"And now we're in a jail-type situation. Waiting on my evil adopted monster to come kill the guys and siphon my magic. And they - well, we - did not live happily every after. The End," Kiema finished her tale with a weak laugh. "I'm glad you don't mind standing or laying down, honey. Your ass is mine," I growled low over the mental connection she'd forced open with her banshee screams."Get me out of here, and you can claim my ass anytime you want, Saint baby."My dick gave a half-hearted jerk at her words. I was too fucking upset and scared to think about her ass in anything but disciplinary terms right now. "I can get her tracker data. See where she's at. If she's far enough away from Juan, I can detonate him. She might be able to escape in the panic," Xander offered. "Do it. Now," I growled. He shot me a scowl; brows arched high over his dark eyes.. "Please." I sighed. "Thanks, brother."He slapped me on the shoulder as he raced by. With a dark laugh, he said, "
"What the fuck just happened? Was that a bomb?"The woman laughed. "Oh yeah. My fake daddy's the bomb.""I didn't ask, and certainly don't care, what you think of your father. Even if he is fake. Where was the bomb even located?" I asked as we ran down another alley. "No, gov. She means her fake father was literally the bomb. Her men got to him, shot him up with tiny robots. I'm guessing they detonated him as a distraction. Thank Gaia we were on the other side of the place," the man explained as we all stopped at an empty corner. Peeking around the edge of the building, the woman nodded as she beckoned us to follow her as she crossed into the street. We plunged down another dark alley. The stench of piss, vomit, and desperation pushed at even my deadened sense of smell. I turned my head. I grabbed the woman's hand as the sound of footsteps up ahead registered in my ears. "Stop. Someone's up there."She stopped immediately, pushed to the side of the building, pressed up a
I rocked to a stop when I saw Ferria standing in the glow of a streetlight. I almost chuckled. She was a whore. It was about time she stood in her natural habitat."There you are, you little bitch. Where's my magic?" she demanded, not moving from under the spill of the light."If you're talking about the spheres, that would be my magic. And it's back where it belongs." I laid a hand on my chest. "Guess you're shit out of luck, you filthy cunt."She jerked back as if I'd struck her. I felt like rejoicing. I'd always wanted to tell her my thoughts and feelings about how she treated her husband, but also herself. The woman had no self-respect. Always searching for power from outside. She'd never known, or understood, that she had more than enough power inside her. "Watch how you talk to me, little girl. Or this won't end well for you." She leaned forward, her face a horror mask under the unrelenting bright white light of the streetlamp. "Oh no. What are you going to do? Bea
"I swear to Gaia, Taryk, you don't step on the fucking gas, I'm going to pitch you out of this van and run you over," I snarled at him. The snail's pace we were traveling to the agreed upon address to get Kiema was rubbing against my nerves like sandpaper. "And what if someone else is there waiting? Slow and steady wi - ""Finish that sentence and die."He clamped his mouth shut, swallowed. "Good man." I looked out the side window. Barely any light could be seen down any of these streets. And yet you wanted him to plow down these streets like a maniac? He could hit Kiema. I shrugged off the cooler, calmer me. I'd thank the man later. When I had Kiema back. When she was safe. "What the fuck is that?" Taryk asked as he stepped on the brakes. The van rocked to a gentle stop as the block ahead of us erupted into full daylight. I felt the bottom drop out of my stomach. "That's her. It's going to fucking be her.""Not sitting, Ransom. She's not fucking sitting for a month.
The thing that was Asta held the now eviscerated Ferria by the neck. Ferria's entrails were dangling from the open gash in her belly. At least she wasn't still picking at herself. I felt the push and pull of magic as Ferria's body sack expanded to almost four times its regular size. Asta pulled it on like a sweater. As her head popped through Ferria's neck, I felt my gorge rise.Like she was pulling a snagged thread from a sweater, Asta yanked on Ferria's spine. The length of connected bones rattled in the still air. Asta threw it down to the ground and kicked it aside. Ferria's head tipped back to make room for Asta's head where the neck used to be. With a casual tug, Ferria's legs came off with a pulpy sounding snap. Asta, giggling now, pulled Ferria's legs on like pants. She danced a little jig in the street. At the end, Asta wiggled her fingers in the air. Ferria's hands flapped in the wind like attached mittens. I could feel my stomach trying to escape through my
Of course, my mate is fucking crazy. Why wouldn't she be? I pushed the man who was cradling her to one side. He snarled at me as honest to Gaia smoke filtered from his nose and mouth. I stared in shock. Shook it off. "I can help her. I'm her mate. Give her to me." I reached for her. "I'm her mate, too. And if you try to take her from my arms, I'll rip yours off and beat you to death with them," he said. His eyes flickered from green/gold and vertical to brown and round like watching a coin spin on the table. I'd have to take the risk. Pulling Kiema into my arms, I curled around her. Saying the ancient words, I felt her sputtering spark of magic ignite once more into a steady flame. "I need everyone to touch some piece of her. All of you," I said around clenched teeth. I hadn't expected to need this spell, but I'm glad my father forced me to learn it. "When I say so, everyone needs to dribble some blood on the ground. I don't care how you do it, but it needs to hit the
"Little sister, you have your family concerned," Anda said as she appeared in my spirit landscape. "I know. And it breaks my heart, but I can't get back to them. I don't know how, all my doors are locked." I blew the handful of grass I'd ripped from the earth into the air. An invisible breeze caught the blades and danced them towards the forest. "And you just sit here and give up? You let them grieve you when you are not yet gone?" She sat beside me, her magic looking like a dark purple dress that lay in layers of gossamer fabric around her. "I don't know how to get back to them. It's like I'm trapped in here."Anda scoffed. "Little sister. You just battled Asta and you think your magic traps you? Perhaps you are just afraid because you were losing." She looked around the backyard of my cabin. "This is not your coffin. Rise up, take your rightful place in the universes."I shuddered. "Just the fact that you said universes makes me want to vomit."She laughed, elbowed me
Just as I was giving up hope of ever getting Kiema back, she sprang up into a seated position. Her eyes were flooded with tears as she curled in on herself. "She's gone. She's gone."The dipshit that had stolen Kiema from me the first time thought to reach for her first. An elbow point to his temple had him going to sleep. He would get his turn after Ransom and I had ours. Gathering Kiema into my arms, I curled around her, rocked her. "Who's gone, honey?""A-A-Anda. She gave me her power because I was locked away in the..." the rest of her words trailed off into incoherent sobs. The love of my life shuddered in my arms, breaking my heart with the sorrow pouring off of her. "Gaia's shitballs," the new male said. He must have a crazy hard head to be awake after the blow I dealt him. His deep voice distracted me from Kiema. I snarled at him without turning around. "Where the fuck have you all been hiding?" he asked in a scratchy voice. His voice pulled like rough velvet ov