Chapter 1

Alistair is the first to speak. "I…we…all felt something, I just couldn"t tell what. So you mated?"

Caspian answers. "We actually…um, well—we bloodmated."

"But Maeve…" Stirling"s eyes are wide, still. "She"s…Maeve, what ARE you?"

I swallow hard. "I don"t really know, not for sure. But, the best Caspian and I can come up with is that I"m part vampire, part fae. I drank his blood, but it seems like I also have fae magic." I touch my pointed ears. "And, um, obviously, these."

"Plus there"s the fact that you"re glowing with fae magic," Fin says. "Kind of a dead giveaway."

"It shouldn"t be possible." Alistair"s eyes take in my eyes, my ears—flicking ever so briefly to my bared breasts, and then back to my face. "I think it is rather safe to say there"s quite a bit more to your story, Maeve, than even you know."

I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Yeah, it would seem that way. I"m fairly certain my mom was fae. I mean, I never saw her looking like one. I have no memory of her ever performing any kind of magic. But I…I saw her, in a dream. And she was…different." I look at Alistair. "You explained the existence of vampires, shifters, and fae, but not what fae look like." I touch my ears again. "I"m assuming this is part of it."

Alistair nods. "Yes, indeed. Fae tend to be lithe, lean, beautiful, sharp-featured. When full of vitality, their eyes glow white, in the inverse of how our eyes go black. Their skin glows as well when they"re full of vitality, and their hair." He indicates those features of mine as he lists them. "Plus, obviously, pointed ears."

"So I"m definitely fae, then," I say.

"Correct. That seems obvious, just looking at you. But you responded to our blood, and you can communicate to us via the bloodbond, which is…different than how things usually work. Usually, the communication bond only works between bloodmated vampires, or with a vampire and host, but with the vampire-host bond, it only goes one way, mortal to vampire. Mortals cannot hear or communicate with us. Vampires can sense things with a new host, and if you have a longer-term host, things become clearer. You being able to hear us, speak to us mentally, and hear us in response? Well…that"s new, as far as my knowledge goes. But at the very least, it speaks to you being part vampire."

Caspian speaks up then. "She is absolutely, without a doubt, a vampire. She has fangs. She drank my blood. We bloodmated."

"But then if she"s half-fae, half-vampire, all I can say is…what the actual fuck?" Fin says, looking visibly shaken. They all do, as a matter of fact. "How? Fae and vampires do not mate."

"That is the accepted canon," Alistair says. ""Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.""

"I know I should know who said that quote," I say, "but I don"t."

"Arthur Conan Doyle," he answers. "Via Sherlock Holmes." He lifts a shoulder in an elegant shrug. "I cannot explain it, I"m afraid. I"m as perplexed as the rest of you. I suspected you were more than a mere mortal, Maeve, but this? No, this I was most certainly not expecting."

I look around at my coven—my family—Alistair, Fin, Stirling, and, of course, Caspian. I"m sitting upright nestling against Caspian"s chest. The blankets are pooled around our waists. I"ve never been particularly shy about my body; I don"t feel the need to cover up in the girls' locker room, for example. And with the few hookups I had before Caspian, I was comfortable enough being naked with my partner even after sex. But this? Being surrounded by four men, all of whom have touched me, put their hands and mouths on me?

It"s weird, but it"s more weird yet how at ease I am with them, being nude with them. Their gazes, each of them, constantly go to my boobs, but always back to my eyes after a moment. Their gaze, their attention makes me feel seen and desired, but not objectified.

I look at Alistair, sitting with his back to the wall and his feet dangling down the ladder. "Do you have any guesses? How I came to be…whatever I am?"

He considers for a few moments, gaze fixed unseeing past me into middle distance. "If I had to guess, I would suggest that you are likely the result of some kind of experiment. The Immortal Tribunal has been looking for a solution to the problem of immortal reproduction since The Treaty. I suspect they succeeded, and you are the result. How your true nature was suppressed for so long, and so thoroughly, I cannot guess, for I am not privy to the workings of fae glamours."

His eyes move to each of us in turn, landing on me last of all, and staying fixed on me.

"What I do know, however, is that I—and Fin and Stirling—felt the blast of power when you two bloodmated. And if we felt it, the Tribunal felt it. Which means they"re now going to be aware of you. Whether the Tribunal knows exactly who and what you are, I do not know. But they will be looking for you. And they will find you. What they will do with you, I also have no way of knowing, but I don"t imagine it would be good for your freedom or safety to let them get their hands on you."

I swallow hard. "So…what do I do?"

Alistair once again carefully considers his next words. "There is one person in the inner circle of your life who may have some answers. It is certainly not my place to reveal that person"s identity, but if you thought about it, I'm quite certain you would come to the correct conclusion on your own rather easily."

Andreas. Of course. The dreams…he is fae.

Alistair extends his hands out to either side; Stirling takes one and Fin the other. Stirling is closest to me, and Fin to Caspian, and we join hands to complete a circle.

"We are a coven," Alistair says. "We are chosen family. Maeve, you may have fae blood in your veins, but you are a vampire, and you are a part of this coven. No matter what. We will be there for you as you search for the truth, and we will do everything we can to protect you—against anyone and everyone who may seek to harm you or inhibit your freedom."

My eyes prickle, sting, and then a tear trickles down my cheek, dropping off my chin onto the blanket over my lap—the tear glimmers and shimmers with an internal iridescence, resisting soaking into the fabric of the blanket for several moments before finally melting to become a splotch of wet on the wool.

"You don"t know how much that means to me," I whisper. "Outside of Andreas, I have no one. And you all…you mean everything to me. Caspian is my bloodmate—and I mean, I don"t even really know what that means yet, but you guys, Alistair, Fin, Stirling…you"ve come to mean the world to me. You"re my family, now." I sniffle a laugh. "And not just because I"m part vampire and we have some weird mental bond."

Stirling squeezes my hand, and our eyes meet. I see a flash of him in my mind"s eye, his lips brushing mine, then my breastbone, and then my throat, and then my breast, I can almost feel his lips on the delicate silk skin of my breast, can almost feel his fangs nipping into my nipple—

"Jesus, Maeve," Stirling snaps, eyes sparking with arousal and annoyance in equal measure. "Stop. We can all feel what you"re thinking."

I cover my face and groan in embarrassment, turning to bury my face in the warm, freshly-blooded flesh of Caspian"s firm, solid chest.

"I"m sorry. I…" I trail off, because I am embarrassed, but I"m not exactly sorry. "I guess I"m still sorta…horny."

"You are newly bloodmated," Alistair says. "You will continue to feel excessively aroused for quite some time. Days, sometimes even weeks, in normal bloodmating bonds. In your case, however, anything is possible. Just be aware that it is absolutely normal for a newly bloodmated couple to require frequent, intense, and regular mating sessions. It serves to deepen, strengthen, and solidify the bond." He indicates Stirling, Fin, and himself. "Now, we are not bloodmated to you. But we are bonded in a way that seems not only different than most coven-mates but also far stronger. Which means the attraction between us is going to be that much stronger, since you"re in the throes of bloodmate frenzy, and we receive your feelings whether you wish to share them or not."

"Can I, like, turn on privacy mode or something?" I ask.

Alistair laughs. "As far as I know, no."

I glance at him, then up at Caspian"s face, his jaw tucked down against the crown of my head. "So when Caspian and I are together…?"

"We are aware of your pleasure," Alistair responds. "And all other sensations, thoughts, and feelings. Unless you communicate to us directly, however, it"s more of a vague awareness than a definite or concrete knowledge." He smiles. "We are not inside your mind, seeing or hearing anything. Just…aware in a general way of what you"re seeing, hearing, or feeling. We don"t know what"s causing those sensations, or whom, or why, only the basic fact of your feelings. Horny, pleased, in pain, angry, whathaveyou."

I decide to try an experiment. I look at Caspian, but communicate to Stirling, attempting to single him out.

Stirling? If you can hear me, scratch your nose. I"m experimenting.

He lifts his hand and scratches his nose.

I repeat the process, focusing on each individual in turn, prompting them to pop their knuckles or cough or the like, and confirm that I can direct my communications individually.

Next, I imagine a glass dome enveloping Caspian and me, impenetrable, locking in all sound, all sensation. Nothing in, nothing out. And then I turn my thoughts to Caspian. I picture our bodies moving together, arms tangled, legs twined, lips soaring together, his cock sliding inside me, pleasure building and rising and expanding into a nova-hot orgasm…

Caspian shifts beside me, a soft growl rumbling in his chest.

What are you trying to do, here, Little Sparrow?

I nuzzle my nose and lips affectionately against the underside of his jawline. Testing out my control over this mind-speak business. I think I can isolate us. In case we wanted privacy.

That"s up to you, Maeve. In our culture, we are open about sexuality in ways mortals are not. You aren"t a mortal, but you were raised in mortal culture with mortal mores and morals. I have no issue with my coven mates sharing such sensations. But if you do, I"m comfortable keeping it between us.

Alistair clears his throat. "I take it you two are having a private conversation?"

I startle, blushing and laughing. "Yeah, I was just testing some things." I scan my gaze around the other men. "Did any of you hear or feel anything not directed specifically at you?"

They all shake their heads.

I grin. "Well, I discovered I can isolate who I talk to, and who I share my feelings with. I"ll still broadcast on the open channel, so to speak, unless I focus on who I want to receive."

Alistair shakes his head. "Remarkable," he murmurs. "I am eager to discover what else you"re capable of, Maeve." He slaps his knees. "But for now, we must be going. There will be Tribunal Enforcers en route, and we have to be gone before they get here. I am not ready to directly stand against them yet, so avoidance is the name of the game for now. And you need to speak to—" He cuts himself off.

I laugh. "I know it"s Andreas, Alistair. I appreciate your discretion, but we all know who you"re referring to."

He shrugs. "As I said, it is not my place to divulge such things." He shifts to stand on the ladder, leaning across the opening toward me. Before I realize what"s happening, his lips brush mine, soft and warm and dry. My body responds immediately, instinctively, and I surge into him, returning and deepening the kiss.

He pulls away first, with a growl. "We do not have time for distractions, Maeve, and you are supremely distracting." With that, he drops out of the loft without a sound.

"My turn," Fin growls, moving into my space, pressing into me, claiming my mouth in a rough, bold kiss.

I return it in kind, leaning into him, clutching at the back of his head. His big rough hard palm covers my breast, squeezes and caresses.

"Fuckin" perfect tits, Sparrow," he murmurs, lips moving against mine, words breathed as much as spoken.

I laugh, a snarky response on my tongue, but he"s gone.

Stirling says nothing. He"s just there, kissing me, as only Stirling can: slow, deliberate, sweet, and almost…formal, although how a kiss can be formal I"m not quite sure, but that"s the sensation I have.

He pulls away, touches my lips with a fingertip, down my chin, down my throat, and down my breastbone….between my breasts, making my nipples pucker and harden as they anticipate and beg for his touch. His finger trails a delicious line of fire down my centerline, pausing at my navel…

And then he"s gone.

I growl in frustration, and the sound is not a mortal one. It"s feral, animal, a ripping, leonine sound. Tease.

Stirling"s response is a mental caress, wordless, just a shivery, delicate sense of his presence in my mind. It comes across as a promise. Later, it means. Soon, it means.

I turn my attention to Caspian. If he was a mortal, he"d be pissed off, having watched a bunch of other men kiss and fondle his bloodmate. Caspian just looks…turned on.

How long before we have to be out of here?I ask the group.

Ten minutes, comes Alistair"s reply.

It"s disorienting, sort of: I can "hear" his voice, as in I just know it"s Alistair talking to me, even though it"s just a soundless voice in my head. I can feel that it"s him.

Caspian destroys my train of thought, rolling against me, tugging me down.

"Ten minutes is plenty," he murmurs, cascading kisses from the round of my shoulder to my breastbone, snagging my nipple with his teeth until I whimper.

"No, it"s not," I gasp, greedily guiding his kisses lower and lower. "But it"ll have to suffice."

All thoughts leave my brain, then, as Caspian flicks his tongue over my clit, sending a tornado of pleasure crashing through me. And then I feel his fangs scraping skin, dragging the needle-sharp tips over the lips of my pussy, scratching them over my pudendum, and then suddenly sinking them sharp and fast into the tender skin of my inner thigh, so close to my sex that his jaw nestles against my lips. This is nearly orgasmic all by itself, the hot tugging of my blood past his teeth, the erotic pull soaring through me, demanding I touch him, demanding I taste him, take him.

His finger drills against my clit, circling in time to his greedy guzzling of my blood, so the wild lightning thrill of my blood pulsing into his mouth synchs with the soft swipe of his touch against my sensitive sex. He sucks and circles, drinks and drives me to writhing moaning palpitations of pending climax.

I feel them, then, as I hover on the cusp of coming. Stirling, lashing my mind with his. Alistair, wrapping around me, protective and wise and reserved. Fin, powerful and chaotic and impulsive. Their minds, their souls are here with me, within me. Touching, caressing, soaking up my pleasure.

It adds to the wilding bliss building inside me. Caspian withdraws his fangs, licks the wounds, and pierces my other thigh in the same spot, all in one quick move. His finger never slows, and he doesn"t miss a beat. All at once, I"m coming. Arching up off the bed, I bury my fingers in Caspian"s soft cool thick hair, pull him against me and let my voice fly, screaming with abandon as he devours me. I don"t know when it happened, but he closed the bite and has his mouth eagerly and ravenously working my clit, even as his fingers, two of them, slide inside me, filling me…but not anywhere near enough.

"More," I growl, "You—I need you."

I just had him, but I'm desperate for him all over again. It"s maddening, how badly I suddenly need him.

He doesn"t give me what I want, so I push him to his back, pinning him to the mattress. I don"t need to use my hands—I tip my hips and feel the broad plump head of his beautiful big cock notch against my seam, and I writhe, teasing us both. I plant my hands beside his face and arch my chest out, pressing my nipple into his mouth. He licks the turgid, aroused nipple and then slices it with a fang, suckling blood from my breast in a delirious layered thrill of ecstasy.

I plunge my sex down on him, taking him into me all at once—a single hard thrust that has me screaming as he fills me with a beautiful stretching ache that quickly becomes nothing but perfection.

I feel the others in my mind, still, attuned to my pleasure, and I realize…

I like it.

It"s not as good as having all of them here with me, but right now all I want is more of my bloodmate, my Caspian.

But…I also enjoy sharing with the others the exquisite bliss of my union with Caspian.

As he surges and thrusts up into me and I drive down to meet him, I find myself sharing more. More. More. I let them feel the rising of yet another nascent orgasm, let them feel the way it begins in my toes, and in my belly, a tingling that spreads like wildfire, burgeoning into a blinding inferno leaving me shaking and shuddering, the orgasm blasting against my spine, bursting behind my eyes. I feel them feeling me, and I feel their arousal. Their hunger.

Now who"s the tease? Stirling growls across our private connection.

Who"s teasing? Come up here.

I know Caspian feels his brother"s approach. His eyes meet mine, and he pushes me upright so I"m sitting up on my knees, straddling him, taking his slow, languorous thrusts. I balance, and there"s Stirling. His mouth on mine is hot and hungry. I brace one hand on Caspian"s belly, and Stirling"s touch scours my breasts, and I find his cock waiting for me. He growls, eager, needy, desperate. His fangs sink into the side of my throat, and I bring his wrist to my lips, sink my fangs into his vein and take his thick rich dark blood, so different from Caspian"s. I taste him, taste his memories, his raging desire for me. I pulse my hand down his shaft and suck his blood into my mouth and let it linger, tasting him.

Caspian…god, he fills me. I feel his pleasure in my mind, across our bond, and I know he"s close.

So is Stirling.

Beneath me, Caspian"s thrusts come wild and frenetic, and I roll my hips to meet him, moaning between swallows of Stirling"s soul-drenched blood. I feel the heavy weight of years, and taste the sorrow he"s known—I catch fleeting impressions of a woman with dark hair and light eyes and a soft smile only for me—and it"s gone again, and I"m lost in physical sensations as Stirling slips his fangs free from me, tugging his wrist to get me to release him. I do, and his mouth fuses with mine, and I taste my blood and catch confusing glimpses of myself through his eyes: slender frame, pale skin burnished by heat and magic and sex, glowing a low golden-white like something glow-in-the-dark that hasn"t absorbed enough sunlight yet. My hair is more red than brown, glowing as if from within. My eyes are white from corner to corner, pure white, bright and piercing. My breasts are small but perky, round and firm with diamond-hard nipples and large dark areolae, and from his point of view, I"m a goddess. Rife with power, breathtaking.

It"s heady and disorienting.

And incredible.

Then I taste him again, and I"m returned to the here and now, with Caspian deep inside me filling me to a completion I never knew was possible, because I feel his very soul braided around mine, into mine. Our bond pulses between us with a life and light of its own. I feel his orgasm growing inside of us both, and mine begins to grow with his, making me frantic for the release I know is near, a climax I want, need, crave.

Stirling.

He kisses me like I"m his dying breath, and I caress his cock, long and hard and beading precum, and my boiling orgasm bursts apart within me and Caspian growls and I feel his release in my soul and in my sex and I hear him chanting I love you, I love you, I love you as he buries himself within me to the hilt, so deep there"s no more me or him, only us. Stirling, god, his kiss makes me dizzy. He doesn"t need to breathe, and neither do I, so we can kiss for an eternity and never stop, and I think for a moment that maybe he intends to. But then I feel him through our bond, and I know he"s about to release as well, and I need to give him something, need to take something from him.

I palm the hard round bubble of his naked ass and guide him up onto his knees, and before I can think or he can react, I have him in my mouth; I glance sidelong at Caspian, and he only has a smile for me, full of love and arousal.

I"m his bloodmate. He"s mine. There"s nothing on this earth that can threaten that. This, with me and Stirling, his coven mate…I can feel through the bond that he finds it hot. He likes watching me take pleasure, and receive it. He isn"t jealous, because he knows I belong to him, and will for the rest of time, and anything I might experience with his other coven brethren will only add to the beauty and bliss of our bond.

So, I taste Stirling. I wrap my lips around him and take him to the back of my throat and I swirl my tongue against him. He buries his fingers in my hair and holds on to me with a fierce, rough grip that only turns me on even more—it"s greedy and eager and possessive and makes me feel powerful because he wants desperately what I"m giving him. I feel it in our bond, in his mind, taste it in the tang of his precum.

I whimper, groan, and growl, and feel fingers—Stirling"s?—gently caressing my clit, and the orgasm that has so far hovered just out of reach now cracks my chest open, allowing my soul and spirit to expand, and I feel myself join Caspian and Stirling in a wild coruscating euphoria, our beings, immaterial and effervescent and united, dancing together. I feel my beloved Caspian beneath me, inside me, all around me, whispering his love for me into my mind, into my soul. Stirling too, wordlessly caressing my mind in that laconic, brilliant way of his.

Stirling pulls my hair away in one hand so he can watch me take him, and I look up to meet his eyes, and no words are needed.

Now.

NOW.

Caspian is first, bellowing as he pours into me, gripping my hips with brutal, bruising power and jerking me hard down onto him, and I only want it harder, harder, want more of his immense, supernatural strength, because pain is nothing, there is no pain, only pleasure as he fills me, surging deeper and deeper and loving me with his mind and his body and his soul. He comes inside me, hard and long, filling me until he spills out of me and slicks down his shaft and soaks us both with our mingled essences.

I come, then, and Stirling guides me there, touching me perfectly, fingers swirling my clit with vampiric speed until I scream around his cock and have to pull away to scream and whimper and catch my breath. Caspian is still coming, and I"m twisting in the burning god-hot bliss of rapture, and now I feel Stirling join us. I taste him all at once, a hot flood of tang and salt and musk, and he bellows and tenses and that caress upon my mind becomes erotic, touching some nerve center I didn"t know I had, setting off a new wave of ecstasy and I taste him coming down my throat and I grip him and pump hard and fast, wanting more and more and more of him, taking it all greedily, and Caspian is still inside me, driving deep as his climax fades.

As our triune orgasm fades, I reluctantly let Stirling slide free of my lips, and Caspian seizes my wrist and strikes with his fangs, swift and sure, and I fly right back into climax at the hot wild glorious pull of my blood into his mouth.

Stirling does the same, then, to my other wrist, and now, oh god, I lose control of my…everything.

The world goes white. I am on fire, alight and consumed by ecstasy. I can"t move, can"t breathe. I"m flying. Drifting through space, a burning point of light in endless black, and then there"s Caspian, tethering me back to earth with his soul anchoring mine. And Stirling, caressing my mind with that gentle, arousing, comforting way of his.

I taste blood in my mouth—Caspian, with impressions of a forest, wrestling with a ten-foot-tall grizzly, might against might; his mother, surrounded by sharp creatures all in black armor; the first time he saw me, the way his entire universe bent toward me and he knew I would be his.

Then different blood, Stirling"s. Decadent, like red wine and chocolate whereas Caspian's is whiskey and honey. I see explosions, and faintly hear the chatter of machine guns; a charge of horses, men screaming, blood; a woman, that woman I saw before, smiling down at him with naked reverence as her fine black hair, dark as a crow"s wing, curtains around their faces.

Caspian"s blood.

Stirling"s.

Their mouths pulling at my wrists, and I feel them both in my soul and my mind, Caspian still hard and thick inside my sex, the taste and feel of Stirling still swirling on my tongue, a lush lovely aftertaste that my bloodmate lust-riddled mind finds addictive and heady.

I soar, endlessly.

Slowly, slowly, I float back down to earth, to reality, to my body.

I"m laying on my belly on Caspian"s chest, and I can hear his heart slamming in his ribcage like tympani, and Stirling is beside me, lazily petting my ass with one hand.

We have to go, Alistair says to us across the mind-link. NOW. It"s firm, brooking no arguments.

I groan. "I don"t wanna."

Stirling pops my butt playfully. "You don"t want to encounter Tribunal Enforcers. Trust me on that."

"No, you really don"t," Caspian says.

With a lot of grumbling, I shimmy into my clothes as Caspian does the same beside me, while Stirling disappears down the ladder still naked.

Within two minutes, we are all in the old SUV, trundling out of the forest at a clip far faster than my still somewhat mortal mind finds safe.

The whole ride back to Elk Rivers, I hold Caspian"s hand, and trade wordless mental affectionate caresses with Stirling.

Someday, I"ll have to ask him about the woman I caught glimpses of, but not now. It"s a heavy, dark, sad memory, I can tell, and I"m flying high on the beauty and wonder and amazement of all that has occurred on this short getaway to Michigan"s Upper Peninsula.

I came up here a mortal girl with a vampire boyfriend, and I"m leaving no longer mortal, bloodmated to my vampire, and I"ve had experiences naive, innocent me from three days ago would blush furiously even thinking about.

I think things are about to get very, very interesting.