The Legionnaire Games: Day 22, hour 19
Scorpius’s callused thumb stroked slowly down the sensitive slope where my skin met my clavicle, where my enchanted Adam’s apple used to be.
Did he wish I still had one?
I hadn’t forgotten that he’d called me ugly earlier.
Scorpius’s fingers tightened, and he leaned closer. The rich scents of bergamot and musk wrapped around me like a snake suffocating its prey.
Scorpius smelled like sin.
He smiled evilly and said, “Open your mouth, my turn.” His milky eyes were focused on a spot over my head as he pursed his lips and made a squelching noise.
It took me a second.
“Don’t you dare.” I kicked and bucked against him, but with his long arm outstretched, I couldn’t reach him.
He spat, and wetness hit my cheek. He said darkly, “Next time, you’ll swallow like a good girl.”
“Ew!” I squealed. “There will not be a next time, you disgusting pig.” I kicked harder, not caring that I was making a ruckus.
Scorpius yanked me against him so quickly my head spun.
He chuckled. “Just repaying the favor, since you seem to be so into spitting. Baby.” He said Orion’s endearment like it was a nasty word.
He shuddered and closed his eyes like the thought of spitting in my mouth made him want to lose control.
I shuddered, from concern for his mental state.
Orion adjusted himself in his pants as he licked his lips. His eyes were glazed over with lust.
Scorpius pulled me closer to him and pursed his lips, and the intent was clear. “I won’t miss this time. Open your mouth, slave.”
I slammed my heels into his shins as hard as I could and tried to turn my head to bite him, but he didn’t release me like I’d planned.
Scorpius moaned and tightened his grip on my neck.
My voice was weak as I snarled, “Gonna cut out your tongue.”
He laughed, choked me harder, and dragged his tongue slowly across the side of my face. “Promise?”
I gaped with shock.
The blind king that had antagonized me for the last few months and made my life a living hell had now licked me twice. I clawed at the hand around my neck and rasped, “You’re a sick motherfu—”
“Everyone, shut up!” Zenith roared as he sat up in his bed, inky black lines expanding under his eyes.
Scorpius dropped me.
I scrambled away from where Malum was still pulling himself to his feet.
The black lines crawled down Zenith’s neck. “We compete tomorrow, and you’re disturbing Vegar. If I hear another word out of any of you, I’ll give you the worst nightmares of your life. That’s a promise.”
Malum stood up with a low groan.
I pointed at him and said, “He made a sound.”
Zenith narrowed his eyes.
“Never mind,” I said. “Super quick, do you have scissors?”
Zenith didn’t look amused. “You have one minute to shut up, or I’ll make sure that everyone in this room is screaming and shitting in their sleep.”
With that comforting statement, he rolled over and gave Vegar a soft kiss on the forehead. I’d never seen the demons use their powers, and something told me I didn’t want to.
As I stood there wiping the spit off my cheek with disgust, because Scorpius probably had gonorrhea with how often he had sex, a solution hit me.
I pushed my way past the devils. “I’m gonna go to Sadie’s room to fix my hair.”
“You’re not going anywhere near her, slave. I forbid it.” Scorpius grabbed my arm in a steel vise.
As I stared back at the blind devil, I remembered I couldn’t go anywhere by myself because of the brand on my hip. A rushing sensation washed over my limbs.
I was trapped.
It was hard to breathe.
“Stop it,” Scorpius ordered.
“Calm down, sweetheart,” Orion mouthed. “I’ll take you.”
I bolted for the door before he could change his mind.
I needed space from the kings.
Orion trailed me down the silent hall, and when I finally got to the door that said, “Shifter Legion,” I told him, “Wait outside.”
When I entered, I expected the room to be dark and sleeping.
A creepy voice asked, “Who dares enter our lair?”
I jumped.
Jinx blocked the entrance. She tilted her head down so her dark hair covered her face as she looked up, and a ferret was draped across the back of her neck like a scarf.
He hung limp like he was dead.
“Ew, what the heck.” I poked at Warren’s boneless body.
Jinx smiled with her teeth. “You must pay the tax.”
Behind the young psychopath, Sadie and her mates were sprawled on the floor, playing a card game. On one side of the room, three of the beds had been pushed together to create one massive sleeping arrangement.
Sadie shot up with a squeal and ran over.
Jinx blocked me as I tried to pass. “Pay the tax. Ten gold pieces.”
“I don’t have money on me.” I huffed and debated the merits of drop-kicking a child.
“No one passes without the tax.” Her eyes darkened as she lunged at me.
I jumped backward. I’d never forget the way she’d unhinged her jaw and screamed at the don back in the beast realm. Not only was it weird, but I’d never heard of any species that did that.
According to Sadie’s sources (allegedly the moon goddess herself, but I had my doubts about that), Jinx was a half-breed.
The explanation made sense, but it also didn’t. It felt too much like a perfectly crafted story. My gut told me something else was going on with Jinx.
Something was off about her.
I asked Sadie with confusion, “Do you really have a tax to enter your room?”
“Of course not.” Sadie sighed as she rubbed her face. “Jinx, sweetie, we’ve talked about this.”
“Pay. The. Tax. Also, I’m not your sweetie. Don’t push your pathetic abandonment issues onto me.”
Sadie blew her a kiss. “Whatever you say, cupcake.”
Jinx snarled like a rabid animal.
I took a step toward the door. “Uh, maybe I should go?”
Cobra sauntered across the room and pushed a bag of money forward. “Here’s twenty gold pieces.”
Who carried gold around with them? Everyone in the realms used the enchanted credit system.
Jinx’s scary expression transformed into a beaming smile. “Thanks, snake man.” She skipped off with the money and put it into an overflowing velvet pouch.
Sadie groaned and smacked at Cobra’s jeweled hand. “You have to stop paying her, or she’ll just keep doing it.”
The snake shifter shrugged. “She’s a business woman. I respect the hustle.”
“No. It’s extortion.” Sadie rubbed at her forehead.
“Exactly. She’s going to do great things.” Cobra looked over with pride at Jinx, who was now counting out a large stack of gold coins.
Warren, the perverted ferret, was no longer playing dead and had a gold piece in his mouth.
Sad.
I’d really hoped he was dead.
“So why are you all awake?” I asked as Sadie threw her arms around me in a hug and dragged me into the room.
“I’m just so excited for tomorrow I can’t sleep, and all the men agreed to stay up with me.” Sadie clapped and jumped up and down. “Plus, Jinx never sleeps, so party room, am I right?”
I relaxed into her tight embrace and said, “The energy in here is way better than my room. Our room had a lot of choking and spitting going on. Very creepy.”
Ascher coughed aggressively at my words, and all four men turned to stare at me.
Xerxes opened his mouth like he was going to ask for an explanation, but then he shook his head like he didn’t want to know.
“Sounds fun.” Sadie winked aggressively. “So why are you here?”
I pulled my tangled hair forward and showed her the knots. “It’s a ridiculous mess. I tried to fix it for tomorrow, but I made it worse. I was hoping you could help?”
Sadie stared at my hair, then at my face. A wide grin split her cheeks. “I thought you’d never ask. Since you’ve given me makeovers, I’ve been wanting to return the favor.”
“Please, we both know I’m already perfect-looking,” I said seriously. “Meanwhile you had a unibrow when we first met.”
Sadie laughed.
Who was going to tell her I wasn’t joking?
Really, I wasn’t in any position to judge. Lately I’d looked more like a rabid raccoon than a woman.
My eyes were so bloodshot they were more red than blue, and the dark circles below them complemented my sickly pale complexion.
Yesterday when I’d seen my reflection in the bathroom, I’d been tempted to bang my head into the wall. A little forehead blood would really round out the “I am mentally crumbling” vibe.
But I didn’t.
It seemed like too much work.
Now I sat down on the carpet, and Jax and Sadie settled on either side of me.
Jax gave me pointers for curly hair as they both painstakingly untangled my knots with water and a comb. After the blue mass was detangled, they each grabbed a section of my hair and pulled it into a French braid.
They were extremely gentle, and I relaxed as Sadie went on and on about random topics.
At one point she sniffed my hair and said, “I forgot you smelled like icy death. It’s a unique scent.”
I yawned. “In a sexy way though, right?”
Sadie sniffed again and made a face. “Maybe? I need to get closer and smell you more.”
Cobra whipped his head around. The jewels embedded in his skin turned into shadow snakes and his eyes flashed with violence as he glared at us.
We both giggled.
After Sadie dramatically sniffed my neck to annoy her unhinged mate, I asked her how she felt about seeing Dick.
She smiled and reassured me she really didn’t care. She felt nothing when she saw him and she’d made her peace with the events of her childhood.
I didn’t understand how she could say that.
Maybe she was just a better person, but my gut cramped as she talked about him with nothing but forgiveness in her eyes.
She believed what he’d told her.
Sadie let the past go.
I dug my fingernails hard into the palm of my hands.
I didn’t care what Dick said to explain himself. You didn’t whip a child for the greater good. There was no such thing as casual abuse. He hurt her. Violently. Repeatedly.
Thick jagged scars marred her back and chest.
Dick had told Sadie that he’d beaten her to unlock her powers. He’d done it on behalf of the moon goddess, and if he hadn’t done it to her, he would have had to do it to her sister, Lucinda.
The explanation was too neat for the situation. It didn’t seem right that it involved gods and loved ones.
What Dick had done to Sadie was messy and depraved, and it was only logical that the reasoning behind his actions followed a similar pattern.
His story reeked of manipulation.
I’d tried to point that out to Sadie when she first told me, but she ignored me and said I was too blinded by rage on her behalf.
I gnawed on my fingernail as I debated the merits of once again bringing up my doubts.
Before I could decide, Sadie changed topics and rambled on about a book she’d read.
She was happy to forgive and move on.
With a deep breath, I let it go. Perhaps I was just a heartless revengeful bitch that refused to move on.
It wouldn’t be the first time.
Sadie talked, and I nodded when it was appropriate. She smiled as she explained the plot, and I smiled back.
Warmth expanded in my chest.
I liked her constant chatter.
I liked how she moved her hands dramatically and leaned closer when she got excited.
I liked how she rested her head on my shoulder.
It felt as if we’d never been separated.
At one point, Ascher’s phone rang, and it was Sadie’s sister, Lucinda, and Jax’s sisters Jess and Jala.
I gaped at the technology.
He explained that he’d spent a small fortune and gotten an inter-realm service plan so they could stay in contact. Jax’s and Sadie’s sisters were boarding at an ultraexclusive school in the beast realm with a whole battalion of the don’s personal guards until the games were over.
“Are there any cute boys at the academy that I would like?” Jax’s sister Jala asked me over the phone, and the others snickered.
Jax frowned, and Xerxes sharpened his knives with vigor.
I sighed. “Do you think seven-foot-tall monsters with no respect for women are cute?”
There was a long pause and what sounded like a scuffle. Then Jax’s other sister Jess said, “Wait, they kinda sound interesting. Bad boy vibes.”
“Tell them I’m single,” Sadie’s sister, Lucinda, yelled in the background.
Jax growled. “You’re not allowed to date until you’re three hundred and fifty years old.”
Cobra scoffed. “You’re not allowed to date until you’re dead. You can date in the afterlife.” His jewels transformed into shadow snakes and crawled over his skin. “In this life, I’ll kill any man that touches you.”
“Not fair!” Lucinda shouted, and Jax motioned for Ascher to give him the phone.
“Stop antagonizing Jax.” Ascher laughed. “You better still be practicing your combat moves for when we get back.”
There was a small spat where Jess tried to prove she was practicing her moves by attacking Jala and what sounded like an impromptu pillow fight.
“Love you!” the girls yelled over the phone, and we all yelled it back.
My cheeks hurt from smiling.
Ascher, Xerxes, and Cobra played the card game while Jax and Sadie braided my hair.
It was homey.
Peaceful.
Cozy.
I leaned against Sadie and inhaled her alpha scent of cranberries. The men’s scents of chestnuts, frost, cinnamon, and pine filled the room.
They smelled like shopping with Sadie in the icy forest of the shifter realm. Back when we’d laughed so hard that Sadie had fallen off her Yukata Horse into a snowbank. The biggest threat in our lives had been monsters from a portal.
Those were the days.
Life had been blissfully simple.
“Time’s up.” Scorpius’s voice cut through the tranquil ambiance and reminded me that life was anything but picturesque.
All three of the kings stood in the doorway, scowling. I thought they stayed back in the bedroom?
“Pay the tax.” Jinx stood in front of them with her hand out.
Sadie bristled. “How dare you speak to Aran like that? You don’t get to order her around.”
I sighed and pulled myself to my feet. I’d explain the whole enslavement to her later. That wasn’t a conversation for tonight.
Now that my hair was all fixed, exhaustion was hitting me like a brick.
“It’s okay.” I patted Sadie on the back and turned to the rest of the room. “Thanks for everything. Good luck tomorrow.”
“Of course, baby.” Sadie pressed a smacking kiss onto my cheek. “Come back whenever you want. You’re always welcome in our room.” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
I rolled my eyes at her dramatics.
Malum exploded into flames.
“What was that, baby?” Cobra’s voice carried as I hurried out of the room.
I trailed the men down the hall.
With every step away from my best friend, emptiness flooded through me.
Scorpius scoffed, “Did you enjoy your dalliance with a mated woman? You’re such a whore.”
That word followed me.
I was reclaiming it. In a coquette, vintage sunsets, sparkly fae wine, soft music kind of way.
“Obviously,” I drawled. “Also, I’m flipping you off right now.” I didn’t bother to raise my fingers. It was too much work. “Now I’m sobbing violently,” I said sarcastically.
The blind king scowled.
I snickered at my little prank.
Malum ranted about how I’d never get to visit Sadie again, and Orion tried to touch my arm gently.
I pulled away from him, shoved my pipe between my lips, and fingered my braids. The warmth in Sadie’s room had been an escape from reality. Everything had been richer, and even the air had seemed warmer.
Now I shivered from a phantom chill.
Lightning streaked down the walls, but I didn’t blink.
The world was dipped in gray.
I had no memory of getting back to the room, falling asleep, and waking up the next morning with a stomachache. Almost no recollection of Orion tracing black war paint across my cheekbones. I didn’t recall pulling on the all-white spandex outfits that were delivered to our room.
I barely remembered choking down a plate of eggs for breakfast and drinking three cups of coffee in the silent hall.
I hardly recalled stumbling back to the room to wait for our instructions.
I barely noticed that Lothaire entered the room an hour later. He said a bunch of shit, and I didn’t listen.
“The gods have selected Arabella, Corvus, and Orion to fight in this first round for the academy legion,” Lothaire’s voice penetrated the fog.
Those words I heard.
My stomach plummeted, and adrenaline exploded through my neurons.
The world snapped back into horrible focus.
I missed the haze.
