9. Gwyneira

9

GWYNEIRA

S eated beside the fire, I froze when I overheard Byron’s words. “Wait, what?” I turned, struggling to keep my voice down. The humans were tending to the horses beside the river, but they might still overhear if I spoke too loudly.

The scholar didn’t look at me when I pushed to my feet and hurried over to where he stood with Casimir and Roan.

“How am I the linchpin for whether this works?” I demanded in an urgent whisper.

Byron frowned, still not meeting my eyes. “Because it is a modification of a spell for mirroring like to like. Casimir’s vampire powers are damaged. Yours are not. Thus if I draw on the demon’s magic to identify the traces of its power, I should be able to isolate what parts of Casimir’s abilities are harmed, match them to yours which are unharmed, and then use that model to…” He bobbed his head. “Fix them.” A flicker of hesitation crossed his face. “Maybe.”

“ Maybe ?” I repeated. “Just how dangerous is this spell?”

“It is… somewhat risky.”

My mouth moved at the careful statement. Or, given Byron’s tone, understatement .

“If there’s any backlash,” Roan said. “Aim it at me. I should be able to take it.” Darkness ghosted through his eyes when he finished speaking, as if his demon seconded the words. “All right?”

Byron hesitated.

“What?” I asked.

He let out a breath, short and resolute. “Nothing. That’ll be fine. But we should get on with it then, yes?” He looked to me expectantly.

I faltered. Just because they were in agreement hardly meant I was.

Except what choice was there? Casimir would be in danger if there was a fight when we found the soldiers who took Niko. Hell, we’d all be in danger without his help too.

“Can I help?” Lars spoke up from behind us. When we looked at him in alarm, he shrugged. “It sounds a bit like the spells I use for food.”

“It is a bit more complex than that,” Byron countered.

Lars shrugged. “I’ll be another buffer then. Like Roan.”

I stared at him, and when he glanced at me, my heart melted a little bit. I’d swear he knew I was worried.

And he was trying to help.

“Me too,” Clay chimed in. “Just in case.”

Dammit. I wanted to thank them and I wanted to yell at them for risking themselves.

“Ozias and I will keep watch,” Dex said.

Ruhl made a yipping sound, almost as if telling us he would stay for the same reason.

Dex eyed him briefly and then gave a small nod. “Your help would be appreciated.”

Clearly I wasn’t the only one who’d decided the wolf understood us all just fine.

With a solemn look at us, Dex continued, “You all get this fixed.”

I turned away, biting back a curse of frustration. “We should stay away from the humans,” I muttered.

“Agreed.” Casimir scanned our surroundings and then nodded toward the woods beyond the horses. “Perhaps beyond that forest we will have enough distance to shield our magic from view?”

Byron made a noise of agreement. With Clay and Lars following and Ruhl flowing along beside us, we crossed the camp, gaining curious looks from the humans when we passed.

“Is everything all right, princess?” Valeria called.

“Fine. Just… getting some air.”

She definitely looked like she didn’t believe that response. But thank the gods, she also didn’t ask for more.

No one spoke as we wove through the forest, the rise and fall of the terrain slowly swallowing any glimmer of firelight or whisper of sound from the camp, even to my ears.

“Okay, what now?” I asked when we reached the far edge of the trees and had put so much distance between us and the camp that I suspected even Ozias wouldn’t be able to hear if anything went wrong.

The thought wasn’t comforting. But the brush of his reassurance across my mind let me know that, even if he couldn’t hear us, he was with me.

“Now,” Byron replied shortly. “You both stay still.” At the others’ expressions, he winced, adding, “Please.”

I didn’t dare move a muscle.

Frowning, Byron lifted his hands, looking between me and Casimir like he was weighing something I couldn’t see.

Seconds ticked past.

Nothing happened.

“Whenever you are ready, scholar.” Casimir’s tone was polite, but questions lived inside it.

Closing his eyes, Byron scowled, muttering something under his breath in a language I couldn’t identify.

It definitely sounded like swearing, though.

“Byron,” I started warily. “Are you sure this is a?—”

Exhaling sharply, he opened his eyes and snapped something else I couldn’t understand.

Magic rushed from his extended hands like a crystalline cloud. It swept past me, past Casimir and Roan, and broke like a crashing wave beyond Clay and Lars, leaving us all surrounded. Starlight danced in the air, drifting like dust in the misty magic that was slowly becoming still.

In the heart of a world of fog and starlight, we all stood.

“What the—” Clay started.

“Quiet.” Byron’s fingers began moving like he was plucking invisible strings. Here and there, the starlight dust twitched, shifting position. “No one… move…”

I didn’t even breathe.

Gradually, the flecks of light began to move together. They coiled around Roan and ghosted past me to flow in a spiral around Casimir. Over and over, specks of light wound around Roan and I, serpentine, only to spiral into oblivion around Casimir without ever touching my skin.

My eyes slid to the side, seeking Byron. This magic was way beyond anything I could imagine. I had no idea if it was working.

The small beads of sweat on his brow weren’t encouraging.

“Roan.” He spoke the other man’s name between clenched teeth. “This…” He swore again as the flecks of starlight stilled, hovering motionless in the fog surrounding us all. “We need the demon.”

Already pale, Roan’s face lost the last of its color. “The?—”

“Now.”

Roan’s mouth moved, no words coming out. He looked at me, his worry obvious.

I didn’t dare nod, but I willed every bit of reassurance into my eyes that I could. The demon had helped us before. If it was ever going to learn to work with us, not just fight with us, we had to give it a chance.

And pray to the gods we weren’t making a mistake.

Roan shuddered, worry still lingering in his gaze. But after a moment, reluctant agreement took its place. “Okay.”

With an expression like he was swearing inside, he closed his eyes.

Cracks lit by fire ripped through the area around his eyes, his temples. His skin turned the color of dark ash, like the fire inside him was charring it all. His body warped, growing, transforming. Enormous wings erupted from his back, tipped by curved bone as sharp as knives, and a thick, sinuous tail hung down from the base of his spine. The bone structure of his skull became sharp and pronounced, savage with its severity and only barely like his Erenlian face. Thick black horns rose from his head and vicious claws extended from his fingers, all of them gleaming in the starlight. Two long fangs glinted past his black lips, but he didn’t grin like every time I’d seen him before.

I braced myself.

The demon’s eyes were fire with a dark star at their center. They were trained on me, but devoid of their arrogance.

Somehow, it felt like the demon was bracing himself too.

“I…” He spoke like he was choosing his words carefully. “…will help.”

A tiny breath escaped me before I could stop it. “Thank you.”

In his fiery gaze, a painfully desperate sort of hope flared. He squelched it quickly, though, sliding his burning eyes to Byron. “Begin. Now.”

The scholar didn’t respond, but the flecks of starlight began moving again.

Standing rigid, the demon’s blazing eyes twitched from side to side, distrustfully tracking the glints of light. But as the seconds ticked into a minute and then another, he returned his attention to Byron, consternation on his face. “You are restraining yourself. Why?”

Byron flinched and then caught himself. “Quiet.”

“You are keeping your power from touching Gwyneira. You will not be able to feel the nuances necessary to complete the spell.”

At the edge of the fog, Clay made a choked sound of incredulity. “Is the big guy telling you how to do magic, Byron?”

The demon’s gaze snapped to Clay, heated by his temper as much as fire. “I am telling him how to help .” His pointed glare faltered, and his attention darted back to me. Worry flickered across his face like he feared I’d be mad at him before it vanished once more behind a stone-like expression.

I stared, stunned. This was the creature who’d ripped out a man’s heart for being rude to me. And now he was concerned about taking an irritated tone?

Lars cleared his throat. “Maybe demon guy has a point?”

“ Quiet. ” Byron bit off the word.

Apprehensive looks passed between the twins. Even Casimir seemed like he was becoming concerned.

Byron scowled.

The coiling specks of starlight suddenly drew in, flowing across my skin before twisting onward to Casimir. The fog grew thicker, obscuring our forms, turning us into ghostly shapes in the mist.

But the starlight never stopped. At first, they were threads, separate and easily traced. But then there were more. And more. So many I lost count.

And gods they felt… good.

I trembled, fighting to keep myself from moving as the sparkling energy drew in farther, sinking into me even as it sank into Casimir. I couldn’t see the light beneath my skin, but that hardly mattered. I could feel it spiraling through me, tracing something, mapping every inch of it in a way so intimate, it was a good thing I didn’t need to breathe.

But damn, I wanted to moan, and so did the vampire inside me.

The spiraling light coiled tighter, wrapping something so deep within, it nearly made my legs go weak. My core clenched. My breasts ached. This power was like the intimate touch of a lover, caressing my innermost parts until it was all I could do to stay standing.

But Byron wasn’t even looking my way. His bearing rigid, he stared at the space between Casimir and me like neither one of us actually existed.

This couldn’t be him. Admittedly, yes, the feeling hadn’t started until the demon insisted Byron let his power actually touch me. But surely the scholar would be exhibiting some kind of reaction to this if it was his doing?

Nobody could be that controlled.

A tightly choked growl came from Casimir. Across from me, I could just make him out in the mist.

His eyes were absolutely riveted on me. To my right, the demon’s were too, his gaze like twin balls of flame in the fog. Both the vampire and the demon were quivering like they were on the verge of lunging at me, consequences to the spell be damned.

This had to be caused by one of them. Which one, I had no idea, because both of them looked ready to fuck me until I screamed.

And dammit, I didn’t mind that idea a bit right now.

The spiraling magic inside me coiled tighter, a strange sense of resonance coming from it, like it was vibrating in harmony with something else around me.

But that only made my body ache worse. Everything in me strained to be touched by whatever this was, because it needed me as badly as I needed it.

The resonance grew stronger, and I barely restrained a whimper. I was going to melt if I couldn’t find relief soon. I knew I had to stay still. Stay quiet because this magic was dangerous. But my legs were on the verge of giving out beneath me. My nipples felt like raw nerves attached straight to my throbbing clit. My hands shook with the urge to reach between my legs, if only to find relief. My pussy was clenching, empty and desperate, and the way this magic kept touching me was just?—

The magic pulsed sharply, striking everything within me in one mind-blowing surge of energy. The fog disappeared. The dust and starlight too.

All my restraint went with it.

But I wasn’t the only one.

Casimir was on me in an instant. My back hit the ground and his leg shoved between my thighs, crushing against my clit. I cried out, my back arching to rub my breasts against his chest.

“Say yes, my beautiful fucktoy,” he gasped. “I beg you.”

I clutched at his clothes, desperate to rip them off. “Yes. Oh gods, yes. Please fuck me. Please, I?—”

He shredded my coat and blouse with both hands. His fangs flashed for an instant before they sank into my breast.

I lost the world, screaming as I came. Pleasure rocketed through me, scattering my thoughts to a constellation of bliss. But my body kept moving like it was possessed, instinctively grinding against him in a wordless plea for more. Gods, more .

His hands ripped away my pants even as he kept feeding from me. I caught a glimpse of Clay and Lars, their clothes gone and their cocks hard as stone. Byron was nowhere to be seen, but beyond the twins, the demon stood, naked and huge and gods, so hard.

Fear skittered at the edge of my awareness, reminding me I should worry. I should… should think because the demon… Dammit, he…

I cried out, my thoughts scattering into a senseless blur as Casimir’s fingers slipped into me and his thumb massaged my clit. My hips jolted up, thrusting against his hand with reckless abandon.

But I needed more than this. Desperate, wordless, pleading sounds tore from me. Noises I barely even recognized. My eyes locked on the twins and the demon, my entire body clamoring that they needed to be inside me now. I couldn’t think past it. Couldn’t comprehend anything but the fact I had more holes aching to be filled.

Casimir’s tongue lashed my breast and nipple, sealing his bite. My mouth moved, struggling for words.

“Please,” I begged, praying they’d understand. “Please, I need?—”

Clay and Lars moved as one. When Casimir drew back, they took my hands and pulled me away from the ground. I was on my feet for only a moment, though, before Lars yanked me closer. Crushing his lips to mine, he sank back to the earth, pulling me down to straddle him. In only a moment, he had me lined up where he wanted me, his strong hands moving me into position.

With a long, slow stroke, he drove his cock into me, his length thick and hard and stretching me just right. I moaned wantonly at the pleasure and pain of him entering my body, every piece of me coming alive. I pushed my breasts forward as his hand slid up my torso. More moans escaped me when he gripped my breast, pinching and rolling my nipple between his fingers.

Gasping cries ripped from my throat. “More,” I begged. “More. I need…”

Casimir was there immediately, taking my hips. Reaching between us, he got his fingers wet with my slick and then smeared that across his cock.

I whimpered, angling my hips for him, wordlessly pleading once again.

“We will fill you, little fucktoy,” he growled in my ear. “Never fear. You will have all the cum you crave inside you soon.”

Nodding frantically, I rocked back against him as he pressed his cock to my rear entrance. The thick ring of muscle resisted for a moment, only for a jolt of dizzying pleasure to shoot through my veins as he penetrated me. He began thrusting in slow, strong rhythm, moving at the same time as Lars. Both of them stretched me so much, it made my womb clench and spasm.

Clay crouched in front of me. He rested one hand on my head, his other gripping his cock, and his eyes held the same kind of desperation I knew had to be in my own.

“Yes,” I gasped. “Oh, gods, yes, fuck my mouth. Fuck my?—”

His fingers curled, making a fist of my hair. Guiding me to his cock, he thrust between my waiting lips.

I moaned, all my other senses vanishing as my body wholly submitted to being taken in this way. I was a mindless creature of need. Of fucking. I knew nothing beyond the fact I craved them inside my body.

And gods help me, I’d never felt so pent up, so frantically overwhelmed by my need for release in my life. It was like I’d never come before. Like I’d die if I didn’t get relief right now. Like I?—

Gray skin flashed at the corner of my gaze. The demon was beside us. His body quivered with tension. His fiery gaze was riveted on me.

But it wasn’t anger on his face. It was desire. With one hand, he stroked his enormous cock, pumping himself in time to my other men’s thrusts.

Below me, Lars’s grip shifted, supporting my weight, and I couldn’t resist the implicit invitation. Instinct was in control of me now. In control of us all. I was nothing but my dazed and insatiable need for release, and it drove me to reach out, straining to touch the demon no matter how much I knew he wanted me only for himself.

But then, he was letting the others fuck me too, wasn’t he?

At my motion, the demon groaned, half-falling to his knees at my side. My hand took his cock, his girth so massive, I couldn’t wrap my fingers all the way around.

That didn’t stop me. As I licked and sucked Clay, I slid my hand along the demon too. His hips jerked instinctively, thrusting while his clawed fingers scraped lightly up and down on my spine.

It was so possessive. So dangerous, too, given how wickedly sharp I knew those claws to be. The sensation sent hot quivers of vulnerability twisting through my body, stoking my pleasure higher.

Gods, how had I ever thought I wasn’t his as well? It was so clear right now. I was his. Theirs. And they were mine. And we… oh gods, we…

Hot and demanding pressure coiled between my legs, growing quickly.

We… we needed to be closer… we…

The pressure built higher, taking over my core. My breasts. My mouth and lips where Clay was fighting not to jerk deeper than I could take him. My thoughts drown in the buzz building up inside my head.

But I had to… gods, I had to take them all even… even deeper. Not into my body, but into my…

The pressure broke like it was struck by lightning. My orgasm ripped through me, obliterating my thoughts, my senses. I was weightless in a world of blinding light and kaleidoscopic color. I was nothing but a mindless being floating on tingling waves of pleasure that had finally, finally found me.

Slowly, awareness of my body returned, all of it awash with soft, fuzzy release. My men still held me. Lars’s hips jerked as the last of his cum pumped into my clenching pussy. Casimir gripped me, his cock twitching with his own release. My throat convulsed, instinctively swallowing, but it wasn’t just Clay’s cum I tasted in my mouth.

I tensed, realizing my fangs had sunk into his cock after he came.

Clay’s fingers tightened on my hair. “Fuck, baby, don’t stop,” he urged, his voice shaking. “This is the hottest thing I—” He groaned, clearly fighting to stay still in my mouth. “I’ve ever…”

I took one more gulp and then retracted my fangs as his cock began to soften. Licking him carefully, I sealed the wounds.

He shuddered, sagging back onto his heels. “Holy shit , that was incredible,” he whispered to himself, his eyes dazed.

As Casimir and Lars eased from within me, a satisfied grunt came from nearby. I glanced over to find the demon still at my side. Hot, thick ropes of his cum coated my arm and back, all of it glowing faintly with orange flecks like embers, as if it was burning from the inside. With one massive hand, he reached out, smearing the sticky release over my back, my sides, my breasts and ass, like he was intent upon it covering every inch of my skin.

“Think the big guy is claiming you, baby,” Clay continued, still sounding sex-dazed. “That’s fucking hot too.”

Staring at the demon, I nodded, my body tingling. Even after the intensity of my orgasm, a tiny coil of heat still gathered in my core at the feeling of his release marking me. Of how it sparked with magic as it absorbed into my skin.

But if I could have it in me…

The thought seemed to take control. Instantly, I sank back into a sitting position, and my legs fell open in offering.

The demon grinned, his eyes tracing a line from my breasts to my wet core. “Mine.”

I hesitated, tensing. Did that mean he wasn’t going to continue sharing?

He seemed to see my apprehension. His eyes narrowed, flicking to the others. I held my breath, bracing for what he’d do or say.

Pushing to his feet, he stalked toward me. My body responded instantly, like instinct was still driving my muscles instead of my brain. Leaning back onto my elbows, I arched my back, pushing my breasts toward him while my legs spread wider. Wet, hot need pooled between my legs, making me ready to accept his cock. I didn’t even know if he’d fit, but I ached for him to try.

But my mind was torn, faltering between how he’d just shared me and how he might not want to do so after this.

Bracing himself with one hand on the dirt, he lowered himself over me, his sinuous tail flicking the air behind him.

Need quaked through me as my gaze tracked it. “Put… put that in me too. Put…”

His clawed finger took my chin, tilting my head up toward him so my eyes had to meet his. The dark star at the heart of his fiery gaze transfixed me. My hips raised for him immediately, offering myself to be fucked. My pussy quivered when he gave a low, rumbling purr.

“Take me,” I gasped. “Please. Now.”

“Mine,” he murmured again, nodding. “Mate you. Breed you. Feed you blood until you swell up with little ones.”

“Whoa…” Clay murmured somewhere nearby.

“Is that even possible?” Lars whispered.

A hint of a snarl left the demon, as if he didn’t like the question.

Worry flickered in my mind, stronger this time, trying to remind me that I needed to get a few more things straight with the demon before I let him drive himself into me. But my body didn’t care. It rocked toward him, dripping with arousal, utterly lost in its mindless readiness for him to do everything he said and more.

A tiny muscle spasm twitched his face, seeming involuntary.

My worry returned, this time for him. “Are you?—”

The twitch returned.

My body still clamored to let him fuck me, all rational thought be damned, but my apprehension was getting strong enough now that I could overcome that. Carefully, I eased up from my elbows, watching him. “Demon?”

“Mine,” he growled, but it didn’t sound like he was talking to me anymore. “Mine wants me now. Wants me to?—”

He cut off with an infuriated sound.

“Princess…” Casimir reached down for me, never taking his eyes off the demon. “I think perhaps you should?—”

The demon snarled viciously, baring his fangs at the vampire.

Alarm shattered the hold lust had on my muscles. Scooting back fast on the dirt, I shoved to my feet and put myself between Casimir and the demon. “Don’t you dare!”

The demon froze. His eyes darted from me to the vampire and back, horror and confusion spreading across his face. “I… Vampire was…”

“You just got done helping. Would you seriously hurt him again?”

A strangled sound escaped the demon, like he was panicked and furious and frightened, all at the same time. His face twitched once more and the fire in his gaze dimmed, something in his eyes changing in a way that took me a heartbeat to identify.

“Is Roan trying to come back?” I asked. “Does he?—”

A shudder rolled through me, like cold fingers had suddenly brushed over my naked skin.

I shook my head, trying to dispel the strange feeling and focus. “Does Roan?—”

The cold sensation grew stronger. On some unnameable impulse, my eyes went to the east, searching, but I only saw the bushes, fallen branches, and trees.

My skin crawled. Trees… something about trees …

Leaves and bark and roots and it hurt… I hurt…

I flinched back from the bizarre thought. But like the filament threads of a spider web, it clung to me, echoing with fear and pain.

My mouth tasted apples. The juice filled my throat. But the flavor swiftly turned to mush and vinegar, twisting my insides with nausea and making me want to gag.

“Princess?” Worry threaded through Lars’s tone. “Are you okay? You look queasy.”

I swallowed hard, trying to keep my stomach down. “Something’s wrong,” I whispered, terrified of speaking too loudly, though I couldn’t explain why. “Something about the trees, but I don’t?—”

Icy cold sent a violent shiver coursing through my body, if the temperature in the forest had suddenly dropped so dramatically, everything should have frozen in an instant.

“Do you feel that?” I breathed.

At their silence, I twitched my eyes toward them, no matter how much it scared me to take my attention from the forest for too long.

Climbing to his feet, Clay didn’t take his eyes from me as he motioned briefly, conjuring clothes over us all. “Feel what, princess?”

But even wool and leather didn’t dispel the chill ghosting across my skin.

The cold felt like it had already gotten inside me.

Wordlessly, the demon raked his fiery gaze across the woods, every trace of Roan gone now from his eyes. A low growl left him, like a predator who knew a threat was near.

I couldn’t be scared of the sound. Not when I felt like we were all prey who’d suddenly found themselves in a trap.

Casimir’s brow twitched down. “Something is odd, but…” His head shook slowly, and his attention slid to the trees.

I followed his gaze. “Can you tell what it?—”

A twisting, stabbing sensation ripped into my gut before I could finish the sentence. My knees hit the ground with a thud, the sharp pain of the impact nothing compared to the shredding agony tearing through me.

“Gwyneira!” Casimir’s hands grabbed my arms, stopping me from falling all the way to the earth. “Speak to me. What is?—”

A scream tore from my throat as the pain grew stronger. His mouth was moving, but I couldn’t hear him anymore. His terrified expression broke my heart, but only until agony stole my sight. Blinding red and black and white lights swallowed my vision, like my entire being was losing its ability to function in the face of this torture.

But I wouldn’t have known what to tell him anyway.

Darkness swelled, devouring the flashing lights, the searing agony. But this pitch-black hell wasn’t empty.

I swore I heard it laughing.