Chapter Twelve

Blue and Que said goodbye and then Que came to Pride Palace with us. My husbands weren't thrilled to host him, but it was only temporary. Hopefully.

I put Que in the care of Fallon, who showed him around, introduced him to the Intare, and set him up in a guest room. I would have done it myself, but I had to take care of my children. It was dinner time by then, and I didn't want to make Sam deal with their mealtime shenanigans if she didn't have to.

After dinner, there was some time to relax and watch a family movie with the kids, then we put them to bed. It was Kirill's night with me, and he usually shared with Trevor—a favor which Trevor would repay on his night. But Kirill had something new in mind.

“Odin,” Kirill said. “Azrael. Will you two join us tonight?”

Trevor, especially, looked a little taken aback.

“I've been feeling drawn to you two,” Kirill went on.

“What the fuck is happening right now?” Viper whispered. “Did Kirill turn bi, and no one told me?”

“Not like zat.” Kirill scowled at Viper. “My magic. I think it wants to . . . I don't know. Form ties.”

“I feel it too,” Azrael said.

Odin nodded. “There is something drawing us together. I thought it was the bond we share with Vervain. Magic can behave strangely. It can evolve. But now that you've said something, I realize there is an evolution occurring. It's just not with our bond to Vervain.”

“Gentlemen,” Re said with a smooth grin. “I think we should record this special joining for the sake of posterity. Let me get my camera.”

“Re!” I snarled as Kirill, Odin, and Az glared at him. “All right, everyone who isn't a Death God, come say goodnight to me.”

“Oh-h-h-h-h!” Viper said. “They have the same magic. Right.” He blinked. “And there are three of them. Whoa! Are they going to unite and become super Death Gods?”

“I think they just might,” Trevor said, frowning.

“I'm sorry, Trevor.” Kirill laid a hand on Trevor's shoulder. “Zis isn't about you. You know I am most comfortable sharing our vife vith you. You are my brother and friend. But it is like an instinct driving me.”

“I understand,” Trevor said. “Good luck.” Then he kissed me goodnight and headed up to his tower bedroom.

Viper came next, and then, dragging his heels, Re stepped up and kissed me.

Re tried one last time. “Are you sure you don't—”

“Get out!” Az, Odin, and Kirill said together.

“They're already ganging up on me,” Re said to me.

“I know, baby,” I used in a tone I reserved for my kids. I stroked his rich brown hair back from his face, admiring the way it shifted to gold in the lamplight. “It will be all right.”

“Fine,” Re muttered and left. “But it isn't fair.”

Odin went to one tower door and Az went to the other. The sound of the locks clicking into place felt momentous. The men turned and came back to the bed, their expressions too intent for a round of lovemaking.

“Is this going to include me?” I asked.

“Of course, Carus,” Az said. “Why would you ask that?”

“You don't seem all that, uh, interested in sex.”

“I believe magic vill rise vith our lust,” Kirill said.

“I think you're right,” Odin said. “We're just nervous, Vervain. This hasn't been done before. We're following the urging of our magic and hoping for the best.”

“Are you certain you want to do this?” I asked.

“Yes,” all three of them said at once.

“All right then.” I pulled my dress over my head and tossed it away.

Suddenly, the mood shifted. The three death gods became predators united in the hunt. Their stares locked on me and their muscles tensed to pounce. I undid my bra and threw it atop the dress. Lastly, I slipped out of my panties and went up the marble steps to our bed.

After I settled in the center of the bed, I asked, “Well? How do you want to do this?”

There was a flurry of activity as the men undressed, eager hands flying over buttons and zippers. My stare wandered from man to man, just as eager to see their distinctly different bodies. Each was muscular, not an ounce of fat where it shouldn't be, but the bulges of their arms, chests, and thighs varied. Odin was the largest of the three, with his massive Viking musculature and height. If Az had been in his Faerie God body, he'd be just below Odin in size—bigger if you counted his wings and antlers. Since he wasn't, Kirill took that spot, his broad shoulders slabbed with the muscles of a shapeshifter. That made Azrael the sleekest of the group, although calling him sleek wasn't accurate. Those midnight wings needed thick muscles to flap them and that power continued downward in obvious displays of hard flesh. With his lean hips, Az had that classic V shape that men strive for.

The visual feast made my inner beasts purr and prowl within me, claws kneading at my belly and musk rising from my skin. Kirill scented me immediately, letting out a rumbling growl that had my lioness responding in kind. With his hip-length jet-black hair falling around him like a cape, he crawled across the mattress to me. His indigo eyes shone like a cat's in the semi-dark.

As Kirill claimed the prime spot between my legs—nuzzling my thighs apart to get there—Azrael and Odin came in on either side. I watched their muscles clench and release as they crawled to me. Strong hands pressed my thighs down to the mattress, regaining my attention. I looked at Kirill just as he bent his head to draw his tongue up the middle of my sex.

I cried out, my body opening further to him instinctively—arms and legs falling out to the sides and pressing into the bed. Odin and Az nestled into my outstretched arms and slid up against me. Just feeling them against my body was heaven, but it was the ministrations of my black lion that made me shudder, his ardent licking sending zings up my belly. Then Kirill focused on top and center, and lights burst behind my closed eyelids. I couldn't remember when I had closed my eyes. That's how far gone I was.

Azrael and Odin latched onto my breasts, more tongues delighting me. They flicked and sucked as Kirill did, almost as if they were in tune with each other's movements. I tried to take their shafts in hand and return a little of what I was getting, but they angled out of my reach. So, I relaxed and let them do their thing. Who was I to argue with a trio of death gods?

And seconds later, I was glad I didn't.

As one, the men rose onto their knees. Kirill surged into me, his cock sliding easily into my prepared channel. I opened my eyes to watch him pump slowly, his belly undulating and his hands gripping my thighs. He bared his teeth at me, and I did the same back. We were equals now. The God and Goddess of the Intare. Our union was a divine thing. A sacred rite. Our inner lions knew it too. They raced toward each other to nuzzle through our skin. But Kirill had more than our unity in mind.

Suddenly, Kirill bent over me, wrapped his arms around me, and rolled us so that I was on top. Az had already moved aside and held his cock at the ready. Meanwhile, I heard slick sounds on my left and looked over to see Odin lubricating his shaft. Lost to my lust, all I could do was ride my lion, breasts bouncing and sex clenching. But then Kirill grabbed my ass and spread my cheeks.

Odin was there in an instant, sliding into that other place. I gasped as backdoor sensations spread over me, then bent forward so that Kirill and Odin could take control of our union. As I did, Azrael laid a hand on my cheek and turned my face toward him. Knowing what he wanted, I opened my mouth as I turned, and he slid inside.

Gloriously full of flesh and pleasure, I closed my eyes to magnify the bliss. But that wasn't all that rose inside me. The Trinity Star—the union of three unions (magic, race, and beasts)—started to shine. Its nine points shot light through me, and that light shone into my husbands. I heard them cry out, but I couldn't open my eyes. I needed to focus on what we were doing and what our magic was doing.

No, not my magic. Not exactly. The Trinity Star was at work, but not my Goddess magic. I felt the star latch onto Death inside of each man, then draw a tendril of it through me, through my bonds to them. And then the three veins of Death spun inside me, becoming one entity, joined by the power of the Trinity Star. That combined magic shot through me again, but it didn't leave via my bonds. Instead, it surged through the places we were connected physically. Through my sex, my mouth, and my rear channel. Into their male flesh. The root of their masculinity. Death traveled that strange path into them and then into their magic.

I knew the instant they were joined. They shouted together, bodies bucking, and came in hot, joyous explosions. But it wasn't just the extreme physical reactions that alerted me to their new status. It was the Trinity Star. I have always had an affinity for Death. Now, I understood why. It was to bond these men. Death was carnal. It was physical. There was a reason the French called an orgasm the little death. The magic of Death needed sex to provide a path. But before it could walk that path, it needed power to make it more than it was. The power of a star with connections to every realm and the Nine Great Magics. And then, even after it found a home in each man, it needed one more thing to settle it in place and hold it there forever.

Love.

I cried out as my orgasm overcame me, the sound vibrating around Azrael's surging flesh. I had found my completion only seconds after them, so they were still coming—all of this magic, power, and love blasting through us at the same time. The climax helped. It gave us a vent for the ecstasy of their new union. Everything slid into place as if we had planned it that way.

Finally, new bonds shimmering, we collapsed together on the bed. Arms and legs twined around me, heaving breaths stirred my hair and tickled my skin, and the scent of lion musk, vanilla orchids, and clean mountain air wafted around me, blending into one harmonious aroma.

“Another trinity,” I murmured into Azrael's chest.

“Yes,” Odin said. “Through you, but not held inside you. You are our linchpin as always, Vervain.”

“Just even more so now,” Kirill said and bent his head to kiss me.

And that was how three deaths gods became the Death Star.

Ha! I'm just kidding. Honestly, I don't know what they were. United, definitely, but there was no precedence for this and so no way of knowing what they had become. Certainly not a star. Although I almost wish they were so I could give them that moniker. I assumed their power was magnified, but did they need to be together physically to receive that boost, or did their new ties provide the only contact they needed? There were a lot of questions circling my mind, but I was too damn tired to deal with them.

So, I murmured goodnight and fell asleep in my death god cocoon.