This time, Zavida whirls around, his brow furrowed as he stares at me. “You bested it? Really? The odds of that are…”
“Pretty shitty, I know,” I grin as I shrug. “Lady M and Kas handled the air, and fuck, you should have seen it. She’s a goddamn warrior goddess when she’s fighting; if I hadn’t been in love with her already, that definitely would have done it. Between the gargoyle and the gorgon? She makes my bear look puny and useless. It’s hot. as. fuck.”
Angelo grins wickedly. “I know how that is. Rogue usually doesn’t even shift into full Unseelie, and she rocks the world of assholes. But when she does? Holy fuck, the woman is lethal, especially if she pulls out the death dust. I mean, a bunch of jealous bitches beat her to a pulp in an ambush a few months ago, and when we found her, she’d taken one out and injuredothers. Only the leaders escaped before she passed out, probably because they were letting the others do their dirty work.”
The Kitsune licks his lips and then bites the lower one as he thinks. “I feel like that’s a lot of random attacks up there, paired with a bunch of frame-ups, and weird coincidences. Add that to the Games, the big meeting, and all this chaos down here? It’s definitely a pattern—and one that might be trackable if Angelo’s brother and I work together to compile data from both realms.”
I tilt my head. “If Angelo’s girl is a Guardian, she’d be able to find info from the Society people. I can maybe poke Nana about stats from the rest of the world. She’s very tied in with the European Councils and the Society. That might give us an even better view and, uh…” I scratch my head, thinking about it for a second. “Maybe that would give us data points to figure out who is calling which plays?”
“Lucas, that’s brilliant!” Zavida rubs his hands together, almost drooling at the thought of gathering, analyzing, and collating a massive amount of input to find answers. “The big cheeses are probably assigning specific tasks to specific groups with the best facility for it. If we track it all over, we can cross-check with travel and other things to narrow down a suspect pool.”
My smile broadens as I high-five Angelo, and nod at the hacker. “Hell yeah, man. I don’t have a damn clue how to do whatever you’re going to do, but I’m all in on you and the other demon getting it done. Point me toward whatever I can do to help or start cracking skulls afterward. And of course, I’ll send you whatever I get from Nana. I can tell her I have a paper or something so she doesn’t get suspicious about why I want it.”
It’s about time I felt like I had more to contribute than kicking ass and judging stubborn princes for bad decisions.
Twenty-One
KIT/KAT
The energy flowing through my veins makes me feel almost invincible—something I’ve never felt before in my entire life. Paired with the new knowledge I got from my friends, and the slight softening of my internal walls from the Fae wine, I feel like I can do anything. That’s why I ordered Oriel to show me what they meant about walking funny, and it’s why I haven’t backed down now that his wings are flexing and his eyes have gone dark. Normally, this would freak me out a little—I can’t help it—but right now?
Now I’m filled to the brim with this… power. It isn’t the dragon or the alicorn or even the lioness—it’s another part of me entirely, one that is tired of me shoving my needs in a tiny box because of fear.
“KK… little shadow…” O says in a dark, raspy voice. “I’m not going to be able to… This is a bad idea. You’ve been drinking and my… bad guys… are um… too excited for you to?—”
I grab his lapels again, holding on tightly as I press my nose to his. “Weknowwhat we’re doing.” He gives me another torn expression and I think it’s him fighting off the animal andthe demon. That’s not what I want—at least, it’s not what my newfound brave inner shit wants—and I let go of his shirt to grin wickedly. Before he can stop me, I reach up and grasp both of his horns hard. “See? Brain function on board.”
His ragged gasp pleases the darkness inside of me and I whisper to it, hoping it understands or listens better than the animals do at this point. This might be the only way I get comfortable doing things, but Ineedto respect the past that formerly human Kat hasn’t gotten over entirely. The blackness chuffs in response, not taking a recognizable form but acknowledging my urgent plea for caution. I’m still holding on to Oriel’s horns as he pants, the heat of our mingled breaths underlining how close he is to breaking.
“If you’re going to hold them, it’s going to be for a reason,” he finally growls. “Go to the bed and sprawl out.”
My lips curve up again, and the overwhelming being inside me pulses pleasure from my head to my feet. Nervousness flares as I let go and turn to walk around the various piles of stolen crap to get to his large, rumpled bed. I’m not surprised to find silky sheets when I climb onto it, nor is the influx ofdeliciously‘Oriel’ scents as I do what he said. All of it helps calm the jangled nerves and fear that have risen, especially as I look over to see him prowling towards the bed while he tugs off his tee-shirt.
“What do you mean by that?” I murmur huskily as I look up through my lashes. The new part of me huffs as if I’m ridiculous when I ask the crow demon that, but it can fuck right off. It might not need to know what Oriel plans, but it will help the tiny part of me that is scared accept the decision I’ve made without having a flipping episode. “Why would I need to hold them besides it makes you growly and that’s kind of… hot.”
“Good to know, little shadow,” he replies as he crawls up the bed to hover over me. “I can wear them more often if it pleases you? I’ve never felt the urge to wear parts of my supernatural creatures day-to-day as Jas or Slash do, but if it makes you squirm like this, I’ll change my pattern.”
He still didn’t answer my question, and that makes the aggressive part of me annoyed.
My voice is deep as I growl back. “You should, but also… Why do I need them? I asked you a question, Oriel Bloodstone. Answer me.”
His eyes widen at the same time as his smirk and he chuckles. “Oh, I’m going toloveplaying with whatever this is, KK. Despite your sassy mouth, I wouldn’t have expected any part of you to be so… interestingly dominant. Surprisingly, the demon enjoys it very much so I’ll tell you…”
“Then tell me, damn it!” I reach up and grab the horns again, sliding my hands to the base experimentally. “Otherwise, I’m going to get a lot more handsy so I can find out for myself.”
“No!” O looks a bit embarrassed as his hips buck against me and I feel how that move affects him. “Stop before we move too fast, little shadow. I don’t want you to wake up tomorrow and feel like I took advantage, no matter how deeply my bad guys want to bury my dick inside you until we both scream.”
I stop tickling my fingertips at the base of his horns, my eyes wide but my body absolutely on fire with excitement. The dark colors swirling in me are prickling and tingling just inside my skin excitedly at his words, and I have to take a second to get my arousal under control before that part of me takes over entirely. “That’s good, hmm?”
“You haveno idea.” Oriel leans down, his lips brushing mine as he whispers, “But you aren’t ready for that yet, no matter what insanely hot magical shit is going on with you right now. So what I’m going to do is kiss you…”
His lips take mine, and I groan as his tongue twirls along mine. My hips arch up before I know it, rubbing against the hardness in his pants eagerly. When our lips break, I bite his lower one playfully and that earns me a growl and a twitch down below that makes my entire body clench. “That’s a start, little shadow. Now, I’m going to do that everywhere, and you can hold on as much as you want.”
Holy hairy goat balls… is he going to…?
I don’t have a chance to finish my own thought as he kisses along my jaw and down my neck, suckling hard and occasionally biting gently. The scrape of pointed canines makes me shiver more than Ieverwould have expected and my body practically melts into the silky sheets. My eyes flutter closed and I tilt my head to give him better access, gripping the very sensitive bits he gave me permission to hold on to. “Oriel…”
“Shhhh. I don’t want any nosy fuckers anywhere on this floor or in this damn building to hear you. I’ll get interrupted, and I’m way too hungry to be denied.” His hands slide to the hem of my shirt and he lifts up to give me averydemonic smirk. “Be good and hold those screams for me just this one time, KK. I promise you won’t regret it.”
