AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jezzie quickly undid the buttons on Tana’s nightgown and slipped it out from under her flushed body. Soon the frenzied fever of desire would fill her cousin with an unrelenting need to be mated and sated. Calm, she must keep calm. Jezzie centered herself as she removed her cousin’s underwear and moved her prone body into position, ensuring Tana’s palms were facing up, and her legs stayed together. As her naked body sunk into the earth the five unlit candles ignited with purple flames. Jezzie placed the goblet in front of her as she knelt in the soil by Tana’s side, her dress allowing the soil to welcome her with its cool softness.
The bracelet Jezzie tied securely around Tana’s wrist fit perfectly. She placed the dagger next to the goblet and bowed her head. Melodic words floated from her lips in reverent prayer.
“Spirits, hear us. Spirits, we thank you for past gifts and future boons. Please help this being, our friend, in her time of needing. Temper her discomfort and allow her a reprieve from this burden, ‘til she be ready. Spirits, we thank you for your guidance and your grace.”
Inside the goblet the potion shifted, the dark liquid lighting up with a swirl that resembled a galaxy, before it settled to match the purple flowers around them.
“So shall it be. Praise be.”
“So shall it be. Praise be,” the men chorused.
Twice more she repeated the words and as the last sounds faded away she slipped her gown from her shoulders and lifted the dagger in her right hand. She placed the cold stone against her skin, and sliced deep. Thick red blood welled to the surface, it wasn’t enough. Deeper, the blood bubbled and spilled down her breast, the goblet in her left hand catching every drop. Faster it flowed until it could fill no more and ran over the rim and coated her hand, seeping into the soil below.
It was meant to hurt. This was her price for the boon to be granted. Still, it stung like a motherfucker. Taking a breath Jezzie tried to rein in her pain and refocus her mind. Her limbs were heavy. Shit! She may have nicked an artery. Oh well, not like it’d kill her. The bleeding was already starting to slow, just not as fast as she’d hoped.
Jezzie put the knife down, dipped her fingers into the now red mixture and anointed Tana’s palms, the soles of her feet, her forehead, and her abdomen. After a deep breath she raised Tana’s head and brought the goblet to her cousin’s lips, which parted on a sigh. Jezzie tipped the liquid in slowly and repeated her prayer.
“So shall it be. Praise be.”
“So shall it be. Praise be.”
Tana’s eyes opened on a gasp, she smiled at Jezzie before slipping into a gentle sleep, complete with snuffly snoring.
Chapter 31
Five years of searching for answers and all they’d found were more questions. They were no closer to helping Luc, and no closer to resolving the mysterious erotic encounters that were their dreams. To add to it all, they’d learned there was a traitor in their midst. The revelation had hit them all like a freight train, the anger that had pulsed through the room was so immense it was a wonder their combined shadows hadn’t reduced the fortress to rubble.
Thank fuck for Mrs Briars! Somehow she’d managed to contain it all. The kicker was, of course, that they still hadn’t figured out who the fuck the weasel was. It was as if the asshole was a ghost. No, scratch that. If they were a ghost they would have been able to track their ass down already, whoever this was, was sneakier than any phantom they’d ever come across.
Luc had been trying to stay on top of it all, but he’d been distracted by the search for the redheaded vixen as much as Roth and Athon were. Still, the General and Caine had made their way through the ranks, searching the myriad minds of those who resided within the fortress walls for answers.
Whoever it was, they were damn good at hiding from them. Something which should have been impossible, and up ‘til now, it had been. Luc had unlimited access to the thoughts and feelings of those under his command. Once you made your pledge, he owned your ass, though he never took advantage of it, unless needed. Not even a trace of a blockade glimmered within any of their minds to indicate a shield behind which traitorous hidden knowledge could be found.
Gabriel, for his part, had kept more to himself than usual. No jabs or snide remarks. No fishing for intel he wasn’t going to get. Maybe he realized he was on thin ice and suspicions were roused? Maybe he was so far up his own ass he’d gotten bored and went looking for the tiny scrap of self-preservation he possibly had left? Either way, he’d stayed away from any interactions with the Hounds, outside of monthly meetings, that is. He continued to cite an uptick in soul collections and recycling delays. As if anyone believed that bullshit excuse.
Ramiel was still trying to get answers from Raum, with zero success. The fallen was a fortress when it came to the information they all wanted to know, and Ramiel had started to get impatient. Which was saying something, considering he’d once spent ninety-seven years interrogating an Egyptian ‘God’ about the disappearance of a fae princess whom he’d failed to seduce.
Yet still, they searched for the traitor, for the answers to the threats surrounding them . . . and continued to find nothing but dead end leads and more twisted mysteries.
Not even the witch from the dragon realm had shown her face again. Save for some rather descriptive missives that promised bloody slaughter should they fuck this up. Fuck what up exactly? And how? They had no idea, but they still didn’t want to mess with her. Especially when Luc seemed to have decided she was an ally, and not a threat. Those damn letters sounded pretty fucking threatening to the rest of them, though. The hairs rose on the back of his nape just thinking of them. Power laced the blood-red ink that lined those pages. Something he hadn’t encountered in a very long time. So long ago he couldn’t remember the where, when, or who of it.
Roth was becoming more desperate the longer it took to find her. His shadows roiled beneath his skin, twisted his insides, and drove his libido wild. He was starting to lose focus, becoming more despondent with each passing week. So reminiscent of Luc it caused panic to flood the chambers of his heart.
The only thing which kept him tethered to reality was Athon. He held on for him, for them. For the promises whispered in their dreams, and in the dark as they held each other close. One day, they would find her. One day, they would be complete.
But, what if she was Luc’s? What if Luc hurt Ni?
Then we shall takes her. We shall takes them both.
The insidious answer intruded unpleasantly into his brain. The feeling it brought with it was not unlike that of a chill slithering up his spine on a freezing cold day at the same time a swarm of ants tickled and bit their way all over his body at once. From where it came, he didn’t know. He didn’t like it. Neither the thought of betraying his General, his friend, nor of the redhead belonging to the man he considered a brother, a father, the only real parental figure he’d ever known.
Alas, it was a bridge to cross at a later time. When, and if, they managed to find the vexatious wench! Oh, the spankings she’d get for the trouble she’d already caused. The front on his pants got noticeably tighter with the images that swarmed his mind, mixing with the panicked spiral of his wayward thoughts.
“Az, babe, look at me. We will find her, I promise. Right here and now, though, it’s time for us to have some fun. You with me?”
Shit! Athon was pouting. Which meant he’d been stuck in his own head long enough for his male to notice. His male. Damn straight . . . or not, in their case.
“Right! Date night, or is it date day?” he smiled warmly into his lover’s tricolor eyes as desire mixed with the adrenaline in his blood, and he locked down his other chaotic emotions.
