Chapter 27 #2
Ciprian taps my cheek, and I focus on his face, catching the reflection of my glazed red eyes behind him. “Give me a turn?” he asks.
I still, reluctant to release Luca. I like being inside him while he’s inside me. Then I catch sight of his face in the mirror. His olive cheeks are paler than usual. A jolt of panic rocks me. Gods, how much blood have I taken? I . . . Fuck, I forgot to pay attention.
My fangs slip free. Blood trickles from Luca’s forearm, dropping onto my chest and Ciprian’s inner thigh. Regret makes my stomach churn. Luca is being careful with me, and this is how I repay him.
I open my mouth to apologize, and Ciprian shoves his wrist inside. “No angst,” he says. “Luca would have told you if he needed a break. We’re both right here with you, Ali. You can let go. We won’t let you hurt anyone.”
I bite down on his wrist, and whatever he was going to say next melts into a desperate moan.
Ciprian’s cock twitches against mine, Luca grazes my prostate with his piercing, and I fucking lose it.
Driving myself back against Luca, I drink Ciprian’s blood in deep, greedy swallows. Mine. Mine. They’re both mine.
My orgasm takes me by surprise, splashing against Ciprian’s stomach and mine. He gathers my cum and coats his cock with it, jerking himself a handful of times before he explodes and adds to the sticky mess.
Luca grips my chin with shaky fingers, turning my head and kissing me frantically as he loses his rhythm. When I nibble on his lip ring, he stiffens and comes with a grunt.
I blink, my endless bloodthirst all but silent.
Then I see Luca’s arm. I forgot to seal the punctures, and blood is everywhere. It’s all over us, red smears decorating mine and Ciprian’s chests. Clean up your mess. Take care of them. The instinct consumes me. I lick Ciprian’s wrist and gently run my tongue over the deep punctures on Luca’s arm.
“Did I hurt you?” I’m both terrified and desperate for his answer.
Luca kisses my shoulder. “No, I’m a little dizzy, but that was ridiculously hot.”
My shoulders dip, and I spin, manhandling him into the shower. Ciprian follows slowly, a dazed expression on his face. Beneath the spray, I clean us all carefully—more energized than I’ve been in days.
After I dry them off, I bully them back to bed. I’m locked in on my tasks, but I don’t miss the pleased grins they exchange with each other. It should annoy me. They’re too smug, but we’re in this together. I can allow them take care of me as long as I get to do the same.
Satisfied they’re not going to pass out from blood loss; I pick up breakfast from Eggs ’N Bakin’ and force them to eat in bed—with a towel stretched over their laps, of course. Celine may not be here, but this is her bed too, and I won’t allow crumbs.
Settling at my makeshift workstation, I check my messages to see if any of my contacts have reached out.
Our leads are drying up, but it’s not for lack of trying.
Celine and Riven have tracked down every gateway rumor in the continental United States.
I need to deliver more options, even if everything I find comes too late.
My phone rings while I’m checking my encrypted email.
It’s a contact from the Fringes; one I hired to keep an eye on the warped gateway that spat us out in the monster realm.
Celine can’t risk going through that one again, for obvious reasons, but it’s celestial technology that exists only miles from our home. It isn’t safe to ignore it either.
“This is Alistair,” I answer, keeping my voice low. Luca is asleep, Ciprian’s arm tossed lazily around him as he surfs streaming platforms on the wall-mounted TV.
“Yeah, bro, hey! I’ve been watching the thing for you, like you asked.”
“And? Has something changed?” I work to keep my annoyance out of my tone. Andy is competent most of the time, but he doesn’t know how to get to the point.
“That’s the thing, man. I drove by today to check it out.
It’s Tuesday, which is what we talked about, but you know that already.
Anyway, I’m driving over there—had to dodge a groundhog, fat little bastard, but cute as fuck—and I notice a glow.
Hella gold, went right through my sunglasses and nearly blinded me. I thought I was tripping balls—”
“It activated?” I sit up straighter. “Andy, did you see runes?”
There’s a beat of startled silence. “Ruins, like an ancient civilization destroyed by time? You know there’s nothing like that out there, man.”
My eyes flutter closed. Perhaps I shouldn’t have tasked him with this. “Runes, they’re like letters, but made up of different lines and shapes.”
“Oh, I can’t read anything but English. Sorry about that, dude, I thought you knew.”
“Andy.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I don’t need to know what it said. I can’t read it either. I just need to know if you saw any symbols.”
“Yeah, the golden light was coming from them. Crazy squiggles, surrounded by glitter.”
“Did you see anyone come through the light?” I ask. If the gateway is active again, we could be dealing with assassins. They could be hunting Celine right now or stalking her friends at the Fang. I need to tell her, bloody hell, why isn’t she with me? I hate this.
“No one came through. I watched for two hours, even after the lights faded.”
My heart rate slows to a reasonable thump, and I swallow heavily. “Thank you for letting me know.”
“You’re welcome. I’m happy to do it, man.”
“Talk soon.” I prepare to hang up. Andy’s gratitude makes me uncomfortable. He’s too genuine, and it’s a recipe for getting taken advantage of, especially in the Fringes.
“Wait,” he says. “Don’t you want to know what did come through the lights?”
“I thought you said no one came through!” My fingers clench around the phone. Ciprian turns the TV off and eases away from Luca slowly to keep from waking him.
“Not somebody, but something, man. Papers or a book, I think, but I didn’t get them yet. I wanted to talk to you before touching anything. Didn’t you say something was wrong with this thing?”
I look at Ciprian with wide eyes. “Grab the papers, Andy. Actually, wait—don’t. I’ll come to you. Can you wait there for a few hours? Don’t let them out of your sight.”
“Sure thing, that’s no problem, but I thought you were out of town with your girl?”
“Wait for me,” I tell him. “I’ll be there soon.”
By the time I hang up, Ciprian is already striding from the room. I hear him shouting for Sheena and Idris, then the rumble of voices as they answer. Three minutes later, I’m stepping through a fae portal into a shadowed corner of the Fringes with Ciprian.
It takes us another hour to reach the gateway. It looks the same as always, but more threatening somehow. Now that I know celestial tech can be tampered with, I’m not in a hurry to put my trust in it.
Andy was right about the papers. There’s a small stack tied to a gilded book . . . a journal maybe? I grab them and back up quickly, relieved when I’m not yanked into another realm.
I can’t read a word. Nothing is written in English, but my nerves are buzzing. This is important; every instinct I have is screaming at me to handle it with care.
We cut Andy loose, and I pay him extra before meeting Ciprian’s hard stare.
“Call Celine,” I say, shielding my face from the blinding sun. “This may not be what she’s searching for, but something tells me it’s exactly what she needs to find.”