Page 28

Chapter 26

Fallon

I hated magic.

The way it crawled along my skin and into my lungs whenever it was cast, like little ants marching in your veins. Even before all this mess, Kali had cemented that hatred when she'd made my blood literally boil — God, I was happy the bitch was dead.

Archon's lamp had been the final straw.

This spell was no different, even when cast by someone as skilled as Magelav, the Bog Sorceri themself. I could taste the hints of their power, almost like the grit of sand on my tongue, my eyes watering as I rubbed away the remains. The room that we'd been in inside of Eliza's herb shop melted away to reveal snow-capped trees and a lush forest that was deep in the throes of winter.

It was an eerie night, with the ominous glow of the moon and the crashing of waves against the weathered rock just below the sheer cliffs at our backs. Adrian grumbled something before he slung his arm over my shoulders, pointedly laughing at my sour expression. The dramatic flair was expected, even after everything that had happened.

I wasn't expecting to crumble under his weight, my legs seizing as pain shot down them. I grunted, my vision blotting as black spots danced in my peripherals. Adrian pulled his weight off me, faster than I was able to push him off, a sheepish smile seeming forced on his face. We mirrored each other, a patchwork of black veins and scorched skin.

I didn't understand how I was so fucked up, while he walked it off like it was nothing.

"You look sick, Taz." A sweet voice hummed in the air, and I shivered on instinct, looking over my shoulder to find Aislinn leaning against one of the trees at the edge of the clearing.

I didn't have to look around to see if the others saw her, shaking my head as I turned back to center. She clicked her tongue, and I was hit with a cold sweat.

"It's rude to ignore someone when they're talking to you, you know," she said through a laugh.

No one else spoke, lost in their own thoughts. I clenched my fist, searching for pain, letting it ground me as I stood tall. Aislinn's laughing continued, crossing the lines of real and what was just in my head. I reached for my chest, for the mark of the Fae Bargain. Hadlie got me out of the lamp …

Unless it was just another trick. Archon was conniving, and his illusions were stronger than I'd given him credit for when we'd first come to his door.

I looked at my brothers, the men I'd lived with and fought with for two hundred years, and I couldn't stop myself from questioning the way they moved. The way Adrian's smile dipped, his face going blank. Osiris's numb stare replaced with a resolve that clashed with the power of his stance. Eirik's beast, and the way he hovered over Aaliyah, eyes a vicious blue that seemed almost too dark.

Nero being alive.

Was it normal? Was this really happening?

"Fallon?" a voice whispered again, warped and clouded as I flinched away from warm fingers that brushed against my knuckles.

I looked down just in time to see Aaliyah looking up at me with a tilted head and narrowed eyes. Aislinn whispered something mocking I was thankful not to hear as I took Aaliyah's hand. She shivered, her breath fogging in front of her as she looked around the clearing with the same confusion I did. The unnerved feeling that came with the unknown was so much worse when I realized I was just as blind here as she was. I'd never been to an Eternium before, and beyond stories, this was new to me, too.

And now she was cold on top of it.

I wasn't wearing my normal suit, instead dressed in some horrendous amalgamation of color that Dezen had given me, and I hoped it had some bearing in fashion. From the smugness in his eyes, though, I'd assume it was deliberate.But he did give me a jacket, which was going to find some use.

I shrugged it off, then wrapped it around Aaliyah's shoulders until she was bundled tightly. Her cheeks were flushed, her nose dusted red in a way that made it hard to look away. I grabbed her hands, warming them with my breath, focused on the way hers hitched when I got close enough to kiss the skin of her wrist.

"This is the Eternium?" Aaliyah asked, cutting into my thoughts as Eirik came to her side.

The wolf behind his eyes kept close to the surface, the light blue going nearly black in an instant as his nostrils flared, and he leaned down and ran his nose over her forehead. "It is."

I avoided looking too far into the way she moved as she pulled away from me, afraid of what I might find. I spent two years waking up to her, her touch and her caring smiles. It had to be her now, the real her.

"Real is subjective, don't you think?" Aislinn whispered, her voice echoing behind me.

I shivered, refusing to answer.

"It will be," Osiris clarified, a low tone in his voice as he turned to stare over the cliff. The ocean surged violently, the waves seeming to grow as he lifted his hands, before splitting one open with a slash of a fingernail against his palm, slicing deep enough for a well of blood to gush out.

Aaliyah made a shocked noise as he tightened his hand into a fist, drops of red hitting the snow-packed ground before the wound sealed shut. The moment it hit, it branched out, scattering under our feet in large winding roots that dragged all the way to the edge of the cliff, pulsing, as though following the beat of his heart.

Adrian grunted at my side again as the ground trembled under us. I stumbled, held up on my other side by Nero as we both braced for a fight, hair standing on end as a fine mist filled the air.

Osiris's blood lifted from the ground, floating around us, and I waited for the cocky call of his magic as Aaliyah checked his wound. But whatever this was, wasn't Osiris.

It didn't seem like much at first, like dust falling from the crumbling rocks, caught in the light of the moon, but eventually, that dust moved, taking shape. What it became was short, round, and lacking any defined features. It had no mouth, nose or eyes, like a store mannequin that was waiting to be placed on display. Instead, it had several smooth, almost tentacle-like waving appendages for limbs that stuck out from seemingly random places on its body. A plain white robe hung loosely off it, a contrast to its ashen skin.

It was a tense few seconds of waiting to see if anyone else rushed it before its skin rippled.

"Vivas," it whispered, its voice everywhere, bouncing around in my head, making my teeth chatter. Osiris didn't seem surprised as he moved to step in front of Aaliyah, a shield that seemed unwavering in the face of the creature.

"Ra." I clenched my jaw so tightly I would have sworn I cracked a tooth. Ali went rigid, but the creature didn't linger.

"Rourovic." Magelav stepped forward as it called their last name, nodding their head in deferment, for once startlingly silent.

The thing bowed, its head tipping low, before angling toward us again.

"Sage, Guardian of the Eternium," Osiris said, the stiff words echoing around us. The Flame lit on his skin, his blood pulsing in the air as the ember danced over him with a control that made it seem effortless.

I sagged, forcing myself to stay standing, even if that meant turning into a sweating, panting mess, every ounce of spare energy used up.

"What is your purpose?" The Sage moved as if dragged along by a stray wind, its form disintegrating before reappearing just inches from Osiris's side. It reached out, touching his shoulder with one of the many tendrils that extended from it, the spot glowing a faint blue.

"Osiris, head of the Vivas Crypt, Vampire Challe . Requesting entrance to the Eternium as Secondaries to Vampire Eternal Sebek Ra," Osiris said, shuddering as the Sage touched his face before pulling away.

It was almost a fever dream to hear Osiris say his title out loud, his hatred of it sticking to the word. Challe, a person with the right to Challenge. In stating it now, officially, to the Sage, he'd made it clear that he was able to Challenge Sebek.

It was a declaration, an insult, and just saying it was threat enough. It was damned well war on our Maker.

One by one, the Sage's head turned as if to look at us. It gave the stomach-cramping anxiety you got when you were being hunted by something stronger than you, older than you. It was as if it were sifting through the remains of my soul, examining me.

It stayed pointed toward me for longer than it had any reason to before its head tipped in another soft nod. "Thank you, Secondaries of Vampire Eternal Sebek Ra."

That was the only warning we got before the ground disappeared. The red roots Osiris's blood made dashed away from me as we were ripped back from the Sage … and directly over the lip of the cliff.

I didn't have time to scream, or question if this was really the outfit I wanted to die in, a hand-me-down sweater vest that was three sizes too big, before my feet touched solid ground.

"At least the view was worth it," Adrian grumbled at my side, rubbing his arms as though the chill lingered, and I followed his gaze.

The air between us and the gaping mouth of the cave wobbled like liquid glass, as though dancing to the soft keys of the piano that played dimly behind us. The sea that I'd heard stretched on for miles. Adrian gagged, covering his mouth and looking over his shoulder to escape the rush of endless water. I did the same, freezing at what I saw.

The large room was filled with all manner of people. Eternals, Challe , Secondaries. The power was enough to strangle me.

They were dressed as I'd expected of their status, and they glowered down on us, taking in the rags we'd shown up in. We were mud on their boots, dirt to sully the polished floor they danced on, in their shining palace made of marble and gold. Tall pillars stretched from floor to ceiling, and shards of glass were draped like suspended rain, glowing with enough light to illuminate the room.

"Can you believe this?" I asked, keeping my voice low as Adrian looked over the crowd.

"Not in the slightest," he whispered back.

Nero tensed, keeping his head low as some drew close, curious or just wanting to see if they were really seeing the Vivas Crypt looking so … poor.

"It's a lot to take in," Osiris said, suddenly by my side.

"Just another party full of stuck-up assholes," I said, shrugging it off, glaring at a Hydra as he sneered at us. The hint of frill webbing popped up on his head, almost like the fur on the neck of a pissed-off cat. "The Three really know how to get the people going."

A hint of their power seemed to finally sink in, more than I could ever get from stories and secondhand whispers. They were the boogeymen, the monster under the bed that Naturals tried to pretend weren't real, the personification of a very real fear, the only one people like them tended to have.

Death. Time. Space. Everything that could spell doom for someone with seemingly endless lives to live.

"To put it lightly," Osiris affirmed, glancing around the room one more time, before he began to move.

Like a happy little family, we scurried off after him, gazing in wide wonder at the absolute cluster that was going to be our lives for the next few days.

I homed in on the people I knew, nodding to Avedal as he raised a glass in our direction, his long black hair pinned behind him in an intricate tie. Hillam, his mate, was to his side, a rare appearance and more of a show of strength than we could have hoped for. A Kraken Mythic, one of the last, the six eyes on his face a display of age and power. His black hair seemed inky, the same way most water-faring Naturals did, floating in midair as if suspended in water.

We were only about halfway through the crowd when I realized something was wrong. It started with the whispers, the mocking looks that shifted slowly into anticipation.

Adrian noticed, too, freezing, leaving the two of us standing stalk still as the others meandered on their way, parting the crowd that had gathered.

A scent filled the air, bitter and fake, the scent of a man I'd promised to kill.

Fool's gold.

* * *

Adrian

A familiar and instinctual need to flee made me shiver. I reached for my wrists, the gouges from the shackles long since healed. My lungs constricted, and I couldn't seem to force myself to breathe as my ears strained and the noise of the crowd melted away … into the clink of boots, deliberately slow on marble floors, as if to draw out the torment.

"So, you made it off the roof after all," a familiar voice gloated at my back. The dark veins on my skin mocked me as he clicked his tongue. "I must admit, I have to admire your resilience."

I couldn't even turn around as my breath caught. My mind seemed to know enough to stop the pesky bodily function, to hold it in as though my lungs might collapse if I took another breath. I rubbed my arms, hating that the frigid air didn't make me shiver. I'd never liked winter. The only thing it was good for was a hearty soup, but I'd take even the cold now.

The cold hurt, and I hated that I missed that.

"Archon," Osiris, now behind me, said, his voice steady and unbothered.

I looked over my shoulder, catching Archon's eyes. He was looking directly at me, only at me. He didn't waver for even a second as he smirked. "Vivas."

"What do you want?" Eirik bit out, taking a stance next to Osiris, his voice a medley of furious growls as his eyes shifted to a deep blue.

Aaliyah, still by his side, grabbed his hand, calming the beast that raged inside as Archon laughed. All of them together formed a wall, though that didn't stop the words. Or the stare. "Don't look so glum. I was just being polite and saying my greetings to my new acquaintances . It doesn't hurt to see who might be calling for Challenge."

His teeth showed as his grin grew. Our deal flickered in the back of my mind, ending at the sigil on my chest that pulsed with him so nearby. I reached up, rubbing the flesh that was no doubt still raw.

"Or Exilium ," he said, loud enough for the crowd to hear. The whispers started a breath later, the eyes that had been on us growing until the room had only two sides. Us and them. Exactly as Archon wanted. "Ah, my apologies. Adrian let it slip in one of our chats. That wasn't meant to be a secret, was it?"

Worthless . I crumbled under the pointed stare that came from Fallon, his head snapping to the side. His face scrunched, his nose flaring as a fire lit behind his eyes that promised the kind of retribution he'd used to save for our enemies.

I was no better. I'd sold us out for nothing .

I was nothing.

I sank into myself, my hearing dulling until the whispers were barely static, and I half waited for my brothers to explode. My failure exposed and oozing.

Osiris didn't even breathe as he took a step forward, then another … until Archon finally looked away from me. He homed in on the threat that drew close, on the way Osiris's expression remained carefully neutral.

The switch in the room was slow, the outraged cries turning to fearful whispers. There was a hush that came over, a hesitance that came with experience. Osiris .

The eldest living Turned of Sebek Ra.

Rex interfectorem. The Kingslayer .

I tended to forget sometimes that the short few hundred years I'd known Osiris were barely a fraction of his life. That the man that I teased and goaded was one of the most feared Naturals to walk this earth.

The others in this room didn't forget, the ones with power of their own shrinking back.

"Nearly six hundred years you spent in that lamp, and it seems you still don't have the good sense to learn your place," Osiris said, not moving when Archon's face turned red, his lips pulling back to expose his teeth again.

Gold dust filled the air, spiraling around Archon's head in a flashy show as Osiris turned away, facing the crowd. Giving the Djinn his back, as though he weren't even worth the effort of guarding against.

"If I might have your attention," Osiris said, and attention he had, as everyone grew quiet, waiting eagerly for what he might have to say about the accusation. I wasn't even sure what I expected as he adjusted the cuffs of his tattered dress shirt. "Archon speaks the truth. Crypt Vivas intends to impose Exilium upon Vampire Eternal Sebek Ra. The Honored Death for Death's Butcher himself."

A silence stretched over the room, for once music to my ears, as Osiris's declaration stole every single person's words. The confidence in how he said it, the power … the look he gave over his shoulder pointed at me; the same one he'd had when he extended his hand out to help me from the ground after they'd found me in the pits of London. Covered in enough innocent blood that I knew I'd never wash myself clean of it.

"If you are going to expose something like it's some kind of sick secret, the least you can do is make a better show out of it." Osiris sneered at the gaping Archon before turning away entirely. " That was pathetic. Even for you."

"I—"Archon started, the babble in his words buried by Osiris's steps as he moved to Aaliyah, wrapping his arm carefully around her shoulders.

The whispers began again as he directed us through the throngs of people. "We're done here."

The move from the main hall to one of the conjoining doors was a rush, as we flashed by the stunned guests of the Eternium. I smiled as I always had, waving like this was all part of some grand plan, but it had never felt like such a mask before. The man that I was and the man that I played seemed to blend into one being that I couldn't distinguish between.

Which one was even real anymore?

Keep the mask on. Hide the weakness … but the mask was fractured. Archon had revealed our plans, had told my brothers what I'd done. Osiris had covered well … but it didn't change a damned thing.

I'd betrayed us. I broke .

"Adrian, look at me," Aaliyah whispered, cupping my cheeks, her hands so reminiscent of what had almost been a rescue from the lamp that I nearly pushed her away. "You're okay. It's going to be okay."

"Osiris, you know where to go?" Nero asked, his voice low enough that only our group could hear, as the mumbled voices around us grew. Aaliyah didn't let me go, instead taking my hand in hers, so she could help to guide me forward.

I ran a thumb over her wrist, searching for her heartbeat with my ears, proving that she was here the only way I could manage.

"Follow me," Osiris said, dragging us down a hall that seemed to go on forever, the same white and gold lining it, even as we passed through a solitary door.

The inside was quaint, brightly colored like the rest of the cavern. Though it was startlingly barren of anything else of comfort. There was a couch that looked a little too stiff and an attached kitchen that was missing a fridge. Along with a single door at the back of the room.

The door behind me closed, and the mask fell the rest of the way off.

Every bit of loathing and panic that I'd bottled up came roaring to the surface as I felt my smile slip. I lost myself again to every swipe of a bloodied knife and jam of fingers in open wounds. Every worthless beg for the pain to stop and every second after that I had to spend realizing what I'd exchanged that lack of pain for …

They won't come, not soon enough.

"He's right. He wasn't lying , " I spewed the words, gripping my hair and begging for pain, for what I deserved. Aaliyah wrapped herself around me, her chest to mine, her head over the mark that I'd gotten for this. For nothing. "I gave it up, Ali. I—I couldn't handle the torture, and I gave it up. I was stupid, so fucking stupid. I made a deal with Archon, and he took it away . "

She didn't let me go, clinging to me tighter. Enough that I should have felt it in my ribs.

I held her, soaking in every bit of the touch she was willing to give me, every bit of proof to show that she was real.

When her eyes landed on me, with all that softness, I couldn't hold her gaze. I dropped it to the floor, staring at a rug that suddenly seemed very interesting. It felt dirty of me, to hold her trusting look after what I'd done.

I'd risked our safety.

Ali had gone back to her hell, the place that had given her those scars that still made my blood boil . Had walked through the doors with her head held high for us.

And I'd lasted three fucking hours.

"What do you mean, he took it away?" she asked, endlessly patient, even when I didn't deserve it.

There was a moment of hesitation, one that locked the truth of what had happened inside of me. I didn't want them to know, didn't want them to realize how much I'd lost. I was weak enough as it was—the youngest of our Crypt—I didn't need to add this burden to them, too.

But Aaliyah didn't let me go, didn't pull away as she traced one of those torched veins on my face. I knew how much she worried, how much she'd sacrificed to try to save us.

I couldn't lie. Not to her.

"I needed the torture to stop," I choked, my head dipping, looking at the ground as my vision clouded, tears falling freely to the floor. I laughed, the sound still gravelly from my hours spent screaming. "He took away my pain. All of it. Even now."

"You told him our plan?" Osiris asked, still as calm as he had been when he'd ripped Archon apart earlier.

His eyes were observant in a way they shouldn't have been, or rather, a way I hadn't seen in ages . The haze of numb was there, like always, but underneath was the man who'd saved me after my turn. He watched carefully, examining the same marks the others had.

Where the sun had scorched me, a match to the lines that still lingered on his hand.

I nodded, grabbing Aaliyah's hand in mine, searching for the warmth of her.

"Just Exilium. It was all he got." It was all he needed.

I didn't know someone was behind me until I was turned, the unexpected pull making me stumble.

"What—" I said, catching Fallon's face just in time for his forehead to crack against my nose. He grunted at the headbutt, pulling back worse for wear, obviously. I scowled, reaching up to catch the blood as it spilled down my face. "What the fuck was that for?"

He grunted, baring his teeth as he rubbed his forehead. Ali went to his side, maneuvering to take some of his weight even as he grumbled. "You beating yourself up over breaking to literal fucking torture is helping no one. We don't blame you. If anything, it was the highlight of my night seeing Archon look like an overripe tomato."

"You did well," Eirik added, clapping me on the shoulder. "You saved yourself, kept yourself alive while giving him the barest amount. That's worth praise, not mockery."

"Besides, you weren't the only one Archon got the slip on, Adrian," Fallon said, lifting his shirt, showing a mark that was much different from the black streaks that crawled along his veins. I'd seen hints of it before but had been too lost in my own head to really look at it. A tree littered with green petals stretched up his side, a long winding branch landing directly over his heart. "He's a tricky fucker. I'll give him that."

The design seemed to move on his skin, as a leaf fell from it. It tumbled down his side, landing on one of his ribs.

"A Fae Bargain?" Osiris asked, moving to get a better look. He ghosted his hand over the mark, never quite touching Fallon as he studied the intricate moving ink.

"Yeah, unfortunately, can't say anything about it," Fallon grunted, like he went to try, but was stopped. "I have to take care of it before the end of the Eternium. Plus side, pretty sure I need to go to the Fae Eternal, which means either he's going to be on our side?—"

"Or we put someone in who is," Osiris filled in.

Fallon nodded, letting his shirt fall, curling around Aaliyah again. "Exactly."

Osiris tapped his chin, looking around the room at each of us. "Sebek very likely already anticipated Exilium. I never expected it to stay a secret for long. The only question that matters is what we do next."

"None of this has gone to plan. Everything is exactly how he would want it. With one exception," Aaliyah cut in, still holding Fallon's weight, even as Nero came by to help her. "He wants us fighting. He wants us torn. We can't give that to him, or we lose . But we have another way to throw him off. All of them off."

She looked at Nero, and he raised a brow with a smirk. She smiled at him, her face softening as she admired her Prince.

"They don't know I'm alive. Yet. "

Aaliyah nodded, humming softly. "Sebek … holds sentiment in weird ways. My father is a sore point, so are all of you. Seeing Nero will throw him off. We may not be able to surprise him with Exilium, but we can give us an edge before we call it."

If I'd learned anything about Sebek, it was that he was odd . He cared for us, in his own messed up way, but I hadn't thought that was something we could use. It seemed almost silly to think he could be swayed by something so trivial as emotions.

But Aaliyah looked sure, and I wasn't about to doubt her ability to read people. She had a knack for it, one I remembered all too well from our visit to The Weathered Needle.

"Head up, lux mea ," Osiris whispered, his fingers gripping her chin when she glanced at the ground, looking almost embarrassed, lifting it so she'd looked straight ahead again. There was a soft command in his voice, one that spoke of his influence as much as it did our precarious situation. "Your words hold power."

She smiled at him, kissing the tip of his thumb as it ran over her bottom lip. The nonchalant touch messed with my head, and I had to do a double take to make sure it was really Osiris and not some body double that had replaced my brother.

Damn, maybe he had told her how he felt when we'd left them alone to go to Archon's …

He pulled back like it was nothing and looked at the rest of us. "What else?"

Eirik grunted. "Brazen was there, too."

Like usual, the words were short, grunted like they held no real meaning. He said it with his head high, the eyes of a beast staring us down.

Osiris went stock still, Nero's face going blank as he tried to register the name, one I had no doubt he knew somewhere in that head of his. Even if it was held back now.

"Brazen?" Osiris asked, a spark flying across his skin.

Eirik grunted again, shaking his head, his eyes surprisingly a steady sky blue. As if the wolf was dragged to heel. "Don't, Osiris. I'll handle it."

It was a tense few seconds of silence before Osiris nodded.

"Well, if we're spilling our guts. Mags craves a deeply intimate relationship and has been stalking me for the better part of the last several weeks trying to get me to agree to it," Nero included, looking at his nails as the Chronomancer balked. "Rather desperate, if you ask me."

I hadn't even realized they were here, but they sure made proof of their presence when they sputtered.

"Mags is owed a favor! Nothing of physical gratification. You sing falsities!" Magelav hissed, face shifting around like they might transform into some beast when Nero shrugged his shoulders.

"Potato, potahto , same fucking thing, Mags," he said, rolling his eyes and leaning back into Ali. He switched so quickly from joking to serious as he ran a hand over the front of her forehead. "I think that's about enough for today, don't you? You need some rest, Aaliyah."

That I could get behind. Sleep sounded like a dream. True sleep, the kind where I could fall into her arms and forget that this was happening.

I hesitated again, struggling to find the will to go to her, when Fallon bumped his shoulder into mine, pushing me forward. Aaliyah smiled at me, and I couldn't hold it back anymore as I pulled her into my arms again.

I waited for this all to fade away, for this to be another trick that Archon was playing with my head. Aaliyah's arms wrapped around me, her head tucked securely under my chin. "This family can only take so much soul searching. Trust me, it'll start to get weird. Fallon might cry, then he'd have to kill us."

Fallon grumbled behind us, but Aaliyah laughed against my chest.

"Then … at least let me help you first?" she asked, tracing the black lines that stretched across one of my arms.

They were jagged, deep marks, almost like scars, and they covered the vast majority of my skin. Fallon grunted, moving over to us to press a kiss to her forehead.

"I'll get some glasses," Fallon whispered, and she shook her head.

"No, that won't be enough," she whispered, taking Fallon's face when he tried to protest. "I need to know you're all right."

It wasn't hard to notice that her eyes lingered on our wrists, on the place where her marks used to be. Fallon and I had lost ours, and it wasn't just us that were taking that toll. The intricate black designs that had traced her own wrist were missing now, too. Only Osiris's and Eirik's remained.

All it took was one look to know we weren't winning this fight.

"Aaliyah …" I whispered, burying my face in my hands. I hated the idea of adding any more stress to her. "You're stubborn, you know that?"

She hummed, brushing her finger over my nose. Along another mark, another scar. Another patchwork of misdeeds that I needed to pay Archon back for tenfold. "Maybe, but you're not going to change my mind."

She wasn't going to back down, not on this, and Osiris seemed to get that as he sighed. "Just Adrian and Fallon tonight, then. The rest of us will be fine."

The others looked on, worry still clouding their eyes. There were more weak protests, but they fell away as she pulled Fallon and I to the couch. I was glad she at least didn't push further, because I knew given even an inkling of a chance … she would have. Even to the detriment of herself. The rest of them were standing well enough. Breathing easily.

And she might have won the fight to give us blood, but Osiris would have pushed back against any more.

She sat down in the middle of the couch, grimacing as she tried to get comfortable. I struggled, too, the damn thing like a brick. She held out her hands to both of us. I was quick to set mine in hers, rubbing a thumb over her wrist.

"If you think you're not taking from us, too, you're crazy," I said, brushing the hair out of her eyes.

"That, I can help with," Nero said, stepping behind me, leaning over the couch. Another wrist appeared in front of Aaliyah's face. He leaned close, dragging his lips along the back of her neck, not so subtly whispering, "I've been dying to see what my mark looks like on your skin."

I looked to my own wrist, where the mark had disappeared from when Archon's deal had sealed. I hoped that this would fix it, but at this point, I wasn't holding my breath.

I pressed a kiss to her wrist just as she leaned forward and sank her teeth into Nero. It was hard not to notice the way he jolted, groaning deep as he leaned in, holding her closer, tighter.

I extended my tongue, licking the thin skin, listening for the pulse of blood under it. My body picked up the slight iron in the air and my mouth watered. I bit her slowly, making sure I didn't sink too deep.

She gasped at the feeling, her eyes rolling back as she muffled a moan around Nero's wrist.

We stayed glued to each other, taking steady mouthfuls that rejuvenated me like nothing else could. My vision sharpened, my mouth opening to take her deeper. When we pulled back, not one of us wasn't panting, licking the wounds we'd made.

My wrist remained unmarked. As had Fallon's. Aaliyah brushed her thumb against the blank skin, eyebrows furrowing as she pressed a kiss to it. I wasn't surprised that it hadn't come back.

But it hurt to see, regardless.

"Thank you, love," I whispered, my arms wrapping around her again. "Now it's time to sleep."

Aaliyah must have felt the same as she sagged into me. The move from the couch to the back door was a blur, and I was half expecting a hallway with multiple other doors behind. Instead, there was a single bed, a large one, but only one, regardless.

We'd have to get comfortable.

"Just promise to keep your hands to yourself, eh Eirik?" Fallon asked, already shedding his clothes. "I do not want to cuddle with you again."

I was exhausted, drained to the point that even a shower sounded like too much work. I set Ali on the satin sheets, asking her quickly if we could get her comfortable.

She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands as she nodded. We got her into just a bra and underwear, then fell into place.

Fallon was to one side of her, Eirik to another, and I found a place wedged between her legs. Nero crawled behind Eirik, snorting and making a joke that I was too tired to listen to but made Eirik snarl.

Osiris stayed to the side, something I expected. He pulled up a chair and offered her a hand that she happily took.

My eyes were already sliding close when Eirik's purr surrounded us.

"Goodnight," I whispered, making sure I was touching her skin, trying to find comfort in the way she brushed against me. Then I slept, and for the first time in days, it was in peace.