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Some mental jostling pings my radar, but before I can figure out what they’re doing behind my back, Remy turns my head.

Remy’s fangs catch my lower lip in a sweet pinch, quickly soothed by the lap of his tongue. He makes that fucking mmm at the back of his throat, and his shadows tighten everywhere from my godsdamned molars to the webs between my toes.

“Delicious.” He sucks my lip, obsessed.

I indulge longer than I should.

When I pull away to breathe, not even their S-class shielding can stop me from sensing the escalating chaos.

Sentinels are melting down.

I push past Remy’s embrace.

Cherise and her crew are drowning in Sentinels who crackle with power as they jostle for attention. There aren’t enough Guides to go around.

A few small groups and paired off couples tangle around the courtyard, doing their battle after-care surrounded by a keyed-up crowd. Some Guides are fully clothed, making do with holding hands as they triage through the group.

Others are working overtime.

One rides a Sentinel while trading deep kisses with two others. Random sparks of power scatter with moans and the rhythmic pounding sound of someone fucking against the wall.

Sex and mayhem.

My favorite.

I swat away shadows and claws and grab a stubborn jaw with each hand.

The jealousy is cute, but it’s their turn to be led.

Vhex and Remy let me steer their heads.

“I’m going to help them, and you’re going to help me. Okay?” I tug their chins to make them nod. “Great. Follow me, team.”

As I drag them across the courtyard, Vhex and Remy unfurl their power. A path opens in front of us. The lesser Sentinels scatter.

Supply crates are stacked against the wall near Cherise’s corner. I clear a seat and push Remy down first. “Sit. Spread your legs.”

“Oh?” He smirks. “Gladly.”

I slide between Remy’s thighs, not fighting the shadows that rope me back against his chest. Taking the weight off my legs, I sigh.

“You come here.” I pat the crate to show him where I want him.

“Yes.” Vhex drops to his knees but faces the wrong way. He stares at my center, eyes gleaming red as he licks his lips.

“The other way,” I laugh helplessly. “You have to help me work.”

I tug his horn to twirl him around.

When he’s seated on the ground with his back against the crate, I swing my legs over his shoulders and lock my ankles over his chest.

“Nice.” He hugs my calves and drops his head back to pillow on my thighs.

It’s the perfect position for stroking his horn.

As I rub Vhex, he carefully rubs my injured knee. Prickling heat pumps from his fingers. The touch relaxes my muscles and eases the lingering throb.

“Thank you.” I scratch Vhex’s scalp until he’s almost purring.

He’s getting a better reward as soon as the three of us are alone.

I shift my free hand to Remy’s thigh.

With the synergy between our energies, it’s easy to point his shadows directly toward the A-class Sentinel who’s giving Cherise the biggest hassle, jumping around and giving off sparks. “Bring him to me?”

Remy’s shadows bunch and obey.

A Sentinel crackling with green lightning staggers out of a flash of darkness and falls, hobbled by ropes.

Vhex snarls at the sudden threat.

His rumble shakes my thighs. I squeeze my quads to settle him, enjoying the vibration as much as the protective possessiveness mixed with his usual urge to destroy. “Easy. He’s not your competition.”

“I know.” Vhex snatches the Sentinel by his wrist and offers it up to me, smugly controlling the process. “I don’t want him touching you.”

Remy makes a noise of agreement against my hair. “Filthy eyes. Not worthy of your care.” A shadow bag swallows the Sentinel’s face.

“Everyone deserves care.” I touch three fingers to the back of the Sentinel’s hand.

He’s swirling in pain and so paralyzed by Vhex and Remy’s auras, he doesn’t even register the resonance of our souls.

I quickly straighten out his silks while he sweats under my guard dogs’ snarls.

“Next,” I call, business-like, pulling away my hand.

Having the guys saves me the work of summoning Sentinels and convincing them to leave after they’re treated. It turns my guidance into an assembly line, letting me soothe more souls more rapidly than I ever could alone.

When the last struggling Sentinel wheels away fast enough to kick up a cloud of dust, I glance around the mostly emptied courtyard.

Pairs linger, too busy going at it to care about anything else.

I spot Cherise, lip-locked with Tiago, their silks twining and pulsing in harmony.

I suck in a breath. “That’s some serious compatibility.”

“Not as high as ours,” Remy counters.

“True,” I say, biting back a smile. “They’re going to be busy for a while. Let me make sure everyone is taken care of.”

Then I’ll take care of both of you.

Together, the three of us spin around the keep.

We find a healer first.

The woman fixes my knee and a thousand other injuries I forgot about. Vhex and Remy’s Sentinel physiques have already healed their physical damage.

They have me to tend to their souls.

Back in fighting shape, I soothe a few more Sentinels, encourage exhausted Guides, and help the Farguard and Deathguard officers divide who’s responsible for what in the massive, post-battle cleanup.

I hand Kevan and Luca’s remains to a solemn Sentinel Mallory.

The giant Deathguard officer gives me a formal, palm-to-fist salute. “If you’ll have us, the Deathguard would like to stay under your command. At least until Duke Kyorgos resurrects.”

“The palace won’t like that,” I answer cautiously. “Neither will Kevan.”

Mallory scratches his ear. “What about you?”

Vhex and Remy seethe in sync, their auras swelling and brandishing spikes. I grab their hands, already soothing their silks.

Mallory takes a step back but refuses to back down. “Would you like it if we stayed?”

“I won’t say no to more fighters.” Despite our ugly history, the Deathguard is well-trained. That’s where our story has to end. I shrug my chest and shoulders as best I can, showing off the men tangled up in my arms. “But I’ve got all the Sentinel I can handle now.”

“That’s fair.” Mallory lets out a heavy breath. “We’ll be at your service.”

I redirect the shadow headed for his throat, teasing it with the tips of a silk. “That’s all our business handled. For now. Can you take me?—”

Darkness explodes before I can finish my request.

In the space of a breath, my back hits the silky sheets of Remy’s four-post bed.

His weight falls on top of me.

There’s a crash and a string of curses as Vhex falls somewhere much less soft. “Selfish fucking bat.”

At least Remy brought Vhex along?

It’s small, but it’s progress.

Vhex jostles Remy’s desk on his scramble to the mattress. Not allowing my attention to stray, Remy pulls my gaze back to him. Shadows stroke my throat. With blood-red eyes, he dips in for a kiss.

His fangs part my lips, opening my mouth to his hungry tongues.

Vhex’s subtle claws skate up my thigh.

Their silks twist and writhe, feeding me heady emotions and trying to deepen our bond.

It feels like being pet on the inside, all soft and indulgent.

The shower can wait.

I hook Remy’s shoulders to rope him closer. When I tilt to reach for Vhex’s horn, watery light blinks at the corner of my eye.

An orb flashes above Remy’s desk.

I groan.

Someone’s calling from Kyorgos.

Did Duchess Kyorgos finally remember that I exist?

As usual, Vhex and Remy don’t notice or care.

I follow their example, hitching a leg over Vhex and angling my hips to find his fin.

“Firefly,” he mumbles and palms my ass.

Remy uses my shadow clothes as extra hands, teasing my nipples and feathering every inch of my skin.

There’s a lazy comfort to their pace.

They can feel my exhaustion, just how I feel the shift in their desire. They always want more— honestly, me too —but kissing and keeping me close spark a swell of satisfaction in their souls.

The flashing orb reminds me this is real.

It whines at a high pitch.

Someone’s juicing it with a lot of energy on the other side.

“Shall I toss it into the sea?” Remy murmurs against my throat.

“Tempting, but no.” I open my palm. “May as well say what I need to say.”

Remy wafts the orb into my hand and lights it with ticklish power.

I used to primp for hours to look the part of a future Kyorgos matron.

It was never enough.

Now, I’m such a disheveled, over-sexed wreck, I can’t even hold the orb steady.

Vhex kisses up and down my shoulder, rocking my body as he humps between my thighs.

I connect the call.

Two fussy, frigid women sit side-by-side against an even fussier backdrop of heraldic-patterned wallpaper. Both are dressed for a ball in corsets and curls.

What war? What monsters?

Baroness Alessandra Ashbourne and Duchess Calliope Kyorgos live in an entirely different world.

“Yes?” I ask curtly.

Their made-up faces are ready in masks of pissy anger. As they realize what they’re seeing, their expressions morph through seven stages of horror.

“Iris!” my mother snaps, shrill enough to vibrate her corkscrew curls. “How dare you?—!”

She chokes off, red spots spreading across her cheeks.

“What have you done to my son?” Duchess Kyorgos snatches the orb and drags it closer to her face. The angle sharpens her already angular features. Halfway to a lich. “You traitorous slut.”

Viper-fast, Vhex and Remy snap to glare.

The blood drains from the duchess’ face.

The picture shakes, then drops and rolls away.

I tilt my head as the orb spins past their slippers, giving us the washing-machine view of the parlor’s dust-free floors.

Just a glare and she can’t hold on?

“Weak.” Vhex makes a dismissive huff that tickles my collar bone. He kisses the spot, full of contempt for women he could kill with a sneeze.

I feel the same.

No more fear, no more expectations.

I’m just annoyed at these out-of-touch harpies.

Remy’s shadows climb between my fingers and start to peel the orb out of my hand. “I see the nobility has continued to decline.”

“More than you know,” I murmur and tighten my grip, stopping him from ending the call. “Give me thirty seconds. That’s all I need for them.”

“I’m counting,” Remy says.

My mother picks the orb off the floor.

I can’t resent her as much when I can see straight up her nose.

She sets the orb back on its perch and smooths her skirts as if nothing has ever gone wrong. “The young duke’s soul is damaged. Apologize and return to your place while you’re still allowed to manage his care.”

“Gods know why he went to see you .” The duchess shakes, baring her teeth between words. “Now my son comes home in fragments, wailing in the family crypt, with no body and no Guide. I want answers, and I want whoever did this brought to me in chains.”

She stares down her nose, waiting for my confession.

As if I’d beg for one last chance to fawn over her son.

As if I owe her anything.

“Ten seconds,” Remy warns.

Not soon enough.

I stare dead into the orb.

“You’re on your own.” Just like I’ve always been. “Don’t ever look for me again.”

Remy cuts the juice just as the duchess’ lips form the first word of some screed I don’t have to listen to anymore.

As soon as it’s shut down, the glass strobes with another call.

“No more.” I give into my truest desire and shot-put the orb across the room.

It shatters against Remy’s hardwood armoire, showering the floor in the most satisfying crackle of glass and magic sparks.

I guide Remy’s shadows, directing them to sweep the rest of the messaging orbs into a trunk before anyone else can think to reach out.

No more calls.

No more looking back.

“I should’ve done that centuries ago,” Remy murmurs against my scalp. “Now you’re mine alone.”

“Fuck you,” Vhex snarls, whipping a pillow at Remy’s forehead. When Remy shifts, Vhex uses the distraction to roll me across the mattress. I land straddling his hips, hugged tight to his chest.

Vhex rubs my shoulder blades, sparking a fire that dances between my body and soul.

“Mine,” he sighs. “My wings. My only. You can’t leave.”

I bury my face in his warm throat.

“Neither can you,” I whisper into his skin.

“As if we could.” Remy chuckles. My scalp tugs as he lifts a piece of my hair to his lips. “I can forget hundreds of lifetimes, even my own name. Yet, I’ll always be drawn to the light of your soul. Everything that’s left of me is yours, my love.”

I shiver in their arms. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”