Page 20

Chapter 20

Ward

H er soft lips parted on my name, or a prayer. I couldn’t tell which because I was just as lost in her body and thoughts rolling through mine. It was heady to share my mental space with her. The bond was so strong. I surged into Evie again, her greedy pussy sucking me down into oblivion.

Harder, please, Ward, she whispered into my mind. The image she placed there almost faltered my control.

My hand gripped her waist. I didn’t worry about her breaking a rib anymore, so my hands explored everywhere I could touch.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” Licking her neck had me preoccupied with the texture of her skin.

“You won’t,” she said. Her kitten claws lengthened to grip my shoulders. “But I might hurt you if you don’t give it to me right now.”

My cock flexed hard inside her, and she moaned. My bear pushed our own claws into the tree behind her. I’d never had so little control over him, but he pumped and growled into Evie with abandon as I took her nipple into my mouth and sucked those berries to tight peaks I lashed with my tongue. Her sweat tasted like candied oranges. I would never tire of it.

“Reach with me, love. I want you to make a mess all over this cock.”

My words and some strokes over her clit had her doing as I asked, and her spasming channel sent me over the edge with her. Screwing my eyes shut, I gritted my teeth against biting her. My bear chuffed in annoyance. We were inside her, for Godds’ sake.

“So good. Good girl. Just like that. Yes, my love.” I couldn’t have stopped the words if I tried. I didn’t let up on her clit and it rolled her into another orgasm stronger than the first. She screamed into the morning. I could watch that blissed look come over her face every day because I put it there. I wanted to take her to a private den and do this for a few centuries.

Evie collapsed into my arms, my spell that kept her skin from the bark of the tree dissipating as I sat down hard. I wasn’t sure how my legs stood us up as she drained me dry, other than sheer force of will. We both blew heavy breaths into the cool air.

The early morning mists rolled through our part of the campsite. Maybe we could just forget all about the Harrowlands and I would kidnap Evie again. No one would ever find us in my den.

“Loud, happy couple!” Declan called into the mist.

The weather gave us some privacy, but Evie stiffened in my lap. “Go away, wolf,” she said. “Or Ward’s going to show me how to magic all your fur off.”

I smothered my laugh in her hair. She felt so right against me. I would shatter into a million pieces if this quest ended, and we ended. After everything, I couldn’t get rid of a small worm of doubt that she was mine forever. Our missing bite still hung over my head. Perhaps Evie would take it when all of this calmed down. I didn’t plan on our normal lives together to involve so much death and destruction.

“I wish I could,” Declan replied. “But there’s an evil force to stop and no one can get Greg to calm down enough to get a saddle on him.”

She looked at me like I had an answer for that.

I shrugged. “He’s your horse.”

“Coming,” Evie called back. She backed off my cock and I couldn’t resist sliding home into her one more time.

“Again?” I asked cheekily, enjoying the humor shining in her eyes. “He can wait for another five minutes… or an hour.” I kissed her shoulder.

“Cute.” Evie smiled up at me and stood.

I quickly cleaned her off, ignoring how my bear grumbled about wiping away our scent. I just wouldn’t wash her’s off me and he maintained some amount of control. Evie smiled through it and ambled off toward Declan’s voice.

I stood, got dressed and walked back to our bedrolls to pack up while Evie dealt with Greg, mind already on what we might find at this Brad’s shrine.

“Are you decent?” Noth called into the thick mist.

“Hardly ever,” I repeated our old joke back to him as he came striding forward. He didn’t offer to help pack, of course, taking a seat on a nearby stump to watch me fold and stuff. Noth had a lot of talents, including fighting, but manual labor wasn’t one of them.

“I just want to make sure that we’re agreed on what we’re walking into. You chose well in a mate—mostly. She’s strong, but helpless, and will just as likely torch us all to death if we let her battle in dragon form.”

“You think this will be a battle?” I tightened the strap on our bedroll just a little too hard. Losing Evie in a fight would be too much. She wasn’t exactly battle-ready. My only consolation was the mate bond would ensure I wouldn’t survive, either. I wouldn’t want to.

Noth lounged impeccably. “Undoubtedly. This man thinks he’s a Godd amongst monsters.”

I twitched a smile. “Wait, old fart. Did you just compliment me on my mate?”

Noth looked down his long nose at me. “As you know, we’re the same age, even if I’m the handsome one.”

I put my hands on my hips. Not even close. Noth was at least a century older than I was. It was good to have my oldest friend back after he looked so haggard. A few nights of good food and sleep, and the elf was amazingly resilient. “Handsome? I think you’re a little too pretty for that.”

He showed me his long row of sparkling, sharp Walker teeth in some approximation of a smile. “I never believed you would get close enough to anyone you thought you might hurt. Glad you found a true mate who is able to destroy you in a blink.”

He knew every one of those scars I carried from my youth. “I guess I needed my bear to remind me it would happen. And just because the elves don’t believe in mates doesn’t mean they don’t exist. You’re just afraid you will be next.”

“Terrified. She should keep you on your toes for the rest of your life, and who needs that? Are you going to do a human wedding? I think I attended one of those a few centuries ago.”

Was I supposed to? I wanted to bind her with my bite, but would take any way I could. Noth didn’t have a bad idea for once. Something low key. Would she be my wife and my mate? “I’ll think on it.”

“Well, if we all survive this, some sort of celebration will be in order, and I want to give you away. I think that’s how it works.” He tossed his hair in a gesture that said the idea pleased him.

I couldn’t remember how it worked. Dane’s wedding was a blur of druids. But I could get Evie’s friend and sister to tell me.

It was something to hope for as we readied for battle. Noth and I rejoined the brood. I piled armor on Evie until she batted me away and handed most of it to Declan, the temple boys and Noora. That she had an inner circle to protect her if something happened to me made the coming clash marginally easier. I knew they would fight to the death for her.

I mounted her on Greg. We started out as Noth dispensed with armor and shifted into his Nightmare form. Evie edged closer to me.

I hugged her shoulder. “It’s better not to look at him too directly.”

“It’s making me seasick—on land,” she said and turned away.

Too soon, the brood stopped at the edge of the valley because it was chock full of ominous figures. As the mist swirled over a multitude of forms both animal, human and mechanical arrayed against us, I was afraid even one of us making it was an optimistic outcome. We wouldn’t win this with some jokes and a prayer, nor with the surprise and ferocity we showed the worm.

Evie’s eyes grew enormous. “I can still try and dragon out.”

I wanted to say something soothing, or clever, to make this easier, but I could only kiss her with all the passion inside me.

I patted her leg when I really wanted to pull her down and hide her. “Your power is still too unpredictable. I can protect you in your human form until it’s time for you to destroy everything with that raw power.”

I could… Right? I didn’t know if I was ready for this.

We are, my bear assured me. If we work together, we cannot fail this test. We won’t.

I just want her by our side when all of this is over. I crumbled more of the barrier I erected between my bear and I. I didn’t really think he would hurt anyone with the way he treated our mate. He deserved my trust as well. What I told Noth was true. That I kept him caged hadn’t served me very well.

Then don’t fight me. Fight for her, he implored me.

The morning fog didn’t clear, so we entered Bitter Valley with cover. Noth gave the brood enough information to get into the Shrine of Revelations. Noora and the temple boys would scout our flanks. Only one of us had to make it.

I saw the deadness in the closest shifter’s eyes. No compassion lived there and they would not hold back. As much as it pained me, I recognized we would only win this conflict with violence, pure savagery, unleashing our inner animals. Their number would overwhelm even my magic. If only I could use both. But only dragons had the power to use magic as their animal.

Everyone shifted into their second forms, so I did, too. Resolute, I gave my bear full permission, tearing down the last of the terrible cage I made for him. We swelled bigger than ever before, towering over the rest of the shifters. I would probably reach Evie’s shoulder. Even Greg shied away from us.

Wow, if that’s what having a mate does for you, sign me up, Noth sniggered.

You will put Evie in as little danger as possible. I will get us to the temple. I sent my next words down the mate bond only for Evie. Can you sense the relic in the Shrine?

“I can tell it’s there like Noth said, but it's muffled. Any last minute Goddess assistance would be appreciated,” Evie called into the sky. When nothing happened, she muttered, “Figures.”

Shifters! I called to our brood. Go for their crowns. We win or die toget ? —

A bear, half my size, launched out of the mist, claws raking in my direction. He had a device affixed to his head, much like Noth’s, but without the relic. Only a sinister, red, unnatural eye glowed in the center of his crown. I swatted him to the ground, teeth savaging the crown until it was nothing more than torn metal and broken bits. Through the mist, I recognized other attempts made on our brood and more screams in the mist. For every crown we broke, we hopefully had another ally, but they would overwhelm us with a coordinated effort.

A minor explosion sounded across the valley and the pop, pop, pop signaled the real fighting to start. A projectile shot out of the mist and hit Greg in the shoulder, missing Evie by inches. The horse screeched, but remained upright.

“To the temple!” Evie shouted at everyone before the brood descended into fear and chaos. Noth took off into the mist, the sound of screams without the tearing of flesh somehow more hair-raising. Noth might clear a path for us with his living nightmares, but the soldier’s frightening, long-range weapons evened the playing field with our magic.

With me , I reminded Evie. For once, she looked completely focused and only half afraid. The relic in our hands was our best chance to end this quickly. We surged forward, onto the battleground, my claws digging into the earth.

Declan mangled any shifter on Evie’s right side. I stayed to her left. With the mist, we had to stick to as straight a line as possible to find the Shrine in the shroud. Flashing canines broke through the mist. Wolves bubbled out of the fog, aiming to drag me down, cut my heels, bite any part of me they could manage. Evie swiped at them with the sword I had given her, but it might as well have been a stick in her hands for all the skill she had with it. We were at a disadvantage, trying to convert rather than kill them. I could only pull off so many crowns at once with my claws and teeth.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a tiger skidding to a stop in our path, snarling a warning in her deep bass. Claws extended, she focused solely on Greg. The wounded horse would never survive a direct attack and I was buried in wolves, projectiles still zipping overhead. Declan had gotten lost somewhere in the melee. I was about to yell to Evie to charge Greg forward when a brown, warty missile fell from the sky, breaking the tiger’s back as Toad crushed him. On a mission, the toad shifter flicked out his tongue, nabbing one wolf off my side, and launched it in the air. His landing created a sickening splat as the wolf collapsed beneath him.

Maybe the toad had the right idea. We were prolonging everyone’s suffering when we made no progress to the shrine. Evie scooped up our amphibian friend. My bear roared his approval as we cut a path through the army, decimating the surrounding wolves. Humans drew no quarter. Their weapons were too dangerous.

The slog through was still slow, releasing shifters where we could, killing where we couldn’t. Two figures darted out of the mist and my claws stopped inches from Evie’s sister, Maggie.

“Fallon?” Evie called to the other woman, who appeared.

I blocked Evie from riding to them. This had to be a trick.

Noth stalked out of the fog, circling behind Maggie, his gaze predatory.

“Who do we have here? You taste like a dream.” Noth extended his rather long tongue toward Maggie, complete with laddered piercings just like his ears.

Greg sidled to the side in agitation as Evie went to get between them. I went to warn my friend, but he was too intent on the woman before she pulled back and punched him right in the junk. He wheezed and toppled over like a felled tree.

“Is this one mated, too?” he groaned, curling into a ball.

“Seeing dreams yet, or just stars?” she asked him, bending over him like she was going to hurt him again.

“He’s stupid, but valuable,” Evie told Maggie.

“I doubt that. Elves never are,” she retorted.

“Lovely clique you picked up, E.” Fallon followed behind Maggie and Evie didn’t wait anymore.

Dismounting, she ran to embrace them. I didn’t miss their assessment of my mate. It was uncomfortable to think they might find my care of her lacking. They had the power to take her away from me, at least mentally, but I had to trust her.

“What are you doing here?” Evie asked.

“You’re tanned!” Maggie said.

“Is that a muscle on that arm?” Fallon teased.

I highly doubted it, but she looked down anyway and flexed. There might be a bit of muscle somewhere, but it was probably from our pleasure workouts more than anything else.

“What are you doing here?” she asked again.

“Brad came to get us in Harrowood and told us he would bring us to you, but I think he was just holding us hostage.”

“We sneaked out to see if you were okay,” Fallon said.

“You did figure out Brad is the bad guy, right?” Evie said.

“He has a giant, glowing crystal in a secret room. So… of course,” Maggie scoffed.

“Looks like the other relics worked. You don’t look too scaly,” Fallon said.

“Please tell me you got some, too,” Maggie whispered, but I heard her.

Evie glanced back at me and blushed. My smile grew bigger on my ursine face and I wouldn’t hide it. My mate still made me burn, even in the middle of a battle.

Maggie followed her gaze. “Who are you, and what have you done with my sister?”

“About the scales…” Evie said, just as a pair of moose burst through the gloom, eyes rolling.

Evie hesitated but shifted, letting the animals crash into her side. She delicately removed the wire crowns from their heads as Fallon and Maggie gaped. The gigantic creatures stumbled back through the fog. Evie turned around, nerves staticking through the bond. I reassured her the best I could as her best friend and sister took her in for the first time with wide eyes.

“Well, that’s an upgrade,” Maggie said.

“I want a ride!” Fallon screamed.

She quickly shifted back. “We can work out a riding schedule later. Stick close until we stop the relic’s influence.”

Noth recovered enough to disappear into the melee ahead of us and we pressed forward. This part of the valley saw the mid-morning sun burning away the fog—the Shrine sulking at its end. It was easy to see why it used to be a popular summer retreat when it gave out positive revelations. The tall columns had the remnants of gilt and paint on them. The deep stone steps were the perfect place to picnic.

When the shrine maidens handed out all revelations, it started to look as it did now—bleak, crumbling and dusty. Unfortunately, the mist also revealed a large metal contraption that looked like the Soul Drinking Crossbow from the shrine, with metal and wires attached. If I never had a bit of metal in my mouth again, it would be too soon. The bolt was as long as I was and would kill even Evie’s dragon. If it hit the ground, it would steal the soul of everyone in a fifty-foot radius. A mechanical sound cranked the bolt back to the sticking point.

The bolt loosed directly toward Evie before I could plan any sort of attack and my heart sunk in my chest. I might deflect the blow with my colossal body, but only magic would counter the Soul Drinking part of the weapon.

Trust me , my bear said, and I had to. We reached deep into my store of magic and, to my surprise, my bear built the structure of a spell of a corporeal identity. It was the only thing that would counter soul magic. It was a complex structure that always brought my human form to the brink of death. He shocked me as he cast it forth around the bolt, enchantment rippling through the air as a waif of a human girl tumbled to our feet.

I turned to Evie to check if she was alright, and her eyes flared wide as saucers.

I wasn’t dying. No one lost their soul. My eyes did the same. Did my bear just cast magic? He just cast magic! I received the province of dragons.

Have you been hiding this from me? I asked him.

It’s her. The bond. She makes us stronger and you make us smarter… some of the time, he answered.

What else can we do? I asked and showed him a metal structure to call all the wire and metal weapons to us.

My bear executed it perfectly, with so much power that a rain of wire and war instruments pelted down before us. The rush was incredible. Shifters staggered out of the mist, shaking free of the relic’s call. Evie lifted the crossbow’s bolt onto a trembling, lathering Greg. My bear healed him with little effort and magic. The force of it even fixed up old wounds the horse received from the wolves. Then came the rush of human soldiers, weaponless and fleeing back to the Shrine in front of a wave of angry animals. The chaos was almost as bad as the battle itself. Declan appeared from the mist, muzzle bloody.

“Nab one of them as a hostage,” Evie yelled into the scrum.

Declan lunged and missed a black-clad soldier by an inch.

“I’ve got one!” Noth called, as he jogged up, shaking his prize so hard the man’s neck snapped like a twig.

They have to be alive to be a hostage, I said.

“He was a minute ago.” Noth looked down and frowned.

Maggie laughed at Noth’s bewildered expression.

This one is squiggly, Declan said, latched on to a soldier’s ankle. He tore away from the wolf’s grip, leaving a piece of his pants and a chunk of flesh.

We were wasting time with these antics. Enough. We will overwhelm them. The freed shifters can join our ranks in the Shrine.

“To me, shifters!” Evie called into the valley with the Goddess in her voice and our terrible army descended on the Shrine.