“You have got to stop fucking me until I pass out.” I watch the smoke waft from the remains of the little fire I apparently set when I orgasmed.
Wolf smothered it with a pillow and now he’s trailing his fingers through the smoke with a grin on his face. “Remember when you gave Malachi grief for doing this very thing?”
I groan. “In my defense, he burned a ring around us and nearly collapsed the entire floor. You three might survive a little bit of being burned alive, but I won’t.”
“You will.” Rylan trails a finger over my claws. “I may be wrong, but after last night, I’d wager not much can kill you.”
Easy for him to say. I try to frown, but the expression won’t stick. I’m too content. “You literally almost killed me…two days ago?” Was it two days? Three? I’m not sure anymore. We hardly kept a regular schedule in the first place, but all the running has messed up my internal clock. Being in a house carved into the interior of a mountain isn’t helping, either.
“That was two days ago.” He pricks his thumb on my claw and lifts it to press to my lips.
The blood zings through me. My mouth tingles, and I have to work to restrain myself from trying to bite him. My teeth aren’t like a vampire’s. I’ll just gnaw on him without some help from a blade.
Or my claws.
Rylan grins as if he can read my thoughts. “Go ahead.”
I waste no time scrambling up to straddle his stomach. After the smallest consideration, I lightly drag my pointer finger down the center of his throat, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. Delight courses through me. I don’t need the men to cut themselves for me any longer. I can do it myself. I grin and lean down to drag my tongue up his throat.
“Don’t get him riled up again, little dhampir.” Malachi lays next to us on his back, his head propped on his arm. “We need to leave the bed and do some training.”
“I don’t want to train,” I murmur against Rylan’s skin. It’s not quite the truth; I know training is vital, both the combat and now magic. But it’s hard to remember that with Rylan’s hand on the back of my neck, lightly massaging me as I drink from him in little sips.
“Up, Mina.”
I groan a little, but I obey. It’s only when I’m standing that I get a good look at the bed. “We are going to owe the owner of this house so much money.”
“It’s fine.” Malachi rises and disappears into the closet. He comes back into the bedroom a moment later dressed in a pair of gym shorts and carrying workout clothing for me—leggings, a bra, and a tank top.
I pull the clothing on, but pause when Rylan and Wolf make no move to do the same. “Aren’t you two coming?”
Wolf drops onto the bed and rolls until he’s pressed against Rylan’s side. “Oh, someone will be coming.” He reaches down and closes his hand around Rylan’s cock.
“Insatiable,” Malachi mutters.
Rylan clears his throat. “We’ll join you in a little bit.”
Malachi leads the way out of the bedroom, and I can’t stop the goofy grin from pulling at the edges of my mouth. I’m not naive enough to think that everyone’s worked through their baggage. That’s not how anyone functions; humans, vampires, or seraphim. Especially when they have the sheer amount of history my men share. Their issues will crop up again and again as time goes on.
But after last night and this morning, I finally believe we can navigate our way through whatever happens.
We end up in a fancy gym that has everything from free weights to various machines to a nice mat for sparring. I whistle softly. “Wow.”
“It’s a nice change of pace.” Malachi rolls his shoulders. “First, sparring.”
This time, I don’t bother to complain. He’s right that I need this training, and Malachi is an excellent teacher. Even if I want to toss him out a window from time to time because he’s so damn unrelenting. This morning is no different.
An hour later, I’m dripping sweat and every muscle in my body is trembling from exertion. Malachi executes a flawless move that has me spinning through the air and landing on my back hard enough to drive the breath from my body. He twists around to look down at me. “You should have seen that coming.”
“I did.” I wheeze. “Reflexes too slow.”
“Get faster.”
“Trying.”
He reaches down, and I take the offered hand, letting him pull me to my feet. He gives me a slow smile. “You’re getting better.”
“Don’t say ‘I told you so.’” I can’t quite pull off the grumpy act. My goofy grin keeps peeking through. I press my fingers to my cheeks. “This is ridiculous. I can’t stop smiling.”
“You look happy.”
Happy. The concept is as foreign as love is to me. But if I can feel one, surely it’s possible to feel the other? I let my hands drop. “I think I am happy?”
“Are you asking me or telling me?”
“I don’t know.” I laugh. “I have no business being happy. We still have so much to accomplish. We’re nowhere near safe. We—”
“Mina.” The quiet command in his voice cuts me off. Malachi takes my face in his big hands. “Life is challenging enough without putting qualifiers on happiness. It passes, just like fear and anger and horror pass. Enjoy the feeling while we have it.”
I make a face. “That’s not exactly comforting.”
“I wasn’t trying to be comforting.” He leans down and presses a light kiss to my lips. “Now, onto the magic.”
Strangely, the magic training is more difficult than the sparring. Malachi sets me up as if we’re going to meditate, but his low voice talks me through the process. It feels like trying to bench press a car. I can feel the magic, but it’s so overwhelming, I can barely envision wrapping my hands around it, let alone guiding it to my will.
I don’t know how much time passes before he calls it quits, but it feels like I’ve learned nothing at all. “I don’t care what you all say. This is going to take years.”
“You can already feel the movement of your powers. That’s the hardest part.”
I give him the look that statement deserves. “If that’s the hardest part, I should be able to do more.”
“It’s the first day, little dhampir. Have some grace for yourself.” He holds the door open. “Let’s feed you.”
“Shower first.” I pull the wet fabric of my tank top away from my skin and cringe.
“Shower first,” he confirms.
It takes twice as long as it should because we get distracted with each other’s bodies, and by the time we make it out, both Rylan and Wolf have disappeared. I eye the bed. “How many rooms does this place have?”
“More than enough.” Malachi wraps an arm around my waist, guiding me to the door. “But if we want to reduce the amount of damage we do, we should confine fucking to this room.”
Because we’re destined to lose control and continue to trash whatever room we’re in. I press my hand to my mouth, as if that’s enough to hide the grin. “That sounds like a good idea.”
“Mmm.” He tucks me against his body as we head for the kitchen. “You are happy.”
He would know. If the lesson earlier is anything to go by, I won’t be successfully shielding for some time. “I suppose I am.”
“It looks good on you.”
We find the other two in the kitchen, Rylan making a pot of coffee and Wolf staring at the fully stocked fridge as if it might jump out and bite him. “Humans and their desire for options. It’s food. Why should it need to be so fancy?”
“Spoken like a vampire.”
He motions at the fridge. “Pick your poison.”
“I’m more than capable of making my own food.” I slip out from beneath Malachi’s arm and walk to the fridge. As ridiculous as I think Wolf’s being, he’s right; there are a truly overwhelming number of options here. I grab an apple and wander to the pantry door a few feet away. Thankfully, the owner has a veritable storefront of power bars. I pick a couple and head back into the kitchen.
All the vampires look at me with disbelief.
Rylan raises his brows. “All those options and you choose that?”
“I don’t know how to cook all that many things and I’m starving, so I don’t want to take the time to deal with it right now. Power bars were good enough for me before. I don’t see why they shouldn’t be good enough for me now.”
Malachi’s frowning as if solving a complicated problem. “I thought you preferred them because they’re easy to carry on the run.”
“That is one of the reasons I prefer them, yes.” From their expressions, they’re not going to let it go, so I feel compelled to explain. “While there are humans and dhampirs in my father’s compound, they’re hardly a priority compared to the vampires. The food they’re provided is designed to keep them alive and healthy so they can continue to act as walking blood banks and, at times, breeders. Power bars were the tastiest of the bunch.”
Wolf shakes his head slowly. “That is rather pathetic, love.”
“It is what it is.” I take my power bars and apple to the counter wrapping around half of the kitchen island and sit down. “Good food matters less than keeping myself alive. That’s always been the priority.”
“It can still be the priority if you’re eating other food.” Malachi crosses his arms over his chest.
Rylan pours coffee into a mug and passes it to me. “I’ll learn to cook.” When all three of us stare at him, he shrugs. “It’s a necessary skill if we have someone who consumes food.”
“Rylan—” I don’t know what I’m going to say, because I never get a chance to finish that sentence.
There’s a burst of power in the room and all the shadows seem to surge forth to a center point. One moment, there’s the four of us. The next, Azazel stands in our midst. He slides his hands into his pockets and gives the room a long look. “Interesting.”
As one, the vampires explode into motion. Malachi grabs me and shoves me between him and the wall, his big body blocking out the rest of the room. I hear Rylan curse and a scuffle. Peering around Malachi’s arm finds Wolf pinning Rylan to the counter.
He gives the other vampire a shake. “Focus. He’s a demon. If you attack him, he’ll slice you to pieces.”
Azazel examines his fingertips. Are they sharper than they appeared at first glance? I can’t tell from this angle. The shadows move around him almost as if alive. For a moment I get the impression of a hulking beast with giant horns curving from its head. In the next breath, it’s gone, and there’s only the handsome dark-haired man who seems to carry an aura of danger on a level I’ve never experienced before meeting him. Even having been in the same room as he was yesterday isn’t enough to make me used to the sensation.
The demon shifts, and the three vampires tense in response. His slow grin says he did it on purpose. “What a charming little nest you’ve created, seraph. Have you considered my deal?”
“She’s not making any deal.”
Azazel cuts a look at Malachi. “I didn’t ask you.” He narrows dark eyes. “Fire-bringer. I’d like to see how you do in my realm, vampire. We demons can show you what true fire means.”
“Now, now, Azazel.” Wolf lets loose his high, mad laugh. “There’s no need to prove you’re the baddest motherfucker in this room. We’re all convinced.” Rylan opens his mouth, but Wolf slams his hand over it before the other vampire can speak. “Answer the nice demon, love.”
Right. Okay. I take in a slow breath. “I’ve decided not to make a deal with you.” There’s only the slightest tremor in my voice to indicate how stressful this situation is.
“Pity.” Azazel examines his fingertips again. This time, I’m certain they’re sharper than they were. They haven’t shifted the way Rylan’s—and now mine—do. The fingers are exactly the same. Just…sharper. “Ah well. Since we’re such good friends, Wolf, I suppose I should tell you that there’s a group of six vampires heading up the mountain in this direction. Good luck.” He disappears as suddenly as he arrived.
For one breathless moment, we’re all perfectly still.
As if on cue, there’s a niggling feeling at the very edge of my mind. I didn’t notice it with Azazel’s presence masking everything, but now there’s no denying the fact. It’s identical to what I felt last time. I swallow past my suddenly dry throat. “He’s right. They’re here.”
Then Malachi surges forward. “Wolf, with me. Rylan, protect Mina.”
“Of course.” He sweeps me off my feet before I can take a single step. The house passes in a rush, Rylan sprinting down a hall I haven’t had a chance to explore. He ducks into a room filled with monitors and slams the door shut.
I watch him pull down a heavy steel beam to drop into the crossbar over it. “That seems excessive.”
“If I were your father, I would send a team from the front and a second, smaller, team from the back.” Rylan drops into the chairs in front of the monitors and starts clicking buttons.
I concentrate, but I can only feel the irritation in one direction. “Is there a back to this place?”
“Of course.” He frowns at the monitors and keeps clicking, flicking through the pictures so fast it makes me dizzy. “Only a fool wouldn’t leave a back door to escape from.”
Of course. How silly of me not to realize that was the case. “Who is this person?”
Rylan’s fingers pause over the keyboard. “He was a…friend.”
“Was?”
“He died some time ago. His granddaughter owns this house now, and she’s responsible for most of the upgrades. For reasons I’m not prepared to get into, she was willing to offer it as a place to stay.”
I have more questions, but they’ll have to wait. Rylan’s stopped on two screens. One depicts the road we drove in on. A single vehicle works its way up. It almost looks like a tank, armored plating beefing up the sides and roof and small windows not offering much in the way of weak points. I’ve seen that vehicle before. My father owns three of them. He uses one every time he has to leave the compound.
Surely he didn’t come here himself?
“It’s not him.” Rylan shakes his head. “As I said, it’s a good decoy, but this is the true strike team.” He motions to the second monitor.
It depicts a trio of masked individuals. It’s so dark, it takes me far too long to understand what I’m seeing. No trees. No rocks. No dirt. A hallway very similar to the ones we’ve been traveling since arriving yesterday.
“They’re inside.”
