Chapter 24 Raven
Raven
Despite my fear of the water, Kai needed me, even if he refused to admit it out loud.
I could sense his chaotic emotions through our bond. A mix of guilt, anguish, pain, and sorrow. It was clear he thought himself unworthy of me, which was frankly ridiculous. Sure, his mother was the absolute worst mother-in-law a witch could have, but I didn’t blame him for her many shortcomings.
Just like I didn’t blame Alaric for the fact his father was a complete psychopath.
The sins of our parents were not our sins. Thank the goddess. If we were to blame for any bad stuff our parents had done, I’d have a massive problem, given my father was (allegedly) the king of the demon realm.
But we weren’t talking about that.
I moved to sit down next to Kai. Pretty seaweed fronds danced in the water currents, and the mage lights that appeared when we entered the cave highlighted his handsome features as he stared into the shadows.
“I’m sorry your mother is a raging bitch,” I said through the mental link when the silence between us crossed the border into uncomfortable territory.
“Me too,” he replied. There was another pause while he considered his next words, and I fidgeted, silently wishing I’d begged for a cup of coffee before we left Maverick’s cabin. “I stupidly thought she’d be happy I had found my soul-bonded mate.”
“What happened when you arrived home?” The sting of his leaving hadn’t faded, but I forgave him. If my mother had still been alive, I would have wanted her to know too.
“She was happy at first, but once she realized my soul-bonded mate wasn’t a mermaid, she got angry. I tried to leave, but she had me thrown in the prison cave.”
“Why didn’t your dads stop her?” That was the part that bothered me the most. Daresh had helped us in the end, but Kai’s other father stood there and did nothing while the queen and sea witch hurt my mate, their son.
“My fathers love my mother more than they love me.”
I doubted that was true. At least not in Daresh’s case. The male had been distraught when he thought Kai was dead.
I snuggled into his side, wanting to comfort him. “They love you, Kai, but I think they’re perhaps too weak to stand up to your mother.”
Not all males were strong protectors like my other mates. None of them would let an overbearing female order them around. Unless it involved sexy time. I suspected Zane would love it if I ordered him around in the bedroom. He’d hinted as much earlier.
Kai’s nostrils flared, and I realized I’d probably flooded the cave with sex pheromones thanks to the stream of sexy thoughts blasting through my head.
Bad witch!
“I’m sorry for leaving you straight after we, um, sealed the bond,” he said. “That was horrible of me. I’d understand if you wanted to reject me as your mate.”
My jaw dropped in shock. “Why would I do that?”
“I’m not a good mate. Because of me, you nearly died.” Did he mean the sea witch’s curse?
“That wasn’t your fault!” Stars above, Kai was much too hard on himself.
Before he could protest, I climbed astride his lap and rested my hands on his chest. The mate mark glowed brightly, responding to my touch. I fixed my merman with a glare, needing him to know exactly how perfect he was.
“Yes, it hurt that you left, but I found your note and understood why you felt you needed to tell your horrible mother. If she hadn’t tried to murder you, then you’d have come straight back and everything would have been amazing.
But we can’t change the past. And honestly, I wouldn’t want to.
” I brushed my lips against his mouth and sighed.
“I love you, Kai. You are my perfect mate, even if your mother is a psycho bitch.”
He flushed an adorable shade of lilac. “I love you too, my sweet witch.”
My stomach chose that moment to growl like Maverick when faced with an obnoxious wolf shifter.
“You’re hungry.” Kai hung his head in shame. “I’m so selfish. I should have insisted you ate before we came here.”
“Stop it! I’ll eat when we get back.”
“In that case, let’s go. I’ll come back later to swim again. I’ll probably need more water time for the next week to make up for the lack of swimming while…” His voice trailed off, but neither of us needed to say it; I knew what he meant.
“Perhaps you can teach me to swim this week, so I don’t drown if I end up in the water while you’re not around.” I prayed that wouldn’t happen, but given my luck these days, there was a strong chance it might.
“Of course I will. It would be my pleasure.” This time he kissed me without hesitation, and from the way he groaned when I rubbed my breasts against his chest, he wanted a lot more than a kiss. But while I was excited about the idea of underwater sex, I needed food and caffeine more.
And from the impatient muttering in my head, my incubus waited poolside to take us back.
“Oh my goddess, you’re home!” Glynda rushed past Zane and flung her arms around me, not caring that my still-wet hair soaked her fluffy bunny sweater. Then she caught sight of Kai, who’d collapsed onto the sofa, still exhausted from his non-vacation in the mer kingdom.
“Are you, um, alright?” she asked him. I wondered if it was the first time the two of them had exchanged words. It seemed likely. Neither of them were exactly social butterflies.
“I’m okay,” he replied before coughing and then scurrying upstairs to avoid any more awkward questions.
“He doesn’t look okay.” Glynda grimaced.
“Would you be okay if the sea witch had tortured you and your mother let her?” Zane said pointedly.
My friend blanched. “Is that what happened to him?”
I nodded with a grimace. “Yeah. But let’s not talk about that.
We’re all back now, safe and sound. Nobody died.
” I paused, recalling the awesome moment when the sea witch turned into a messy pile of ash.
I still wasn’t one hundred percent clear on how that happened, but thank the goddess I had mad magic skills.
“You’re lucky you didn’t kill your mates,” Kenji commented. He’d been quiet since we got back from the mer kingdom. There’d been no mysterious trips away, which made me suspect our power sharing had depleted him more than he was willing to admit.
“I can’t kill my mates,” I scoffed. “It’s impossible.” Even if murdering Alaric seemed like the best idea ever sometimes.
“Difficult, but not impossible.”
Huh. Interesting.
“What about the, um, fae? Did he leave?” Glynda blinked innocently when my eyes narrowed with suspicion at her question. Why did she care where Farris the Fucking Fae had gone?
“Food, pet,” Zane hollered, placing a plate piled high with sausages and scrambled eggs on Maverick’s small table. “Eat up. You need your energy.”
“She does,” my vampire mate agreed. A flash of fangs reminded me he’d not fed from me since the night of the banquet. Was he hungry?
“Farris the Fucking Fae has gone back to the fae realm,” I told Glynda, shoving thoughts of vampire feeding aside as I sat down to stuff my face.
“Oh.” Why did she look sad about it? Then it dawned on me.
“Oh my goddess, do you want to bang the fae?” We’d not talked much about males, but I assumed she was no virgin. Most witches lost their virginity much earlier than I had. But then, most witches were not raised by an overprotective guardian like Adam.
“No, of course not!” Glynda chuckled nervously while turning beet red. “Never mind the fae, I was just, um, curious. I don’t know much about the fae, and I was hoping to broaden my knowledge, that’s all.”
“They’re deceptive, manipulative assholes. That’s all you need to know,” Zane said. “Coffee, pet?”
I beamed at him. “You read my mind.”
“I did, pet, which is why I know you want to kill Alaric. Good plan, by the way.” He summoned a sharp blade and tossed it at Maverick’s wall, where it remained embedded in the thick timber.
“We can discuss methods later. I vote you disembowel the fucker before burning him to ash, but I’m not averse to flaying and decapitation. Both are effective.”
The eggs in my mouth lost all flavor. Glynda’s eyes widened in horror, and she swallowed hard.
“Um, speaking of Alaric, he was looking for you while you were gone.”
My fork slid through my fingers and hit the table. “He was?”
“Yeah, he asked where you’d gone.”
“Did you tell him?” Not that it mattered because I doubted he cared. Maybe he wanted payment for the shit he’d stolen from his father so Adam could heal me.
“No, I told him to fuck off.”
I snickered. “I bet he didn’t like that.”
Glynda sighed. “No, he got mad at me and fried my iPad.”
“That fucker!”
“It’s fine. He must have felt guilty because a replacement arrived this morning.”
“It’s not fine, Glynda. When I see that asshole, I’ll…”
“You’ll what, witch?”
I turned to see the mage himself leaning against the door frame, with Maverick behind him, dusting snow off his broad shoulders.
“I’ll fry you for hurting my friend!” I blasted a mixture of fire and shadows at him, gratified to see his eyes widen in alarm before he deflected my attack.
“Raven!” Maverick’s panicked yell registered a second before his living room burst into a raging inferno.
“Oops?”