gloria’s cheek. “Especially now that she has her mates.” Then she turns to us, “you should probably go. Take care of Lenna.”
We all stand up to leave, but Gloria grabs my arm, “I swear to every fucking God if you ever hurt Lenna I will kill you. Then I’ll bring you back and kill you again.” I nod my head in understanding and turn to leave. I can hear both women whispering with the occasional sob tossed in.
I look down at my phone and see a text from Vance. He took Lenna home. To our home. I’m partly tempted to run there, knowing it would be faster for me to run the relatively short distance than ride in the car but decide I need to stay with my brothers who can’t be with her.
149
Twenty-Two
Lenna
Vance shadow jumps us to the guys’ house. He flips on a light, and we’re standing in the pantry. I don’t want to let go of him yet, so I stand there with my arms wrapped him, “Don’t let me go yet.” I don’t want to cry in front of him but I can’t stop the tears from falling.
“It’s okay,” he says as he rubs circles on my back, “it’s a lot to process.” He kisses the top of my head, “the good news is you can shift, and you’re hella powerful. You could probably kick all our asses at once.”
I let out a watery laugh and let go of him. “Except my magic is bound. How do I unbind it?” I growl in frustration. “I’m so angry. They watched me try to shift. Gloria had her alpha try to force the change on me. What kind of sick joke was that? What else can I do?” I’m trying to pace, but the pantry is too small with both of us. “Can we leave the pantry?”
Emily Dawn
I push past him through the double doors and out into the kitchen. I pull out a stool at the island and put my head in my hands. There’s so much to take in. My whole life has essentially been hidden from me. My life has far greater value than I ever thought. I can be used as a weapon, what does that even mean? Maybe I should have stayed, but I was just so frustrated. So hurt.
I can understand not telling me when I was younger. What I don’t understand is that I am 28. People I went to high school or college with are having families. It’s an age where you understand the responsibility, and I’ve never been careless with my magic. The only person not related to me that ever knew about this was Hunter, until tonight when my aunts told the guys.
I don’t know how long I’m sitting at the island before I hear the guys walk in. Ross sits down beside me and slings his arm on the back of my chair. He doesn’t touch me, which is smart because I’m two seconds from tearing someone’s head off.
Aleksa
ndr stands beside Vance, and their stances mirror each other, legs crossed at the ankle, leaning back on the counter, staring at me. It’s almost creepy how alike their mannerisms can be. Hayes is pouring bourbon into a glass. He turns and slides it 151
Unbound
across the island in my direction wordlessly. I down it in one shot and chuck the glass directly at Aleksandr. “What the fuck was that shit about fated mates?” I yell. He grabs it right before it slams into his face and keeps staring at me. “Don’t you think that’s something you mention to someone before you tell her family like that? Especially when,” I hold up a finger, “one, it is fucking ludicrous. Two, we’ve only known each other for like a week? You can’t fall in love in a week. It’s absurd.”
“Agreed.” Hayes raises his glass at me. “Horseshit for sure.”
He downs his bourbon. “You want more? Or are you going to throw the glass again? I’m not in the mood to clean your mess.”
“You know how the call to mate works for shifters, right?”
Ross asks quietly. I nod. “Then you know what I’m feeling is real and I know you feel too. I believe it’s like how vampires claim eternal mates.” He sends a questioning look to Aleksandr.
“It is. I know this,” he makes a sweeping motion to include all of us “is a lot. You’ve grown up in the human realm and having multiple partners is not really accepted here. It makes sense now though, knowing you are a descendant of the High Priestesses of the Obsidian Court. They all, with the exception of your mother, had multiple mates.” He walks around the island to stand beside me. “You can fall in love in a week. You can fall 152
Emily Dawn
in love with just one look, and we’re going to spend the rest of our lives, proving that to you.”
Hayes scoffs and walks off. “I’m going to bed. If we’re leaving tomorrow, we’re all going to need to be rested.” I can’t explain it, but part of me aches with his dismissive tone, even if I wholly agree with him. I’m not going to spend any time trying to puzzle that out.
“If you want me to come to terms with all of this between us you’re going to have stop with the misogynistic ‘you’re mine, and I’m yours’ stuff. I belong to myself and no one else.” I poke my finger into Vance’s chest. “Take me home. I need to be alone to think, and I’ll need to pack some extra clothes and weapons for the trip.” I grab his hand and head for the pantry.
I can’t bring myself to be affectionate with any of them at the moment. A big part of me wants to go crawl in bed with all of them and be surrounded by their comfort and security. So instead I leave without saying a proper goodbye because, damn it, I am pissed at everything right now. It’s petty, but I don’t care.
Vance takes me home and does a not subtle walkthrough to make sure everything is safe. When he’s done, he kisses my forehead and leaves. I go to the kitchen to get a glass of wine. It’s 153
Unbound
probably not a great idea considering I’m going into a different realm tomorrow, but at this point, I don’t give a fuck if I have a hangover the next day.
I’m on glass number two by the time Hunter walks through the door. He looks at me sitting on the couch, the TV off, no book in hand and immediately knows something is up. He disappears into his room without a word and comes back a couple of minutes later with wet hair and sweat pants on. He plops down on the other end of the couch and grabs my feet to put them in his lap. “What’s going on Lenny? Do I have to kick some vampire, demon, shifter, and mage ass?”
“No,” I snort, “they all think they’re my fated mates. Well, not Hayes who’s an elemental by the way, not a mage. He thinks it’s as ridiculous as I do. The other three, though…” I trail off, deep in thought about everything I’ve learned. “That’s not even the craziest thing that happened tonight.”
“Well, hold up,” he says. “I need to process the fact three sexy men think you are their fated mate. What does that even mean? How would a relationship like that even work?” His throws me a mischievous smirk and whispers, “do you have a magic vagina?”
154
Emily Dawn
Despite myself, his attempt at getting me to laugh works. “I guess so,” I say when I compose myself. “As to your other questions, I have no clue. How would I even navigate a relationship with four men? Because while Hayes and I think it’s a bunch of shit, the others all believe we’re both in denial.” I bite my lip; “I guess I shouldn’t have had the threesome with Vance and Aleksandr.”
“WHAT?” Hunter jumps off the couch. I can’t tell if he’s angry, worried, or interested in details. “I don’t know how to feel about this Len,” he puts both hands on his head and starts pacing. “Seriously, I’m like 95 percent terrified for you and 5
percent intrigued. That had to be fucking intense. Pun intended.”
“It was. In the best way possible.” I know I probably sound more wistful than I want to be but damn, I’d do it all over again.
He sits back down. “I know I’m inexperienced for someone my age, but I think I’m ruined for the rest of my life. I can’t imagine a better sexual experience, but it was just sex. You know?”
“Apparently it wasn’t just sex for them.” He rubs the arch of my foot, and I reach down for his so we’re trading foot rubs.
“Tell me everything else.”
155
Unbound
I work my way through what my aunts told me. His eyes widen when I explain what little I know about my lineage on my mother’s maternal side. When I tell him, I’m probably the most potent supernatural in the city, but that my magic was bound when I was a baby, he asks, “Who bound it? How do you unbind it?”
“I’m not sure,” I bite my lip again, regretting storming out of my aunts’ house again, “I left so quickly they couldn’t answer all the questions I have. I’m not sure my power should be unbound if I’m as powerful as they claim I am.”
Those thoughts unsettle me, so I turn the subject to the hunt for the amulet. “I’m leaving for a few days starting tomorrow.
I’m not sure how long it will take to hunt the specific location of the amulet in the shadow realm, especially as we believe it to be hidden away in a temporal distortion too.” I leave out all the details about the various demons we think could guard the amulet. I don’t want him to worry about me when I know I’ll be fine between the four of them and being able to use my magic if necessary. “Sleepover tonight?”
“Fo sho. Your room or mine?” He asks.
156
Emily Dawn
“Yours,” I’ll grab my pillow. I check my phone before I set it on the charger. Five missed texts. The first from Vance says: Goodnight beautiful, see you in the morning.
The second and third are from Gloria and Zora on our group chat: We love you. When you get back come to see us; and we’ll talk through everything.
The fourth is from Aleksandr: Goodnight, we’re planning on leaving early in the morning. I’ll send Vance for you.
The fifth is a job inquiry. I reply to the messages that need responses.
Hunter is scrolling on his phone when I walk in, already in bed with the covers pulled down for me. “Is it weird that we still do this?” I ask.
“No,” he replies with a cocked eyebrow, “why would it be?
It’s not like either of us is in a committed relationship; and even if we were, I’m gay. It’s never been an issue for you before.” His face has fallen, and he looks sad or disappointed. I can’t get a good read on it before he turns the light off and says goodnight.
I close my eyes and fall into a fitful sleep.
157
Twenty-Three
Lenna
I wake up to a cold bed and familiar sandalwood scent. I slowly open my eyes and they land on Vance. He’s looking down at me in Hunter’s bed with a look of confusion on his face.
“Why are you in here?”
“I slept here last night. It’s something we do when one of us has a hard day,” I yawn my rep
ly. “What time is it? I forgot to set the alarm.”
“You just sleep?” He still looks so confused, like he can’t wrap his head around this. “Is Hunter fully gay?”
“Yes,” I stand up to walk past him and feel his eyes on my body, “and yes.”
“You are half-naked and slept in bed with another man?”
He scratches the back of his head. “I’m not jealous, although I don’t understand how anyone could sleep next to you like this
Emily Dawn
and not want you. The others will be jealous though. They probably won’t like you doing this is if you decide to stay here.”
“What? Stay? In my own home?” I look over my shoulder at him but decide to keep walking to my room, “it’s too early for this conversation. Can you fix me a cup of tea while I shower and get ready? Everything is in the cabinet by the pantry, Scottish breakfast tea, please. Everything is labeled.”
I take a little longer than usual in the shower because it could be a few days until I can take another. I grab a pair of my black leather pants, made specifically for my knives, daggers, and stakes. I put on a gray tank top and a black leather jacket because I know how the temperature fluctuations in the shadow realm can vary within minutes. I leave my hair down for now and grab my boots. “I’m going to grab some weapons,” I call into the living area. Will you bring my tea in?”
I’m in the weapons closet strapping my sheath onto my waist when he walks in. “Here’s your twig water.” He holds out a steaming travel mug. “You look hot.” He watches me put basically every weapon I own on my person. I have compartments for everything. “Remind me not to piss you off, mate.” He lets the last word linger on his lips.
159
Unbound
“I’m not your mate. We had sex. You, as an incubus, should know that people can have sex without attachments.” I walk over to take the tea from him. “What did you mean earlier when you said something about me not sleeping with Hunter if I stay here? Where else would I go? This is my home.” I look at my tea,