13. Thirteen

Thirteen

Skye and I walked back to the compound. Silence stretched between us, only filled by the crunch of snow under our boots.

Skye glanced sideways at me. “What was that?”

I vaulted over a fallen tree and brushed the snow off my hands. “Nothing.”

I couldn't look at him. I’d almost told him the truth. I’d almost told him about my first kill. Quillon could forgive my actions, he’d seen it during our mind meld, but hunters hadn’t killed the last of Quillon’s loved ones.

“You asked me to trust you.” Skye jumped over the log with easy agility and grabbed my hand, pulling me to a stop and making me face him. “How can I trust you if you’re just going to lie to me again?”

“I’m not lying. I'm—”

“No, Arsyn. You’re not fine.” Skye’s grip tightened painfully. “I thought I’d lost you for a moment. Was it the corruption again? Like what happened in the city? Your eyes went black again and your skin was ice cold.” He dropped my hand to hug himself. “I wasn’t sure I could get you back. I just did the only thing I could think of and tried healing you.”

I sighed. Telling him I was fine would be a lie. I wasn’t. The corruption was getting stronger. Taking control. And he saw it.

“It said things ...” Skye dipped his chin to his chest. “You weren’t you. ”

I bit my lip. The problem wasn’t that the corruption had lied to him. It was that it had told the truth. I had been the perfect hunter. At first, it was just because that’s what was expected of me. But I began to revel in the chase. The stalking in the darkness, the challenge, and the mana that shot through my veins like a drug, making me feel like I could do anything.

But that was before I broke through the brainwashing. Before I met otherworlders that were just ... people. Not the monsters my family made them out to be. That was before I discovered I was the monster, like Skye had said. Hunters were the ones murdering the innocent and terrorizing the worlds.

“Right,” I said, starting to walk back to the compound again. “It was the corruption.”

“How can we help you?” Skye said quietly behind me. “What can I do?”

“I don’t think there’s anything you can do—that any of us can do.” I kicked into a jog. Maybe I couldn’t run away from my problems, but I could certainly run away from this conversation.

A huge black bird dove at me from the sky. I raised my arms over my head. It surged upward at the last moment and perched gracefully on a branch in a shower of snow. An orange aura hung around the raven. The pine scent mingled with the scent of the frozen forest.

A red blur crashed into me. Warm arms encircled me as Shael’s fiery aura whipped at my frozen skin.

Shael buried his face in my messy hair. “Where’s Skye?”

I pointed over my shoulder.

“That was one hell of a storm. I haven’t seen him that close to losing control since Ireland.” Felix stood naked and barefoot in the snow. His amber gaze slid over me. “I was beginning to worry he’d bit off your head. Or frozen you.”

“He’s just a gloomy teddy bear, really.” I wiggled out of Shael’s arms and began walking again.

There was a crashing in the forest behind us as Skye’s blue head emerged from the snow-covered branches. “I heard that, and I resent it.”

“See what I mean,” I whispered.

Felix and Shael chuckled, which only deepened the frown on Skye’s face. Felix shifted into a black dog again and trotted at my side as we arrived back at the compound. The gates were still wide open, and the guards watched us closely as we passed through.

Cyrus and Quillon stood on the porch of the great hall. Cyrus’s face was impassive while Quillon wore a crooked smirk.

“Hey, guys,” I said as I climbed the wooden stairs. “What’s with the looks?”

I never trusted a smile from Quillon.

Quillon’s smirk spread into a full grin as he clasped his hands together. “Your faithful diplomat has secured his queen the best room in the house.” He grasped my shoulders and steered me back into the great hall and up the stairs.

“I thought daeva magic didn’t work on hunters,” Shael whispered to me as we entered the huge room. More animal skins covered every surface, and a bear rug stretched over the floor in front of the fireplace where a large fire roared behind a blackened wire mesh.

Cyrus took a steadying breath as he planted himself in the doorway. “Quillon told Max that we all sleep in the same bed, but Felix likes to sleep as an elephant and needs plenty of room on the floor.”

I snorted. “And she believed you?”

“I have a way with words, love.” Quillon grabbed my hand and led me to the huge bed. It was almost as big as the one I had in Quillon’s palace. “I could convince an imp that they were full.”

I thought of Donald. One time, he’d eaten Sabrina out of her supply of whole pigs, guts and all, right before a festival. Sabrina was pissed. Apparently, whole pigs were a delicacy in Porada. “I might hold you to that.”

“So, we’re all staying in the same room together.” Skye shouldered his way past Cyrus. “Lovely.”

“I haven’t even shown you the best part yet.” Quillon guided me to the bathroom. There was a deep claw tub centered under a window overlooking a few empty garden plots. “I know how you love your long baths.”

I turned to him and pressed my palms on his chest, gently pushing him out of the room. “You’re a lifesaver.”

I planted a quick kiss on his lips and closed the door. The bathroom wasn’t anything compared to my old bathroom in the Qaanir palace, but for a hunter, it was opulent. I opened the tap, and hot water began filling the tub.

I stripped out of my clothes, leaving them in a pile on the tiled floor before testing the water with my toes. It was hot enough to scald the scales off a dragon.

“Perfect.”

I lowered myself into the water and got to work scrubbing my skin and washing my hair. When I was done, I dipped my head below the surface, letting the heat work on my tired muscles. The sensation of blunt fingernails dragged across my skin, making me smile. Ari’s aura.

I raised my head above the water, letting the water slick my long silver hair from my face. Ari stood at the foot of the tub, hood up, mask on, and his cloak wrapped around him.

“We have to stop meeting like this,” I deadpanned.

His flaming lilac eyes dipped to my chest below the water. I lifted my arms out of the water, letting them rest on the lip of the tub as I basked in his intense gaze. Fire ignited in my belly as I remembered the last time we were in a bathroom alone. The feel of his body pressed against mine. I wanted his magic to fill me. I wanted his scarred hands to explore and squeeze.

He blinked. You shouldn’t be alone.

“Well, if you’re going to be peeping, you might as well grab a towel for me.” I stood, letting the water run down my skin.

Ari averted his eyes. I’m not—I ...

He grabbed a towel from a shelf and held it out to me.

“I’m joking.” I took it from him, letting my hand briefly touch his as I did. He’d stopped wearing his gloves after what happened on the roof in Qaanir. An electric bolt of mana jumped between us, shooting up my arm and straight to my core. I bit my lip against the moan that built in my chest and unfurled the towel.

I wrapped it around myself and stepped out of the tub to stand in front of him. The towel covered my breasts and brushed the top of my thighs. I reached up and slid my hand under Ari’s hood. He stilled as I pushed his hood down, revealing his wavy brown hair.

I hooked a finger under his mask and lifted myself onto my tippy toes.

He grabbed my hand, pulling it away from his face. What are you doing?

“Trying to kiss you, dummy.”

It’s not—it’s the corruption making you say that.

A new kind of fire ignited in my chest. “That’s what you think?”

Ari took a step back. You wouldn’t be looking at me like that if you didn’t have the corruption. It makes you do things you wouldn’t normally do. He pulled his hood back in place and lowered his head until I could no longer see his face. Makes you want things you don’t really want.

“I do want—”

“Syn?” Felix asked from the other side of the door. Ari pulled his glamour around him. Felix knocked briefly before cracking open the door and peeking in. “Who were you talking to?”

I propped my hands on my hips and shrugged. “Just talking to myself. You know, it’s a lot to digest.”

“It is.” Felix slipped into the steamy room and closed the door behind him. He was already in his boxers. He must have been getting ready for bed. “How are you doing? Skye seemed really concerned.”

I smiled, trying to reassure him. “As much as he doesn’t want to hear it, I am fine.”

“You know, the more you say it, the less I believe it.” Felix picked up a brush from the counter and positioned himself behind me. He ran the brush through my hair.

“I don’t know what else to say,” I mumbled. His deft strokes scratched at my scalp and smoothed my silver hair. It was down to my waist now.

I watched in the foggy mirror as Felix lifted my hair from my shoulder and replaced it with his soft lips, planting gentle kisses. Ari stood in the corner. His lilac eyes blazed as they followed Felix’s path up my neck. His aura surged around him, pulsing with the rhythm of my heartbeat.

I reached up and released my towel, letting it fall at my feet. Felix sucked in a breath, but my eyes stayed fixed on the shadowy man in the corner. Ari drank me in. He wasn’t shying away this time.

The brush clattered to the ground as Felix’s tattooed hands explored my body. Ari’s gaze followed their deliberate movements up my ribcage. I gasped as Felix squeezed my breasts and pinched my nipples. I arched against him and ran my hand over his, guiding it down.

I locked eyes with Ari as Felix slid a finger inside me. It was like a game of chicken. One I was determined to win.

Felix pumped his finger inside me while he rubbed my clit with his thumb. I moaned as he slid another finger in, stretching me. He nipped the sensitive skin of my neck, and his hot breath tickled my ear, nearly sending me over the edge.

Cold air brushed my skin as the door opened. Honey and tobacco mixed with the steam. I breathed it in greedily.

Quillon entered my vision, a wicked smile gracing his dark features. “Care if I join, love?”

“You’re like a sex bloodhound,” Felix whispered against my neck.

Quillon unbuttoned his vest lazily, taking me in. “I felt your excitement, druid.”

“What the hell, dude?” Felix slid his fingers out of me and spun me in his arms to face him. “Stay out of my head.”

“Everything’s fair game when it comes to Arsyn.”

Felix kissed me roughly. The grace and patience of his earlier touch was replaced with ferocity and desperation. His mouth pressed against mine. I opened for him, and his tongue flicked against my lips, probing deeper.

I hooked my fingers into Felix’s boxers, pushing them down his legs. Felix’s hands gripped my thighs, lifting me. I wrapped my legs around him as his hardness pressed against my entrance.

I whimpered, but he toyed with me, grinding his length against me. “What do you want, pup?”

Soft hands caressed my hips. “Say it, love.”

“I want you inside me.” My voice was breathy. A growl rumbled in Felix’s chest as he thrust deep inside me. Electricity shot up my nerves, and Felix swallowed my gasp as his mouth once again claimed mine.

Quillon worked warm oil into my skin, massaging my folds and my ass. I broke my kiss with Felix to glance over my shoulder.

“Are you ...”

Quillon chuckled at my wide eyes. “Patience, love.”

Felix gently cupped my face, bringing my lips to his again as Quillon slid a finger into my ass. Felix swallowed my gasp as he pumped harder. Each thrust brought me closer. Tension coiled in my belly until I was about to snap. My breathing turned to panting, but as Felix was about to drive me over the edge, he stopped.

I whimpered, writhing against him, desperate to find my release, but Quillon slid his finger from my ass, replacing it with his hot length. He pressed into my flesh. Eased by the oil, he slid in, inch by inch, until I was impossibly stretched. With both of them inside me, I felt like I was too full. It was too much.

Felix started moving again, and Quillon reached around and found my sensitive bundle of nerves. He rubbed my wetness as he began to slowly slide in and out. Quillon grasped my chin with his other hand, turning my head and forcing my mouth to his.

He quickened his pace as my heartbeat thundered in my ears. Felix slammed into me. His breathing grew ragged as we neared the edge. Quillon nipped my lip, sending a pulse of pain that mingled with the pleasure. Bolts of electricity shot across my nerves. Felix’s arms shook as he found his release inside me. Quillon bit my shoulder as he came.

We stayed there, breathing hard. Quillon feathered kisses over his bite mark while Felix pressed his lips against mine, gently this time. I smiled against his mouth.

Felix released my legs, letting my feet touch the tile. Hot cum spilled out of me and slid down the inside of my thighs. My knees buckled, and Felix caught me against his chest. I breathed hard, surrounded by the warmth of the steam and my men.

“I need to take another bath.”

I glanced at the corner, but only caught a flash of shadow.

Ari was gone.