Chapter Twenty-Two

“I think I know what your house was thinking,” Rival smiles as he nods to something behind my head.

Spinning around, I can't help but chuckle at the heart in silver magic on the kitchen wall, “The kitchen is the heart of the house.”

“Well, let's get started,” Rival smiles as he pulls out a leather-bound notebook and a pen, “we’re starting in the kitchen, obviously, so we need to know what you want it to be like and then we can work out what supplies we need.”

“While you guys are doing that, we’re going to go and have a look around and see if there’s anything here that obviously needs to be fixed,” Storm adds, winking at me.

After they’ve left, I glance around the empty kitchen, “You know it would be better if we had somewhere to sit to do this.”

As soon as the words have left my mouth, a solid wood table and two chairs appear on the dining side of the kitchen, courtesy of the house, and I have no idea how it’s managed to do it.

“That is so fucking cool,” Rival mutters as we head over.

“Thank you, house,” I say gratefully.

Once we’re settled, I can hear the guys walking around and laughing, and I have to admit that it's nice to hear the house full of people. When I bought it, I thought that I would be here alone, and it’s only just occurring to me that I will never have to be truly alone ever again. It’s an amazing feeling. A gentle touch on my hand brings me out of my thoughts, and my gaze collides with Rival’s knowing one.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

“Yeah, it’s just nice to hear people in my home,” I reply, somewhat honestly, although I’m not giving him all the details.

“You know that if you let them when this place is done, they won't be leaving ever. I can hear Loki picking out his room.” Rival replies and then studies my reaction closely to see if I’m freaking out.

Surprisingly I’m not, “You know that’s an idea that needs some more thought.”

The way his eyes light up tells me that he’s pleasantly surprised by my reaction, and he leans forward, kissing me softly before he pulls back, smirking at my shocked expression and then looking down at his notebook.

“Alright, so how do you want this place to look when you’re done?” he asks me.

I take a moment to get my breath back because damn can he kiss, and then clear my throat to answer him, “I want it to be as close to the originally built house as possible, but if it's okay with the house then I’d like some modern conveniences and décor.”

Rival and I let out a shocked chuckle as the word duh appears in the house's silver magic on the tabletop.

“Only you would get a sassy house,” Rival chuckles.

“Well it did already smack Loki when he tried to get into the safe in the hidden room.” I remind him.

“Yeah, I love this house,” Rival smirks.

“It’s amazing, and I can’t wait until it’s actually finished.” I reply and then add, “Alright, where do we start? I have some ideas of what I want to do, and I have a rudimentary knowledge of building things the traditional way and without magic, but that’s mostly because I love power tools. Although, I’m not necessarily what you’d consider safe with them.”

Rival’s eyebrows raise as his orange eyes dance with amusement, “So what I’m getting from that is you are never to be left alone with any of the power tools.”

I pout, making him laugh. “Fine, but if I am not allowed to play with them under supervision, then I will go rogue, don’t test me.”

“Deal,” Rival replies, then gets us back on track by asking, “Okay so we’re starting in here. I’m fairly certain that when it was first built, they didn’t have the magic run stoves that we do now, so it's good that the house is happy to have some modern conveniences put in.”

“Yeah, to be honest, I'm more appreciative of the fact that it means we can have indoor plumbing,” I reply.

“Good point,” Rival replies.

We spend the next couple of hours talking about what I want to do with the house and making sure that the house is okay with everything that we have planned. Poca and Meri are still exploring the house with the guys, and I can hear them moving things and deciding what can be kept, repaired and then what needs to be thrown too.

Grey interrupts us as he walks in and says something. I have no fucking idea what he’s just said because he’s got his sleeves rolled up, his hair is dishevelled, a long strand of it falling out of his low ponytail and framing his, making his angular and gorgeous features stand out even more. With dust all over him and grime smeared across his forehead, his eyes are lit up with happiness and because I’m so used to seeing him so put together and pristine, this alternative version is having an interesting effect on me.

“Why is she staring at me like that?” Grey asks Rival as my hearing kicks back in, and I try to subtly wipe my chin in case I drooled.

Apparently, my brain still isn’t working properly because I can’t find the words to formulate an excuse in time and that leaves Rival to answer for me.

Sounding highly amused, he replies, “Fairly certain that she thinks you look so hot that it’s broken her brain.”

Grey’s eyebrows jump with surprise as he looks down at his dishevelled appearance and then back at me, his lips ticking up on one side in the sexiest half smile that restarts all the dirty thoughts that I just got under control.

As he opens his mouth to say something, Storm walks into the kitchen, “What are you guys doing? We need to get back to the castle and prepare.”

“Wait, what?” I ask, my brain coming back online.

“Grey got a reply from the faction. They want to meet him today, and that doesn’t leave us a lot of time to get ready and cast the spell to find the cursed object.” Storm replies.

“Well, fuck. Alright, let's go.” I reply as Rival picks up the notebook, and I say a quick goodbye to the house, promising that I’ll be back as soon as I can.

The flight back is quick, and when we all get out, Storm orders, “Everyone needs to go and get changed and arm up. Then meet in the library, and we’ll go over the plan.”

Before we all disappear to do what Storm asked us, Reaper asks Grey, “I don’t suppose that you can draw up the map of this place as well?”

Grey shakes his head, “No, he’s very private, and I’ve avoided going there up until now. I should have some old maps of the estates in my library, but I have no idea if Remiki’s estate is in there.”

“That should be okay, I might be able to adapt the spell so that we can use it to track the cursed object once we’re in the house, and if I’m the one casting, it will make it easier to control and be more precise,” Mayhem suggests.

“Alright, you can be one of the ones that go with Farren then. We’ll work out the rest once we’re ready to get going.” Storm replies.

Poca runs ahead of me as he excitedly makes his way to my room so that I can arm up. He always gets this excited when we’re about to go on a job; he loves the danger as much as I do. Meri, however, has clearly worn himself out playing at the house because I can hear his little snores sounding in my ear from where he’s curled up on my shoulder in his usual place. The weight of him on my shoulder is rapidly becoming a comforting thing.

Once I get to my room I strip out of my clothes and pull on the supple leather trousers that I usually wear on jobs, teaming it with a soft shirt and then adding various weapons harnesses. I really wish I had more of my weapons with me, but we had no idea that we’d be away from the academy for this long. By the time I’m done filling my harnesses with knives, swords and my whip, I am exceptionally well-armed and feel a sense of peace flow through me. I always feel more relaxed when I’ve got a lot of weapons on me.

Staring at the pile still left on the bed, I decide to open up the small pocket of the Void that I use to store things and place the weapons in there, just in case we need them. Once that’s done, I pause on my way out the door, and Poca stops with me, looking up at me curiously.

“You know, I think that thanks to my run-in with Astaroth at the last faction, I may have become slightly paranoid,” I tell him since he’s looking at me like he wants to know. He nudges my hand and lets out a rumbling growl that clearly states his unhappiness at that whole situation.

I suppose it’s unsurprising that I might be more wary now. I was not as prepared as I should’ve been to see a tormentor from my past, and from my breakdown after it happened, it’s clear that it affected me. I guess I should be grateful that I’m not terrified to do another job, but then again, these sorts of things are a part of who I am, and I could never deny myself this. It would be akin to denying myself something vital like food.

I am grateful that I’m not doing this job alone though. My men are formidable in their own right; as a team, very few people would stand a chance against them, and that’s not even taking Grey into consideration, and whatever the fuck he is.

Shaking off my thoughts, I pick up my pace and then head out of the door and rush to the library to meet the others. I have no idea how long I’ve been and I don’t want them waiting for me, especially since we’re on kind of a time crunch.

I’m not the last to arrive, which I’m grateful for. Killian’s eyes travel my outfit, heating as they do before he nudges Grey, who’s standing next to him, searching through a pile of maps.

“What?” Grey asks, sounding impatient as he turns around, and when his eyes land on me, they heat just like Kill’s did as he mutters, “Damn.”

Kill’s smile widens as he looks proud, “Our girl looks damn good dressed in leather and armed to the teeth, doesn’t she?”

My own eyes widen slightly at the use of our girl, but Grey doesn’t even bat an eyelid. He just nods and replies, “Yes, she does.”

“You guys don’t look so bad yourselves,” I reply with a smirk. In truth, they look hot as fuck and lethal, and I think it’s how deadly they both look which is turning me on the most. Strike that; I know that’s the thing I’m finding most attractive about them. The image of them both stripped naked and teasing me together, driving my need to insane heights, flashes through my mind, and I vow that I will have them both at the same time at some point in the future. I think it would be a crime for that not to happen, mainly because, in my mind, they are incredibly good at working together.

“Are you okay?” Zev asks with a knowing smile.

I frown, “When the fuck did you get here?”

“You know I’d be offended that you didn’t notice the rest of us arrive, but with the way that you were staring at Grey and Killian, I have a feeling that something a hell of a lot more interesting was on your mind.” Reaper’s smile is mischievous.

I shrug, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was thinking about sandwiches.”

Poca and Meri make weird sounds that sound like their versions of laughter, clearly knowing that I’m speaking out of my arse.

Zev’s eyes flash white, seriously!? Is he going to get a vision about this? His eyes fill with need as he lets a smirk slip free.

“She was certainly thinking about a kind of sandwich,” he grins, and it takes a second for the others to catch on to what he means before I’m suddenly the focus of eight heated gazes.

Loki practically prowls towards me, his eyes flashing red as one side of his mouth kicks up into a dangerously sexy smirk that flashes fang and gets me even more hot and bothered. His eyes briefly move over my head before landing back on me, but I couldn’t look away from him if I wanted to, so I have no idea who he was looking at or why.

He bends slightly as he reaches me, grasps me under my thighs, and hoists me up. My legs wrap around him as my arms go around his neck, one of my hands weaving into his hair with a firm grip that makes him growl.

We meet each other halfway, his lips firm against mine, and before I can process what’s happening right now, I feel a person pressing against my back, and from the size of them, I’m guessing Reaper steps up behind me, the warmth of his chest seeping through my clothes and setting my nerve endings on fire. One of his hands lands on my waist, as the other moves the shoulder of my jacket away, and as his lips caress my skin and a shudder of need works its way through me.

Loki’s tongue dances with mine as Reaper nips and then soothes the bite with his tongue; my hips buck as I involuntarily let out a breathy moan. My moan is echoed by several growls and not just from Reaper and Loki, which somehow just manages to turn me on more. Especially with Reaper’s growl vibrating through my back, the effect of it making my core pulse with need.

My hand clenches in Loki’s hair as I arch back so I can reach my arm behind me and grasp hold of Reaper, my nails lightly scratch his neck, and he bites down on my neck in retribution, causing me to moan breathily.

A sudden bark from Poca has us pulling apart, and I glare at him for interrupting us. The cheeky fucker just rolls his eyes at me and snorts. It’s then that I notice that Meri is curled up in a circle of fire on his back; I was so distracted by the guys that I didn’t notice him move from my shoulder, although I’m glad that he did.

Still breathing somewhat unevenly, I glance around at the others in the room, wondering what their reactions to witnessing this is going to be. Thankfully, none of them seems pissed or annoyed; they all just look turned the fuck on, and that I can definitely work with. They also all look like they’re trying to hold themselves back from reaching for me, and although I am incredibly intrigued to see how this would play out, now that I’m not distracted by Loki’s tongue and Reaper’s lips, I remember that we are under a time crunch right now and should be doing other things.

With this in mind, I clear my throat and wiggle until Reaper steps back, and Loki slowly lets me slide down his body. I have to force myself not to think about the feel of their hard as steel dicks as they stay pressed against me for a moment before they step back.

Fucking hell.

Clearing my throat, I say, “We should probably get to work.”

Storm’s eyes are still glued to me, and I watch as he swallows thickly, his horns sparking before he nods and then replies, his voice husky with desire, “Yeah, we should. Okay, Grey did you find a map?”

“Not yet. I was looking through them when we got distracted by Farren,” Grey replies with a smirk.

Raising my eyebrow, I reply, “Oh sure, blame that whole thing on me. Technically it was Zev’s fault.”

Zev looks at me incredulously, “How do you figure that?”

“Before this devolves even more, maybe we should see if we have a map?” Kill suggests.

“I’m not sure what we’re going to do if we can’t find one. I know I said earlier that I should be able to lead us to it, but thinking about it more, performing the spell in the house will give off a fairly big magical signature which will raise suspicions and let them know that we’re up to something. We don’t want to risk that.” Mayhem replies, officially getting us back on track.

Storm crosses his arms over his chest, “If we can’t find a map here, then that leaves only one option for us; we’re going to have to search the old fashion way and go through all the rooms we can. Which is going to be incredibly time-consuming and much more dangerous.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Xerxes starts, and I instantly feel bad because I had honestly forgotten that he was even in the room.

“No worries, mate. Have you got an idea?” Loki asks him.

His pages start flipping as he replies, “I have a current and up-to-date map of Remiki’s stronghold.”

“What?” Rival asks, mimicking the shock that we’re all feeling.

“Why didn’t you say something before?” Kill asks him almost accusingly.

“Because it only just appeared in my pages, it wasn’t there before, or I would’ve told you all.” Xerxes replies firmly, leaving us no room to question him.