For a few seconds, all I could do was stare. Stare down at Audrey who was lying naked beneath me. At my hands keeping her wrists trapped beside her head on the grass. At my own naked body. I knew exactly what we had been doing these past minutes, and while it was something that I always very much enjoyed, I didn’t understand why we had decided to do it here. And now. In Grant’s garden.
Then the words that I had just heard spoken registered, and everything clicked into place.
Releasing Audrey’s wrists, I gently pulled my cock out of her pussy and climbed off her. She sat up and flicked a glance between me and the person behind me before she slowly pushed to her feet. Her face was flushed, and blades of grass clung to her tangled hair.
Embarrassment seared through me. But I refused to let it show, so I drew in a bracing breath before standing up and turning to face the source of the voice.
A very average-looking man with brown hair was standing a few steps away. Harvey Grant. Amusement danced across his features as he swept his gaze over our utterly naked bodies. That burning embarrassment tried to resurface again, and I glanced towards where our clothes lay scattered on the ground a short distance behind Grant.
Clearing my throat, I managed a somewhat strained, “Grant.”
“Callan,” he replied, mirth still sparkling in his blue eyes. His gaze slid to Audrey and, fortunately for him, stayed on her face. “Audrey. Impressive show. I almost wish I could have seen the whole thing.”
Audrey flashed him a sly smile. “Need inspiration for your own sex life?”
He chuckled but didn’t respond. Instead, he shifted his attention back to me. For a second, his gaze dipped down to my still hard cock, and he gave me a half nod in what looked like approval. I wasn’t sure whether to grin or throw a force wall at him.
“Mind throwing our clothes over here?” I said instead.
Grant returned his gaze to our faces. “In a minute.”
“Excuse me?” Audrey challenged, a sharp note to her voice.
She didn’t look embarrassed in the slightest even though we were currently standing stark naked in front of another dark mage.
“First, you need to do something,” Grant replied in a calm voice. His expression was suddenly dead serious as he looked from face to face. “You need to swear a blood oath that you will never reveal any of my mansion’s secrets or use them against me.”
“I’m getting dressed,” I announced, and took a step forward to go and get the clothes myself.
However, before I could take another one, that intense feeling of lust crashed over me again. Trailing to a halt, I looked over at Audrey. Fuck, I wanted to yank her back to me and wrap my arms around her and feel her hands all over my body. I wanted to—
I shook my head and blinked hard. Hell damn it.
“Grant,” I ground out as I turned back to the emotion mage. “Do I need to remind you that you swore a blood oath to never do anything to hurt me or Audrey?”
“I did indeed.” He looked back at me with a no-nonsense expression on his face. “And I will uphold that oath. I will never do anything to hurt you. And if you don’t swear this blood oath to me, to keep my secrets, I won’t do anything to you. I will just leave.”
My gaze was involuntarily drawn back to Audrey as another wave of overwhelming need for her slammed into me. It took all of my self-control to drag my gaze back to Grant.
“And when I leave, the protection that I was previously extending to you, the protection from the effects of those flowers up there, will disappear with me.” Grant shrugged. “At which point you will succumb to the effects fully once more. And based on what I just walked in on, it will most likely end with the two of you fucking each other nonstop until you die of dehydration.”
“We’re in the middle of a bloody war, Grant.”
“A war that, as you have already noticed, I will be able to weather perfectly fine in here. So, if you want my help in this war, you will swear a blood oath to never reveal any of my mansion’s secrets and to never use them against me.”
It was getting increasingly difficult to concentrate on his words when Audrey’s whole being seemed to be calling out to mine, just two steps away. Based on the expression on her face, she was having similar difficulties. And no matter how much I tried to pretend otherwise, I was pretty sure that Grant was right.
Bitterness and fear were emotions I didn’t often feel, so those had been a bit easier to manage. But the burning passion that existed between me and Audrey was already so strong that Grant’s magic would be able to push it to intensities that were impossible to break. If he left, we would probably fuck each other in a lust-filled haze until we died.
Steel sang into the darkened woodlands as Grant pulled out a short knife and tossed it towards us. It landed in the grass before our feet.
“The choice is yours,” he said simply.
“Fucking hell,” I growled as I snatched up the knife.
Due to his casual manner and his non-combative personality, I often forgot that Harvey Grant was a dark mage. A true dark mage who knew exactly how to leverage his power and bend others to his will. As I stood there completely naked in front of him and ready to cut my own palm to give him the blood oath he wanted, I couldn’t help but wonder how dangerous Grant could have been if he’d had any sort of interest in expanding his power and influence instead of just staying here, secluded in his mansion, with his extravagant parties. In all honesty, I was pretty sure that I didn’t want to find out.
A thin line of red appeared on my skin as I drew the blade across my palm and spoke the words of the blood oath.
To be fair, it was a reasonable ask. I wouldn’t have wanted to share the security protocols for my mansion with anyone else either, and Grant was even more secretive than most. And besides, I had no plans to actually attack his mansion either, now or in the future, so the oath didn’t change anything.
Grant gave me a nod as I finished and passed the knife to Audrey, who did the same. As soon as her blood oath was complete as well, Grant brushed his palms together, making his shimmering purple magic float into the air around us once more. All the lingering feelings of lust disappeared in a heartbeat. I dragged a hand through my hair and blew out a short breath.
Across the grass, Grant took a step to the side and motioned towards our clothes. Audrey and I exchanged a glance before we stalked past the emotion mage and grabbed our discarded garments.
Once we were finally dressed again, we turned back around to face him.
“Damn.” Audrey cocked her head and flicked her gaze up and down his body. “I had forgotten how ruthless you can be, Grant.”
A small smile ghosted across his lips. “Yes, it seems people often do.”
“Can we just get on with it?” I muttered as I hoisted my pack.
“Certainly.” Grant raised his arm in the direction of the mansion. “Follow me.”
The walk through the dense gardens was a lot easier with Grant’s magic protecting us from the effects of the plants. Audrey and I must have been walking in circles at some point, because now we reached the white stone mansion in no time. Glass domes in different colors hung all throughout the gardens closest to the building. However, the candles inside them were unlit. These areas had once been filled with happy partygoers, but now they lay empty and dark.
I raised my eyebrows as Grant led us away from the back door and towards the other side of the building. Only crawling vines covered the smooth wall. There were no windows on this side. Or doors.
Leaves rustled as Grant stuck his hand into a cluster of thick vines. A moment later, there was a click. And then part of the wall swung open to reveal a doorway.
Audrey let out a low whistle. “So that’s how you get into the actual mansion.”
The corridor that led from the front entrance to the back door and the gardens beyond didn’t contain any other doors or staircases, so no one had been sure how Grant got into the rest of his home. But I supposed now we knew.
Grant looked over his shoulder at Audrey. She held up a hand as if to say that she remembered the blood oath. After watching us with serious eyes for another two seconds, he strode across the threshold. We followed.
Behind us, the door swung shut again with a soft click.
After the darkness in the gardens, the sudden bright light that filled the room we stepped into almost blinded me. I blinked repeatedly in order to get my eyes to adjust.
“Audrey!” a cheerful voice called.
Still squinting against the light, I barely managed to avoid getting mowed down by Paige as she raced past me and threw her arms around Audrey.
“I knew it,” Paige said as she stepped back. With her hands still on Audrey’s shoulders, she gave Audrey’s body a little shake. “If anyone would be able to go to Malgrave and convince Levi Arden to help us and then survive the trip back and then through the gardens and all that, it was you because you’ve always been resourceful like that and—”
“Paige,” Audrey interrupted. Her green eyes glittered as she gave her friend a smile. “Breathe.”
The blond forger sucked in a deep breath and then let out a rippling laugh. I turned towards the rest of the room right as a mountain of a man stopped in front of me and clapped me on the shoulder. Relief pulsed through me at the sight of him, and I reached up to give his muscular arm a couple of friendly pats.
“Glad to see your head’s still attach to the rest of your body, boss,” Henry said while a grin tugged at his lips.
I snorted. “You and me both.”
“So you pulled it off then?”
“Yeah.” I slid my gaze to Grant, who had stopped halfway into the room. “Where’s Sam? We should probably get him too before we tell that story.”
Grant waved a hand towards the doorway set into the spotless marble wall. “This way.”
Henry clapped me on the shoulder again before following the emotion mage through the door. I glanced back to see Paige speaking rapidly to Audrey. Both of them wore expressions of relief. They started forward too as I strode after Henry and Grant.
Grant’s mansion looked pretty much how I had expected it to look. Smooth white marble inlaid with veins of gold, beautiful paintings depicting different nature scenes in gilded frames, and expensive furniture made of pale wood. I let my eyes sweep over the corridors and rooms as we made our way upstairs and then followed Grant through a doorway and into another room.
Bookshelves lined most of the walls inside while a rich carpet in dark green and gold covered the floor. A cluster of leather couches and armchairs were arranged around a low table in the middle of the space. I stopped short as my gaze fell on the people inside.
“Callan,” Malcolm Griffith said in greeting as he looked up from the book he had been reading.
“Malcolm,” I said while Audrey and Paige trailed inside as well. “Last I heard, you were on the run.” My gaze slid to the attractive redhead pacing back and forth in front of the windows. “And you were unaccounted for.”
“I detest running,” Malcolm announced, and flicked imaginary dirt off his impeccable black suit.
“I don’t even know what it means to be unaccounted for,” Sienna stated while tossing her long red hair behind her shoulder.
“I’m so glad you’re back!” Sam interrupted. His gray eyes lit up as he took in both me and Audrey. “Does that mean you did it? Did you actually manage to get Levi Arden to come?”
“Oh, calm down, children,” Grant said before I could respond. While rolling his eyes, he strolled over to the oversized armchair next to the one Malcolm was currently occupying. The cushions let out a soft huff as he plopped down. “I found Malcolm and Sienna lurking outside my gardens shortly after the attacks on their mansions, so I invited them in.” He waved a hand at us. “Now, have a seat so that we can bring each other up to speed.”
Henry glanced back at me before moving over to one of the couches. I joined him.
“I don’t lurk,” Sienna proclaimed while Audrey and Paige set course for the sofa opposite ours.
“No,” Grant agreed. “You tried to burn your way into my garden instead.”
“Exactly. That’s not lurking.”
The leather couch creaked slightly as Henry and I sat down on it and adjusted our weight.
“But you most definitely lurk,” Grant said, and shot a pointed look at Malcolm.
A hint of a smile drifted across the shadow mage’s lips as he put his book down on the low table. “Yes. I do.”
Sam, who had been sitting cross-legged in the armchair opposite Malcolm, leaped to his feet and started towards Audrey. She looked over at him in surprise as she and Paige sat down on the couch.
“Didn’t I just ask you all to sit down?” Grant shook his head at him. “Why are you getting up?”
“You swore the blood oath about the secrets, right?” Sam said, his eyes on Audrey. “I’ll just fix the cut in your palm. And any other injuries from your trip to Malgrave.”
“No need,” I said.
They all turned to look at me.
I shrugged. “Levi’s healer already did.”
Next to me, Henry stared at me with wide eyes and eyebrows that almost reached his hairline. I waved a hand in front of my face to tell him that we’d get to that. Shimmering turquoise light joined the warm glow from the oil lamps and candles as Sam called up his magic and healed the cut on Audrey’s palm.
“And you,” Grant said while shooting a half exasperated, half amused look at Sienna. “Are you going to sit down?”
Sienna scrunched up her brows as if that was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard. “No.”
From his position in the other armchair, Malcolm blew out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.
It took great effort not to chuckle. If Malcolm and Sienna had shown up shortly after they were attacked, that meant that they had been staying here in Grant’s mansion for weeks at this point. Those three trapped together for that long… It was a bloody miracle that all of them were still alive.
Once Sam had healed both my and Audrey’s cuts, he returned to his armchair, which meant that everyone who was planning to sit down was now at last seated.
For a few seconds, the eight of us just watched each other in silence.
Then, Malcolm steepled his fingers.
“So, what happened in Malgrave?”
