“How much?”
The demon considered him for a moment. “Forgiveness of my remaining debt to you should do it.”
Pausing for a moment, Jason did a quick calculation in his head. It wasn’t much by his standards, and the royalties on his investment far exceeded the investment itself. “Only relief of debt. No change in ownership percentage.”
Ryker bowed his head slightly in agreement.
“How do I use it?”
“Put it on your finger.”
Instead of asking how he was supposed to wear a straight piece of jewelry like a ring, Jason poked the silver serpent. The snake came alive, inched over his knuckle, and coiled itself around his pointer finger. Immediately, the dull ache he constantly carried between his legs eased. Or maybe it just changed into something else. The heavy weight of sexual need was now a feeling of nausea, like he was in the first days of a stomach flu.
“I think it’s working,” he said.
“Good.” Ryker narrowed his eyes at Jason, a cross between concern and self-preservation coming through his features. “As a precaution, don’t leave it on all the time. Have you heard of Maison des Étoilles?”
Jason snorted. He knew Maison des Étoilles well. His brother, Silas, had dated the madam of the famed bordello. “I’ve heard of it.”
“It’s run by celestial fae. If there were a group as powerful as dragon fae, the celestial variety would be it. Not only are they resistant to another fae’s possession, they have protections on the building that may prevent the activation of Nickelova’s curse. Think of their magic as antivirus software.” He pointed at Jason’s phone again. “Go regularly. Take the ring off and feed your wolf.”
“Thanks for the advice, but I’ve never had to pay for sex before and I don’t intend to start now.” He’d also rather not frequent a bordello run by his brother’s ex—who still occasionally chatted with his big bro. The farther he could keep this problem from Silas and Laina the better.
Ryker shook his head. “Jason, about this ring…” He trailed off as if considering whether to share more.
“What about it?”
“It’s a temporary fix. It stores up all the wanting, all the desire you feel while you wear it, and channels it into something else. But the moment you take it off, everything you were avoiding comes back exponentially stronger than before. Make sure you are in a safe place to vent your pent-up desires.” Ryker handed him the wooden box the ring came in. “Also, keep it in this when you’re not wearing it. Could be dangerous in the wrong hands. It’s your responsibility now.”
Jason accepted the box, a stiff sweat breaking out on his upper lip. “I think I need some air.”
“Hmm.” Ryker dissolved into a dark fog and blew through the store, reforming at the entrance to hold the door open for Jason.
Feeling feverish and more than a little woozy, Jason made his way through the stacks to meet Ryker at the exit. He stumbled toward his Bugatti.
“Oh, and Jason…”
“Yeah?”
“Are you fucking crazy driving that thing in this neighborhood? Count yourself lucky you still have four wheels.”
With a two-fingered salute, Jason slid behind the wheel and headed for home.
6
The ring was working. Jason hadn’t had a sexual encounter since Nickelova and was still semifunctional, thanks to the silver serpent. Unlike the ring’s previous owner, Jason’s sex drive hadn’t channeled itself into hunger. On the contrary, he couldn’t bring himself to eat a single thing. Instead, the enchanted object had caused a perpetual state of lethargy and periods of fever as if he were fighting off a human illness. But with twelve hours of sleep and the maximum allowable dose of pain medication, he felt almost normal as he proceeded down the aisle at his sister’s wedding as planned, the offering to the goddess balanced on his palms.
Alight with fireflies, the forest brimmed with dancing woodland fae who sang from the branches of their trees. Flower petals spiraled through the night sky over their heads, to the delight of the guests who sat in white folding chairs on either side of the aisle. Jason set the offering on the altar and took his position to the side, next to the other groomsmen.
Laina made a beautiful bride. Her off-the-shoulder gossamer gown seemed to float around her as she strode down the aisle. A canopy of bright green branches blossomed with glittering fairy magic above her head. And when she reached Kyle, it was clear the groom only had eyes for her. His hands wrapped around hers, entangled fingers a physical symbol of the sacred vows they were about to recite. How lucky she was. It was a goddamned miracle to be loved, really loved, and to give love back to someone in return.
Once the vows were exchanged, Laina detached the specially designed sleeve of Kyle’s tux for the tattooing ritual. The bicep-tricep combo on the guy was as big as Jason’s head. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear Kyle was a mature shifter, not adormantas he was known to be. Clearly, his size and general appearance placed him in the more-than-human category.
Which made Jason even more aware of how less-than-werewolf he was at the moment. His normally muscular upper body had grown thin and wiry over the last few months. Not because of his vice per se, but because he never ate anymore. He couldn’t remember the last time he sat down to three squares in a day unless you counted copious amounts of alcohol as a meal. And considering his increased metabolism—most wolves ate the equivalent of four humans—Jason’s occasional cheeseburger was barely keeping him from starving to death.
Artemis pressed the fang of Fireborn pack’s Primary ancestor to Kyle’s right shoulder, carving the tribal phoenix tattoo that denoted their pack. It was said the magic of the artifact caused the actual staining of the skin, but Jason always assumed it was a trick: ink stored inside the hollow of the massive tooth. With that symbol on his shoulder, werewolf or not, he’d be one of them now, bound to protect and be protected by the pack. ThePreotkashifted for a better angle and Jason’s gaze fell on Selene.
His mouth bent into a grimace. Why did she vex him so? She was kind enough and beautiful… astonishingly beautiful. In any other scenario, he’d be trying to get her into his bed. Only Selene was fine china. Aside from her celibate role as a religious acolyte for the pack, everything about her was pure and delicate. Untainted. He was afraid to speak to her for fear his words might pollute her ears. When she looked at him, he was sure she could see every grain of filth he hid behind his expensive clothes and brash attitude. And the thought of touching her… If there were anything good left inside him, he’d never sully her with direct contact.
