“Keep thinking about how much you crave us, pet. It does wonders for me.” Zane’s purr in my ear helped flush my lustful musings away. I couldn’t afford to let my mates distract me. Not with Kai in so much danger.
“I don’t understand,” Adam said as Rasmus glided downstairs. “How did you survive?”
Stars above, we didn’t have time for this.
“Enough!” I yelled before Rasmus could reply. “Save the Cliff Notes version for later. Kai’s in trouble, and I need to save him!”
“Raven, sweetheart, if the sea witch has him, it’s already too late.” Adam reached out with a sympathetic arm pat, which pissed me thefuck off. He might believe Kai was as good as dead, but that was bullshit. No way was I about to abandon my sweet merman.
“And besides,” he added. “There’s no way for you to reach him in the mer kingdom.”
“Actually,” Zane said, his arms still locked around my waist. “Thereisa way into the mer kingdom for those of us without gills.”
Before I could respond, Rasmus blinked over to me and tore me from the incubus’s arms.
“She’s not going anywhere near the Mer Queen. That bitch will kill her on sight,” he growled.
Maverick agreed with Rasmus’s assessment, while Alaric kept his pretty mouth shut.
“Hey, I wasn’t suggesting we actually use the fae portal,” Zane muttered. “I was merely pointing out its existence. The fae use it to do deals with the Mer Queen. Fae like Farris.”
“Farris? The creepy guy from the club?” I remembered him.
“That’s the one.”
“Wait a hot minute,” Glynda piped up, having kept out of the conversation since revealing Rasmus’s presence to Adam. “You met a fae? An actualfae?”
“Yes. I’d like to hear more about that,” Adam said. “As well as all the other things you’ve been keeping from me!” From his scowl, he wasn’t happy about my poor communication, which made me cringe a little until I reminded myself I was an independent witch with shit-hot magic and five sexy mates.
Kenji got up from his pile of blankets and stretched.
“Since nobody has remembered to feed me in, like, forever, I’m off to find some snacks.” Something glimmered under the blankets, and my eyes narrowed, but before I could quiz him, he disappeared, along with the shiny object.
A wave of exhaustion hit me hard. Even though I’d only just woken up, my body craved more sleep. It must be a side effect of the dark magic curse, or maybe the cure. Who knew?
“I don’t want to talk about the fae, I just want to go find my merman before he dies,” I whispered, mostly to myself because nobody else was listening. They were all too busy trying to talk over one another. Aside from Alaric, who seemed intent on leaving.
The door opened and slammed shut as he slipped out into the night. A cold blast of snow and wind swept in, sending the flames in the hearth roaring up the chimney.
Goddess, it must be several degrees below freezing out there. I hoped he didn’t freeze to death on his way back to the dorms. That would be truly tragic.
My vampire picked me up and moved us closer to the fire, even though fire was lethal to vampires. He sat down on the soft couch, and I snuggled into him, enjoying his cool, metallic scent. Since Zane couldn’t be left out of the snuggle-fest, he joined us. Surprisingly, Rasmus didn’t complain. Thank the goddess at least two of my mates had no issues with sharing.
“Everyone, sit down,” Maverick said in a resigned tone. “Raven needs rest and food. We can talk after she’s eaten.”
Adam looked torn. He’d been about to leave when Glynda showed up, but after some hesitation, he sighed and took a seat in the armchair near the window.
“Will Willow and the others be okay?” I asked, feeling guilty that he’d had to leave them to help me.
“They should be for now. I strengthened all the wards around the farm before I left. Nothing will get through, and if it does, I’ll know immediately.”
I pushed my plate away. Maverick had made eggs and sausages with stacks of toast and given me way more than I could eat. Not even a polar bear shifter would have finished the mountain of food my mate had insisted I needed to recuperate.
“One more bite,” he cajoled, forking up some eggs.
“Said the vampire to the human,” Zane joked.
Rasmus hissed with displeasure, his arm tightening around my waist. “I never fed from humans. Only consenting magical blood donors. At least until I had no choice.”
