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TWENTY

MAC

I wake with a deep sense of peace and belonging unlike anything I’ve experienced before flooding my body. As I drag my eyelids open, blinking to take in my surroundings, the scent of my mate tickles my nose and my dragon purrs.

Is this what it feels like to belong somewhere? Since leaving my parents’ home all I’ve done is roam the planet looking for a place that felt like home. How odd that here, in the depths of the underworld, is where I’ve found it.

But this is no place for a dragon to live, is it? I need the wide open sky, though I did love the place Drax took me earlier. Maybe there’s a compromise—a place between both worlds—where I can build a life… where we can build a life? Still not sure how that will all work, but I’m willing to try.

It’s jarring to realize I’m even considering this. This isn’t at all how I thought mating would go. I still barely know Drax. But, accidental bond or not, I know how he feels about me and that has to count for something.

I just don’t want to disappoint him. I’m hardly mate material. I have a shitty apartment with a paltry hoard full of shit I seriously doubt would impress Drax. How can I provide for him? How can I be a worthy mate?

Pinned up against me, he stirs, mumbling my name as he nuzzles his nose against my chest. His body is warm and soft, lightly furry in his true form. I stroke his long hair, his pink skin almost shimmering in the dim light of the room.

I wrap my arms around him, pulling him even closer, and the move pleases my dragon, making him vibrate with comfort inside me. I’ve never known how to soothe my dragon, but a few days with Drax in my life and he’s practically a sleeping kitten.

I close my eyes to get a little more sleep, but that idea is interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Drax,” I whisper, “someone is at the door.”

Without opening his eyes, he raises one hand and the front door to his apartment swings open. Atlas enters, looking around until he spots us across the small room in bed. I’m not sure, but I think he’s actually blushing as he clears his throat and averts his eyes.

“Apologies for the interruption,” Atlas says.

Drax stretches and opens one eye. “What time is it?”

Atlas grunts. “Time?”

Drax opens both eyes, sitting up slightly. “Oh, right. We’re home. What’s going on?”

My brain is still stuck on the words “we’re home.” My dragon likes it too, pushing closer to the surface to stay near our mate.

“I went topside for a few hours,” Atlas says. “Flew around and picked up Rune’s scent.”

“You did? Where?”

Atlas scratches the back of his neck, looking slightly uncomfortable. “He’s bouncing around. I think he knows, or at least suspects, we might be following him. His last known location was a sex den in Amsterdam.”

“A sex den?” Drax says. “Randy little mage, huh?”

“No,” Atlas says. “He just goes there for the energy.”

I tilt my head. “How do you know that?”

Atlas shrugs, shifting his considerable weight from one foot to the other.

“Because you saw him?” A slow grin spreads over Drax’s face. “Do you like the mage, Atlas?”

He shakes his head earnestly. “No, but his scent is in my nose, and I can’t shake it until we’re done.”

How interesting.

“We should go before I lose him again,” Atlas says. “I’ll wait outside.”

He leaves and Drax stretches his arms above his head, tempting me to bury us in the blankets for another round, but we have work to do.

“Gargoyles are immune to most magic.” Drax slides out of bed. “It’s rather fascinating that Rune’s scent is bothering Atlas so much.”

“I think so too.” I grab my jeans from the floor and pull them on. “I hope it’s not dangerous.”

“Me too.” Drax flicks his wrist and produces a pair of the shortest shorts that could still be shorts before we’d have to call them underwear. They do nothing to cover his considerable assets and biteable ass.

“Uh, babe, can you put something on that’s less distracting?”

He looks down at himself. “These are distracting?”

I nod, licking my lips. “Maybe you have some looser fitting pants?”

He frowns, thinks for a second, then flicks his wrist again and the shorts shift to a pair of black pants that are far from baggy but an improvement.

“How’s this?”

“Good. I don’t need the whole underworld lusting after you.”

Drax giggles. “As if they haven’t seen my nudity already. But you’re right.” His expression turns serious. “I have a mate now, and my body is only for you.” He flicks his wrist again, producing a t-shirt instead of the usual belly baring tank top. “Good?”

“Yeah, but in private you can wear whatever you like.”

“Or nothing?” He raises an eyebrow. “I much prefer it when we’re naked.”

“Me too.”

We gaze at each other for a few moments, the bond between us vibrating and warm. My thoughts race with all the things I want to do and say, but Drax provides the voice of reason.

“We should go find Rune.”

“Rune. Yeah.” I nod. “The sooner the better.”

“Agreed.”

I grab my shirt from the foot of the bed and throw it over my head, managing to grab my sneakers on the way out the door. Atlas is leaning against the wall and Roman and Cassius come around the corner just as we exit the apartment.

Roman rubs his hands together. “We’re going to a sex den?”

Atlas frowns, scrunching his nose. “For work, you horny dog.”

Roman barks out a laugh. “It’s not my fault. We’re heading towards a full moon.” He shrugs. “It’s just hormones.”

Cassius sniffs the air around Roman. “Is that what that is?”

Roman wraps his arm around the vampire, pulling him close, much to Cassius’s disapproval. “Never had sex with a wolf shifter, huh? You should give it a shot.”

“I’d rather not,” Cassius says, extricating himself from Roman’s grasp. “I prefer mortal human blood.”

“And everyone thinks I’m the biter.”

“Gentlemen,” Atlas says, sounding exasperated, “Rune jumps around a bit. Let’s go before I lose him again.”

“Right,” I say. “We have work to do.”

Drax wraps his arms around me, his body warming against mine. “Ready, mate?”

I nod, gazing into his mesmerizing eyes. “Ready.”

Atlas’s heavy hand lands on my shoulder. “Let’s do this.”

Traveling between realms is getting easier for me, so much so I hardly notice it this time. Gotta admit, it’s a pretty sweet way to get places. Our feet touch down in a dark alleyway between two stone buildings, the scent of weed, liquor, and something spicy lingering in the air.

“Where are we?” I ask, gazing up at the dark sky.

“Oooh.” Drax points ahead.

I don’t see anything though. Just a bunch of trash bins. “What?”

“He can’t see it yet,” Atlas says.

“No?” Drax tilts his head, looking down the alley then back at me. “How do we fix it?”

Cassius huffs, digging his thumbnail into his own wrist and producing a few drops of thick red blood. “Try this.”

I pull my head back. “You want me to drink that?”

“It’s hardly a drink,” Cassius says. “I’ve learned that it’s the quickest way to share abilities. Otherwise, we have to go to Auri, blah, blah, blah. You can wait outside, or you can lick my wrist.”

I scrunch my nose, clinging to Drax. “For what reason again?”

“There’s a door right in front of us,” Drax explains. “We can see it, but you can’t. It’s magic.”

“Oh.”

“And you won’t get in without our abilities,” Roman says. “So drink up, dragon.”

Drax nods. “It’s the easiest way.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll just pretend you’re a rare steak.”

Cassius rolls his eyes. “Do as you must.”

I take the vampire’s wrist in my hand and bend my head to lick his skin, coating my tongue with his blood.

Oddly enough, it tastes like almost nothing, just a faint metallic tinge to it, but the effect on me is immediate as my body tingles and warms. My dragon swishes and my eyes shift, revealing the magical door the guys described.

“Wow.”

It’s orange and shimmers in the dark, like a mirage. Above it is a glowing sign that says The Hollow in English.

As we walk towards it, the door swings open and a thick haze of mixed magic wafts out, swirling around us and drawing us inward. Drax wraps his hand around mine, clinging tightly, and I’m thankful for his solid presence.

The room is dim, but also somehow lit by an unseen lighting source. Mystical music plays, and I search the space for it, finding a small stage with three women and a man all harmonizing together. Sirens. The sound moves down my spine and into my cock, and my need for Drax grows.

“Damn.”

Drax nods. “I feel it too, but we have to focus.”

“Right. Find Rune.”

I turn to Atlas, who’s standing like a statue staring into the dark.

“Can you sense him?”

He shakes his head slowly. “Not yet. His scent mixes with the others’ here. That must be why he likes it.”

When I look behind me, Roman is flanked by two small men who are rubbing their hands all over him.

“Shoot,” Drax says, heading over to Roman. “Incubi.”

He grabs Roman’s arm, speaking to the two men in a language I don’t understand, who look disappointed but agreeable as they disappear into the crowd. Roman looks hazy as he blinks slowly before Cassius smacks his cheek.

“Ouch,” Roman grumbles. “Why’d you do that?”

“Because those incubi put a spell on you.”

Roman stretches his neck. “Shit. They move fast. Thanks, man.”

“Of course.”

“Why aren’t people all over you, Cassius?” I ask.

“I’ve got protections when I don’t want attention. My thrall can lure people in or repel them at my whim.”

“Pretty cool.”

“It comes in handy. I assume you two are safe because you reek of each other.”

“What?”

“You’re mated,” Cassius says. “Your mixed scent ensures that others know you’re not available.”

Drax beams, hooking his arm around mine. “Good. I didn’t want to show my violent side if someone tried to touch my mate.”

I study him for a second, intrigued by what other aspects of him I have yet to discover.

“This way.” Atlas walks toward the back of the room.