Page 13

Chapter 13

A ll of the troubles of the last few days faded away in the wake of Dohal’s overwhelming passion for her. Mari leaned her head back to give him better access to her mouth, and he plundered freely with a growl of approval. Her magic finally came to heel, wrapping around him eagerly. He set his thumb under her chin so that she looked up at him as he pulled back and favored her with a sweltering smile.

I would do anything to protect you, bavi, he spoke into her mind. But sharing you is no hardship, because what is between us has been lifetimes in the making, and nothing can break it.

Affection for him swelled in her chest. “I’m yours. Today and always.” She reached up to grab his horn. “I want you tonight.” She had something she desperately needed to share, and she wanted to do it alone with him first.

An expression of concern softened the severe planes of his face. “It’s unwise now that we know the Old One is so close. It will leave you vulnerable.”

“I can keep watch until she’s recovered,” Ashdei said.

Mari turned to look at the demon. She’d all but forgotten he was there in the tumult that was Dohal’s regard. His face was an impassive mask, but something simmered under the surface. Without thinking, she reached for him with her magic.

His blue-fire eyes widened, and the strange wildness in him surged in response to her touch. He was out of his chair and had crossed half the distance between them before he came to his senses, shaking his head to clear it.

Oh yes, the goddess crooned inside her. He’s delicious. Rather than moving to protect her and Dohal from his sudden advance, her magic embraced him. He was a force of nature—imposing and ominous as a thunderstorm. His power sparked over her tongue, tasting like sex and sin, and she wanted to devour him.

Next to her, Dohal lowered his face close to her ear to murmur, “Would you like it if he watched?”

“Yes.” She drew the word out long as she drank in the sight of him. She loved how obvious it was by his posture that he wanted her as badly as she did him. In this moment, she had a hard time remembering why she’d rejected his proposal.

Ashdei looked between them. “Not what I meant.”

“Isn’t it?” Dohal dropped a hand to her thigh, his claws light and teasing along her skin as he dragged them up to the hem of her skirt. “Would you deny her if she commanded it?”

The blue-flame eyes dipped to follow the progress of Dohal’s fingers. His voice was hoarse when he answered, “No.”

She favored the handsome demon with a smile, because she could feel his urge to please her quivering along her magic. “Would you deny me anything?”

Ashdei seemed surprised by her question, but his response came quickly, “I would not.”

Mari wondered how far that pledge would stretch. Visions of him bound and forced to watch her as she was ravished by Dohal overwhelmed her, and her magic flared in response.

Dohal huffed with amusement. Oh, my dark and dangerous love, he purred into her thoughts. How you tease me.

Had she sent that image into his mind?

“I have no objection to his presence, provided he can keep his hands to himself,” Dohal said out loud. “But the choice is always yours.”

“Could the Old One reach us in the grove?”

Dohal hummed. “I do not know for certain. Now that I am free, my power is bounded by the magic of the Earth, Natural magic. The same magic that the Forest Lord has. The cage I was trapped in was forged of Incarnate magic by Basilio and the other incubi.” His eyes drifted toward Ashdei before returning. “With the demon’s help we could secure it more thoroughly.”

Mari focused on Ashdei once more. “You can start to prove yourself by helping him secure the space he made for me. I’ll go talk to Cisco, Rio, and Dante in the meantime and see how they feel about all of this. I’ll come find you both there afterwards. Then we can talk about tonight.”

Ashdei nodded. “Protecting you is why I’m here.”

Dohal kissed her cheek and then her brow before rising. Don’t let them tempt you, he said in her head with a wicked smile on his lips. I want you empty and aching for me.

She sighed but nodded up at him. After they left, she walked slowly to Cisco’s office. She wasn’t sure how this conversation was going to go.

Cisco hated Ashdei. But he’d never tried to stop her from engaging in a relationship with anyone else. Would he draw a line in the sand now? She knew if he objected, she wouldn’t pursue it. Cisco had claimed her heart before any of the others. She wouldn’t deny him his very reasonable boundaries.

Her gargoyle was on the phone, with Rio sitting in his guest chair. Rio motioned her forward and moved to make room for her in his lap.

He leaned into the curve of her neck to greet her with a nuzzling kiss. “You smell like campfire,” he whispered into her skin.

He felt content as he held her against him. She didn’t think Rio would object to Ashdei’s presence in their lives, but that was because he trusted her completely. He was the one who never doubted, never questioned.

Her thoughts drifted to Dante. Her awareness of him was dim with distance at the moment, but she could tell he was pleased about something. She called him to her, though she made sure not to make it seem urgent. He might get a frown line between his eyebrows when she explained what she was considering, but he would support her decision as well.

Since her night with Dohal, especially when her magic was charged like it was now, she could pick up more feelings from her men, and sometimes what felt like more detailed desires. And now it seemed like she could send thoughts like she’d done accidentally with Dohal earlier, sharing her fantasy about Ashdei watching them.

She kept her magic from getting too unruly at that reminder and turned her attention to Cisco once more. He was annoyed by whatever was happening on the phone but having her and Rio in the same room with him also eased him profoundly. A guardian by nature, when his bonded were within sight, all was right with the world.

Mari thought about how much she loved him, like a warm fire that would never run out of fuel. His eyes turned her way, and he grinned, showing his fangs, and she knew he’d felt the glow of her affection. She was definitely getting better at whatever this was. It helped that none of them seemed concerned by the new development.

Dante arrived just as Cisco sounded like he might be wrapping up, with a tray overflowing with what was obviously lunch intended for them. Her stomach helpfully reminded her that it had been hours since breakfast, and she was starving. He settled the tray on the credenza and set about making plates for all of them.

When Cisco finally hung up, Dante invited them all over to get their food. Each plate had been thoughtfully arranged for the person it was intended for. Rio didn’t get pickles and Mari got twice as many as any reasonable person would try to consume. Cisco’s sandwich was made with the stinkiest cheese Mari had ever had the misfortune of smelling, and Rio’s had more steak than was probably allowed in the entire state of California.

She sighed contentedly as they all settled in for their meal. No wonder Dante had felt pleased with himself. He loved providing for the people he cared about—it made him happier than anything else.

“Thank you, this looks amazing,” she said before biting into one of the pickles from a giant mountain on her plate.

Dante favored her with a breathtaking smile that made her heart race. His own sandwich was overflowing with a colorful array of veggies and what looked like hummus.

“So, how was everyone’s morning?” Cisco asked, once they had all made some headway with their meals.

Dante said he’d spent most of the morning with Giselle getting their grocery order organized. He was involved in the meal planning now. When Mari had asked him about it, he’d said that before becoming a submissive-for-hire he’d gone to culinary school. In fact, he’d come to Las Vegas with aspirations of becoming a chef, but he’d been tempted into the more carnal side of the city shortly after.

Rio had spent most of the morning with Clovis, going over various renovation plans, including the start of what would be the master suite. He grinned when they peppered him with questions about it but kept the details to himself. Cisco had given him a blank check and complete autonomy to make the space his own, and he was taking that to heart.

When they turned to look at her expectantly, she put her sandwich down. “Ashdei showed up this morning. Walked right into the library as if he owned the place.”

Three pairs of eyes stared at her—blue, brown, and endless black. None of them said anything for a moment that drew out long.

Rio was the first to react after he’d swallowed his food. “So I guess he wasn’t exaggerating about being welcome anywhere you are.”

“It seems not,” she confirmed.

“I wish you’d called me,” Cisco said, his voice even despite the turmoil she could sense from him.

“Dohal was there. I promise I wasn’t in any danger. I really just wanted to get answers out of him.”

“Did he touch you?” Cisco asked, the grumbling discontent finally creeping into his tone.

“No, he was very respectful of my personal space.”

Dante muttered, “I sense a but coming.”

Mari took a breath and nodded. “But he wants to.”

One tick of a growl escaped Cisco before he reined it in. “I’m going to tear his intestines out through his nose if he so much as breathes on you, Mariana.”

“That’s why I didn’t call you.” She sighed. “I appreciate your anger and your desire to protect me. But I needed to talk to him without having to worry you were going to get yourself killed trying to defend my honor or nullify the terms of the contract.”

“That fucking contract,” Cisco spat.

“I need you to listen to me, okay?” She waited for his grudging nod before she continued, “Since I freed Dohal, I’ve been able to sense emotions from all of you, and I can usually tell how far away you are. Sometimes I can even send things. I think you’ve all noticed?”

She glanced around at all of them, waiting for them to agree before she went on, “It’s strongest with Dohal, and when he’s in the room it’s like I’m supercharged with it.”

Rio looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, “It sounds like a side effect, of your mate bond with him. Maybe it’s a power of his that you’re borrowing.”

“That’s what I think too.” Mari smiled. “But here’s the thing, when it was just the three of us in a room, it worked with Ashdei too.”

She could tell that Cisco wanted to grumble about that, but he kept his objection to himself.

“So, he is one of yours,” Rio said.

“I think so.” She put her plate on Cisco’s desk. “I’m not saying I trust him, because I don’t. But my magic does, and so does the goddess.” She took a breath and met Cisco’s eyes. “I think I at least need to keep talking with him until we figure this out.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, wings flaring out in annoyance. “What is it you haven’t told us yet? I know there’s something.”

Mari swallowed. “He said if we completed the circle, whatever that means, I would be the next Prince of Earth.”

The outburst she had expected didn’t happen. The three of them were quiet with their own thoughts for nearly a minute. While she still felt uncertainty from Cisco, the other two were coming around.

Finally, Rio spoke up first, “Did Dohal think he was being honest about that?”

Mari nodded. “I thought so too, with whatever we’re going to call this sense of you all that I have now.”

Dante looked up and shrugged. “I don’t trust the demon, but I trust the goddess.”

Rio tilted his head. “I trust Mari’s vibe checker.” He tossed a wink her way.

All of them turned toward Cisco, waiting for his response.

He clenched his jaw a few times before he spoke, “Dohal is in the room with you whenever you talk to him.”

Mari agreed without hesitation. “That seems wise.”

He held her gaze for a long moment. “I love you. And I trust you. And if this is something you want to pursue, I will support you in whatever way I can.”

“I love you too.” She let out a breath. “I wasn’t going to do it if you said no. I want you to know that.”

“I know.” He smiled briefly. “That’s what made it easy for me to say yes.”

Humming to herself, Mari walked along the path from the main house to the grove. She was looking forward to her night with Dohal, though she hadn’t decided yet if she was going to let Ashdei watch. Part of her craved that more than anything, but she was still unsure if she wanted to be that vulnerable in front of him.

She’d meant what she said to Cisco and Rio and Dante. Ashdei belonged to her. But that didn’t mean she trusted him. He was definitely holding something back from her, and she needed to figure out what that was before going too much farther with him.

She wasn’t paying very much attention to her surroundings, but then a tree moved in her periphery and brought her up short.

No, not a tree.

A towering being with branches for horns and bottomless black holes for eyes that stepped onto the pathway in front of her. Malevolence poured from the Old One in waves and buffeted her.

“You are the one who freed the creature from his cage,” he said in a voice like an avalanche. “I can smell him on you.”

Mari tried very hard not to let the fear shivering through her show. She had no idea if she managed or not. “Yes.”

“Why?” The question rang with condemnation.

There was no reason she could think of not to be honest, and in any case, she was too fucking scared to make up a lie. “He didn’t deserve to be held captive.”

“What he deserves is death.” The anger in the Old One’s voice shook the ground around her until she thought she’d lose her footing.

In that instant of abject fear, all of her men realized she was in danger and charged toward her.

Shadows raced toward her from every side, streaming in from the trees around her.

Dohal took form between them in the blink of an eye. “Your quarrel is with me and not her. She has nothing to do with this.”

Rustling flames. Wings rending air. Hoofbeats on stone. Silent churning paws. Each of them moved at their top speed toward her, but they were already too late.

Because she understood without question what Dohal meant to do, and her heart broke. He would give himself up to save her. She’d always known that. She wanted to fall to her knees and wail, but there was no time.

Ashdei was there next, his hand rising to put up a shield, but the Old One was already in striking distance of his prey.

A huge, clawed hand wrapped around her dragon’s neck. Dohal didn’t struggle against the grip. Instead, he walled Mari off from him so that she didn’t feel the pain that wracked him the next instant. His body convulsed, but he didn’t make a single sound as agony rippled through him.

With every second that passed, Dohal weakened in front of her.

Ashdei’s shield sprang up around Mari as she yelled for the life of her dragon. She charged forward without thinking, plunging through the blue fire toward them.

Around her, the rest of her men arrived. They shouted for her to stop. But she couldn’t listen to them, because if she did, she might doubt what it was she had to do. She had to save her dragon. There was no other choice. No other possible outcome.

Power spun out from her in a spiral from a well deep within her that she didn’t understand. This wasn’t arousal or lust or any of the magic that she usually channeled. This was something else, scathing and pure.

Her men all tried to approach to stop her, but only Ashdei could withstand the sparking chaos of her magic at full force. He was nearly within range to grab her when the power exploded from her, sending even him reeling backward.

Mari rose on the currents of energy pouring from her, lighting up the night around her in green and gold. Lightning arced from her and struck the ground around the Old One over and over. Her wrath made manifest.

She understood with a portion of her mind that the power blazing through her would eventually be her undoing. The strands of matter that made her came unspun little by little, because this much energy couldn’t be contained by a mortal body.

“YOU CANNOT HAVE HIM!” she screamed with her entire being.

The Old One bellowed in pain, his form vibrating with magic as she continued to bombard him, until he finally let Dohal go and stepped back from the onslaught.

The driving rhythm of the cosmos moved through her like a heartbeat.

She was the beginning and ending of all things.

She was everything and nothing.

She was the void and all that ached to fill it.

The Old One raised both arms to the sky, and with a concussive boom that she felt rather than heard, he vanished. She wouldn’t have been able to best him, she understood that now that she’d been able to feel his power for herself, but she had managed to surprise him. She relished the momentary victory of his retreat.

In the aftermath, Dohal looked up at her, his face a mask of pain and terror. He yelled something that she couldn’t hear over the roaring of thunder in her ears.

She smiled down at her dragon, so grateful he was safe, and then she plummeted to the ground—shattered and empty.