10. Vale

Chapter 10

Vale

M y hands never once left the hilts of my daggers as I followed Idris and Selene through the entrance of the grand castle. The stone was completely white just like Selene’s hair, the giant archway reflecting the dying light of the day.

Guards stood on either side of the arch, their spears at the ready. Both were shirtless, their multicolored scales mingling with their tanned flesh under a boned breastplate, decorated with spined shells. Instead of pants, they wore patterned kilts, the fabric only reaching to the middle of their calves, and just like Selene, they were barefoot. It seemed like at any moment, they would be ready to jump into the warm waters to do battle, or maybe drag a ship to its end.

Inside the castle was just as luxurious as the outside. Midnight-blue walls faded into an aqua ceiling, where magic had water dancing as schools of fish raced through a multicolored reef. It was as if we were upside down, watching as the ocean illuminated with golden sea creatures playing hide-and-seek.

Kian bumped into my back before steadying me, pulling me along so I didn’t get left behind. A part of me wanted to slap him, and the other part completely understood. If you couldn’t see past Selene’s glamour, she was drop-dead gorgeous. Coupled with her siren abilities, if she wanted him, it would be almost impossible to refuse her.

“Come on, little witch. You don't want to be left behind, now, do you?”

I was leaning closer to that “slap” option.

No, I didn't want to be left behind, but I also didn't want to feel inferior to an evil she-beast. Dropping his hand, I marched forward, refusing to be mesmerized by this new place. Considering how much magic was being used, I doubted anything was real anymore. Even Selene’s face was an illusion.

“I suppose I should give you a good place to sleep, considering your journey,” she said, her gaze flicking to the still mostly nude Kian and Xavier. What had to be a pleasured shiver worked its way over her body as she pinned her gaze to Kian’s bulge, like she was fondly remembering just what he could do with his cock.

“Don't let her get under your skin,” Idris reminded me. “She can only affect you if you let her.”

“No shit.”

I wasn’t an idiot. I knew exactly what she was doing. I just didn't understand how I could possibly not gut her like the fish she was when that was all I wanted to do. My fist clenched the hilt of the blade at my hip, but I forced myself to let it go.

Gutting her wouldn't solve anything. In fact, it was the exact opposite of what we were meant to do here. As much as it would make me feel better, politically, we’d be fucked.

Up a grueling flight of stairs and down an impossibly long hallway, Selene led us to a suite of rooms fit for a king. It was almost as if she'd known we were coming the entire time. While Talek was on my shit list, I would almost welcome a bath and a nap before we got into whatever torture she had in store for us.

“We had these rooms prepared especially for you, my King. Your retinue can stay close by, and we can have our discussion of my support at dinner.” She curled her fingers into the crook of his arm. “I suggest your entourage stay here for just a little bit while you and I discuss some matters of State.”

It was no surprise that both hands found their way to the hilts of my daggers. What was surprising? Idris actually agreed with her.

“Of course. I need to discuss a few things with you as well before dinner.”

Betrayal latched its putrid fingers onto my heart and refused to let it go. His golden eyes met mine before flicking down to the weapons in my fists. “Get cleaned up. I'll be there in a minute.”

“Don't do anything crazy. She's testing you. Stay calm.”

Calm? He wanted me to be calm? How exactly did he expect me to be calm when one of my mate’s former lovers was dangling innuendo in front of my face while she took another one of my mates away from me?

Calm didn't quite seem to be in the cards for me.

Xavier hooked his arm around one of mine, gently loosening my fingers around the hilt as he pulled me into the opulent room.

“Dinner is in a few hours,” Selene informed us, her fake smile twisted into something resembling glee. “ Do get cleaned up. You smell like dragon. And considering I doubt you have anything suitable to wear in that duffel you call luggage, there should be some dresses in the wardrobe that will fit you. Well ,” She dropped her gaze to my somewhat-lacking chest, “if you can fill them out.”

There weren't very many women under the mountain—too many of us had starved and died long before our male counterparts. I wasn't exactly versed in dealing with snide, catty bitches who wanted to claim something that didn't belong to them.

That didn’t mean I wouldn’t give it my best.

“I'd rather smell like dragon and wear fighting leathers than dress like a manipulative cunt, pining after men who don't want her. That said, I’m sure I can find something suitable—even if I have to take it in.”

And then because I was more focused on landing a punch to her stomach rather than doing the job we’d been sent here to do—I blew her a kiss and gave her a little finger wave before gliding into the suite as if I owned it.

I would be damned if she thought she could get under my skin.

“That's it, my brave one. Hit her where it hurts. I'll be back as soon as I can.”

But Idris’ voice in my mind did nothing to stop the images of her and Kian curled around each other. Did nothing to stop my brain from supplying the noises he made when he was so close to coming, when his moans became desperate.

“I’ve been aching to hear all about your troubles, Idris,” Selene cooed, her lyrical voice like thorns in my ears. “I’m completely at your disposal. I’d be happy to get you all sorted out.”

Whipping around, I caught her smile as she guided Idris away, the green of her magic swirling around her ankles as she glided down the hallway. And even though I could practically feel her in my mind, supplying all the building blocks of my rage, I still couldn’t shove her out.

How had she gotten in? How?—

“Take a deep breath, Vale,” Kian suggested, but I was three seconds away from losing it. If that door didn't shut fast enough, I’d sprint down that corridor, shove my blades through her jugular, and rip her fucking head off.

By the time they closed, I had already pulled the blades free from their sheaths. But it wasn't until Xavier stood in my way, preventing me from completing the task at hand, did I even marginally come back to myself.

“There's no need for that. Just because you've met someone we've bedded, doesn't mean you get to lose it now. We have a job to do, and that doesn't involve you getting jealous.”

And then my sanity took a vacation.

“ We’ve bedded?” I growled through gritted teeth. “Who is we ?” A golden glow raced through my veins, aching to erupt from my skin as I forced myself to sheathe my blades.

Kian cut his amber gaze to Xavier. “Way to go, man. I haven't even dug myself out of this hole yet, and you went ahead and jumped right into it with me.” He held up his hands in surrender. “It was centuries ago—before the curse, before everything. You weren't even born then.”

Somehow that did not make it better.

Because now, instead of just Kian’s moans and pleas in my head, Xavier’s had joined in. I could almost see them wrapped around each other. But it made an awful sort of sense, too. Kian and Xavier had been so eager to share me at the inn—so in sync with their movements. They’d done that before—shared a woman before.

Bile rose in my throat. “Did you share her like you shared me?” I whispered, tears filling my eyes.

Was that ripping sensation just under my ribs my heart breaking?

Was it the death of the last special thing I had?

Was I just another game to them, another woman to bed?

I’d never experienced anything like this—this jealousy.

Xavier moved closer, trying to take my hand in his, but even though I didn’t have my daggers in my grip, I still wanted to stab and slash and rend. The golden glow of my magic was growing, expanding, and it hurt so bad I thought I’d die from it.

Kian moved closer, his hands still raised, but his gaze was so open, so transparent, that I couldn’t help but stare into those amber depths. “She’s wormed her way in. Get her out of your head, little witch. Selene is twisting everything you think, everything you know.”

My body was on fire as rage ached to burst free from my skin. “You know what’s in my head?” I snarled, my magic flickering as it expanded. “The sounds you make, the words you whisper in my ear, the way you kiss me—only it’s not with me. It’s with her.”

It just kept getting louder, overtaking everything I was, everything I would be. Clutching my head, I tried to get it to stop, tried to clear my mind, but it was too strong. It was visions of her with them all, stealing them away, ripping them from me.

And why wouldn’t they go?

Of course they would. I’d kept them all at a distance, barely giving them any indication that this situation hadn’t just been thrust upon me. I was still trying to find ways to get out of the wedding, to leave, to hide. It made sense that they would choose her. So what if our minds were linked?

I couldn’t break the curse.

I couldn’t control my power.

I knew nothing about running a kingdom.

I couldn’t save my sister.

It was all a mistake. I was the wrong woman. They didn’t want me.

“No, my sweet girl,” Xavier whispered, but his voice set my teeth on edge. “We’re with you. Always with you. No one can take your place. You’re our mate, Vale.”

Shaking, I backed away as the images were nearly all I could see. “You didn’t choose me—you’re stuck with me,” I whispered as the heat of the golden light filled every part of my body. Blistering my skin, my eyes, my very mind, I felt the trickle from my nose as it began to bleed. “You’re?—”

My words died in my throat as Xavier’s blue flames hit my shield, shoving me backward. Startled, my magic flickered and died, my hold on it slipping as the pictures got stronger. Without my shield, they got louder, digging into my memories, into the bond we shared.

Selene’s magic ripped it, shredded it, made me scream with the agony of my magic pulling away from me. Red tinted my vision as blood flowed from my nose, my lungs burned, and all the while I prayed for death. Someone hooked me around my middle, their steady hold not once leaving me as ice-cold water cut into my flesh.

Two pairs of hands peeled my leathers away, freeing my skin as more water cooled my overheated body. My lungs expanded, and I took my first unencumbered breath in hours. The images in my head faded bit by bit as fingers buried themselves in my hair, stroked my skin, whispers filled my ears.

“That’s it, little witch. Breathe deep,” Kian reminded me, his touch pulling the ache from my very bones. “Let us help you.”

“She doesn’t control you, my love. Remember who you are to us,” Xavier whispered, his voice so much different now that I didn’t feel like I was dying.

I was draped over a solid chest, my cheek resting on a shoulder as two sets of hands roamed my skin. The pain from Selene’s spell eased a bit, but it wasn’t gone. “What’s happening to me?”

Kian’s warm lips landed on the mating mark on my shoulder, sending a bolt of heat through my core. “The effects from a nasty spell, oroum di vita . I don’t know how she got in, but we’ve seen this before. We can help you if you let us.”

Xavier curled around me, his biting kisses waking something I could have sworn died mere moments before. “We want to fix it. Let us, my love.”

His rough hands stroked down my body as the water pelted my skin, and like a cat, I arched into his touch, craving more. “H-how do you fix it? Wh?—”

Xavier’s mouth dropped to the mating mark, and I bit my lip to keep from moaning. The sensitive flesh seemed to have a direct line to my core, ramping up my desire tenfold.

“Wh-what’s happening?” I repeated, but I mostly didn’t care. I just didn’t want them to stop. I feared if they stopped, I might die.

“Sel— she— breached your mind somehow and hit you with a jealousy and inferiority working. Veythara . It’s a foul bit of magic meant to make the affected hurt themselves until it is lifted.”

Kian adjusted me until I was straddling him, my overheated body suddenly keenly aware of every millimeter of his skin. “With as much power as you have, it could make you burn out or worse. If it doesn’t kill you, the only way out is with your mate’s help.”

Xavier fisted his hand in my hair, the gentle squeeze of his fingers pulling my head back, exposing my throat to Kian’s waiting mouth. “What she doesn’t know, is you have three mates who will do anything to keep you breathing.” His warm breath caressed my lips, his mouth brushing mine. “Want to know how we heal you?”

The amount of effort it took to focus on his words instead of Kian’s mouth on my neck, on the anticipation of his kiss, on the new fire growing within me, was almost too much to bear.

“Y-yes.”

“To break the working, we have to show you what you mean to us,” he murmured against my lips, his hand wrapping around my throat as Kian’s kisses drifted to my breasts. “We have to show you how much we worship you.”

Did I want their worship?

Yes, I did.