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THREE

MAC

“Fuck,” I groan, crawling into the large bed and burrowing under the million thread count sheets to wallow in my mistakes alone for a while. Is it possible this whole thing is a crazy dream I’m having?

I squeeze my eyes closed tightly, count to three, then open them again. There’s nothing but the darkness of my little blanket burrow and the distinct smell of the underworld still filling my nostrils. Probably not just a bad dream then.

While I try to follow the path of all the terrible decisions and fuckups that led me to this moment, my dragon’s priorities become extremely clear, filling my mind with the memory of Drax’s ring dangling around his neck and the thick swell of his cock as he pressed me up against the wall and sniffed me like some unruly beast. My own cock twitches, and a purr rumbles in my throat.

“Stop that, you horny beast,” I grumble, pulling the blankets even tighter around myself.

Should I call my brothers to get me out of this?

I immediately recoil at the idea. I’m already enough of a fuckup in their eyes; I don’t need to add accidentally agreeing to be a mercenary for a demon like Auri to the list. Maybe it won’t be so bad.

If I get this cursed amulet thingy, he’ll hold up his end of the deal, and everything will sort itself out, right?

No one will ever have to know that I said yes to a deal with a demon without asking for any details.

I whimper and draw my legs up, curling myself into a protective ball under the covers.

All I need is a plan. So, okay, here it goes.

One, don’t make anything worse.

Two, get this cursed amulet and give it to Auri.

Three, go home.

See? It doesn’t sound so daunting when I break it down like that. I can handle three simple steps. I repeat them to myself over and over, taking deep breaths until my eyelids start to get heavy and, eventually, I fall asleep.

I’m not sure how long I manage to sleep, but it feels like I just closed my eyes when the thud of a fist against my door snaps me awake again.

I fling my blankets off and sit up in a daze, flames flickering over my lips instinctively as I blink blearily around at the unfamiliar room.

It’s the smell of sulfur that jogs my memory first.

Right, I fucked up and sold myself to a demon.

Cool, cool, cool.

“Yeah?” I mumble to whoever’s on the other side of the door, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and the drool from my chin.

My dragon isn’t suffering from any of the lingering grogginess apparently, stirring excitedly inside my chest and rippling scales across my skin. I rub my sternum and frown. What has him so eager and energized?

The doorknob turns and the door slowly creaks open.

My whole body immediately heats at the sight of Drax sticking his head into my room.

His horns are absent, his human form still firmly in place.

He was hot as a demon, and he’s hot as a human, that’s just an objective fact.

And, again, my eyes zero in on the chain around his neck at the same time my forebrain clocks the fact that he’s still naked.

“Do you own any clothes?”

He looks down at himself, then back at me.

“Why? Do you need to borrow some?” he asks.

“No, I meant…” I stop myself and frown again. “Shit, do I? Everything happened so fucking fast earlier. Is Auri going to let me go back to my place and get any of my stuff? Am I, like, a prisoner here? Is there somewhere I can read the fine print of the deal I made with him?”

Drax’s forehead wrinkles and his light blue eyes turn cloudy with concern.

“You didn’t ask for the details of the deal before you made it?”

My stomach twists and squirms and my face heats in a far less pleasant way than my body did just a minute ago. This isn’t a sexy heat, it’s a shameful one. Fuck, Drax’s concern is just as bad as my brothers’ sympathetic yet disapproving looks. Like I’m the biggest fucking idiot who’s ever lived.

I cover my face with my hands and groan.

My bed dips and I squeeze my eyes closed a little harder. His warm fingers wrap around my wrists in a firm, reassuring hold, and I let him pull my hands away from my face.

“How badly did I fuck up?” I ask quietly.

He’s still frowning, but his expression is more carefully neutral now.

“It’ll be fine,” Drax assures me. “Ask to see the contract the next time you meet with Auri. He has to show you. And no, you aren’t a prisoner, but you are bound to fulfill the contract, so simply leaving won’t work.

You’re marked and tethered to him until the deal is complete, so he’ll be able to find you no matter where you go. ”

“Great,” I mutter.

“It’s not so bad. Auri is…” Drax trails off for a second, like he’s not sure how to describe the demon daddy he called “Master” earlier. How long has Drax been indebted to him? What kind of contract do they have? Is it impolite to ask?

“But I can at least go home and get clothes and stuff?”

He nods. “I can even take you. It’ll be a shorter journey that way. I came to get you for dinner, but after that we can go get your things.”

I study him quietly for a minute, trying to figure out his angle.

“Why are you being nice to me?”

“We’re a team, dragon. You’ll see. We help each other and we have each other’s backs.

” He brings his hand to my jaw like he did earlier, but he doesn’t actually touch me this time.

My dragon vibrates inside of me, straining towards the surface.

“And also, you smell nice and for some reason I feel like I would kill anyone who hurts you.”

“What? Why?”

He shrugs and stands up. “Because my instincts tell me so, and they haven’t lied to me yet. Now, let’s have dinner. You can meet the rest of Auri’s pets properly.”

DRAX

I lead Mac through the familiar maze of the compound towards the dining room.

The inky cloud of despair hanging around him has lessened slightly since I told him I could take him home to get his things, but it’s not completely gone.

I suppose belonging to Auri takes some getting used to.

It’s been so long since I signed my contract with him, I can hardly remember.

But I think the others went through a similar adjustment period when they each arrived, I just didn’t care as much.

Why?

That’s what Mac wanted to know, and I wish I knew. Similar to shifters, we have our inner demons—our deepest, most primal instincts that rule our nature. And mine is telling me to protect the dragon. There’s no point wondering why, it’s just what I have to do.

Atlas, Roman, and Cassius are all in the dining room when we arrive.

Working for Auri isn’t a picnic, but the food is definitely a perk.

The long table is filled with a feast, just like it is most nights.

Roasted meat and raw cuts for Roman and myself, decanters of blood for Cassius, and plenty of leafy greens for Atlas.

“That smells incredible,” Mac says, and his stomach growls in agreement.

I pull out one of the empty chairs and start to wave for him to go ahead, but he pulls out a different one farther down the table and takes a seat.

I bristle a little. Did I pick the wrong chair for him, or did he not understand the gesture?

And why does he want to sit so far from me?

I abandon the chair I pulled out and sit down next to him.

Across the table, Roman’s nostrils flare and he cocks his head at me with a curious look. I bare my teeth to tell the wolf to mind his business.

“So, what’s your name, fresh meat?” Roman asks in his low, gravelly voice, picking up a slab of raw meat and sniffing it before biting into it and tearing it with his canine teeth.

Mac shifts in his seat and reaches for a cooked steak.

“Mac.” He sticks his hand out and Roman just eyes it.

Cassius leans across the table and takes it in a polite shake before Mac can retract the rejected offer.

“Don’t mind him, he’s just grouchy because he has a bad case of mange,” Cassius murmurs conspiratorially. I eye the way his fingers snake up to Mac’s wrist to brush over his pulse point, and I let out a low growl.

An amused smirk twists on the vampire’s lips, and he withdraws his hand after a too-long handshake.

“I don’t have mange, I’m just tired of pretending like we’re all best pals just because our shit luck brought us all here,” Roman grumbles.

“It’s not so bad.” Atlas shrugs his massive shoulders, shoveling a forkful of sprouts into his mouth. “It’s actually pretty fun most of the time.”

Cassius sputters a laugh and Roman gives him a disgruntled look as he tears off another bite of raw meat.

“So, um, how did you all end up making a deal with Auri?” Mac asks.

An awkward silence falls over the table.

“Most of us don’t like to talk about it,” I say when no one else jumps to volunteer their own tragic tale of what made them desperate enough to sell themselves to a demon. “But I did it for status. Believe me, there are far worse jobs a demon like me could have taken than this one.”

Mac nods like he understands.

“What about you, dragon?” Atlas asks.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he mutters.

“Fair enough.” Cassius holds up a wineglass filled with thick, crimson blood. “Here’s to indefinite, indentured servitude.”

“Fucking great,” Mac mutters, lifting his glass and tapping it against Cassius’s before taking a drink.