Page 22

IRIS

“Okay. Okay. Show me whatever you want.” I comb through Remy’s tangles, tingling from the danger in his tone.

This is Remington at his most deadly.

The one with enough vocabulary to drawl cryptically possessive bullshit, but not nearly enough self-awareness to realize his brain is stuck on airplane mode.

“But first? Help me clean this?” Before Remy can bite a straw-hole through my lip, I lift my wolf-mauled arm.

Offering my blood shifts the kind of danger that I’m in.

Remy’s shadows wrap lovingly around my gift. He licks me from wrist to elbow with the flat of his tongue.

“This flavor,” Remy purrs. “You were made for me.”

Nope.

I very much was not.

But let him have his fun. I need Remy fully online as soon as possible.

Vhex was left alone, and there’s no way he’s being a good little devil and twiddling his horn.

“Here.” I grope until I find his silky hair. “Drink.”

“ Iris ,” his rasp ricochets through my blood.

His spit tingles everywhere he licks, but the wet rub of his tongue could never hurt.

As Remy sucks my arm, his silks make the same ticklish motion all over my body.

I can’t see a thing.

I can only feel .

Remy’s breath is cool.

His silks and shadows brush my throat and slide beneath my shirt. My nipples perk. I feel down his shoulders until I find a hand that isn’t made of smoke.

My pussy devoured every drop of Vhex. Now, I’m warm and liquid and ready for another round.

Remy must read my mind.

Before I can drag his fingers where they’re needed, he scoops me off my feet. His shadows rope my good arm around his shoulder and lift the bloody one to his mouth.

Something hand-shaped caresses my inner thighs.

I count at least fifteen fingers before I start losing math.

Sixteen, seven-fifty, five-dozen-odd shadow tentacles tease over and around my mound. They flutter at my clit, nudge my tight back hole, and kiss my pussy open, spreading my dripping wetness all around.

I jerk backward, but my urge to fold the wrong way in half is stopped by the grip of Remy’s actual hand.

Still not fully human, he squeezes between my legs with a monster palm.

His oversized grip rubs my mound and clit, forcing me to ride his thick finger. The tip of his wicked claw pushes between my cheeks and teases a dangerous circle around my rim.

I pucker so hard, my bellybutton flips inside out.

“You’re hungry for me here.” Remy hums. “And here .”

Whether fingers or shadows or all of the above, something presses all my buttons at once. A long, luxurious stroke teases down from my clit, pets my pussy, and drags past my ass.

I gasp.

Remy slurps. “ Mmm . Luteal phase.”

What in the vampire-fanged fuck ?

That’s the core knowledge Remy chooses to access?

Not my name, his conscience, or his duty to defend our empire?

Who cares if we wake an ancient enemy and I die getting finger-banged over the seal of its hell prison?

At least Duke Remington Azrid can taste exactly where I am in my cycle.

It’s time to get to work.

“Remy.” I yank him down until our noses knock. “Take your claws out of my ass.”

His chuckle tickles. “Like this?”

His nails blunt and his hand shrinks, but he doesn’t move away. The scrape of his monster talon switches to a teasing circle from a blunt human finger.

Puckering hard, I buck against his hand.

Didn’t know I liked that.

Kevan really fucking did me wrong.

“Let’s explore that later, okay?” I struggle to keep my voice even as his shadows stroke. “I need to talk to the other Remy. Can you bring him out?”

“Not him,” he murmurs and runs his fangs across my lip. “He’d stop our fun.”

“Can I at least see your face?” I play with the shadows as I trace the curves of his pointed ears. “I can’t find where I’m supposed to kiss.”

“Everywhere.” Remy’s dreamy chuckle tickles my cheek.

His shadow shell finally peels away.

Leaning toward his monster side, Remy’s hair shines silver, and his veins run black. The thin line of red around his yawning pupil adds a shocking splash of color to the darkness.

“There you are.” I weave into his silks. I’ve been untangling my ass off this whole time, but Remy’s head isn’t the easiest to access.

It helps when he wants to let me in.

I comb through masses of dark tangles that I swear I’ve already fixed.

I have a feeling Remy is going to make me repeat myself.

A lot.

As our souls twist together, flirting with that imprint line they’ll never be able to cross, my blue lightens his shadows. His purple and black warps to navy—even violet in patches. I glow into him, trying to comfort the cold, aching core hidden beneath his damage.

His hair blackens from its roots and his pupils shrink.

The deeper his soul welcomes me, the faster his human form returns. His carved cheekbones and sharp nose soften. The tips of his ears shrink closer to round.

The effect is much less haunting, but just as fucking hot.

Watch it, Iris.

We’re on the job.

“Have you found a place to kiss?” Remy rubs his lips along my jaw. His shadows feather my ass and caress down to the backs of my knees.

They stroke between my fucking toes at the same mind-melting tempo they use to kiss my clit.

I should be dripping, but the shadows drink me up.

Remy’s motions are smooth, but his thoughts are still too scattered.

We both have to focus.

I need out of this shadow dome before Vhex melts the entire mountain range trying to reach me.

Pushing away from Remy’s suctioning grip, I kick my feet. He lets me drop to the floor.

I wobble thanks to the cold gap between my thighs.

My pussy throbs.

She was enjoying the monster manhandling.

Sorry, girl.

This isn’t about you.

“Give me your lips,” I order.

For once, Remy obeys.

He dips to meet me.

I kiss him soft and slow, so much more confident when I’m the one in control.

I trust myself.

Not anyone else.

Not anymore.

Kissing him and stroking his soul, I undo his belt, then slip into his pants.

His shadows twirl my fingers.

I follow the slopes of his tight muscles downward but falter at my goal.

His dick hangs against his thigh.

“It’s…soft?

“Not enough blood.”

“Oh.” Right . Vampire. Monster genes have all kinds of effects.

Remy chuckles. “You won’t be left unsatisfied.”

Shadows gather at his base. They spiral tight, forming a unicorn-horn of a cock-sleeve that lifts him hard and fast to fill my palm.

“Wasn’t worried about that.” Shivering, I stroke his new attachment.

The shaft is iron when I squeeze. When I lighten up, the shadows turn smoky. My fingers pass through his sheathe to brush the contrasting softness of the velvet skin beneath.

A non-Newtonian cock.

I didn’t know I needed that.

“Does it feel good?” I ask, playing through the smoke.

Remy’s abs ripple.

“Divine,” he rasps.

“Then relax.” I stroke his cock as I pick apart his knots. “I’ll take care of you.”

Our silks are so intertwined, Remy has to feel my sincerity.

I genuinely want to make him feel better.

I need some fucking help.

Remy pants with every brush.

He’s getting close.

Shaking, he cups my face in both hands. His eyes spin black and red, drawing me in. Even his silks clutch like he’s stroking his own treasure.

I look away.

We’re connected deep enough.

No matter how gently Remy caresses, he can’t turn this guiding session into something that it’s not.

“Sentinel.” I pump faster, shivering as his cock twitches.

“Guide,” he rasps.

That’s what I am .

I pluck the thread of a wicked tangle as his body tightens. “You’re ready. Come for me.”

Remy tips me back into a kiss so deep, he breathes directly from my lungs. My hand falters, but he’s too far gone to care.

He twitches.

I gasp and break the kiss, catching his release in my palm.

It feels surprisingly cool.

Or maybe the air is too hot?

Sweating, I stroke Remy through smaller waves of shudders.

His energy is far from healed, but his meridians are the clearest they’ve been yet. “Anyone home?”

“Iris.” Remy smooths my hair and cups my skull.

Now he remembers?

Hyper-conscious of my sticky fingers, I pull away from his arms. “Can you drop the shadows? If Vhex?—”

“Darling.” He yanks me back to his chest. “Let him burn.”

“I’ll accept Guide or Commander. Not Darling .” I push him off one more time, stubbornly wiping his own come all over his black shirt. “And he’s going to burn us first.”

Sweat rolls down my back. Remy’s shadow bubble is turning into a kiln.

Vhex must be trying to bake us out.

“Remington Azrid.” I grab his collar. “Get your shit together.”

His nose wrinkles, and his aura shifts.

Finally.

Remy accesses the lost upper levels of his brain. His clear, red eyes glance casually around the dark. “Where are we?”

“You tell me.”

“Ah.” He banishes the shadows around our feet. “This is problematic.”

I wince at the ground.

The elaborate array is wrecked. The white lines are scattered, leaving nothing but a layer of semi-charred, gray dust and ominous smoke rising from beyond the seam of Remy’s barrier.

“Without the chalk—” I start.

“That isn’t chalk.”

“Then what?”

“Bone.”

My stomach flips.

“It’s dense with divine power,” Remy says, drawing a line through the mess with a toe. “Dragon bone.”

The Faervaine family doesn’t casually pass around its divine power. Let alone the powdered bones of the dragons who sired their line.

Unless the world is ending?

“Are there records stored on base?” Someone must’ve left notes to warn future generations what was sealed under our feet.

“Who knows?”

Right.

Fantastic .

The problem-solving can wait. For now, I take a deep breath—the last one I’ll get to take for a while. “I’ll deal with Vhex. See if you can learn anything from whatever’s left of the seal. But stick close and shadow-walk us out of here if anything moves.”

Remy’s silks hook, stopping me from pulling away.

“Leave Trezzoran to his fate,” Remy says. “He’s beyond saving.”

That’s rich.

“I don’t abandon Sentinels. But if I did?” I lift my chin. “Your damage is worse than his.”

“He—”

“Drop your shadows and get ready to move,” I order, adding a little bite through my badge.

“As you wish. Commander .”

I shiver from the rich lilt of his voice.

When Remy’s shadows disappear, a blast of hellfire strips off all my dead skin. The ground is a lake of lava everywhere except for the island where Remy and I stand, his shadows holding back the tide.

Goodbye, array.

Goodbye, hope.

All I’ve got left is adrenaline and a palmful of vampire cum.

“Vhex!” I wade into the flames. “Where are you?”

Shadows wind up my bare legs, forming emergency pants.

That works.

As long as they don’t suddenly turn into tongues.

The hellfire wouldn’t dream of hurting me. It parts at my feet, morphing into a rough human shape.

Vhex’s pain punches between my lungs.

I plunge into his halfway-formed arms. They’re not hot—just warm.

“ Guide .” Vhex grabs my silks like they’re life ropes.

“I’m here.” I let him take the hug he needs, trying to keep panic from my voice as he melts around me. He’s struggling . “Pull back your fire.”

The liquid flame rolls back as I pet his silks.

I curse as his smoke clears and the ruined cavern comes into view.

Crystals, bone dust, patterns— poof —everything is ashed and burned. The disappearing lava leaves behind a charred stone floor shot through with terrifying cracks.

My neck hairs lift.

As Vhex calms, I sense energy brewing beneath my toes.

Somewhere deep within the ground, a familiar magic pulses to a sluggish beat.

I’ve been swimming in undead for years.

I used to sleep with a fucking lich and fight side-by-side with his zombie horde.

I thought I’d built up a tolerance.

But when a wave of spectral energy rattles my spine, the terror feels brand new.

The imprisoned monster is one of the undead—and it’s much stronger than Kevan.

Without the array, there’s nothing left to stop it from rising.

And when it does?

I bet it resurrects its friends.