Page 60

Will

While we showered, someone brought clothes that fit us. Dress pants and oddly styled shirts for me and Davy, and a simple dress for Micca. It didn’t look like much until she put it on, and then I wanted to bend her over and fuck her all over again.

We were all showered and dressed when the hourglass ran out, and the door to our room opened as the last grain of sand fell through.

“Excellent,” Nathan said as he came through the door with Kirsten and the vampire they’d called Venom. “The three of you are an even stronger unit. We blasted you with more information than anyone should have to absorb so quickly. It’s good to see you’ve accepted Micca for what she is, even if you aren’t sure exactly what that might be at the moment.”

“It was a lot,” I agreed, “but it’s good we finally have at least an idea of what Micca went through before we all found each other.” And with that out of the way, the question I’d been wondering for hours. “Where are Silver and Animal?”

“In a room something like this one, completely safe,” Kirsten told me. “The musical instruments are a little different here, and they’re in a room with some musicians who are showing them how they work. They’re both completely happy learning aboutmusic in this realm. Ghost and Hailey have a way to stay safe back in Midgard, so they’re back in your home realm.”

I nodded. “Thank you for keeping us all safe.”

“What can I do to repay you for this?” Micca asked.

Kirsten shook her head. “Aaron and I are friends, and though we’ve never kept track of favors, he’s done way more for me than I have for him, so I’m more than happy to be able to help him keep his people safe.” She looked at Nathan and back to us. “Not to mention, Nathan and I don’t keep score, either, and you’re as much his as you are Aaron’s.”

“Josef is going to handle Silver and Animal’s oath, and Venom will handle yours,” Nathan told us.

“And it’s time for the oath, should you choose to take it,” Venom said.

“We do,” I told them.

He nodded, and a man in fancy clothes came in with a wine service. He popped the cork and poured wine into three glasses and about an inch of water in two glasses.

“Easiest way to get blood without a vampire biting you is the way diabetics do.” Kirsten showed us the little spring-loaded stickpin things and handed them to Micca, who used one to pierce the side of Davy’s finger and then milked a dozen drops of blood into one of the water goblets.

“You want me to do you, or do you want to do it yourself?” Micca asked me.

I held my hand out for her to hand me the other device, and I did to my finger what she’d done to Davy’s, dripping my blood into the other water goblet.

I have no idea why I had to drink the wine while I said the oath, but I was told I would drink it while Venom drank the water with my blood in it. There were instructions about thinking about all the things I’d learned, and then saying, “I will keep your secrets” while imagining that the promise was foreverything involving the world of the supernaturals. Everything I’d learned tonight.

I went first, saying it, drinking the wine, and then saying it again, and I felt… I don’t know how to describe it, like theclickof a lock, securing everything into a safe, of sorts.

I was still trying to work through the feeling when they had Davy do the same oath, and I put my arm around him after he’d taken his drink of wine, to help fortify him through the feeling, reminding him he’s mine and we’re in this together.

“Are Davy and I the only humans in the room?” I asked.

“I started out as human,” Kirsten said. “Same as Micca. The vampires did, too, but it was so long ago for them, I don’t think they count.”

“I started out as human as well, but yes,” Nathan said, “you’re the only people still human in the room, but that doesn’t make you less than us. I spent centuries lamenting my lost humanity, and while I’ve come to terms with who I am, it still feels like a loss, sometimes.”

“Not all of us feel that way,” Venom said. “I occasionally wish to feel the sun on my skin, or desire the foods of my youth, but mostly, I revel in who and what I’ve become.”

“I pretty much fought the idea of being other-than-human all the way to the end.” Kirsten said. “I still consider myself human with special abilities, but since…” She shrugged. “There’s a whole story about how I became Queen and all the abilities that came with the title. I haven’t been able to legitimately call myself human since then.”

“How long will we be here?” I asked.

“Unknown at this time,” Nathan said. “I need to get back to our realm, but I’ll return to help with negotiations and any fighting that may break out, though I don’t expect there to be any fighting in this realm. No matter what, though, Kirsten is morethan capable of keeping you safe in her castle. You have nothing to worry about.”

“I’m sorry,” Micca told him. “I just wanted to be honest with the men I love.”

“Aaron and I advised you,” Nathan told her. “This isn’t on you. Enjoy your men while holed up in the castle a few days. We’ll get it figured out.”

Micca looked at him a few seconds and said, “Or we won’t.”

He nodded. “Possibly, but I wouldn’t bet against us.”