Page 23

Juniper

‘T he Shifters are going to be a problem,’ I told the group as we settled in a circle on the floor against the wall.

‘I can feel their aggressive energy all the way from over here,’ Phenex agreed.

‘I can hear them,’ I admitted.

They all blinked at me in surprise, a few jaws dropping from the news.

‘ Hear them how?’ Oz asked in my head, unable to respond to me directly out loud with the others around.

‘I don’t hear anything from them,’ Qarinah argued, missing my point.

‘In my head. I can hear them talking about us. About me.’

‘What the fuck?’ Abaddon breathed. ‘You’ve tapped into their mind link?’

I hummed thoughtfully, unsure how to describe what I was experiencing. ‘No… I don’t think so. At least not all of them. It’s the snake guy, the one I smacked around a bit with my vines. I can hear what he’s saying and it’s not great.’

‘What is he saying?’ Phenex asked, hugging me tighter to his chest from my perch on his lap.

‘I guess I humiliated him in front of his buddies and now he wants revenge. Oh, and something along the lines of me being his unwanted mate because I’m too small, weak and childish.’

Phenex released an epic growl from deep within his chest, the sound heading straight for my clit which vibrated in response. Fuck, I loved it when he got all possessive and growly.

‘ Why the fuck does he think you’re his mate?’ Oz snarled inside my mind. ‘ And why the fuck does he think you’re not a worthy mate? He’d be lucky to have you!’

I sent a smirk his way which made him roll his eyes. ‘ Damn straight he would. I don’t know, I guess my height and childish features are a turn off or something. He keeps comparing me to the Shifter women and I get it. I’m the complete opposite.’

‘You’re stronger than they think, and he’s stupid to keep underestimating you when you’ve already beat him up.’

I shrugged. There wasn’t really anything more to add to it. He was just a toxic piece of shit with a fragile sense of masculinity and it wasn’t my job to stroke his overgrown ego.

‘Isn’t he their leader, though?’ Qarinah asked, her gaze pinned on the shadows of the tunnel where they hid.

‘The term they use is Alpha, but yeah,’ I confirmed.

‘Then how are we supposed to make the connection with them if they’re so intent on hurting you for putting that asshole in his place?’ she asked, worry colouring her tone.

‘Not just them, either,’ Oz jumped in, able to speak up now that it was Qarinah asking the question and not me. ‘We’ve still got to find a way to bridge the gap with the Fae and the Angels, too, and all three seem pretty insufferable to me so far.’

‘I take offense to that,’ Elvina spoke up for the first time from her position almost on the outside of the circle. It was like she’d been edging away because she didn’t want to be associated with us, but I knew better. Her shyness could have been mistaken as haughtiness if you didn’t already know she was shy, but our brief time together had proven to us that she was serious about this.

I felt a twinge of guilt over my suspicions that she was a spy. With the way her own people were glaring at her even now, it was clear her decision was an independent one, and they hadn’t agreed with it.

‘Actually, he has a point,’ I pointed out. ‘Now’s as good a time as any to talk about what you were trying to tell me earlier, Elvina. Why don’t you elaborate?’

She cast a nervous glance toward her people that were huddled on the opposite side of the chamber. It hadn’t escaped my notice that they chose to position themselves closer to the Shifters than the rest of us, or how the Angels were hovering above us like they thought us too far beneath them to sully themselves by being near us.

The segregation was the exact opposite of what we needed, what the Unity Trials were about, and their stubbornness was going to be the biggest Trial of all to overcome. I was exhausted just thinking about it.

‘I am not comfortable speaking of it when I can be so easily overheard…’ she protested, and Oz and I shared a look of understanding.

‘ Silencing bubble?’ I asked him.

‘ It would look suspicious if we didn’t include the others,’ he pointed out, and he was right.

I held Elvina’s gaze with my own, for once no levity shining through. This was a serious discussion and deserved a serious response.

‘We can create a silencing bubble around those of us partaking in the conversation. Anyone outside of it won’t be able to hear a thing.’

Oz took over, and I enjoyed hearing his voice with others around. ‘If we perform the spell it will be obvious and it could be detrimental to our attempts of garnering trust if we don’t include the others.’

‘What others?’ she squeaked.

‘Just those who have already made the effort to connect with other races. This is information we all need whether your people like it or not.’

‘What’s going on?’ Abaddon asked, frowning in frustration that he wasn’t clued into what we were talking about.

Elvina took one look at him, the rest of our circle, and then the others that were still mingling in the centre of the room and sighed. ‘Okay.’

I nodded for Oz to grab everyone else and soon enough we were completely surrounded. We had also caught the attention of the Fae, Shifters and Angels so we were going to need to move things along.

‘Witches and Warlocks, prepare to create a silencing bubble,’ Oz called out and we all got into position. With so many of us to encompass in our spell we needed more people to boost its power. We encircled our group and held hands to keep them inside and began our chant.

‘Obsecro ut in silentio. Nemo alius audiat. Bulla silentii crea obstruere inutiles aures.

Obsecro ut in silentio. Nemo alius audiat. Bulla silentii crea obstruere inutiles aures.

Obsecro ut in silentio. Nemo alius audiat. Bulla silentii crea obstruere inutiles aures.

Ita fiat.’

With the last words, so let it be done , a shimmering dome spread from out arms to encase us all in an opaque bubble that blurred us as well as kept in the sound. No one could read lips or even discern who was speaking, our conversation thoroughly private.

All Humans remained connected in our circle to maintain the spell for it took only one person to break the connection that amplified our magic, the Daemons trapped in our core until the spell dispersed. Except the silence we had created beyond the dome seemed to have gotten stuck inside it as well. No one spoke. Instead, jaws gaped open as the Daemons (and Elvina) struggled to decide which was more appropriate to gawp at, us or the magic.

‘Go on, Elvina,’ I prompted. ‘We won’t be able to hold it forever.’

She physically shook herself out of her stupor and all eyes were suddenly wrenched away from us and the dome and focused intently on her. She squirmed under the attention but a reassuring smile from me and a scattering of others seemed to help her find her tongue.

‘Um... I’m not sure... Can everyone understand me?’ she asked and I wanted to face palm at the oversight. We might have been able to understand each other but she hadn’t been involved in the mass effort to create the connection between our races. Instead, she’d stuck by our side and steered clear of the crowds.

Luckily, they all confirmed that they could, in fact, understand her and I was relieved that the connection didn’t need to be made on an individual basis. It seemed our intent was what mattered the most here, and I was grateful that the magic of the Trials recognised that.

‘Okay. Good. Well... I don’t know where to start...’ she stumbled over her words.

‘From the beginning is probably best,’ Phenex urged.

‘Tell them what you told us,’ I added on.

She inhaled a composing breath, hesitated only a moment longer, and then launched into her story. ‘We Fae are the ones who initiated the Unity Trials, and before you ask, I’ll explain why. You see, there’s a terrible darkness plaguing my people. It infects us, turns us into mindless monsters, nothing more than murderous beasts that stop at nothing until they have destroyed everything in their path. Even then, the horrors never cease. There is no cure. They only way to stop them is to kill them, and we are dying. Our numbers are dwindling. Our people are going extinct.’

‘Where did this darkness come from?’ someone asked, though I couldn’t tell who. It wasn’t someone I recognised.

Elvina’s already grim expression darkened even further, her lips tilting downward. ‘There are forbidden texts. Old tomes filled with terrible knowledge. A small group of rebels read them centuries ago and released a curse upon our people. Recently, someone else had been studying those tomes in secret, trying to find a cure. Something. Anything we could use to fight back against the evil that has destroyed us.

‘That was where he read about the Unity Trials. At first, he was condemned for breaking our sacred laws, for reading the words long since forbidden to us all. No one wanted to listen, but we no longer had a choice. Our Council tracked him down and asked what needed to be done.

‘An assembly was held within our realm. Each of us was called to attend from every corner of our lands and we were informed of the Trials. We voted... We did not understand... The Old Texts spoke of uniting the five magics, and we assumed they were referring to our own. We could not have possibly fathomed...’

‘That five magics was the five supernatural races and we weren’t just stuff of myths and legends?’ I surmised, keeping my tone light and teasing when I saw her floundering beneath her guilt. Now that I’d heard her side of the story, I understood the action they had taken. I fully believed we all would have chosen the same way if it were us, and the lack of condemnation she was receiving from this particular crowd was proof enough of that. The occasional mutterings of a select few individuals who were put out by the whole situation was inevitable, but that was a personal problem for them to work through themselves.

The truth of the matter was that the Fae needed help, and they were going to need to start asking for it nicely or else this would all be for naught.

The spell burst when I was bowled over from behind, the connection breaking as I stumbled forward. Luckily, Phenex caught me before I face-planted into the rock below. I would have undoubtedly ended up with a broken nose at least and a concussion at worst.

He snarled at the cause of my fall, thrusting me behind him as he took up a defensive position in front of me. His daggers were raised in his hands before I even knew what was happening.

Oz stepped up beside him, a spell already on his lips. ‘ Enervo!’

The spell slammed into none other than the Shifter’s Alpha with a force even I winced at. I watched on in pity as the asshole crumpled to the ground, unable to move as the spell seeped him of his energy. Before long, he fell unconscious, his body shutting down to reserve what little strength he had left. It was a nasty spell but effective against an enemy in a pinch. It wasn’t something I liked to use, nor had I had any reason to use it myself, but I was grateful for Oz’s quick thinking.

Unfortunately, it only seemed to insense the Shifter, all of them Shifting into their second forms within moments in a grotesque display of bending, cracking, shrinking and elongating. I was suddenly very glad to have been born a Witch so I would never be forced to experience that. It looked beyond painful, and I grudgingly respected them for it.

But I didn’t have time to dwell on the intricacies of what it took to be a Shifter because they were charging at us en mass. As if of the same mind, we reconnected our circle and I shouted out the last defensive spell I had used, only this time with the assistance of additional magic at my disposal.

‘ Integumentum!’

The spell snapped into place like a rubber band, smacking against us all with a force that knocked the breath from our lungs. It stung like a bitch, too, but at least we were saved from fang and claw when they slashed down on us, their fury driving them to kill.

‘Shit, what do we do?’ the person beside me asked, and I realised for the first time that it was George. I had been far too lost in my own little world to pay attention to my surroundings. I was focused on Oz and Phenex, the Shifter’s growing unease and Elvina’s revelations.

Okay, so there was a lot going on. I should really give myself a break, but it was hard not to feel guilty that I hadn’t even noticed someone I’d once considered a close friend, even if now the ‘close’ part was no longer relevant.

‘Wait it out, I suppose,’ I said, unsure of what else we could do.

The Fae were momentarily stunned by the sudden display of aggression, but they didn’t seem to care enough to aid us even when they snapped out of it. And the Angels... well, they were watching from above as if we were their own personal soap opera. No help from them either, I supposed. It was Humans and Daemons against the world, it seemed, but at least we had them.

I was even more glad for it when Qarinah stepped our from within the crowd and sauntered up to the biggest of them all, a large polar bear currently baring its teeth at Oz in frustration and rage. He immediately back down, however, when she sent out a wave of pure lust, her voice like smooth sin caressing the deepest parts of your soul.

More Succubae, and a few males I was now sure were Incubi, followed her lead and calmed the raging Shifters in record speed. They were still antsy, but their focus was diverted into something a little more... unpleasant to watch.

Females spread themselves before the Daemons, presenting themselves for sex while penises of all shapes and sizes popped out of fur, feathers and scales. There was even the corkscrewed length of a duck that came close to smacking me in the ankle as the small creature waddled on by, eager to get to the source of the sexual energy.

The Shifters weren’t the only ones affected, either. Men and women alike from all the races were drawn in like moths to a flame, but though I felt the magic wash over me like a tender caress, I didn’t feel the urge to join them. The spell broke as Humans joined the fray, all five races converging on Qarinah and her kin. Phenex and I were one of the only ones left behind, and it was clear why when I saw the others were also couples.

‘We are Fated, and we have accepted one another. Our claim on each other’s souls keeps us safe from magic that would have us stray,’ Phenex informed me, his lips brushing against my ear and encouraging the lust we were experiencing.

‘Or it just makes us want each other more,’ I noted, sliding my hand back to grasp his hard length and squeeze.

His breath shuddered out of him on a barely tamed sigh. ‘You might be correct.’

‘The tunnel?’ I asked, already leading him by the cock to the dark, sort of secluded spot away from the others. I did not want to see what was going on there, especially considering my twin brother was involved.

No, I wanted to take my man to a shadowy corner and have my way with him.

Except he turned the tables on me and took charge as soon as we were far enough inside the darkness to enjoy the illusion of privacy, slamming my back against the wall and crowding into my space. He smacked my hand away from his cock to grind it into my stomach, but then he shocked me even further by dropping to his knees at my feet.

‘I didn’t get to worship you before. I owe you an orgasm, Beautiful.’

‘Oh, yes please,’ I agreed eagerly, my voice breathy from my lust.

He chuckled low in his throat as his focus zeroed in on my pants. Tauntingly slowly he rolled down my waistband, gradually revealing myself to him as he had grabbed my panties at the same time. Soon, cool air rushed over my bared pussy, the sudden shift in temperature working me up even more as I eagerly awaited his mouth where I wanted it the most.

He didn’t leave me waiting for long. His eyelids drooped at the sight, his pupils expanding until there was no hint of purple of his irises to be seen. And then I could no longer see him because his face was buried between my legs, his tongue licking a long line from my opening up to my clit.

‘Fuck, Beautiful. Your cream tastes like the sweetest ambrosia,’ he groaned, then dove in for another taste.

I cried out as his tongue circled my sensitive nub, shockwaves of pleasure rolling through my body each time he flicked it at just the right angle. ‘Yes, right there. Oh, gods, Phenex... Don’t stop.’

He listened. Picking up the pace, he swirled his tongue around my clit again while he rubbed a single long finger through my juices, lubing it up so he wouldn’t hurt me when he inserted it. The consideration was sexy as hell and something I had never experienced before. I had only had two sexual partners before him and both had gone full speed ahead without any enthusiasm for foreplay or my own pleasure.

Phenex was making sure I only experienced pleasure, but I found I still craved that pinch of pain.

‘Bite it,’ I ordered him, my voice husky and low. ‘Bite my clit, baby. I need it rough.’

He complied. As soon as his teeth scraped over my most sensitive part I shivered in anticipated, and when he bit down my legs shook with the force of my incoming orgasm. He chose that moment to fill me with his finger, crooking it at just the right angle to make me come apart at the seems, but I didn’t let myself just yet. I wasn’t ready for it to end.

‘More. Please, baby, give me more.’

Another finger entered me and I scrambled to hold onto something so I wouldn’t collapse, my legs shaking so hard I could not longer hold myself up properly. They moved forward to grip onto his hair, only they knocked against his horns. When my fingers wrapped around them to both hold myself up and keep him in place he released a low, rumbling moan that vibrated my clit and I fought not to give into the impending release.

Not yet. Just a little longer...

My hips had a mind of their own as I rode his face, searching for more friction. I was so close, teetering on the precipice of what I knew was going to be the best orgasm of my life. When he added a third finger and twisted his hand, gripped my clit lightly with his teeth and then sucked , I came apart.

My mouth opened on a silent scream, by breath catching in my throat as wave after wave of pure ecstasy coursed through me. My vision went white as my entire body felt effects. When I eventually came down from the high I was trembling, still gripping Phenex’s horns and holding his face to my pussy. Seeing him look up at me from that position, blown pupils gazing up through thick purple lashes, it was enough to send me into another smaller, yet no less earth shattering orgasm.

‘You are the most stunning creature I have ever met,’ he whispered into my lower lips and giggled breathlessly.

‘See? They need words of affirmation, too.’

‘So it would seem,’ he smirked as I finally relaxed my hold on his horns. ‘I shall endeavour to praise your cunt as often as possible.’

I snorted, the sound entirely unattractive but I couldn’t bring myself to care in my fully sated state. ‘Go right ahead.’

He helped me adjust my clothing back into place before holding me up to rejoin the group in the larger chamber, but we both stopped short when we found our way blocked. Not by one, but two men I would never have expected to watch me get it on with my man in a dark corner.

Evander stood closest, his eyes boring into mine with an intensity I couldn’t decipher. His pants were tented (and what a tent it was...), and he adjusted himself before turning and walking away without another glance back. I hadn’t missed the range over emotions in his heavy-lidded gaze, however, I just didn’t know what to make of them.

The second man came into view then, and he was hard to miss. The Angel that had stolen our way out with his arrogance and entitlement, not to mention his lack of stealth, was watching everything play out with a curiosity that bordered on ridiculous. He looked like he’d never seen two people have sex before, and I suddenly wondered if he was a virgin. No, I highly doubted that. His cock was basically on full display as it stood at attention, his thin loincloth doing absolutely nothing to keep him covered. I looked away, not wanting to see another man’s cock after I’d just fucked my boyfriend’s mouth and fingers, and he frowned as if annoyed I wasn’t taking the bait and falling over myself to have a taste of him.

Yeah, well, good luck with that, buddy. I was more than happy with my Daemon.

An image flashed in the forefront of my mind of Hawthorne, my heart clenching with both guilt and frustration, the former because my feelings for him were still very much present and I felt like I was being disloyal and the latter because I had no reason to feel that way. Hawthorne barely even knew I existed, let alone reciprocated my feelings. I wasn’t cheating on anybody, and it was past time I let my silly little crush on him go.

I could still look, and I probably would because that man was F.I.N.E., but I wasn’t about to sabotage the good thing I had going with Phenex over an unrequited crush.

The angel spread his wings and with a few heavy beats was once again airborn. Without his large frame blocking the way I could see that the impromptu orgy was over. People were redressing, many were avoiding eye contact, and the Shifter had slunk back into their own dark tunnel to continue their lurking in the shadows. I noticed that their Alpha was back to normal, though I only caught the glint of his onyx scales as he slithered away, a brief flash of glowing yellow eyes, and then he was gone.

‘Are you okay, Beautiful?’ Phenex asked, noticing the tension returning to me.

I smiled up at him, letting go of all the bullshit and focusing on the good. ‘Never better. You?’

His hand cupped my cheek and I nuzzled into it, enjoying the affection. ‘With you, my soul soars.’

My breath hitched at his poetic words. ‘No one’s ever said anything like that to me before,’ I admitted, blinking away the sudden moisture in my eyes.

‘A travesty I will be correcting,’ he vowed.

I covered his hand that was still cupping my face with my own. ‘I’m so happy I met you, Phenex.’

His answering smile may have been small but it was bright enough to light an entire city. ‘And I, you.’