Page 25 of Gift from the Source (Source of Elementra #5)

Twenty

Caspian

As we sit beneath the night sky that usually brings me so much comfort, I find myself constantly searching the ground.

The moonlight brings me no peace.

My shadows weave in and out of the blades of grass and the pool of the portal just to make sure it’s the only source of darkness lurking around.

Although I witnessed the ruined power being released, I’m stuck in a petrifying fear that it’s still here somewhere.

Watching. Waiting for us to drop our guard and leave my Primary vulnerable for it to take over.

I never thought I’d witness a darkness that had a deeper depth than my own.

What slithered through my Primary was more than a black abyss.

It was a void.

An endless pit of misery and death that called to the docile demons living inside of me. They’ve been tamed by her. She leads them now.

In that moment where she slipped into the clutches of that power, they were ready and willing to follow.

If she was giving in to its call, so were they.

I was going to give in to that call.

It took every bit of mental strength I’ve built up over the last eighteen years to break through her mind and get her to hear me.

Sure, it sounded as though I was trying to lead her back out of its trap, but no. I was begging for her to find me. Save me once again because through her, it called me.

It promised me everything and more.

Including her. I could have her no matter what side I was on.

I’m not even sure she knows what we just had to witness.

Her skin changed first.

The fair shade paled to the point it became a sickly white. She looked like a corpse in a gorgeous gown with a crown on her head. I could map the flow of her blue veins through her arms. That was until they turned black. Then the color bled everywhere.

Her eyes changed next.

The deadly silver became just that. Dead.

For a fleeting second, violet peeked through. Her magnificent beast attempted to break through the control that was taking over them, but she couldn’t.

Where the black cloud came from, I’m not sure. The smoke was inside the globe of the Gods Binding, but there were shadows everywhere around her. Not my gift or her own. Something…other. It paralyzed us in her presence.

We couldn’t move. Couldn’t go to her. Couldn’t get closer.

Once we were finally able to break through to her mind, her body seized like something was trying to shove us back out.

I didn’t think I could be any more fearful than I was in that moment.

I was wrong.

Her roar shook us so violently, the hold the power had that was keeping us away snapped and we hit the ground.

I tried to reach for her.

I needed to touch her.

The words coming out of her were spoken so quietly I couldn’t hear them, but the sobs tearing from her sent me flying into the past .

My own wails sounded much like that when I was begging Elementra for a death that never came.

I was terrified that she was doing the same.

I swore, the death rattle that rocked her chest as she inhaled every particle of that power was the end.

As time has passed since she’s been here, I’ve concluded or at least it’s a hopeful assumption, that my Primary wouldn’t be killed for the simple fact Elementra wouldn’t allow it.

Granted, that gives me minimal peace of mind because there are worse things than death. But nonetheless, it’s a hope I’ve held on to knowing that she’ll survive anything put in front of her.

In that moment, though, I questioned it all.

The more I sit here and think about it, I can almost say confidently, if she had not beaten that power’s control…

Elementra would’ve called her to the beyond.

I slam my eyes shut as the fear rises in me swiftly once again.

No. My Primary has no idea what we just witnessed because she was busy battling it internally.

I will never tell her what we had to watch.

I never want that image in her mind.

“Do you all think my soul’s been tainted?” Willow’s soft and sweet whisper penetrates the silence.

The question pierces my heart.

“No,” I say darkly.

“Even though—”

“I said no. Nothing is wrong with your soul, Primary.”

“How do you know?” she asks quietly.

“Because it lives alongside my own. My brothers’. We would know. I swear it on my life, your soul is just as good, if not stronger, than it was before this happened.” I lower my voice and run my finger down her cheek.

It’s not my fear speaking or the need to reassure her.

It’s the truth .

The longer I sit here with her, my brothers, the unease within me settles around the warmth her light gives off inside of me. It’s burning bright just as it always does.

My own soul is desperate for it. It clings to that piece of her.

My Primary is fine and will continue to be.

“This is so shallow and meaningless right now, but this is where my mind is going, so don’t judge me too harshly for my next question.”

“Ask whatever you want, princess,” Corentin says.

He hasn’t lifted his hand from her heart since we got her comfortable between us. He’s allowed the faint halo of light to stay surrounding him rather than shoving it back in a cage. We’ve all let our gifts out just so they could be near her.

She isn’t drained. Not in a magical sense anyways. I’ve already made the dragon check multiple times and he swears she’s completely topped off with her own from closing the portals.

It’s mentally how she’s doing that I’m worried about.

“Will we be able to get the blood and whatever that…black stuff is out of my gown? I knew I’d have to take it apart at least somewhat to get it off, but I was hoping to not have to destroy it. It’s ruined now, though,” she says, blowing out a harsh breath that makes her lips flap together.

She picks up a piece of the material and sort of tosses it in the air, sighing in disappointment about how it’s covered in mess.

Yes. Her mental state is most certainly what I’m worried about.

“You thought that really loud,” she says, whipping her head in my direction, and I internally scold myself.

“Given the circumstances, I’m sure you can understand where I’m coming from, Primary.”

Her raised brow smooths out as her eyes soften. That understanding look in her gaze does make my worry ease a bit. She wasn’t trying to bury this down by making a silly comment about her dress. She just doesn’t know what to say.

“That was…I don’t even know a word to describe it. I can’t sit here and lie to you all and say that I’m fine with what just happened because I’m not. And despite you all trying to hide it from me right now, I know it affected yo u as well. But at the end of the day, it is just something else that we’re going to have to take time to heal from. That process can start now, but it’s not going to happen tonight or tomorrow. We don’t have the luxury of taking a break and processing it any more than we are right now.

“What’s getting to me the most, especially mentally, is that was a slap in the face about what we’re really facing. That was only half the power that he’s stolen. He still has whatever he’s taken in the other Binding. It also raises the question for me of how in the hell is he functioning? Is it different for him because of the ritual he’s doing or has he just become one with this power now?

“With everything aligning the way it has been lately, I really thought that this was going to be—I don’t know. Simple isn’t the word. Obviously, I knew this would be hard. Now, though, it feels impossible. I was confident up until now that we were on the right path. Hell, now I don’t even know if we’re even close to the path we’re supposed to be on. Where do we go from here? How do we prepare for this?”

Her words send us into silence again. There’s nothing we can say to disagree with her or really even make her feel better.

We all feel the same way.

No, we didn’t experience that the way she did, but we did experience what we could be up against. Maybe the power called so strongly to me because it was her wielding it.

That possibility is very likely, but that also begs the question, what will it feel like fighting against it with ill intentions? My motive a minute ago was getting through to the love of my life.

I have every intention of killing Malvolio Choice where he stands.

“We are prepared. We’ve been preparing. And like you just conquered that, we will conquer him because we have something more worth fighting for. We can’t do anything about him tonight, but…we can fix your dress if you’d like,” Tillman says.

The glint in his eye doesn’t fool me. I’m sure it doesn’t fool her either. His mind is running across every training scenario he’s ever taught. Every defense strategy, attack formation, command, mental shield, and mission. He’s thinking about the would’ve, could’ve, should’ves and from those, what can he do better.

Tomorrow morning, he’ll have a whole new regimen ready to be implemented.

“I’d love that,” Willow says, and I catch the slightest tinge of disappointment mixed in with that appreciation.

“If you’d like some sort of answer, Primary, we can check in on Pran, Dillon, and Maxima before we call it a night. Under one condition,” I tell her.

“What’s that?”

“You’ll need to spill that secret he told you.”

Her smirk instantly gives way to anger.

Then the anger fades to a blank mask.

“I don’t think that’s the best idea after what we just experienced.”

I don’t like how her eyes shut down and she tears her gaze from me. Like she’s hiding something.

From me specifically.

“You’re worried for our reactions? Like we’ll respond the same way you did?”

“Worse. I believe you’ll do worse. Not that something bad doesn’t need to happen to Vicki Gale, but the palace is also full of innocent people that I nearly hurt in my anger.”

You’ll do worse…

“The palace will start clearing out here soon, princess. It wouldn’t surprise me if the five have already started making their way out since we all disappeared. But if this is a conversation that needs to wait, it can,” Corentin says, placating her.

I will not be doing that.

“No, it can’t wait.”

“Cas—” Core warns, but I press on.

“I appreciate you’re trying to protect feelings right now, Primary, but you’re not protecting everyone’s. You’re attempting to protect mine and I want to know why. We don’t keep things from one another. We trust that whatever we need to say, the other can handle. The secret is about me, and I deserve that truth.”

Her eyes flinch for a millisecond, and I catch it. She can’t hide from me no matter how hard she may be trying. I don’t have to invade her mind, her bond, or her mark to know it.

I know her as well as I know myself.

She releases a deep breath as she turns to face me fully. I peer down at my wrist at the tickle of her shadows wrapping themselves around my mark.

I really need to know now if she believes I need to be leashed to her.

Well, whatever it is…I may be murdering someone tonight after all.

Those piercing eyes trap me in place. There’s desperation in their depths, begging me not to force the words out, but there’s also understanding.

She knows had this been about anyone else, I wouldn’t be pushing her. But my answers are important to me. She’ll honor that.

“Silvia is Vicki and Hunt Gale’s biological daughter.”

I flinch back as though she just struck me.

Impossible.

They never had…

It was an ingenious plan.

I don’t try to pull away or move from her as her shadows continue to swirl around my wrist and up my arms. My own come out to join hers.

There’s a rage something fierce burning through me, but it’s being overshadowed by dots connecting around my mind.

The thoughts try to outrace my logical, but I don’t allow it to.

I latch onto all the pieces and put them together.

As it all begins playing out for me, I find myself struggling to breathe.

The years of planning this.

This is what he meant in his letter…

Her loyalty to the Summum-Master and Mastery runs deep. Deeper than you can imagine but will soon enough know. She was born into it, and she has festered like the monster she is.

She is so much like her own mother.

A hand grips my shoulder, and I whip my head to the side. Corentin’s struggling to regulate the air in his own lungs, but that doesn’t stop him from filling mine with his element.

“Cas,” he grits out.

“It all makes a lot of fucked-up sense,” I murmur. “I need to see Pran and Dillon.”

“Then that’s where we’ll go,” Draken declares, pulling Willow off the ground to stand before any of the rest of us makes a move.

I don’t even have to convince him.

The dragon will always have my back.

“I don’t mean this in a bad way, but you’re handling this both far better than I did and better than I thought you would,” Willow says as she lays her hand to my heart.

“Don’t take my calmness for anything other than me trying to get answers, Primary. I have every intention of killing the Gales off one by one. Slowly, painfully. But you know how long I’ve wanted all the answers surrounding what happened to me. I have all the important ones, the ones that mean the most, but if I can scrape up every little detail, I’m going to. And then, when I peel their skin from their bodies, I’m going to rub it in their faces that they spent so many years attempting to break me and my family. Only to fail in the end.”

My dark words don’t scare her away. If anything, the naughty little Primary can’t stop herself from leaning closer to me.

I lay my lips to hers and swallow down the soft little sigh she releases. That breath of fresh air just spurs me on, and I bury my tongue deeper.

“Ready, sweet Willow?”

“Ready.”

My brothers lay their hands on me, but I don’t transport us. I tug on my Primary and she immediately knows what I’m asking for.

Her gift floods my body along with my own and I move us through the shadows. The realm becomes a blur as I move us through the darkness. The thrill thrumming through hers and my brother’s chests motivates me even more. I soak up their elation as I push my gift as much as I can.

This is the farthest I’ve ever traveled by my shadows and it’s ten times the experience having them alongside me. Yes, it certainly takes longer than a transport would, but having my gift and hers surrounding us is a feeling I’m willing to lose a couple of minutes of travel time over.

I avoid the central foyer at all cost. Just in case Vicki Gale is still in attendance. I may have collected myself for now, but if I laid my eyes on her, there’s no doubt I’d abandon my plans and replace them with slicing her to pieces.

We shadow out in front of the door where we placed Maxima, and many more voices than just the three brothers’ come through the wall.

Corentin and Tillman arch a brow at one another, but I don’t bother waiting to see what they decide to communicate mentally.

I shove the door wide, step in, then halt.

“What in the realm is going on?”

Everyone freezes and turns toward me.

Maps, papers, diagrams, you name it is laid out across the walls. Gaster, my dads Roye and Dyce, Keeper, Oakly, her Nexus, Aria, Lyker and his brothers, Trex, Codi, Xander, and Dec are all piled in here with Pran, Maxima, and Dillon.

“Oh my Elementra, Willow,” Oakly shrieks, breaking the silence as she plows through the men to get to my Primary, who just stepped up beside me. “Why are you covered in blood? What the fuck happened?” She growls at me like it’s my fault.

“I’m fine. Cleansing the Gods Binding was a little more difficult than we expected,” Willow says as she hugs her back and I huff.

A little more.

“Anyone going to answer me?”

“While you all were off ridding the realm of that thing, we started mapping out every Mastery location in Elementra,” Ry says smugly.

“What?” Tillman asks, stepping past me to cross the room.

Of course.

My gaze scans over the three reunited brothers and the change in them is obvious. No longer held down by the rune that was feeding on their souls, they’re new men .

With a fuck ton of information.

The worried look Roye gives Tillman as he approaches causes my fist to clench. This is a gold mine of information, but none of it is positive.

The rest of us join beside him and look over the parchment plastered against the walls. I walk around the room, collecting everything I can in my mind.

Tillman has his work cut out for him. We all do.

This just got ten times harder. Not easier.

We knew from Maxima’s mind the numbers were terrifying, but this is immensely worse than what we thought. He only knew a glimpse compared to the combined knowledge from his brothers.

My Primary’s face is blank as she processes everything she sees. There’s a darkness rising in the corner of her eye the more she listens and plays catch-up with Tillman and Corentin.

As Pran goes on about the elite families involved, the multitude of housings and concealed structures spread across the realm, and even beings not of Elementra that’ve been brought in to serve the Mastery, her worry grows.

As does mine.

We are not ready to face the entirety of their army.

Had the Summum-Master attacked based on his original plan, along with having the power of that God, we would’ve been annihilated before we even got dressed for the day.

A break in the conversation leaves the room in a tense silence as we all face the inevitable truth.

“What do we do?” Willow asks.

The breathy question is laced with desperation and fear.

Tillman’s hard eyes land on her paling face and his shoulders sag. There’re no pretty or romantic words to give her right now.

“Explain again what his plan was after he found out we destroyed his way to travel the realms.” He says to Pran and Dillon.

“He’s still going to attack the Central in one week’s time. As the heart of his forces attacks there, hitting Vito academy and the main towns, smaller teams will take major points around the realm. The Terravile Pack, the Alewood family and Tealwaters family strongholds. With the E.F. spread protecting those areas, they’ll converge on the palace. The vast majority of Pyrthia are already under control of the Everglows. The families that aren’t don’t stand a chance to stop anything they do.”

It’s a solid fucking plan.

One that would be easily executed with the numbers.

“There are five major locations that look to hold the bulk of their forces. At least half the army.” Tillman pauses, looking at Pran and Dillon for confirmation. At their nods, he continues, “Half we can handle at one time. Tomorrow morning everyone will meet at the command room. Uncle Roye, one of you will need to get the Drovers, Alewoods, and Tealwaters here. We’ll have to tell them the truth now. Willow or I can go through each of their minds before we say anything. With the two of you now out of the picture, Vicki’s going to notice. They’ll either believe you’re dead or have betrayed them. So we don’t have time to waste. We plan tomorrow, move out the next day. If we want any chance of winning this, we have to hit them where it hurts the most first. Everyone, get some rest. Be at the command room an hour after dawn.”

He leaves no room for argument, and everyone respects that. There’s no choice now. That’s the plan and tomorrow we will finalize everything we can.

Then we fight for our lives.

Ry’s, Lyker’s, and Trex’s Nexuses all say their goodbyes. The other Primaries hold on to my Primary a little longer than they typically would as they look her over. Oakly cracks a joke about the condition of Willow’s dress, which I appreciate as a small snort falls from her lips.

As they leave, though, the darkness closes in around her again.

“May I have a word?” I ask Pran, Dillon, and Maxima as they start helping Gaster and Keeper collect the papers.

Pran’s eyes immediately look over at Willow then back at me. The guilt and anger clouding them is unnecessary but appreciated.

“Of course,” he says and the three of them come around the table to stand in front of me.

I don’t waste my breath on pleasantries .

I jump in from the beginning.

My uncle’s visit to them in their cells, him telling them what to do and why they should join the Mastery. I mind my words but let them know I see what they had to force themselves to do.

Bonding with Vicki was not a truly consensual or wanted thing.

It may not be admitted or documented anywhere but their minds, but I have no doubt they killed Vicki’s parents, not her. Once they were in the Mastery, they had the freedom and power to do it and cover it up. Their eyes widen, but they don’t deny it.

I don’t blame them.

Her parents did the same to their Primary and brother.

I tell them I know they recruited the Everglows to grow more favor in the Summum-Master’s eyes. They played a placating role to get more information for my uncle.

The interference they ran, what they did for Trex and his brothers.

I tell them everything we’ve discovered, even my story, but I need just one more question answered.

“Where’s Silvia been her whole life? You don’t have a child running around and no one notice?”

Dillon takes a minute to shake away his shock that I know all of this, and his eyes darken as they meet mine. “Vicki really was distraught when we killed her parents. They spoiled her and created the attention-seeking monster she is. She ran right to the Summum-Master to snitch us out. We easily lied and said that they found out about our involvement, then threatened to tell the Ruling Nexus. We were just doing what we thought was best.

“He soaked that shit up. Vicki changed her tone immediately and endlessly apologized to him. It was fucking vile. From that moment on, she acted as though he was her substitute father. She made a huge deal of announcing her surprise pregnancy to him first. Even before us. He told her, the child would stay a secret, and it would serve the Mastery well.

“Vicki was incredibly disappointed it was a girl. She’d firmly accepted the belief that women were below men. The Summum-Master told her not to fret. That women who could follow rules would serve him and he’d use them accordingly. Silvia had no other option in life but to follow him. She’s his most loyal and spoiled servant. He raised her. We did not.”

My sneer hides nothing of how I feel about anything he just told me, but it does in fact connect all my pieces for me.

“So Vicki requested the year off, faking the mourning of her parents, but really to hide her pregnancy. Silvia was born and given to the Summum-Master. Years later, the heirs started being born. All males. The Summum-Master saw his way into the ruling family. The Gales began reporting what they knew about us.

“I was targeted because I was the youngest, most na?ve, and easiest to take advantage of. They thought I’d be easy to bond to her, maybe even steal my gift if not. I’ve known this. I’ve just figured Silvia was a random recruit this whole time because of her Figuration gift, but no. He saw a pawn from the moment she was born, and he made a monster that would listen to his every command. He always knew she’d be used to get close to my family. He could build her Nexus, and she was the perfect person for him to attempt to duplicate the females of my Primary’s line by giving her extra gifts.”

“Yes. Caspian, I’m so, so—”

I hold my hand up to stop him. “You have nothing to apologize to me for. The information left behind from my uncle was nothing but praises for the work you all did and the friendships you built. That’s enough for me. You’ve answered the last confirmation I needed. And now I know for sure her crazy-ass obsessive behavior is both hereditary and taught. I’m sorry for what you all had to do and agree to, to get to this point.”

I go to step away, but his voice halts me. “You remind me of him. He would be so proud of you.”

He is proud.

“Spend time with your brothers now that you have them back fully. We’ll take it from here.”

I vow that to him, then walk to where my brothers and Primary are waiting for me. The darkness I see lingering in her eyes makes my chest pull tight and I refuse to allow her to go to sleep tonight with this new fear hanging over her.

“Did you get the answer you needed?”

I trail my fingers down her sweet face that softens for me. “I did. I owe it all to you, Primary.” She starts to shake her head, but I lay my lips to hers. “Let’s get out of here.”

My shadows wrap around her and my brothers, and we move through the walls to our bedroom.

She shivers as my gift caresses her. I sense some of the darkness leaking out, but before she closes her eyes for the night, I need her free from it completely.

The closer we get to our room, the thicker I make my gift around her eyes. I leave her out of the link in our minds and inform the guys of what I have planned.

They each happily agree.

By the time we step out in the middle of our room, she’s reaching her hands out to find someone to hold on to.

The sound of my name laughing from her echoes around the room, but as she goes to remove her mask, my command stops her. “Leave it right where I put it, Primary.”

Her hands freeze, then slowly start lowering. “Why?”

“I’m keeping my promise. Embrace this kind of darkness. Let the rest go.”

Her breath hitches and my body shudders.

My water element comes to my call and a nod to Tillman has him casting out his earth. Together we remove the stains from her gown like she wanted and Corentin dries the wet spot.

A tear down the back of the dress has the fabric falling off her and a pitiful little whimper falls from her lips. “Don’t fret, little warrior, I’ll have it all fixed up. Just needed to get it off you first.”

As he collects that off the ground and lays it over on her desk, Corentin comes up behind her and runs his fingers down her arms. “Would you like to lose your sense of touch too, princess? Or just your sight?”

Chill bumps break out across her skin and Draken follows the trail with his hands.

A whisper of a moan passes her lips. “Both. ”

“Good girl,” Corentin praises before stepping away from her.

Vines snake around her legs, then they draw her arms up above her head.

What a beautiful sight.

Splayed out and ready to be worshipped.

If only she could see the way we silently walk around her body, changing our positions. The heated and hungry looks would have her demanding we touch her.

“You have no clue how fucking good you look right now, sweetness,” Draken says.

He speaks in all our minds rather than out loud, leaving her clueless as to where we are.

That’s if she’s doing this completely blind.

Which, being the naughty little Primary she is, I believe she’ll keep her bonds locked down so she can experience this to the fullest.

We all move in on her at once.

Her head falls back on a moan that has my dick growing painfully hard in my pants.

I hold my palm out to Draken, and he looks at it curiously as his mouth pops off her nipple. “Heat my hand, dragon. Can’t give away it’s me so soon.”

He smiles darkly and casts a flame between us.

She feels the heat and tries her hardest to arch into it, but Tillman pulls her back.

I let my hands sit in the fire long enough I know they’ll be confusing at first. The heat will feel like him, but the touch will feel like me.

My fingers glide through her already soaked pussy and I plunge two in at a time. I curl them just the way I know he does that drives her fucking mad. I hold in my groan when she clenches around them.

I keep pumping them in and out as the guys continuously keep switching places and rotating what they’re doing. She shakes her head in a maddening effort to work out who’s doing what .

I drop to my knees in front of her and run my tongue right over her already swelling clit. The sound that comes out of her makes all of us groan together.

“Who is that, little warrior? Who got to taste that sweet pussy first?” Tillman asks.

“It’s…ah…”

I pull my fingers free and grip her thighs as I lick from the top of her pussy until my tongue fills her ass. The sound of my name screaming from her throat has a dark smile crossing my lips.

“Good, naughty little Primary.”

I continue to feast on her until her legs vibrate so fiercely I can’t see straight. I stand and tilt her chin up from where she hangs her head as heavy pants fall from her chest.

I seal my lips to hers and she groans at the taste of herself on my tongue.

My nod toward the bed is all the communication my brothers need.

Corentin makes his way onto the bed as Tillman bends her over on all fours and climbs behind her.

“Open that mouth, sweet Willow.”

She does exactly as I order, and both my brothers fill her inch by inch. Her body rocks harder into Corentin as Tillman’s pace picks up to the point she can’t push back into him anymore. He takes full control of their movements and all she can do is go with it.

“Tillman. You’re so fucking deep.”

“I can’t help it. Your pussy feels so fucking good.”

“Whose cock is in your mouth, sweetness?” Draken purrs as he runs his hand underneath her to play with her clit.

“Core…Corentin.”

“That’s right, baby. You know the taste of me. Drink it all down.”

His hips twitch and his head falls back. One more thrust from Tillman has all three of them falling apart.

Her arms tremble with the effort it’s taking to hold herself up as the two of them move out of the way for Draken and me.

“What will it be, dragon? ”

“This is your little game, shadow man. I’ll enjoy whatever piece of her I get.”

I nod for him to lie down. We grip Willow around her waist together and sit her right on his dick. Her hands roam all over his chest and the moment she reaches his neck, I know it’s game over.

Her delicate fingers trace the mating mark at the junction of his shoulder and the growl he releases has her shivering.

He pounds into her as I coat my dick in lube. The slick feeling and the view of her bouncing on his cock like the greedy little goddess she is has my fist moving faster.

“Cas…”

All I can do is grunt.

“Don’t you dare come unless it’s in me.”

Fuck.

Her words send Draken right over the edge far faster than he was ready for. He spills inside of her, and I squeeze the base of my cock to stop myself from following.

The second he slips out, I slam in.

I had all intentions of taking her ass, but I’ll never miss an opportunity to pound into this pretty little pussy. To feel it clench around me as I shove my brother’s cum deeper in her and mix in my own.

Fuck. I’ll make sure she’s stuffed full of us.

That thought has my back bowing and ice slicing through my stomach as I try to hold back my release.

It’s a waste of effort.

Her moan of our names has me unraveling.

My head leans against her spine as I fight to get air in my lungs and the trembles coursing through her tumble into me.

“That was…so intense,” she pants as she falls completely on Draken.

I catch myself before I crush them both and it takes everything within me to pull out of her.

“That was insane. Was it hard for you to tell who was who?” Draken asks as he runs his hands along her back and I call my shadows back from around her eyes .

“At first, yeah. When all of you were touching me and moving around everywhere, I couldn’t confidently decide who was doing what. When you and Cas switched, I could tell.”

I shoot the dragon a wink behind her head as he smiles mischievously at me.

Next time, I’ll make his hands freeze.

A deep, drawn-out yawn escapes her and Tillman’s quick to swoop in and take her from Draken. “Shower, then sleep, little warrior.”

She groans but doesn’t complain as he carries her into the shower and the rest of us follow right along.

We can wash away the day together.

It may be the last time we get to do this for a while.

Tomorrow, we wake up and plan a war.