All of a sudden, a loud boom shook the room, and then the door was thrown open. The connection to my mate immediately reached out to me with the aim to protect her, causing my wings to shield her.
“Malakai, there had been traces of dark magic which Damien sensed through the Veil… Gwendolyn needs to be put under our protection.” Xavier ran to the bed, his voice trembling as he took her in his arms.
“Xavier…?” Her voice was tired. I could tell by her reactions that she still hadn’t fully woken up yet. Her body was still tired from me being wild with her the last few days. The way he breathed her in, as though her scent was the only thing keeping him in check.
“I missed you,” he whispered, pressing a soft kiss on her forehead before bringing her hands to his chest. “You look very exhausted, my love,” he stated with a frown on his face, knowing it was my fault. He took her hands in his, pressing kisses on each one of her fingers.
I must feel jealous, but I knew that Xavier and my brother Damien were mated to her as well, and it was part of our natural instincts to protect her. She sat up and hooked her little arms around him. She was naked and her delectable body kindled a palpable hunger inside me. If Xavier wasn’t here with us right now, I would have taken her against the bed again. The last three days just weren’t enough for me. Hell, I was not sure if I could ever get enough, she was my sanctuary I’d worship for as long as I live. The downside of sharing a mate is that I couldn’t have her for myself all the time.
“Where is Damien?” I asked, hoping that my little brotherdidn’t attempt something stupid, as his inner dragon never settled when it came to her. I stroked my fingers against her calves, and she smiled at me. Gosh, that smile lit up an entire room, and it went straight to my cock.
“I informed him that he should meet us here. He doesn’t know the details yet.” Xavier grabbed her chin to stare him right into the eyes and pressed his lips against hers possessively.
Although I had been used by his mother, physically and emotionally, I somehow survived because I knew about my mate outside of this cave and I wanted nothing more than to meet her. Gwendolyn thought she was my poison, but she was my healing, the cure to my soul. My baby stood up and threw a robe around her body. The white cotton encased her beautiful curves.
“What are we doing now?” Her question brought me and Xavier out of our thoughts as we were both ogling at her like crazy priests who have never seen a naked female body before. Her cheeks blushed, and she grinned at us—God, whenever she was embarrassed, angry or nervous her cheeks turned a delightful color that made me hard.
“My love, are you alright?” My brother stormed into the room, immediately lifting Gwendolyn into his arms as he trailed kisses along her face.
“Don’t eat her face,” I told him. Damien rolled his eyes at me and then asked, “What happened?”
Gwendolyn was still tightly wrapped in his arms. Damn, I really wanted him to give her to me. I’ve been so incredibly touch starved for her.
“One of our soldiers alerted us that dark magic had impregnated the air, and many are convinced that Leanan indeed found out where Carnivalland is located,” Xavier explained to Damien.
“Don’t forget, we all are mated to Gwendolyn now,” he said, his eyes trailing along her barely covered body. “The bond willbecome stronger. Our powers will intensify. It was the reason why Gwendolyn had been cursed and reborn as a human to prevent us from finding and bonding with her. To prevent the sea god from finding its mate so that the revelation wouldn’t come true,” I said.
“We need to kill her,” Gwendolyn stated. “That is all that matters to me, I know she is your mother, Xavier…”
Xavier grabbed Gwendolyn’s face, making her eyes gaze directly into his, and said, “She was only my producer, never a mother. I will gladly torture her before she dies, but we need to make sure you are safe. I told you many times, I won’t take the risk of losing you ever again.”
“Xavier is right, we need to keep Leanan in check when she comes, and as soon as we know what her plan is, then we’ll know how to fight back,” I said. I knew Leanan. She was vicious and would never dirty her hands for work that could also be done by some stupid men that fell at her feet. I stood up from the bed and put on my trousers and a new shirt. I ran my fingers through my hair and opened the doors of my balcony. One of my abilities as an angel was to sense emotions and spirits in the air. I felt foreign magic coming through the Veil. My fingertips brushed over poisonous energy, making me feel disgusted.
“Yes… I can sense it, they are near, it still is not near enough to find out which side of Carnivalland they will enter from.” I walked over to my armoire and grabbed my small sword, dunked in poison in case a certain someone does more than just look around. The poison was not strong enough to kill someone; the side effects, however, could paralyze your body for several hours.
“What do you plan on doing with this?” Gwendolyn asked from behind me.
“When she comes, I’m prepared. I will face her.” I was sick of Leanan being the reason I was trapped in darkness for so long. I owed it tomy little robinto destroy what almost destroyed us.
My love stood right behind me, her arms caressing my wings. I turned around to see her eyes filled with tears. My thumb quickly brushed them away from her skin.
“I don’t want Leanan near you again… there must be other options. Don’t let this woman touch you ever again. Promise me.”
I loved this woman more than I should, making it incredibly hard for me to talk against her. But never would I let Gwendolyn put my life above hers. So, I shook my head. “I can’t, baby, it’s my job to protect you. I need to confront her, to get my revenge for what she has taken from me, fromus.”
Without a word, she tried to storm off. I grabbed her hand to stop her from leaving.
“Don’t you dare come after me right now,” she screamed, making me flinch, before she ran off.
“I will go after her. We’ll meet in one hour in the anteroom to discuss further plans with my soldiers,” Xavier said and left the room.
I looked at my brother, and I could sense anger. “You would have done the same. Stop bothering me with your disapproving look.”
“Yes, but it’s still different. You got tortured by Leanan. Gwendolyn’s overprotective and anxious behavior is normal. You guys just bonded, and now you are telling her you’re going to meet up with your fucking rapist. You know the guilt she feels about your captivity.”
“I know.” I still felt it lingering in her touch.
“I don’t think you really know, she cried herself to sleep for days. Xavier was almost desperate enough to ask a moon witch for a spell of forgetting. He even thought of initiating a meet-up with his mother himself to take her captive, putting the entire existence of Carnivalland in danger. My abilities made me feel the same pain as her. While this kind of emotionmostly turns into hate or revenge after some time, she instead became disgusted with herself. She skipped dinners and avoided carnival fests, although Sparrow threw them all in her name. Feeling shunned by her own mate has been the most terrible feeling in the world. Her cries, her shame, the helplessness—it was unbearable. You have no idea how many times I wanted to transform into my dragon to find Leanan and rip her to pieces, despite the risk of revealing myself as the sea god in front of my father. Gwendolyn thought you would never be able to touch her without thinking of the sexual assault by this monster of a woman. So please, brother, don’t ever act like you know how she felt.”
