The brown-eyed brother, Cadmus, I thought, had the nerve to grin.“She sounds just like you, Darius.”The he turned to Marcus, the blue-eyed brother.“How weird is that?Sexy as hell but as surly as him?”
Seeing my scowl, Darius glared at Cadmus in response but finally answered me.“Easy, Samantha.As far as I know, you fell asleep a few minutes ago.”
“Huh?”I felt way too refreshed to believe I’d only just fallen asleep.
“You two weren’t gone more than a few minutes before Arim appeared with bad news.”Cadmus stared from me to Darius with a stupid grin, and I started to understand why Darius acted so impatient all the time.His brothers were enough to drive me to drink.
“Would one of you explain this before I go no-coffee crazy on your asses?”I ended up shouting.None of them seemed to care.
If a woman is shouting in room with men, and no one reacts, is she making a sound?
“No-coffee crazy?Whatever that means.”Marcus shrugged.“You and flame-boy left the living room.”With a wave of his hand, a shield of water demolished the fireball thrown his way.
He continued as if nothing had happened, no doubt to further Darius’s annoyance.But I had a come-to-reality moment as I realized one brother had created fire out of thin air, the other water.
Holy Hannah, It’s all real!
Marcus continued, “Two seconds later, Arim, our resident sorcerer and loving uncle” —Cadmus snorted— “appeared with bad news about evil in between realms or something.”
“Actually,” Cadmus corrected, “Arim said, ‘There’s been a disturbance between the planes, a darkness pocketing the realms where there should only be waiting space.’”
Marcus grumbled, “I hate it when you do that.”He shifted so that his back was now to Cadmus.“As I was saying, Arim then freaked out and demanded to see you, Darius.Personally, I thought he was going to fry you, Storm Lords and destiny be damned.But when I broke through your door, I found him freeing you from the Wraith’s Kiss.”
“It’s a magical spell created by Sin Garu as ammunition for his evil followers, the Netharat,” Darius said before I could ask.“You saw one of the Netharat in your dream, that ghoulish monstrosity with rows of sharp black teeth?We call them wraiths.”
I nodded, uneasy that I was beginning to understand and even follow their incredible story.
Marcus nodded.“Anyway, Arim yanked off the Knowing Crystal, which now that I think about it, wasn’t a Knowing Crystal at all.”
“Treachery in the Royal House.”Cadmus nodded.“Arim will study it to see where it came from.”
“True.”Marcus agreed.
“Okay, I think I understand some of this.”I should have had a tension headache fueled by the mess of my day, but my head didn’t hurt.I felt warm and satisfied, the way I had after sex with Darius.
I glanced at him only to see the tension leave his frame.His eyes widened before tilting at the corners, and I caught a hint of interest as he shot me a suggestive smile.
Crap.That mindreading thing.
Schooling my expression, I turned from his knowing gaze and asked Marcus, the arrogant one, as I’d come to think of him, “So why are you all looking at me like an alien, or worse, the enemy?”I hadn’t missed their suspicion earlier.
“Because Arim mentioned you have the capacity for a lot of power, not to mention your encounter with Sin Garu—the greatest threat Tanselm has faced in a thousand years.”Marcus stared at me, as if trying to determine my guilt.
“You thinkI’vegot power?”I stared at them in astonishment.“I’m nothing like you four.Or should I say three?Where’s the gray-eyed one?Aerolus, right?”
Darius closed the distance between us and took my chin in his hand, tilting my face for inspection.“Oh, you’ve power in you, sweet.It’s racing in you as we speak.”
I could only blink in confusion, the heat of his palm like warm honey, sweet and addicting.
“Your eyes turned red, Samantha, as red as mine.The fire you withstood was elemental magic—mymagic.It’s my fire that burns inside the soul.I can feel it.”His voice lowered, sounding guttural and needy and way more than I could handle this close to him.
“Not now,” Cadmus protested.“I want to hear her side of things.”
“What?”I couldn’t look away from Darius.
Marcus dragged his brother out of the room.
“Come on, you idiot,” I heard through the doorway.“Darius isn’t big on sharing, and I’m not big on watching.Her, sure, but him?Borders on base perversity.”
