THE ESTATE
Snuggery (noun): a snug cozy place.
I was kneeling on white pebbles.
Birds chirped, and water gurgled in babbling brooks.
Was I hallucinating?
A comfortable breeze blew through my hair. Golden sunshine covered everything in a dreamy haze. Fluffy white clouds drifted lazily through the sky and strange birds flew overhead.
Horse was still missing.
A crushing sense of loss speared me. My heart twisted. With shaky fingers, I pulled out my pipe and exhaled. He’ll come back. He’s a phoenix, I reminded myself.
I focused on the picturesque landscape.
It calmed me.
Rolling verdant hills were intersected by glittering peaceful lakes. Meandering streams snaked between them. Tall flowering trees dotted the hills and offered patches of shade.
We were standing on a pebble path that led to the front gates of a stunning white brick estate.
A miniature pony trotted across the field, and a goat followed close behind.
I spun around—pushing Scorpius off me because he was still clinging—and took it all in.
Swans bowed their heads together in the ponds, and strange-colored ducks quacked as they waddled in a line.
I thought I was a rainy-day-type girl.
I wasn’t.
This was what I craved.
The fae realm was pretty, but it was crowded with people, buildings, and a general sense of doom. Mother had carefully cultivated the last bit through years of terror.
This place was different; it was quiet.
Bucolic.
Another miniature pony trotted by with a pink bow in its mane. I covered my mouth and fought the urge to cry and chase after it because it was so cute.
“Is this Olympus?” I turned to the twins in awe.
Malum choked. “As if.” He pushed me toward the golden front gate of the estate. “Welcome to the Ancient Illustrious House of Malum. This is all yours, my Revered.”
I stumbled and would have fallen if he hadn’t caught my arm.
“You’re joking,” I said.
Turned out they didn’t live in a hut.
Who would have guessed it?
Scorpius smirked and sauntered past. “We don’t joke, killer.” Orion gave me a gentle kiss on the forehead.
“This is the devil realm? Isn’t it supposed to be a land of fire?”
Malum pointed up at the golden sun. “It is.”
I blinked. “Aren’t you supposed to share half a planet with the angel realm? Isn’t their side cold? Also—do you see the miniature ponies?”
I’d thought Malum had been spinning a fairytale when he’d described what peace felt like to him.
Now I understood.
He’d been telling the truth.
Malum rolled his eyes. “The sun melted the glaciers that cover most of the other side of the planet, and it plunged the angels into a perpetual ice age.”
Team devils, I’d always admired their psychotic attitudes and unwell demeanors.
“Wait.” I narrowed my eyes as I thought about geography and climates. “That doesn’t make any sen—”
He interrupted, “We don’t have any oceans or glaciers on this side of the planet, so our biomes are split. It makes perfect sense.”
I stumbled as I remembered the passage about how the OPA had come to be. The sun god had increased the temperature of the realms to kill the invaders.
He was so real for that.
“But this place is actually nice,” I said as I changed the subject, “and you’re a devil.”
Malum frowned, and flames leaped off the tops of his ears. “Now you’re starting to piss me off.”
I would have argued further, but I was too distracted because a baby goat with a purple bow jumped past. It chased after the miniature pony.
“What’s with all the cute animals?” I debated the merits of sprinting after the goat and forcing it to love me forever. “And the bows?”
Orion and Scorpius looked over their shoulders at Malum pointedly.
The leader of the kings, slayer of monsters, assassin with a knife tattooed across his throat, turned bright red.
Orion had said something about seeing a softer side of Malum at his home, but never in a million years would I have believed this.
There was soft, and then there was marshmallow squishy.
Malum cleared his throat. “They were going to be butchered, and I had the land.” His face turned maroon. “It was the right thing to do.”
I gawked at the man who’d tormented me at Elite Academy.
He refused to make eye contact.
Every time I thought I was beginning to understand him, he showed me another side.
The man had layers, or a severe personality disorder that needed heavy medicating.
The twins weren’t the Jekyll and Hyde, Malum was.
“Just to be crystal clear,” I said slowly, “you hate women and think they’re pathetic, but have miniature creatures with pink bows as pets?”
“I don’t hate women, I’ve told you that,” he said as he walked quicker toward the front entrance of the stunning estate. “Not anymore.”
I walked faster to keep up with him.
I giggled. “If only everyone at Elite Academy could see you with your ponies and goats.”
Flames trailed after him. “They’re not my animals, they’re the estate’s animals.”
“And you own the estate,” I said. “Just admit you like bows and secretly wish you were a woman.”
It all made sense.
I gasped. “That must be where all your repressed rage comes from. There’s no shame in owning it, I won’t judge. Gender is just a construct—’
Malum stopped walking, and I bumped into him.
He glared down at me. “I don’t want to be a woman, Arabella.”
“Denial is the first step to accepting yourself.” I shot him with a finger gun. “I honestly don’t mind.” I chewed my lips and really thought about it. “Actually—I think I might prefer it.”
Bronze fingers grabbed my chin and tipped my head gently back.
Malum leaned close—whiskey and tobacco assaulted my senses—as he whispered inches from my lips, “I don’t want to be a woman, I want to own one.”
My lips parted. I tasted his breath on my tongue, and it was like smoking the world’s most dangerous drug.
“Um, what?” I asked, unable to think.
Malum licked his lips slowly. “I want to own you, Arabella, body and soul. I want to earn your forgiveness. I want to spoil you. I want to show you what it means to be the Revered in the ancient illustrious House of Malum.”
“That’s a lot,” I whispered.
He pressed a gentle kiss against my lips like I was made of glass.
My head spun with lightheadedness.
“The House of Malum is renowned for cherishing its Revereds,” Malum whispered as he pulled back. “We will show you exactly what that means.” He looked over his shoulder at where the kings and twins were staring at us.
“Um, okay,” I said intelligently. “Good luck with that.” I patted him on the shoulder and walked past.
Why did you just call him buddy and pat him like he’s a dog? Get a grip, woman.
Unfortunately, I did not get a grip, because I saluted the rest of the men and said, “Aye, aye, soldiers.”
They looked at me like I was deranged.
They weren’t wrong.
No one spoke the rest of the walk because I’d made the energy weird and off-putting. Clearly, I didn’t know how to handle myself in a peaceful setting.
Ornate dragon sculptures framed the front steps of the estate. Towering heavy oak doors swung open as we approached.
As I stepped across the threshold, my skin buzzed.
Memories that weren’t mine played through my head. Men fought in ancient wars. Insane power strummed through their veins. They loved fiercely and fought even fiercer.
For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel trapped.
Everything felt right, like I was where I was always supposed to be.
I belonged.
Unlike in the fae palace or Xerxes’s manor, there wasn’t an army of servants waiting to greet us. The quiet, high-ceilinged foyer was pristine and empty.
The twins looked impressed as they also took it all in.
“Let’s show you to our wing,” Orion whispered. He grabbed my hand and tugged me down the hall. The floors and walls were covered in dark wood.
Scenes of rolling hills and dragons were carved into the wood—it was stunning.
“Do other people live here?” I asked as I looked down yet another empty hall.
Malum shook his head. “There are groundskeepers from the local village who stop by daily to take care of the animals, but that’s it.”
Scorpius trailed his hand across the wall reverently.
Malum explained, “It’s a tradition in devil culture for mates to live alone. The house is covered in rare wood that’s layered with protective enchantments. Devils prefer privacy.”
Scorpius bared his teeth and said, “Only those of the ancient House of Malum can enter. Everyone else needs permission. No exceptions.”
I looked at the twins with confusion.
Orion saw my face and whispered, “Your soul was already tied with theirs when we mated to you. Now all our souls are connected.” He stared at the twins intensely. “The house recognized them.”
Scorpius smirked evilly. “I’ve never heard of a devil mating with more than four people. We’ll have to see what happens. I suspect with time, the twins will manifest soul abilities—I can’t wait to see what you do, John.”
Luka put his arm protectively around John’s shoulder. “We’re here for Aran.” His words were ruined by the way he glanced at Orion with longing.
Scorpius smiled wickedly at John. “No.” He ran his tongue over his lips. “You’re definitely also our mates.”
Orion nodded in agreement, and Malum sized the twins up like he was just seeing them for the first time. He shrugged like he couldn’t care less and turned back to me with a hungry expression.
John tried to hide behind me as Scorpius mimed stabbing him. I patted him on the back. “I can’t wait to see how this plays out for you, bestie.”
He glared.
“I heard Scorpius likes pain,” I stage-whispered, and he lunged for me, but I ducked and blew him a kiss.
Before he could retaliate, Orion led us into a great room with high ceilings and a brick hearth that roared with fire and stood taller than me.
Scarlet leaped alongside blue-and-black flames.
It was no ordinary hearth.
My breath caught.
Deep leather couches were spread around the room.
I grabbed a fluffy white blanket and collapsed onto the leather. My face flushed from the heat, and I curled my toes with delight.
It was dark and cozy.
Toasty.
The room was perfect.
“Wait, you can’t fall asleep yet.” Malum yanked the fuzzy blanket out of my grip.
I inhaled enchanted smoke.
One. Two. Three. Four—nope, counting didn’t work.
I tried to yank the blanket out of his grip. Unfortunately, Malum was built like the side of a barn. Orion grabbed me around the waist and pulled me away just before I could scissor kick his mate—correction, our mate—in the balls.
“If you don’t give me that blanket right now, the miniature horses are going to be living with us inside,” I threatened, as Orion carried me away from the couch.
Malum pursed his lips as if he liked the idea.
I gawked at the man I thought I knew.
Holy sun god, my mind clicked as I realized why he was so weird.
Malum was a horse girl.
Everything made sense.
“We need to show you your surprise.” The horse girl raised his hands in the universal gesture of surrender.
I stopped struggling because receiving gifts was one of my love languages. So were words of affirmation, acts of service, quality time, physical touch, and begging for my forgiveness.
It was called having standards.
Orion gingerly put me down.
“I’m waiting.” I held my hand out for my present. “Also, I’m suffering from medically confirmed energy backlash. Are you sure this can’t wait until after I sleep?”
All the men looked at one another with sheepish expressions.
“You’ll want to see this,” Orion whispered.
The twins looked at each other and John said, “We also have something to show you.”
Everyone was just full of surprises these days.
I gnawed on my lip. “I didn’t get you guys anything. Was I supposed to?”
“No,” Malum snapped. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
John narrowed his eyes like he was thinking about it. “I’d like a gift.”
All the men glared at him.
The flames in the hearth jumped higher, and the temperature of the room increased.
“We need to show you this right now,” Malum said.
Something told me this was not going to be a new purse—which was depressing because I desperately needed one.
“Lead the way,” I said with a sigh.
Malum led us out back to stables, where we all got on horses—I made a small scene about being too tired to ride (the day I stopped being dramatic, I’d be dead)—then we traversed across the hills until we arrived at the edge of a dark forest.
Scorpius led us forward, deeper into the dark.
When we got to our destination, my stomach plummeted.
Heart stopped.
“What the sun god?” I asked with horror as I backed away.
