Page 37 of Misfit Monsters (Pack of Outcasts #1)

Periwinkle

I know it’s only been half an hour since I last asked. I know Jonah will tell us as soon as he hears anything. But after he finishes his dinner of canned stew, I can’t help asking again, “Any news from your friend who knows how to dig up info?”

Jonah lets out a soft laugh. “Not yet, Peri. It could take a while yet. We didn’t have that many details, and this sorcerer is probably covering his tracks. Ruse doesn’t know how to search the online records himself—he’s just very good at persuading other people with the skills we need.”

I pace on the other side of the campfire, unable to contain my restlessness.

Now that I’ve spilled my guts, there isn’t really anything for me to do.

I have no idea how much use I’ll be in the coming confrontation—whether I can help tackle David Blaver, my former captor, without hurting my teammates and innocent bystanders in the process.

Whether my searing blasts are a gift or a liability comes down to my brand-new and incredibly shaky ability to aim them. Would it have been so hard for the shadow realm to bring me into being with an instruction manual in hand?

Hail went off into the woods as evening fell, saying he thought the mortal creatures of the forest might be able to convey something useful to him. As a fae, apparently he’s attuned to the natural world in ways he’s barely mentioned before.

Raze has been prowling beyond our campsite, keeping watch for sorcerer-controlled creatures. And Mirage…

The fox shifter walks over with his usual jaunty stride and catches my arm, his grasp gentle. “Why don’t we go for a walk, Rainbow? You’re having trouble staying still, and I’ve always got extra energy to burn.”

I hesitate, not wanting to be out of range if news does come, but Jonah waves us off. “Even if we get word back soon, it’ll take a bunch more planning before we can leave. Just don’t go too far.”

“We won’t wander right off the edge of the earth,” Mirage assures him cheerfully.

I let the fox shifter guide me toward the trees that surround this overgrown lookout spot. There isn’t much of a view in any direction now. The forested hills around us cast deeper shadows through the deepening night.

We’ve only walked for a few minutes when Mirage pauses, his head jerking toward me. His fox ears flick out and swivel back on his head. “Your feet—you said the sorcerer who tortured you would cut them—sometimes you’ve said they’re bothering you. Do they still hurt when you walk on them?”

His concern sends a tingle of warmth through my chest even though I don’t like acknowledging the weakness. “Only if I’m walking a lot, or moving around very quickly or in awkward ways. Most of the time it’s fine or so mild I can easily ignore it.”

The fox shifter hums with a hint of a growl. “I don’t want you to be hurt at all.”

I shrug. “It’s just… the way I am now. Everyone ends up picking up scars, right? I’d rather tune out a little pain and enjoy the world in all its wonders than stick to the shadows where the old injuries won’t ever bother me.”

“I guess that makes sense. But if it means they’ll hurt less, you can put a little weight on me.”

He eases closer so our shoulders nearly brush and tucks my hand around his elbow. The tingle of warmth turns into a waft of heat.

We walk on, taking a winding route between the trees. An owl hoots somewhere in the distance.

Mirage speaks up again, this time without stopping or looking at me. “When I was captured, it was different than for you. The people holding me wanted to poke and pry at me, taking ‘samples’ and testing my reactions. Scientists.”

I shudder, my grip on his arm tightening. “That’s horrible. Why would they do that?”

“I don’t know. They wanted to understand shadowkind nature better, but not for good reasons. So they could get rid of us, I think.”

“I hope someone got rid of them instead.”

Mirage gives a faint chuckle. “Someone must have. One night the building collapsed and the cells they were keeping us in burst open so we could break free. I’ve never heard of them again. The Company of Light, they called themselves.”

My forehead furrows. “I’ve never heard of them either. So maybe they are gone now.”

“I just…” Mirage’s voice wavers. He ducks his head.

“I don’t like to talk about it. I try to run in the opposite direction.

But what you said about how the sorcerer used you—it happened to me too.

They’d mess with my mind to get me to conjure illusions that would help them lure other shadowkind in. ”

I stop and turn to face him. “That’s awful—of them, not you. You’d never have wanted to do it.”

Mirage leans forward and nuzzles my temple. “Not any more than you would have. But that doesn’t make the regrets go away, does it? I wanted you to know… in case maybe it’s easier to forgive yourself if you see how easily you can forgive me.”

“There isn’t anything to forgive you for,” I start indignantly before his point hits me over the head. “Oh.”

Mirage chuckles again, more relaxed this time, and dips his head lower so his lips brush my cheek. “You shouldn’t feel bad about anything . Out of all the beings I’ve ever met, mortal and shadowkind, there’s no one else who shines with goodness like you do.”

A blush flares across my face. “I try. So many times it doesn’t work out. How can I feel good about having my powers if I can’t use them without causing all kinds of problems?”

Even picking up on emotions has bothered the beings I wanted to help at least as often as it’s encouraged or comforted them.

Mirage teases his fingers over my hair. “You’re getting better at controlling them. You only gave me a little scrape this afternoon, but you sent that stinking sorcerer running. I bet he’s afraid of you now instead of the other way around.”

My throat tightens. “Maybe. Sometimes I still feel like I really am just a pipsqueak.”

As Mirage makes a scoffing sound, another voice rumbles out of the darkness. “You’re much more than that, Glowbug. No one will dare call you a pipsqueak when you finish learning how to wield your power. ”

Raze emerges from the shadows—he must have crossed paths with us on his patrol.

His words send a pang through my heart. “I don’t want to scare anyone.”

He shakes his head fondly. “Of course you don’t. That’s how I know you’ll keep improving your control.”

Mirage tips his head to nip the shell of my ear. The spark of pleasure propels a gasp from my lips.

The fox shifter grins at me and then Raze. “Maybe she needs a reminder of all the power she can wield. I know she’s got me under her spell. We were very rudely interrupted this morning…”

A thrum emanates from Raze’s brawny chest. He steps closer to sling his arm around my waist. “You’re right. She deserves a reward after all of today’s stresses.”

He presses a kiss of his own to the crook of my jaw. “There aren’t many beings who can overcome a basilisk, you know.”

The stroke of Mirage’s hand across my hip and the slide of Raze’s mouth leave me breathless, but I can’t restrain a protest. “I haven’t really overcome you?—”

“Of course you have,” Raze says. “My heart beats faster whenever I look at you. My whole body heats up when you’re near. There’s nothing I want to do more than talk with you, protect you, pleasure you…”

My heart is just about jumping out from my rib cage at his words. I set my hand against his chest, soaking in the sensation of his muscles flexing beneath his shirt. “As long as you know that you have the same effect on me. I’m never afraid of you. I like knowing how powerful you are.”

Raze exhales roughly, and then he’s tugging me around to claim my mouth. His fierce kiss sets off a rush of desire that condenses between my legs, as fiery as Mirage’s hair.

Before I can fret that the fox shifter might feel left out, Mirage’s hands settle on my waist. As Raze kisses me again, Mirage strokes his fingers up and down my sides and then around to cup my breasts.

I whimper into Raze’s mouth. Mirage pinches my nipples as if in reward, sparking twin pulses of pleasure.

He presses a little closer and nibbles his way along the back of my neck. “Mmm. You could melt me into a puddle of jelly with just that brilliant smile.”

I quiver against Raze, feeling pretty jelly-like myself, and the basilisk shifter grips my hips. In one smooth motion, he shows off the strength I praised earlier by hefting me up against him.

For a fleeting moment, our mouths meld even closer together as my pelvis locks against his. The ridge of his erection rubs against my core to draw another, needier whimper from my throat.

Then Raze spins me around in front of him, so deftly he might as well be an acrobat. Even though I’m hardly slim, he handles me as if I’m light as meringue.

With my back flush against Raze’s chest, he slides his hands beneath my thighs to support them. Spreading my legs, he releases a scorching breath across my jaw. His tongue teases my skin with its basilisk fork.

“Why don’t you take off those tough girl clothes so Mirage can worship your light every bit as much as you deserve?”

Another giddy shiver passes through me, but my nerves jump at the brazenness of his request.

When I look at Mirage, my uncertainties evaporate. The fox shifter kneels before me, his eyes gleaming so eagerly they might as well be flames too.

With a nudge of my essence, I blink into the shadows and back to Raze’s arms, returning utterly naked .

“Such a beautiful Rainbow,” Mirage says slyly, and buries his face between my legs.

A gasp escapes me at the first swipe of his tongue. He delves deeper, his fangs skating over my sensitive flesh, his lips working over my clit.

A flood of bliss sweeps through my body until I have to grasp his hair to stop myself from spiraling completely away. My own hair casts a ruddy pink haze into the night.

My hips rock toward Mirage’s mouth of their own accord. His approving chuckle reverberates through my core with a pulse of pleasure that has me moaning.

Raze groans and massages my thighs. His mouth brands the side of my neck and all across my bare shoulder. “Keep bringing out that gorgeous glow. I love seeing how good we’re making you feel. Show off your power. Tell him exactly what you need, Glowbug.”

A shaky breath escapes me. Mirage laps across my opening and sucks hard on my clit, and I shudder in Raze’s embrace. The ecstatic sensations are flooding me so swiftly I feel like I’ll break right apart, but in the most delightful possible way.

I want even more. And Mirage will offer it if I ask, won’t he?

I tug on his hair. “I want you inside me. I want you coming with me.”

The fox shifter makes a sound that’s half groan, half growl and surges up to meet me. His clothes waver away with the same trick I used. He catches my mouth and presses into me where I’m braced against Raze, sliding the head of his hard cock over my folds.

“Right here, Rainbow?”

I can only manage an inarticulate noise of approval, but I must get my meaning across. With a ragged sigh, he plunges into me .

It isn’t the same immense fullness I experienced with Raze, but Mirage’s thrust brings just as much heady pleasure. I sway to meet him, urging him on.

With every buck of his hips, Mirage pushes deeper. Soon he’s stroking right against the special spot within that seems to be the source of my body’s capacity for bliss. Every time he hits it, I careen farther into a giddy delirium.

But I’m not so far gone I forget about my other lover: the stalwart, statuesque being who’s supporting me.

My mouth collides with Mirage’s in a wild kiss, and then I tip my head against Raze’s shoulder, groping behind me at the same time. “Want… you… too.”

The basilisk shifter grunts and adjusts his hips to help me find his rigid shaft. Sometime during our interlude, he shed his clothes without my even noticing.

I wrap my fingers around his hardness and pump him up and down. At his ragged breath, I increase my grip and my speed.

We crash together, a storm of desire and pleasure. I know nothing beyond the press of the bodies on either side of me and the bliss they’re conjuring in my own.

I shatter apart first, the wave of my climax whiting out my vision. At my cry, Raze jerks against me. Moments after his release splashes over my wrist, Mirage bows his head and surges into me a final few times.

For several moments, we stand there locked together, breathing hard. Then Mirage lifts his head to place one more lingering kiss on my lips.

“There’s no one mightier than you. Every evil sorcerer in this world had better watch out.”