22. Kiss

22

KISS

Q uinn, Lucca, and I stand in a grassy field on my parent’s property as the sun sets the next evening. Though Quinn wanted to start preparations for his new plan last night, it had been early morning by the time we finished discussing everything; far too late.

It’s taken us all day to rest and prepare for tonight’s events. As my parents return to our group now, they nod that the warding around the perimeter of the field is finished.

As the last of the sun’s rays wink out through the woods at the western edge of the field, I feel night descend. The intense Summer Fae wards my parents have cast in a massive ring around the field shimmer as the twilight hits them.

Creating whorls of rainbow-tinged light, as they repel all outsiders.

Those wards don’t just repel anyone curious about what’s going on here; they’ve also been cast to contain the massive amounts of magical energy that will be used here soon. Even though we’re hidden now from prying eyes, we have dismissed all human help from the property tonight, just in case. Not only that, but we’re also sealed in by my parent’s wards, until all this is over.

Because tonight, Quinn’s going to re-bond all his Dark Fae to him with his Master’s Kiss, forming an entirely new Dark Haven no one’s ever really seen before.

Even as Queen Luliana Ouros attempts to pull Gold Eyes’ Bloodsigns out of Arturos.

It’s big magic happening tonight; Lucca, Alleno, Bello Bellissimo, and I stand in the center of the field with my parents now, along with Altenni, who fluffs down beside us like she never wants to let Lucca out of her sight again. Quinn is nearby as he prepares to re-bond all his Dark Fae to him, standing in a large circle around us in the field.

Quinn inhales deep in the settling evening as he takes in his hundred Dark Fae, pensive. No one is sure how this is going to go and Quinn is no exception; us brighter Fae are needed to support the barrier tonight, to contain whatever strange magic happens next.

It’s completely uncharted territory, what we’re attempting tonight. But Quinn has Kissed Dark Fae to him before using Vampire rituals; a sense of wary intention moves through him now as he focuses. As he surveys everyone who has been hiding out in the magically hidden safe house, including Curio and Devi, I feel him prepare for what’s about to happen, fixing his mind on success.

But Quinn has never done Vampire bonding ceremonies without being in a Vampire place of power before. As Fae energy breathes all around us now, the land consecrated by my parents and warded by their sigils, not to mention the distinct lack of tombs or a cemetery anywhere on the property, I feel how it’s going to be challenging for Quinn to hold his Night energy strong here.

But he’s surrounded by a hundred Dark Fae who are all Mentale , like him. They hold the Night highest in their magic, as does Quinn.

As the night itself breathes all around us now, bolstering their power.

We’re about to dive in. Devi and Curios have prepped all of Quinn’s people for how this will go tonight. Lucca, Alleno, Bello, my parents, and I have been prepped, too, so we know what’s coming; the Master’s Kiss ceremony is not terribly complex, but it is exceedingly different from how Quinn and I bonded via his Master’s Kiss months ago when I was almost dead.

For me, an insane sexual resonance opened between us because of our Dark Fae powers recognizing each other as lifemates. For most, the Master’s Kiss is a stately thing of power, commitment, and a deep bonding of their Night, rather than anything so wild or overtly sexual.

But Quinn has the Light in him, too, as do all these Dark Fae around us. Not only that, but Quinn’s bound to Lucca and me; because of us, he has far more of his Light in his magic than he ever did previously. Though he knows these steps, nobody really knows how this will all wind up, as actual Dark Fae don’t bind themselves into Dark Havens like Vampires do.

But Quinn’s people want to re-commit to him, and fight this war we’re embroiled in with the Vampire Council; intense loyalty flows to us on every side now as Quinn sees that all are ready. Even the most injured have been carried out here tonight, to be in the circle with us. They sit on the grass, supported by one or two of their fellows.

And wait, for night to truly fall.

As it finally begins to get dark, stars popping out high above, my parents move around, lighting torches at the perimeter. But the fire doesn’t disturb the darkness; it only enhances it, as Quinn becomes illuminated now by his natural element.

Standing at the center of the ring, wearing only a white dress shirt and black slacks, the collar of his shirt open to the breeze and his sleeves rolled up, Quinn is picturesque in the night. Lit by fire, surrounded by darkness and his people, a glorious blaze comes from him now as it shines in his dark eyes, knowing everyone’s ready.

He looks at Lucca and me, near him inside the ring.

“Be ready for anything,” he says .

We nod.

Beyond our ring of power, another ceremony is being prepared as darkness descends. I take a moment now to glance over at Luliana Ouros near the edge of the field, preparing to pull the Gold Eyes’ Bloodsigns out of Arturos.

As she and he stand on the grass, a horse trough of water waits nearby. Seashells surround Arturos, as many as could be found on a day’s notice. He’s naked in the evening wind; I see him shiver as Luliana paints intricate sigils on his body now with some kind of strange pearlescent substance.

It’s something of Siren origin, as he waits patiently for her to finish. As she finally crowns him with a braided band of seaweed and shells, then slips the same around his ankles, wrists, and binds one around his neck, I feel her ceremony come to readiness.

Standing in his circle, Quinn waits for her to finish. Because we’re going to need both Luliana’s Night and Arturos’ to join this power we’re building, since they are the only two actual Vampires here this evening.

As Luliana finishes binding the seaweed around Arturos’ neck and steps back, she nods to Quinn. He nods back and both of them turn.

Opening their respective ceremonies at once.

Quinn raises his hands, and the Night comes roaring from him. His darkest energy was always powerful; but something in it is more so, now that he’s come back from being a Revenant.

Dark like death, but blazing with gold and crimson fire as it surges in a maelstrom around him, Quinn’s magic contains massive swathes of flame that boil through his darker Night as he raises his magic to its fullest. As he pushes his power as far as it can go, gargantuan wings of Night seethe from his back in a dire spread that devours the field; surrounding everyone, those incredible wings bring them into his circle.

I shudder as a dark ecstasy takes me now; Quinn’s unleashing all his vast eros tonight, along with his power, to re-bond his people. Every part of his dark Master’s nature, every last iota of pleasure he feels in everything he’s built with his Dark Haven of Florence, surges through him now, vibrant in the night.

Even though we’re in exile here, Florence is Florence; the two cities are linked between the human world and the Twilight Realm. I feel Quinn revel in his home now, as the night wind sweeps us. Even though we’re on the outskirts of the ancient city, vast pleasure breathes through Quinn from his hundreds of years of living, loving, and losing here.

But all of that has only made him stronger; Quinn’s spirit rises through his power now, as the Dark Fae shiver from that power devouring them. Lucca and I do, too, as Quinn’s magnificent Night takes us.

Indomitable.

Beyond our circle, Luliana has raised her power also, for Arturos’ ceremony. Like a dark oceanic tide, her magic stays tightly contained around what she’s doing, so she doesn’t interrupt Quinn’s bond with his people.

I feel it, though, as a vast, watery energy like the ancient Marianas Trench pulls at me via my strange bond to Arturos. I look, and see she’s sealed herself and Arturos inside a watery barrier, though I can still see them through its rippling, shimmering surface.

Dark with Night, yet somehow shining with opalescent splendor like the sun hitting the waves, Luliana’s power is beautiful as it rises. Not only that, but I feel how expert her control is as she shoots a hundred watery tentacles of Night at Arturos now, heaving him into the horse trough with a hard splash.

I feel it as Arturos is submerged; his home is under the water, even though an instinct inside him fights Luliana’s coils now, hating to be trapped. I feel how she’s draining him, however, pulling out his very lifeblood through those tentacles of darkness as they wrap around him.

They squeeze him like a boa constrictor with her leviathan might until at last, Arturos gives up struggling. Undone by her magnificent magic, he can’t struggle anymore—a scream of terror goes off inside him now, his actual cry swallowed by the water, as Luliana masters him.

I feel his terrible draining as the ancient Vampire-Siren Queen uses the sigils she wrote on him with her own mystical power, plus the water, to drain the Gold Eyes’ Bloodsigns out of him with his own blood. The trough water is a terrible color in the night now; as I shudder at what’s happening, Lucca inhales, setting his jaw as he feels it through me.

But it’s Quinn it affects most, as he also feels Arturos through our bond. Despite what he’s said, Quinn gives a terrible growl, his eyes molten as he feels someone he still cares about being tortured like that.

Arturos’ screams have turned to shrieks under the water now, as Luliana drains him; all of our trio feel how vastly painful the process is, like a thousand knives sliding into our flesh and digging in, over and over.

It was Arturos’ choice, however, to be taken by the Gold Eyes—Quinn turns back to his own people now, resuming his ceremony as his wave of fiery darkness seethes in the night. Receiving his cue to get started, his people join hands now in their wide ring.

My parents, Alleno, and Bello, wait on the outside of the circle to hold our perimeter of magic strong tonight; Lucca and I remain inside with Altenni, since we are as much a part of Quinn’s Dark Haven as anyone else he’s bonded.

Curio and Devi stand as part of the ring with Quinn’s other Dark Fae, needing to re-Kiss to him. At last, Quinn reaches down, lifting a silver bowl from the grass, along with a plain silver knife. Normally, the Master’s Kiss objects would be Vampire ceremonial items; these are merely kitchen utensils from my mother’s herb-crafting, all we had available on such short notice.

Raising the bowl with his auric magic now so he doesn’t have to hold it, Quinn slashes open his left wrist the long way so he’ll lose the most blood. He’ll heal once the Dark Haven is re-bonded to him; Quinn lets his blood flow into the bowl now, even as he grimaces at the pain. Though he and I bit each other’s lips in our Master’s Kiss ceremony, the location of where he gets blood from doesn’t matter.

Only that his people drink it—and Quinn takes a drop of their blood in return, to seal them to him once more .

Moving to the circle with his bowl in his hands now, Quinn approaches Devi first. Her dark chocolate eyes shine in the torchlight as she anticipates being bonded to him once more; at Quinn’s nod, she raises her own crimson-dark power like a thousand daggers of death, whirling around her.

As Quinn lifts the bowl to her lips, she drinks, just a sip because there are a lot of people to bond tonight. We all know Quinn shouldn’t lose too much blood if we’re going to take back the Red Letter Hotel Florence tomorrow—which is the plan if everything goes well tonight.

One small sip of Quinn’s blood is all Devi needs to re-Kiss to him; I feel a roaring sensation sweep through her from Quinn’s aura diving all through her body with that single taste of blood. As Quinn’s power takes her now, Devi cries out in ecstasy and relief. He leans in, kissing her gently.

Biting her lower lip with his fangs to take her blood and seal her to him.

As Quinn sucks just a taste of Devi’s blood from her lips, I feel her power roar back into him. Like a hurricane of knives, Devi’s Dark Scarlet Fae energy is vicious, even as it is magnificent. It doesn’t just flood Quinn—Quinn is bonded to Lucca and me, and that energy rushes into us both now. It staggers Lucca and startles me, as I set a hand on his shoulder to not be knocked over by its blade-keen might.

As Quinn breaks his kiss with Devi, looking around to make sure we’re all right, Lucca nods. But Quinn’s gaze is penetrating as he feels what just happened.

That Devi’s power fed all three of us, not just Quinn, as she was taken back into his Kiss.

It makes us all pause now, as Quinn considers the ramifications of what just happened. Devi feels it, as she rubs her chest, her lovely eyes astonished. Because it’s not just Quinn’s power bonded to her now; it’s mine and Lucca’s also as we all stand amazed in the night.

Raising a hand, Devi produces a whirl of her magic—and it’s got Quinn’s living-fire darkness in it, plus my black rainbows, even Lucca’s blazing rainbow-light aura cascading through it as we all become bonded by this strange new Master’s Kiss.

All around, Quinn’s Dark Fae stare with wide eyes, shocked at what Devi can now produce; I feel Quinn’s mind churn a hundredfold as he glances at Devi, making sure she’s okay with his new change.

She gives a deep nod, setting her palm to her heart in reverence. Because what’s sweeping her now is magic like she’s never experienced, even though she’s been a strong Dark Scarlet Fae for centuries. Before, she was only bonded to Quinn’s Dark Fae power.

Now, she’s bonded to all of us—in an incredible sharing that goes many ways.

As Quinn looks at Curio next, Curio gives a deep nod that he’s ready, and willing, for this. As Quinn repeats the ceremony with Curio, I feel Curio’s winter winds pummel into us, a sharp taste of peppermint on my tongue.

Like Devi, Curio is rocked as our trio’s magic takes him. Quinn’s at the helm of that magic, with his Mentale Dark Fae energy commanding and orchestrating it. But any of our trio could use it, I understand, as a deep feeling of fortitude sweeps me now from Curio, like endless glaciers in the moonlight.

Curio glances at me, the smallest smile taking him as he lifts one eyebrow sexily at me now, feeling my power inside his and his inside mine. It’s like he’s asking me to fuck with what I’m experiencing from his power; you wish , I think, as the tiniest smile takes me also, though I know he can’t hear my thought.

I know. But it’s fun to tease.

Curio’s sudden thought reaches me easily, though I’ve heard none of Quinn’s people in my mind before. My lips fall open and I gape at him as he winks at me.

And Quinn laughs—a beautiful sound in the night.

It takes the blackness out of all our hearts now, as Quinn laughs. Because his laugh is so incredible, so amazing and free, as it cascades from him in the torch-lit darkness. Everyone suddenly stands taller, and the light that illuminates us flares brighter, as real pleasure cascades through the group now. As Quinn nods to Curio and Curio places his hand on his heart, Quinn moves to the next person in line.

And the ceremony continues.

Each of Quinn’s Dark Fae re-bond to him, as Lucca and I feel them added to not just Quinn’s energy, but ours. Our energy flows through them, as well; each person Quinn re-Kisses feels Lucca’s and my power pour through them, in addition to Quinn’s and the rest of the re-forming Dark Haven.

Quinn is near the end, the process going smoothly even as it builds a tremendous wave of magic in the night, when I suddenly feel a change in Arturos. Though I had almost become used to hearing his shrieks inside my mind, all of a sudden, he ceases struggling in Luliana’s bonds.

Arturos goes terribly still in the night; there is only silence through our strange bond, and it’s somehow even scarier than before as Quinn turns towards it. Two people from the end of the circle, Quinn’s nearly made our power complete—when a massive blast of energy hurls out from Arturos like a bomb.

Luliana Ouros can’t contain that terrible surge of magic; it explodes the horse trough in a wave of water, hammering us all to our asses as it blasts her watery bonds off of Arturos.

As Lucca, Quinn, and I, and all Quinn’s people, are mowed down like matchsticks in the field, that power rushes through Arturos. Expanding a hundredfold, a hurricane of magic seethes around us now, terrible in the darkness as it fights what Luliana’s doing.

Roaring, that power gives its all to remain inside Arturos.

The magic of the Gold Eyes—as his diabolical gaze shimmers in every wave of that awful might.