“I’m getting mixed signals here, dove.” He crawled up with a smile, sliding his big body between her knees.
She half laughed, half moaned as his hard length settled against her wetness. She dragged his head down and captured his lips. The feel of him against her felt so right. So comfortable. Easy, as though this was how intimacy wassupposedto be. Safe…when he was the most dangerous person she’d ever met in her life.
“We shouldn’t do this now.” She swore to herself as her core pounded. “Your first time shouldn’t be rushed. I don’t wantmyfirst time with you to be rushed.”
“Ah, so this is really all about you, is it?”
“I mean…yeah.” She smiled at him. “But seriously, I want us to take our time. You need to be properly laid for your first time.A quickie only scratches an itch. It’s not enough. I want us to try all the things.”
“All the things…” His eyebrows started to climb as something she couldn’t read flashed through his eyes. “Like…in the butt?”
She sputtered, pushing at his shoulders. “Fucking men. You haven’t even put it in the first place and you’re thinking about what other areas you can stick it in.”
His unabashed smirk was cute. “I’m not a man. I’m fae…”
“In this, there iszerodifference. Come on. I want to see about that magic. How are we going to get me there without some fucker trying to accost me and drag me to the king?”
14
Zorn
The colossal structureof the Faegate loomed before them. Feelings of inadequacy, fear, and depression pressed on him. Bria, behind him, moaned out her displeasure. Someone growled in frustration—Thane, it sounded like. The fringe would affect them all differently, intending to warn them away from crossing.
“See?” Lexi’s voice was totally unruffled. Whatever she felt did not affect her, not when her kid needed her. She was the strongest of them all in times like this. She would see them through if anyone could. “They haveallthis set up, and we have a few humans in uniforms trying to make a buck. Something is alittleoff on our side of the line.”
“I feel a little off right now,” Jerry grumbled. A few people nodded their agreement. “I won’t be of any help, Lexi. There’s no rock. Desert for miles—my magic is no good here.”
“You see desert?” Jack glanced back at him as they led the horses toward the hazy purple areas dotting the way. They’d send all their traveling supplies back. Zorn had to admit thatdespite it being a terrible idea to help the fae, it was a smooth system. “I see a huge mountain of…like…briars or something. I feel like I’m going to shit myself, though. Fuck, this isn’t ideal when going into a fight.”
“It’s all part of the illusion,” Demigod Kieran said, only a tensed jaw belying his discomfort. Zorn could feel it through their blood link, though. He was fighting it the same as they all were. “Once we cross the border, this feeling will wither and we’ll need to fight off the Celestials.”
One of the spirits housed in a cadaver took the lead from Kieran and proceeded to walk jerkily toward the first haze of purple. He veered, moving around it, so that the animals would follow. At the last moment, he threw the lead into the air, over the invisible doorway, and the animals walked through and vanished.
He was one of ten fae spirits Lexi had convinced to help them across the fringe. She hadn’t had to threaten or force them—she’d simply offered to set them loose on the other side, allowing them to find peace in their afterlife.
So she’d said, anyway. What would likely happen was they’d fall in love with her style of leadership and want to see this through. They’d sign on to their team like so many had before them. She had awayabout her.
Those spirits had given them a rundown on how crossing the fringe worked. If another group of fae stepped out of this strange portal haze, it was kill or be killed. Fight or run, depending on magical power. After that, it was a mad dash to the Faegate. And, very importantly, they were supposed to keep from killing the Celestials. If they did, the Celestials would hold a grudge against the killer’s kin.
The Celestials could go fuck themselves.
“All right, let’s get to it.” Kieran stepped to a line that their head spirit guide, the most powerful of those they’d found,pointed out. “Beyond this misty area we will run and fight. We are aiming for the third hole on the left. Stick together. Try not to kill a Celestial. We don’t need them following us across the fringe.”
Zorn gritted his teeth. His adrenaline pumped, ready.
The small cluster of undead spread out to the sides, a haphazard crew in comparison to what they usually worked with. Lexi stepped up next to Kieran, her face hard and her hands fisting and relaxing, over and over. Two Demigods stealing across the fringe was probably a first. Zorn was incredibly curious about the power dynamic.
“Now!” Kieran burst forward, Lexi at his side. The rest of their team followed.
Winged fae hovered close, much closer than it had appeared a moment ago. They were swooping and diving at a band of fae ahead of them. The ground bucked and split as the fae ran, half dodging the Celestials, half raising their long staffs toward them.
Zorn couldn’t tell what brand of magic came from those staffs, but the ground acting the way it did hinted at the Emerald kingdom, which had an affinity for seeding and growth and all things natural. That kingdom was supposed to be nestled deep in the wylds, hard to find unless one knew where to look. It was yet another kingdom that was dabbling in the human lands. Zorn wondered if any of themweren’t.
More Celestials descended from the sky, their delicate wings catching the noon sun and sparkling with gold and pink and purple. Gale-force winds swept up around them from Demigod Kieran, blowing the would-be attackers away to the right.
Their wings curled and their limbs flailed, faces shocked. They hadn’t expected that level of power and magic.
In a moment, their team was running down the fae in front of them.
