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Smoky frowned. He was possessive—all dragons were—but he’d learned to share. I seldom went to bed without at least two of my husbands with me.
“I’ll be in after I tell Morio what happened. Don’t start without me.” He kissed me deeply, his tongue flashing in and out of my mouth as tendrils of his hair slowly caressed my shoulders, stirring me even through my exhaustion. I leaned down and gave Morio a goodnight kiss, and he returned it.
“I promise you,” he whispered, “Menolly and I kept apart during your absence.”
“I’m not worried,” I whispered back.
I allowed Trillian to guide me back to the bedroom. As tired as I was, I knew that sex would rejuvenate me and help me sleep. I enjoyed the thrill of my husbands’ hands trailing down my sides, of their bodies filling me full in every way. I realized Trillian was right. I needed sex, I needed to release all the tension that had built up, but my energy was so low that I could do little in the way of initiating anything.
Trillian shut the door behind us, turning to me. “My Camille,” he whispered, and began to undress me, one piece of clothing at a time. I held out my arms and closed my eyes, almost shy.
“Make me forget,” I said softly. “Make me forget everything except your touch and smell and taste.”
With a crafty laugh, Trillian reached for me.
Chapter 5
Trillian stood in back of me, wrapping one arm around my waist, and with the other he ran his hand along my skin, fingers long and narrow, making me shiver. I let out a long breath and leaned my head back against his chest, drifting at the feel of his touch.
I could sense him—I could sense all my men, thanks to the Soul Symbiont ritual. We’d bound ourselves into a quartet, forever and always, beyond time, beyond death. But Trillian was my alpha; he’d been the first man I’d ever truly loved—not the first one I’d fucked, but the first one I’d loved. Magnets we were, from the very beginning, and we’d defied family and custom to be together.>Just as silently, we entered the portal one by one, following the Queen, and the world ripped into a million pieces as we went singing through space and time.
We ended up, not in Tangleroot Park, but in a portal two streets over, in the backyard of what looked like an abandoned house. But on closer inspection, I realized the house was inhabited.
“Who lives here?” I pointed to the faint light that emanated from the windows.
Aeval smiled faintly. “We have our spies and guards. This is a safe house, should there ever come need of it.”
I didn’t press. Her tone told me that wasn’t an option. But I memorized the address—24132 Westerwood Lane—in case we ever needed it.
I glanced over at Delilah, who was examining the yard. There were overgrown ferns and towering firs everywhere, and the lot must have been a good half acre in size—unusual in the city. But we followed Aeval and her guards, setting off for the park on foot. The sidewalks were icy, but one of the guards offered his arm to me and I gratefully accepted, too tired to see straight.
We reached the park within a few minutes and led Aeval to where the portal had been. As we neared the place, Delilah and I looked in vain for any sign of Chase, but he was nowhere in sight. The energy still hung thick in the air, and I could catch glimpses of it here and there—sparkling like a shadow that was there one moment, then gone the next.
Aeval silently approached the place where the portal had been. She held out her hands and closed her eyes, her fingers divining the energy. I could see her aura—the more tired I got, the better my Sight was for such things—and she looked lit up like a Yule tree on steroids.
Wearily, I saw a bench a few yards away and trudged over, sitting down, not caring if the snow was freezing my ass off. Delilah joined me, though she brushed the snow off her side of the bench first.
We said nothing—there was nothing left to say until Aeval was done and had figured out whatever she could. But Delilah took my hand and I curled my fingers around hers. I knew she was hurting. Even though she and Chase were just friends now, they would always care for one another. And I cared, too.
“I never thought to sense this again, not here, not in this day and age.” Aeval was suddenly in front of us, staring down at us with a horrified look on her face. Holy hell. Not good. Not good for a Fae Queen to be afraid—that could only mean trouble on the horizon.
“What is it?” I asked, my voice barely audible in the dark of the night.
“Several things, all from the Elder Fae. First, a dark energy—one I do not recognize except that it’s female, and hungry. Second, Stollen Kom Lightly.” She said the name so abruptly that at first I didn’t understand her. But then it registered, and I slowly raised my gaze to hers.
“The Bog Eater.”
She nodded.
The Bog Eater . . . I closed my eyes. “No . . . he can’t still be alive after all these years. I thought he was killed by one of the gods.”
“So it was rumored, but apparently the gossip mill was wrong in this case. Come, we must discuss this before taking any action. There is much to be lost if we aren’t careful, including your detective’s life.”
Aeval motioned for us to stand, and we began to walk back toward the safehouse, to the portal leading to the barrow.
“Stollen Kom Lightly was thought long lost in the haunts of time. Legend goes he was killed by Lugh the Long Handed, but apparently that was only a rumor, probably started by Lugh’s followers.”
I began to tune out a little. I knew where she was going with this and really didn’t want to follow it through to the logical conclusion. Wishing Smoky were here, or Trillian, I pulled closer to Delilah and she wrapped her arm around my waist.
