I woke in the dark. For the first time in what felt like forever, nothing had invaded my sleep. No whispers. No nightmares. Nothing. Just solid, healing sleep. As my eyes adjusted, I saw that my men had left a light on in the bathroom for me. Joy and peace lit my heart. They were the best. And they were mine. A soft knock sounded at the door. I tasted the air, smiled as I recognized the energy signature. "Come on in, Grams."Ari opened the door, a giant smile on her face. "I've always wanted to be called that." She walked over to the bed. "How are you feeling?"I nodded. "Really good actually. How are you?"She spluttered a laugh. "I'm well, thank you. But then again, five days of rest and recovery will do that for a body."I jerked. "Five days? I've been sleeping for five days?" I pushed the covers down my body. I was both unhappy and incredibly relieved to find that I had a pair of men's boxer briefs-blue and red with a giant S in the middle of my pubic bone-and a white
A loud knock sounded on the door. "Now that all the hooting and hollering are done, can Hollyn come out and play?" Drace called. "No. Go away," Grumpy yelled back, a smile on his face. He pulled from my mouth and fell sideways onto the bed.Drace thumped the door. If I wasn't mistaken, she'd kicked it. "Not happening. It's my turn." She chuckled. "You know what I mean. But I kinda need my best friend for girl talk. You've got ten minutes before I open this door."Thane slapped a hand to my butt, causing me to squeal. "Guess you better get in the shower." He leaned down. Pressed his lips to the small of my back. "I'm so very glad you're back, Stretch. Burning down the world was our next option." He pulled out of me. I shuddered at the feeling. Felt our mixed juices slide down my leg. He groaned again. "Fuck. That's hot." He slid a finger up along my thigh. I shivered. Grumpy, spread out before me on the bed, his head hanging off the end, jerked up into a seated positi
I snatched my pants up my legs as Drace stuck her head in the door. Her eyes were squeezed shut. Her face was pointed up towards the ceiling. "Is she ready?""Get the fuck out of here, Drace!" Tag snarled at her. I chuckled. "She's in the shower. She'll be out when she's out. Don't pester her. Now seriously, leave.""Fine. I'm going, I'm going. Bunch of killjoys. You guys still have to talk to the Elders by the way. Seems they want some kind of new council to be formed?" She shut the door before I could open my mouth to comment. I looked at my brothers. "What the fuck?"They both shrugged as they pulled their clothes back on. "I'm taking a shower. I'll be out in ten minutes," Tove said. He strode to the door, went through. Tag soon followed after him. I didn't want to interrupt Stretch in her shower. I knew how much she liked them. So I just cleaned up as best as I could and threw a shirt on. Walking out my door to the living room, I saw that Drace hadn't been lying.
I heard an unknown female's voice and rushed over to the front door. She better realize that Thane was a claimed man. I was still kind of in the mood to kick some ass, and this random chick's would suit well enough. I pushed by Finn and Drace. "Hey, I'm Hollyn. Who are you again?" I stepped between her and Thane. Thane chuckled from behind me. "She said her name's Kiema."I rolled the name around in my head. It sounded more like pie-eema. What a stupid name.The woman snorted. "It is a bit of a stupid name, but it's what I've got to work with. Can we come in? And before you ask, yes, I can read your mind."Finn stepped forward. "I've only heard that name once. And you look much too young to be her."Three men behind the beautiful brunette with pale gray eyes growled. Kiema rolled her eyes without turning around. "I guess it depends on what you've heard about me. But if you won't take my word for it, let me get Graysten." She rose on her tiptoes and turned around. Her l
"Let's go kill us a Merlin," the stranger goddess said as she laid her hand against my chest. Okay, fine, she has a name. Kiema Sova. But I wasn't planning on getting accustomed to using it. She didn't even know who Merlin was. What kind of goddess was she supposed to even be that she didn't recognize the greatest druid in the entire world?The world around me shifted and slid to the side as her fingers touched the skin of my chest. I blinked when I found myself standing back in the living room of my home with my men. Thane, Tagan, and Toven stood around me in a loose circle as Ari-my grandmother and goddess-smiled. "Bring her back," Tagan demanded. I smiled. "I'm fine, Grumpy." He yanked me into his arms, a low, continuous growl pushing from his chest. His triplet brothers, Thane and Toven, edged in front of me. I could see the fine muscles of their shoulders twitching while their hands clenched and relaxed."What the fuck was that?" Thane demanded of the new people st
I gritted my teeth at Cheeks' answer. The woman was under the wildly mistaken idea that she would be facing this psychopath on her own. I was going to paddle her ass until she got it through her thick skull that she wasn't doing anything without me anymore.What the hell? Tove asked over our triplet mental pathway.I just snarled.I'm with Tag, Thane said. Even if we have to tie her up and kill that bastard ourselves, our girl isn't going to dance with the devil. Not without us."Are any of you adept with magic?" Ari asked the new group. Various smiles, facial quirks, and soft chuckles sounded. "You could say that," the tall man with dark hair, bright blue eyes, glasses, and what looked like a full shirt of tattoos said. Two guys that had to be twins, rolled their eyes at each other. "Kord's the magical brains of the whole operation. The rest of us use pure talent," one of them said. His eyes were a butterscotch color. Bit of a blowhard it seemed. I turned back t
Once most of the group had left, I sat in the chair Stretch had vacated and pulled her down into my lap. I swore I could feel her discomfort while they'd been here. It felt like fire ants under my skin. Not reaching for her, comforting her, defending her, had been a struggle. One I wasn't eager to repeat. She curled her long legs up as she cuddled against me. "I don't like them," she whispered.I smiled, kissed her hair. "Then once this is all done, you don't ever have to talk to them again."She sank into me. "Good.""Goddess Hollyn, we would still like to discuss an alliance with you," Esmerelda said. Stretch sighed, pushed herself up from my lap. "Of course, Elder. As I mentioned previously, we would be honored to have you fight beside us." She looked at the other elders. "But as for the rest of you, this is not a fight you need to be in. There is no guarantee that we will win. If your thunder has depleted numbers, this could prove disastrous."The other elders smiled.
"Honestly, if they're all dead, I'm kinda okay with that." I winced when I heard the words pop out of my mouth. I hadn't meant to share that particular thought. Now everyone was probably thinking that I was no better than the Village assholes. Grumpy pulled me against his chest. "We're all okay with that. But in the interest of making sure they aren't up to any tricks, I vote we go see what's going on."I sighed. At least my men were okay with my bloodthirsty side. I shouldn't have doubted them. Jeremiah nodded, his shaggy hair flapping against his cheeks. "Yes. Do you travel by Gateway or directly?"I shrugged. "I've only traveled out of the Village, so I don't know how to go back in."Thane stepped forward. "She was able to pierce the magic at Center Point Park. I suggest we go back there and try to enter."**Everyone, including the elders, agreed. It took close to twenty minutes to get everyone to the park, but we managed. And since no one wanted me or the triplets