Page 36

Thud.

What the heck was that?

I blink my bleary eyes open, rubbing away the sleep crusties in the corners. We went to bed a few hours ago, and I feel like I barely slept.

Thud.

My amp rune around my neck heats, bathing our bedroom in my house—my birth parents’ home—a bubble gum pink. I drag the blanket up to my chin, not wanting to wake my mates while using my magic.

There’s nothing but white noise filtering through my ears as I strain to hear where the noise came from. Or if it even happens again.

All is still silent, so I let my magic go, sitting up once the glow of my rune dissipates.

Looking around, I realize only Luka and Axel are with me in bed, and Aero is stretched out in the very place I remember Bane being when we fell asleep. Only he and Zane are nowhere to be found.

They must be getting a midnight snack, I think to myself.

My stomach grumbles on cue at the thought, reminding me I didn’t eat much yesterday, and I wasn’t even all that hungry at dinner, but now I’m practically ravenous.

That snack is sounding like a dang good idea. Hopefully, whatever they made is enough to share.

Neither of my mates stir as I climb out of bed, my bare feet padding the floor in the direction of the door. I snag Bane’s zip-up hoodie he discarded on the chair earlier and throw it on over my sports bra and shorts I fell asleep in.

My fingers fumble with the pull tab as I head down the hallway toward the stairs. It finally catches on the other side, and the tick, tick, tick as I zip it up sounds way too damn loud in the silence of the middle of the night.

“Fucking hell, watch out.” The cursing from an unknown source freezes me in my tracks right before I reach the landing. I retreat a step, swallowing hard. That wasn’t my mate’s voice. Neither one of them. I know that as surely as I know my name.

A hand clamps over my mouth, and an arm wraps around my waist. But it’s the shhh from a voice I do know in my ear that keeps me from truly losing my shit.

When he realizes I know he isn’t a threat, he lets me go with an apologetic look on his light blue face. I want to ask him what he’s doing here, but he quickly lifts a finger to his lips, reminding me that we need to be quiet.

Right. There are bad people in the house.

Thaddeus grabs my hand, entwining our fingers, and points down the hallway in silent question.

I nod and take off, pulling him behind me until we reach the bedroom, where Luka and Axel are starting to sit up on the bed. They look up at the sound of my panicked breath and scramble to my side a heartbeat later.

“Are you okay, cor meum ?” I shake my head, wisps of my white hair falling in my face.

“Thaddeus? What the hell are you doing here?” Luka grumbles, pulling me into his arms.

“Listen, there’s no time to explain, but there are unknown visitors in the house. A lot of them. Way more than there should be for three in the morning.”

“What?” Luka’s arms tense. “Get Bailey the hell out of here and back to the academy while we deal with this.”

“But–” I don’t want to go without them.

“But nothing, goddess. Your safety is priority.” He kisses my forehead before passing me off to Thaddeus. “I love you.”

“No. I’m not–”

“Yes, you are, cor meum . I love you, but now isn’t the time to be stubborn.” He turns to Thaddeus. “Keep her safe, fae. Now go.”

Thaddeus gives my mates a determined nod, but then he falters, his brows coming down in confusion. “My portal isn’t opening. Bailey?”

The portal rune on my butt cheek heats and continues to burn, only no portal opens for me either.

I shake my head, true fear licking down my spine now that my magic isn’t responding how it's supposed to.

“Luka, take her.” Thaddeus shoves me at my demi-god, and he grabs my hand, but we don’t disappear. We stay rooted to the spot, like sitting ducks during hunting season.

“Motherfucker,” Luka growls. “Whoever is doing this has the help of a god.”

Oh, gods. We’re screwed.

Aero, responding to my distress, nudges me in the belly, reminding me he’s here too. Horror floods me a second later as I recall my birth dad’s words.

“Shit,” I curse, gripping Aero’s face and forcing him to accept my will. My soul shudders at the strain, but I don’t care. Not right now. I need to protect him first if I have any chance of protecting my mates.

My Pegasus disappears from between my hands, and then he’s zipping around in his tiny form, finding his hiding place.

Thaddeus doesn’t question what I just did, but I can tell he’s going to be asking about it later. Fine by me, as long as we’re alive later.

“Where are the twins?” Axel asks, sharing an indecipherable look with Luka.

“I don’t know. They weren’t here when I woke up. Do you…think they were caught by whoever is here?”

“I can’t answer that, cor meum , but you need to prepare yourself. You and Thaddeus just fixed the wards earlier, and there are only so many of us that can open them and invite outsiders in.”

I immediately get what Axel is implying, but I don’t believe it.

“No. No way.” I slice my hands through the air. “They wouldn’t. They’re contracted to protect me by the council, and they’re my mates.” I shake my head, not wanting to believe it. “No. It’s just not possible.”

“Regard–”

My scream pierces the air as the window implodes. Glass projectiles fly toward my face, but a shield pops up around the four of us before they can make contact. A body falls through the destroyed window next, landing on their feet, but then it crashes to the floor. Blood pools from beneath the gash across his neck, staining my beautiful floor.

“Axel, take her out the window and get her as far from the house as possible.” He scoops me up to do just that and blurs toward the window. Pain hits a second later as we hit what feels like a wall, forcing Axel to curl around me and shield my head before it bounces off the floor.

“Fuck, cor meum ,” my vamp growls, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I groan, flooding my healing rune to offset the hurt in my bones.

“I’m going to kill the bastard god doing this the second I get my hands on him,” Luka rumbles dangerously, helping me and Axel up off the floor.

“We need to get to the main floor,” Thaddeus chimes in, icing over the window. “We’re too bottle-necked here. And if we stay, they’ll surely get Bailey and kill us in the process.”

“Alright.” Luka adopts commander mode, taking charge. “Bailey, stay in the middle of us, and don’t use your magic unless absolutely necessary. You’ll need to portal out the second you’re able to, and you can’t if you’re exhausted.”

I already don’t like the sound of this plan, but I don’t voice it.

“I can only use my shield if we’re standing in one spot, so we’re at a bit of a disadvantage. You can thank my sperm donor for that one.”

What the hell.

“Let’s move.”

We follow Luka’s orders, myself positioned right behind him, with Axel guarding my back, and Thaddeus taking up the rear.

The lower level of the house is silent for the time being as we make for the stairs, but that could change at any time.

Step by step, my anxiety heightens until I’m vibrating with tension.

Luka pauses right before the landing and holds his hand up, signaling for us to freeze. He listens closely for anything amiss, and I do too, but without the aid of my amplifier rune, my hearing is as good as a human’s.

His fingers flick in the low light of the moon shining through the window of the open guest bedroom door, and we trudge on, taking the stairs one at a time, keeping our eyes peeled.

My vision is useless, I know that. So I have to rely on the three that have preternatural sight all the time to see if there are any incoming threats I may be blind to.

I start to think we’re home free the closer we get to the bottom of the stairs. There still isn’t a sound or movement from anywhere nearby, and I silently thank my demon mates for that.

They must have come back from wherever they were and dispatched the bad guys before we got down here.

But I’m proven wrong when Luka’s foot hits the main floor.

It’s like his very arrival triggered the start of the assault.

A shining beacon flies into the air, embedding itself in the ceiling. The light emanating from it flares brighter, shedding light on what we just walked into. Or shedding darkness because there’s no way the guys missed this many people lined up.

“Fuck,” Luka grits out, grinding his teeth so loud, I’m surprised his molars haven’t cracked. “They have a shadow fiend.”

A what?

I really want to ask, but I realize now isn’t a time to ask for a lesson on creatures I know nothing about.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a lightning bolt heading straight for my vampire mate behind me.

Oh hell no. You don’t attack my mate unprovoked and get away with it.

I call upon my air rune and slam a little strength behind it to spin it around and send it right back in the jerk’s direction.

His scream is akin to a war cry, sending everyone bursting into action.

Enemies come from left, right, and center, but we stick together.

One dies, and two more take their place.

At this rate, we’ll never make it out of here alive. Not with whatever voodoo god shit they’re using to keep us confined inside the house. And not without a miracle.

Axel, Luka, and Thaddeus keep me in the middle of them, but every time they dart out to take one man down, another one gets way too close for comfort.

“Bailey, stay here,” Luka mutters, tossing a lightning bolt which misses. “It’s easier to focus if you’re in one place and protected.”

It’s then that I realize the guys backed us into a corner. Or more specifically me.

“I’ll keep my shield on you, but you can’t leave this spot. Understand?”

There’s a scream before I can answer, and my eyes find the source, wishing I didn’t. Ice encases their entire body before there’s a deafening crack and their body explodes into a million tiny pieces.

“Bailey, please tell me you understand.” The shield bubbles up around us, and Luka cups my cheeks. “We can’t lose you. So please, stay inside my protection.”

“I understand,” I murmur on autopilot, even if it’s a lie. I don’t understand. Not any of this.

Why can’t people just leave me alone?