Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
SERAFINA
N ever in a million years did I think I would be tugged out of my math class because my magic wanted me to witness my psychotic mate beat the shit out of a teenager. Pretty sure that wasn’t on my bingo card for the year.
At first, when I felt the incessant tugging in the center of my chest, propelling me forward, I thought one of my mates was in trouble. Then, when I neared the clearing behind the school, I assumed there was another murder. Or murders, as the case may be.
We have a list a mile long of shit we need to deal with. Does V really feel the need to add to it?
“I heard the pigeon over here lying. I don’t like liars.” V glares over at the boy still curled up on the ground.
I vaguely recognize him, despite the dim light and his bruised, swollen, and bloody countenance. I don’t think I ever spoke to him, but I am pretty sure he is in my history class. And maybe my econ class? Whatever the case, he hasn’t made much of an impression one way or the other.
I’ve caught him looking at me a few times, but he’s never even introduced himself, seemingly wary of my guys. He hasn’t been mean to me or anything, though.
Light-brown hair, curlier on the top than the sides. Sea-green eyes. A boyish face with cheeks that are always a little too red. Sharp nose. Thin lips.
Utterly forgettable, especially when compared to my mates.
Foster blinks at V owlishly. “He lied?”
I huff. “Okay, I don’t like liars either. But you can’t beat people up for lying. Most people lie all the time.”
Sad, but true. Especially the people you don’t expect to be liars. Those you trust and idealize the most tend to be the ones to look out for.
Foster studies V, taking in the tension in his shoulders and the tic in his cheek. If he had his wings out, I’m sure they’d be ruffled up to catch the early morning breeze. “What did he lie about?”
“The pigeon over here was loudly telling everyone about my kitten.”
I freeze.
He nods, buffing his fingers against the front of his shirt. “He has created quite a following for his banging of ‘the hot new transfer whore.’ He was busy detailing how you like it up the ass, Kitten, and like to be called names while he does it. That he was sure anyone else who wanted to take you for a spin could when he was done using you.
“Guaranteed, you’d be stretched out and worthless, but a dirty whore like you would beg for anything. All it’d taken was him getting a little rough with you when you sassed him, and you were begging for him to hurt you. That you loved it as a train. That’s why you were always around so many guys, ’cause you couldn’t get it rough enough or from enough at once.”
Each word has coiled me tighter and tighter, rage thickening the air around me. Darkness bleeds into the corners of my vision, and I have to grip my powers tightly by their mental reins. There is killing the bastard, and letting my powers destroy him. And I want to be the one to enjoy beating him to smithereens.
But I don’t get the chance.
A blast of heat roars through the clearing, nearly knocking me off my feet. In an instant, V is in front of me, his wings spread wide, a barrier of some type in the air around us. And around the clearing? It’s hard to tell as light flares, turning the area from murky darkness to brilliant daylight.
“You. Said. WHAT?”
The words are a roar, and it takes me a moment to recognize the voice. I’ve heard V’s raised in fury before, but this isn’t his tone.
My brain finally processes what I’m seeing around the edge of V’s wing, but shock holds me rooted in place.
It isn’t the hot-headed, blood-thirsty prince losing his mind.
Foster flares with light, his body glowing in a myriad of red, yellow, orange, and white. The white spots are so brilliant that they’re edged in blue and make spots dance against my vision. He stalks towards the boy who scrambles away with a cry, sweat dripping from his face. It seems that whatever barrier V is using to protect us and the forest surrounding us doesn’t cover the injured guy.
“How dare you!” Foster seethes, wisps of flames lashing from him and dancing in the air.
The ground where he’s been standing hisses and smokes in his wake. Luckily, there is little flammability in the area—more mud, stone, and quickly extinguished pine needles than anything else—and whatever V is doing seems to keep the trees from going up.
And keep the guy in the area, apparently, as he bounces off of an open stretch of air with a cry even as V chuckles.
“Your elemental has quite the temper,” he tells me over his shoulder, approval lacing his tone.
If the heat bothers him, he doesn’t show it, though he makes no move to lower his wings. Part of me wants to take the chance to explore them, stroke them, especially as the light plays over them and highlights interwoven strands of gold and silver flecked through the dark feathers.
But I am caught in Foster’s rage, unsure of what to do. I am not stupid enough to try to grab him and calm him down. I don’t want to get scorched. But will calling out to him help anything?
It isn’t like I really want him to stop… If he or V doesn’t kill the asshole and my family finds out, one of them surely will. Then they’ll lecture me about why I didn’t follow the family’s rule book.
We are the Addams family if they’d gone suburban and wore pink instead of black. Hmmm. Now that I think about it, we’re the Addams family and Barbie’s love children.
“Fuck!”
The voice from behind me has me whirling to see Gage, Kian, and Xander charging through the forest. It’s the latter who’s speaking, the sleeves of his suit coat pushed up to reveal muscular, tan forearms. Sweat from Foster’s flames dots his forehead.
“Is that Hudson?” Xander asks.
Foster is making the boy—presumably Hudson—jump and run as he fires ball after ball of flames at his feet, burns marking his bare arms and the fabric of his clothing where he wasn’t fast enough to avoid the fire balls.
“What the hell happened?” Kian lifts a hand to shade his eyes, squinting to try to see better. Unlike Xander, who’s wearing a suit coat and dress pants, Kian is dressed casually in a teal shirt and blue jeans. The color heightens the blue of his eyes and is a striking contrast against the gold of his hair and skin.
“Uh, out of curiosity, what is the punishment if Foster kills this guy? I mean, V has some kind of immunity—or at least an insanity plea—but what about Foster? Would he be punished?” It doesn’t seem like there’ll be a body left, but I doubt it’ll be hard to track back to me with all the bullshit the asshole is spouting.
My stomach tightens at the reminder, anger attempting to wash aside the concern I feel for Foster, but I squash it down. My pride can take the hit, but I am not letting Foster go to the supe version of jail.
Is that a thing?
I make a mental note to ask Xander or Devyn about it when things aren’t so…heated. Pun intended.
“You are correct, Ms. Jenkins,” Xander says tightly. A different kind of heat rolls through me at the dark purr of his voice, calm and collected despite what is happening in front of us. “He would certainly face punishment unless he has been threatened.”
Well, fuck.
Could we lie? Make it look like self-defense?
God, how has this become my life?
“Or unless he burns the body and you all keep your mouths shut,” V suggests. “I think he’s burning hot enough at this point to turn it to ash. Or I could share some more of the lies he was telling about my kitten. That may help.” He chuckles, licking his lower lip as he studies Foster. “His temper is quite a thing to behold. Who would have thought that much fire was contained in him? He’ll be fun to train.”
“What the fuck was Hudson saying about Sera?” Gage growls out, his eyes flashing and his upper lip pulling away from his teeth in a snarl. Today, he’s wearing a black hoodie and jeans, the hood currently pulled up to conceal his messy onyx hair. He looks like a shadow—a dark, avenging shadow hellbent on destruction and pain.
I ignore him, for now. I already have one mate to deal with—I don’t need two lost to the bloodlust V seems to be attempting to cultivate.
Bloodthirsty psycho.
“Sera?” Kian’s worried eyes meet mine, and I offer a weak smile.
“Any hints on how to calm him down?” I ask.
They mentioned Foster holds a temper, hence his fire elemental side, but I never would have guessed it was like this. He’s always so gentle and soft-spoken.
Kian studies me for a moment and then nods, as if he has decided something. His eyes begin to glow.
“Foster.” His voice echoes slightly, and a wave of…something hits me.
I can’t name what it is, but it sends a shiver over my skin, and goose bumps pebble on my arms. The hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention.
“Well now.” V shifts, studying Kian through the barrier he has built. “It’s a day of surprises, Kitten.”
Kian takes a deep breath, ignoring V, his eyes glued to Foster. I can’t look away. My incubus mate looks…ethereal. The sun filtering through the tree branches creates a golden tint around his head, almost like a halo, and highlights the fine angles of his face. My heart squeezes painfully—and not just because of his looks.
But because, right then and there, I’m overcome by my feelings for him.
“Foster.” He calls his name louder this time, letting it be heard over Hudson’s cries.
Foster wavers for a moment, the blue edging on his powers seeming to lessen briefly.
“You’re worrying Sera, Foster. What if you hurt her? Your fire’s hot. V’s shield could waver.”
V hisses at that, but I poke his wing, enjoying the silky glide of warm feathers over my finger as I do.
Foster stills as Hudson skitters farther backwards. Burns cover the majority of his skin, and it’s clearly been too hot even for him to cry, the moisture of his tears immediately disappearing from his skin.
Foster shifts to take me in where I am hidden behind V, and the wicked flames sputter, shifting to yellow and orange, rather than white and blue.
“You don’t want to hurt our mate, do you, Foster? You want her safe?” Kian continues in that soft, melodic voice.
It’s not seductive but…calming, like plunging into an icy pool after days in the sun. Even though he isn’t directing his powers at me, the muscles in my shoulders loosen, and some of the tension riding my spine dissipates. The knot in my chest untangles until it feels like I can breathe again.
Foster glances between where Hudson is scurrying back and me, as if he can’t decide what will make me safer. Staring into his eyes…I imagine it’s similar to staring into the pits of hell. Fire writhes and dances in his gaze, and I can’t look away. I don’t want to.
A part of me yearns to tango with the devil.
Dark tendrils of shadow slip under the shield V has up, wrapping Hudson in them and hauling him back at a pace far quicker than the injured male can do on his own. A band covers his mouth, preventing him from speaking—or whining—and interfering in this.
“If you cool more, you can comfort her.” Kian’s words stroke my skin like silk, and a shiver works over me. “Look, Foster. She’s cold.”
Technically, I am far from cold. I am not sure what exactly Kian is doing, but it builds warmth in my stomach and between my thighs, and I have to fight the urge to squirm. I am not going to interrupt him though.
“If you were only a little warm, you could wrap yourself around her. Warm her up. Wouldn’t it be nice to warm your mate? Never hurt her, just a little warmth to take the edge off.”
Slowly, the color fades from Foster’s skin, though a flush works over mine when I realize he is naked. Apparently, his clothing didn’t survive the human torch routine. Whoops. I try to keep my gaze above his neck, though a part of me wants to peek at all of the smooth, pale, exposed skin.
I push past V, heading towards Foster. I thought he’d be weak, shaken, but his hands are strong when he grabs me, yanking me tight against him. And I can feel absolutely everything.
Wow.
I don’t have a moment to say anything before his mouth crushes to mine, his lips still hot, though not enough to burn, just enough to entice. He wraps his arms around me, molding me completely against him, as his tongue sweeps over mine, tasting every inch as he grips me. I melt against him, my hands threading into his hair as he devours my mouth as though starved for me.
He is gasping as he pulls away, leaning his forehead against mine.
“Guess I’m not the only one with a temper,” I tease, my voice husky and breathless from his kiss.
A blush works its way across his cheeks.
He nearly killed a guy for me, but teasing him makes him blush? Why is that so adorable that I want to cuddle him?
“He told people what?!” Gage blasts from behind me, jarring Foster and me out of the bubble we are in to take in the seething, hulking man behind us.
“Calm down, Gage!” Xander snaps, his shadows immediately grabbing Gage.
V is in front of me in a moment as Kian’s eyes begin to glow again.
He is pushing calm, I realize after a moment. That’s what he’s using his incubus gifts for.
Darkness swirls in Gage’s eyes, and Xander ventures a step forward, his gaze hard, his lips compressed into a thin line. Shadows still secure Gage in place.
Something about Gage has even V on edge, his shoulders tense and tight, his wings flexed for balance as he watches the other man warily.
Okay, I am seriously going to start beating them if they don’t tell me why they are all so afraid of my gentle giant.
Gage huffs out a deep breath. “You can let me go. I’m under control,” he growls at Xander. “Not that it’d do much good if I wasn’t.”
The words are a mutter, but I am sure that’s what he said.
Instead of making me scared, it only piques my curiosity.
What? I never claimed I wasn’t a twisted bitch.
“What do we do about that?” Foster asks, breaking the tension as he jerks a thumb over his shoulder to where Hudson is still held.
V shrugs, though he doesn’t move from his position as my shield. “I was going to beat him and then send him on his way. Now though, we have a bit of a mess on our hands.”
He seems almost pleased by that.
“He’ll tell,” I admit, glaring at the slimy man where he is held hostage, weighing what to do. “But if we don’t release him, anyone who looks into it will instantly come for us.”
Kian puffs out a breath and rubs a hand through his hair, causing the golden strands to stick up in every direction. “I think I can help. But I need you to heal him first, Gage.”
“Don’t wanna.” Gage’s tone is sulky, but Xander smacks the back of his head, and he begrudgingly moves forward. “I hope this hurts, you bastard.”
He lifts his hand as though he is going to push healing into him but clocks him first. Only Xander’s shadow strands hold the guy in place as the right hook slams into his face.
“Not helpful, Gage.” Xander squeezes the bridge of his nose, though I notice he doesn’t sound too upset.
My necromancer may look like a straightlaced businessman, but I know he’s anything but. There’s a darkness inside of him that calls to me, makes him perfect for our twisted group.
“Helped me some,” Gage retorts, before his energy flares.
Slowly, the marks on Hudson fade.
“Just…hold him still.” Kian moves closer to Hudson, wincing slightly as he reaches out to touch him.
My heart breaks for him. Touch is basic to all of us, and Kian can barely handle it now, it seems. Not that I blame him.
“This will wipe me out,” he warns us over his shoulder. “I’ve been practicing, but it isn’t easy.”
His eyes meet mine, and the warmth and trust in them make me want to glow as bright as Foster did.
I feel his power hit me as his eyes glow, tickling and sweeping over me as if searching for something, connecting to something. The metaphorical shadows in me dance and twine, making Kian and I gasp in unison.
“Her eyes!” Gage exclaims, shock lacing his tone.
My eyes?
Xander quickly hushes him, stopping him from interrupting…well, whatever the hell this is.
Kian slowly nods, his gaze locked on mine, ignoring the others around us. “You want them all safe, right?” His voice echoes again, tingling over me. “You want them protected?”
“Yes,” I confirm with a nod.
V moans as my voice echoes too, though he makes no move to interfere.
“Keep wanting that. Want them safe. Want him not to be a problem. Want this to be fixed.” Every word feeds into Kian’s power, looping into me as well, and I gasp at the heady heat of it.
Only Foster’s arms around me hold me up as I nearly orgasm right there. I don’t have a moment to process that as Kian focuses on Hudson.
“You want to forget this,” he croons at the other man, stroking a finger down his cheek. “You wore old clothes to school today. Wanted to blow off class. Got lost in the woods. Fell. You were alone all morning, remember?”
Hudson’s eyes are glassy as he nods along. The shadows that cover his mouth dissipate, and Hudson smiles giddily.
“Yes, yes, I was alone. I wanted to relax. School is boring.” His words are nearly a moan as he tries to lean into Kian’s hand, only Xander’s control keeping him in place.
“You want to apologize to Serafina, don’t you? It’s the right thing to do. You lied to everyone for so long. It makes you feel dirty. You want to confess.”
Tears well in Hudson’s eyes and drip down his cheeks, and a sob rips from his chest. “I was so cruel. Such a liar.”
“It will feel so good to confess. So very good. To forget all of this. To lift that burden. You feel so burdened, don’t you, Hudson? Burdened by this pain. These lies. This guilt.” The echoes grow stronger, and a moan wants to work from my throat.
I squirm against Foster, my head falling back helplessly onto his shoulder as his lips trace my brow and the side of my cheek.
I don’t know how to describe what’s happening, at least not with words. It’s like… It’s like Kian’s powers are filtering through me before jumping back to him, stronger than before. I can feel the sunshiny glow of his gifts in every part of me, from my fingers to the tips of my toes. It’s almost as if my body is a vessel to enhance his powers.
Is that possible?
I think of all that has happened, and I feel a warm, fuzzy explosion in the center of my chest.
Maybe it’s true. Maybe I can enhance my mates’ powers.
Together, we’ll be unstoppable.
Hudson groans, his head lolling forward. “Yes. It’s so much. I hurt so much. I want it to stop hurting.”
He sobs out the words, going limp in Xander’s bonds.
“Confess, forget, and be forgiven,” Kian encourages, cupping the boy’s face.
Hudson nods rapidly, trying to rub his face against Kian’s hand, though the angle he is held at prevents it.
“Forget all of this.”
Hudson’s eyes close, and a blissful smile crosses his face just before he slumps over.
Kian starts to crumple as well, but I’m there to catch him, holding him against me as I lower us to the ground.
“How?” Gage’s word is a whisper.
I can feel his gaze prickling my back, but I ignore him to focus on my incubus mate.
In all honesty, I don’t have an answer to Gage’s question. Somehow, I was able to…amplify Kian’s power. Or perhaps I utilized his gift of compulsion itself, and the two of us worked in tandem.
Is this because I’m his mate…or because I’m a skinwalker?
“I didn’t want to just be a monster.” Kian’s eyes are mostly closed, his words so quiet I’m unsure if any of the others can hear them.
“You’re not a monster, Kian,” I assure him, letting him snuggle against me. “You saved us today, and a monster wouldn’t do that.”
I look up, taking in the others around me.
Gage has clearly taken off his shirt and given it to Foster, who now has it wrapped around his waist like a towel to offer him a little coverage.
V is examining Kian as though he’s never seen him before, the lines around his eyes tight.
Xander has one hand on Gage’s shoulder and one on Foster’s, holding them both back as he watches us.
There’s time for details later, when he has rested and been cared for, when we get all of this mess cleaned up. For now, though, I’ll hold him and protect him, as he’s protected me—protected all of us—today.
“You’re mine and perfect exactly how you are,” I assure him, my eyes holding his as they flutter shut, and his breathing eases out into sleep. “Just perfect.”
I’ll destroy anyone who says otherwise.