Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Xavier
We teleport back to the mothership. I’m hoping once Lila and I seal our bond that my teleporting reach may extend, but for now, I still can’t personally teleport such a large distance.
I did a location spell and discovered my wayward harem members had returned to their quarters.
I’m not sure how they thought they could hide the shitshow they created.
I’m wondering if I damaged Elyan’s brain when I removed all her power—though she wasn’t all that intelligent to start with.
I know she had to have been the ringleader.
Neither Lexus nor Nambra have the guts to do something like this on their own.
From the teleporting room, I teleport us to my rooms, landing us on my side of the quarters in front of the adjoining doorway. I allow my mist to peel back from Caspian. “Do you want to change into half form for this?” I ask him, sensing how close to the surface his beast is.
“It’s all I can do to hold my beast back, half form might make it easier to manage him,” he agrees and quickly strips, allowing the shift to take over his body.
I don’t take my eyes away as he gets naked in front of me.
Shifters usually don’t care, and I think he and I have moved onto a relationship where modesty is probably a thing of the past. If we share a mate, the likelihood that we will end up fucking that mate at the same time is high…
very high in Lila’s case. I won’t deny it though, Caspian is a very sexy man, even sexier in half form.
His tentacles intrigue me. I’ve never had a lover with tentacles before, and I would very much like to take them for a test ride.
He grunts, and although he can’t see me admiring him, I’m almost certain he can feel the lust in the air because I don’t do anything to curb my feelings.
Lila has changed me. Much like my harem, I had grown good at hiding everything I was feeling, but now I don’t care who knows.
I think about this realization for a moment.
Oh, that’s why Nambra and Lexus may have more power than I thought they had.
I haven’t been keeping a lid on anything, and they have been feeding from it without permission.
It’s yet another blow to my trust, not to mention taboo in the warlock world.
You never feed on someone without their permission, especially if they are your harem master or mistress.
I reel in every single feeling I have and lock them down tight. I see Caspian sigh with relief and chuckle. “We can revisit all of that at a later time, okay?” he suggests. I can’t help but notice his voice became a little deeper as he spoke.
“Yes, sorry. Lila has made me weak,” I grumble out in apology, and he shakes his head.
“No, my friend, Lila doesn’t make you weak at all. In fact, she strengthens all of us. You’ll see once your intimate bond has been fixed.”
I allow my mist to fade and push the button for the door to slide back, giving me entrance to the harem side of my quarters.
It’s mostly quiet, but I can hear the murmur of something farther in the room.
I feel Caspian follow behind me, but he lets me take the lead, although I know he’s dying to inflict a little damage to the idiots who clearly have a death wish—a wish I am happy to make come true.
In the living area, I find Ara and Jastia, my remaining two loyal warlocks, watching a space opera on the couch.
Both of their eyes are glued to the screen as something dramatic happens to the characters.
Farther down the couch, Zanorn, my metamorph, is in his preferred form with a tablet in hand.
His long white hair is pulled back into a messy bun at the back of his head.
He has on a black tank top and black wide-legged pants that I favor for comfort when in my quarters.
His dark skin glints where the light hits it, and there’s a small smirk on his lush lips.
I would guess he’s reading something erotic.
He is an avid reader, and he thoroughly enjoys smut.
He looks up when I get closer, wearing a soft smile.
“Hello, Xavier,” he calls out, the relief in his voice strong.
I had been avoiding the rooms altogether out of respect for Lila.
I will have to dismiss them all from my harem eventually, but they are doing no harm staying here for now.
Zanorn picks up on my mood and frowns. “What is wrong?” He puts down the tablet and stands up, gaining the attention of the two warlock girls.
“Where are Lexus, Nambra, and Elyan?” I question, not explaining why I’m asking, but my firm tone lets them know I’m impatient and not fucking around. He frowns and waves a hand in the direction of their rooms.
“Where you left them, I’m assuming.” He exchanges a glance with the girls who look equally confused.
“They haven’t left their rooms since you banished them there,” Ara says, her voice quiet.
“Hmm, well, I actually have proof that they have left their rooms. Go get them please. Sinath and Topirey might as well witness this too.” My voice is flat. I’m not sure how this harem got so out of control. Obviously my inattention has caused them to forget their places.
Caspian undulates out of the shadows and stops just behind me, and all three of them startle. None of them had been paying attention to anything else but me. Although these three are not my targets, I’m pleased I caught them off guard, and I’m hoping the others will be downright terrified.
Jastia turns and hurries to do as I bid, while Ara and Zanorn sit down again. “What did they do this time?” he asks flatly.
“I’ll wait until Jastia returns, if you don’t mind. I don’t want to waste my energy by repeating myself.”
It’s not long before she does. Sinath and Topirey look confused, or as confused as the two of them can look with their unusual features, but Elyan, Lexus, and Nambra look terrified, and so they fucking should.
I get a burst of energy from the terror in the air, and I suck it down quickly.
The three girls pale even further as a wicked grin slides across my lips.
They all go to take seats, but I wave my hand, forcing the three culprits to remain standing so they know I am here solely for them.
“Do you three know why you are here?” They stupidly shake their heads, trying to look as innocent as possible.
With their hands clasped in front of them and avoiding eye contact, I can sense they are going for the submissive route.
Caspian huffs in disgust behind me. Their eyes quickly flick to him, and I’m not sure what they see, but all three of them blanch. Elyan steps behind the other two before they focus their attention back on me.
“Seriously? That’s how you’re going to play this? Stupidity?” I can’t say I’m surprised, but to have the fucking audacity to lie straight to my face shows they have a serious lack of self-preservation. Good.
“What did you do? Why couldn’t you have just obeyed him?
Why do you have to go around stirring up trouble?
” Ara spits out. The usually mild-mannered warlock practically vibrates with anger.
“Wasn’t Mithus’s betrayal enough? Elyan, you’ve already been stripped of your powers.
You couldn’t even keep your head down and behave in the hope he’d return them? ”
Ara’s words prove to be too much for Elyan to hold her tongue, and she lashes out.
“He shouldn’t have taken them in the first place.
” Now I just have to wait for them to confess, they won’t be able to help themselves.
“I was just protecting our master from the vile Earth bitch. Why does he need her when he has us? She can’t sustain him like we can.
” Elyan’s hands clench at her sides, and her lip is turned up in a snarl.
“Exactly. She’s even that awful Vilaxian’s blood rose. We knew if they sealed their bond there would be no way Xavier would stay interested.”
And there it is.
Nambra just admitted to the crime.
I throw my head back and start to laugh, and Caspian chimes in behind me.
Lexus scowls at him. “I don’t know why you’re laughing, your mate’s a slutty whore.
” She brazenly takes a step forward like she’s going after Caspian.
Yes, she clearly lacks self-preservation.
He doesn’t let her get far, as one of his tentacles shoots out and snatches her up, hoisting her into the air.
She screams and starts to cast a spell, but I render it null.
She struggles and gasps as his tentacle tightens around her, cutting off her air supply and her ability to talk.
“Wow, Lexus. That’s a bit rich coming from you.” Zanorn has stayed quiet up until now, knowing to stay well out of the firing line, but I guess her utterly ridiculous comment was enough to set off the most placid person in the room.
“My mate is magnificent. You would never be in her orbit, let alone in the same solar system as her. Think about how powerful she will be once she bonds with all of her mates. I wouldn’t want to be the person who pisses her off,” Caspian cautions with a smirk.
I can hear how much he admires and respects Lila in his voice.
The threat, however, rings loud and clear, but the two other girls scoff, foolish not to heed his warning, and roll their eyes, even as Lexus starts to turn pale from lack of oxygen.
“Please, a kraken shifter is no match for a warlock, and she won’t survive bonding to the Vilaxian. He will drain her until she’s a husk, just like Mithus was, and she won’t survive it.” Elyan is so flippantly confident she is right.