Chapter 41
Chapter forty-one
Air came in shaky fits as her senses crashed back into her body, the damp chill of the lab’s stone floor seeping into her knees. The stale air felt thick and heavy compared to the cold emptiness of the void, and the harsh flicker of torchlight stung her eyes.
“Rynna?!” Kaelith’s voice wound through the haze, his hands shaking her shoulders. “Rynna!”
She closed her eyes, trying to shake off the remnants of the Veilroot clouding her mind. “Yes,” she rasped. “I’m back.”
“Where’d you go? What happened?”
“No time.” Without thinking, she grabbed him by the back of his neck, pulling his head to hers. “Listen.”
In an instant, she pushed the entire conversation she’d just had with Fenn into Kaelith’s mind.
His eyes widened, jaw slack as the weight of it crashed over him. He just sat there, frozen by the sudden flood of knowledge.
“Will…” She hesitated. “Will you do this? For me?”
“Rynna…” He looked at the ceiling as if searching for some hidden truth.
“I know this was supposed to be your second chance.” She wrung her fingers. “A fresh start… And this—” Her voice dropped, eyes darting away “—this will be far worse than anything you’ve ever done to yourself before.”
“Rynna.” His fingers tangled in hers. “How could you think I wouldn’t do this for you? If I could slit my wrists and drain my own life’s blood to bring him back, I would.”
“This could be worse.” Her fists clenched. How can you ask this of him?
“I’ve already lived through the worst.” His lips curled. “I can handle a little bloodlust from another world’s monster.”
She looked up, eyes searching his face for any flash of hesitation, any sign that he might regret this choice down the road. Instead, her breath caught, stolen by the unwavering resolve she found, the complete and utter trust in his eyes.
“I... I don’t deserve you, Kaelith.”
Her lips brushed his, and his face went slack as if she'd slapped him. Shock flickered across his features before he cleared his throat awkwardly, a flush creeping up his neck to his cheeks.
“Of all the ridiculous things to say.” His weight moved from side to side. Then, with a glance at Fenn’s still-slumped form, he added, “We’d better get on with it. Our wolf doesn’t have much time left.”
“Right.” Rynna tucked a strand of Kaelith’s hair behind his ear, offering him one final, silent thank you before pulling Fenn into her lap. His back rested against her as she raised her arm to her mouth, ready to bite.
Shit, we’re really doing this. She’d never shared her blood with anyone before. The idea of passing this hunger, this bloodlust—this darkness—onto someone else was nearly too much to bear. She had safeguarded the infection within herself for so long. But for Fenn, I’d do nearly anything.
Her fangs sliced cleanly into her wrist with a sting immediately followed by a slow trickle of blood.
The liquid glimmered faintly under the dim light of the lab, dark and viscous.
The taste of iron and something deeper, darker, filled the air as she pressed the wound to Fenn’s lips. Here goes nothing.
At first, nothing happened. Her chest constricted as she looked up at Kaelith. “Am I too late?”
Then, she felt it—Fenn’s tongue against her skin, weak but deliberate, licking at the bite.
“My stars,” she gasped at the touch, her pulse quickening in response.
Fenn’s mouth tightened around her wrist, and he sucked harder, drawing more of her dark blood. And with each pull, a jolt of ecstasy coursed through her, sharp and electric, rippling from the bite down to the pit of her stomach.
“Is this what it’s like when I…” she moaned, her eyes fluttering up to Kaelith.
She remembered the way he bared his throat for her in the past, surrendering beneath her as she rode his hips, every arch of her body met with a hungry thrust.
Kaelith’s eyes sparkled with faint amusement, but then his expression changed as he tilted his head, looking closer at Fenn. “His neck is healing, but his eyes…they’re turning black.”
Fenn’s grip flexed as his lips latched onto her skin with growing urgency. She felt the faint click of metal canines loosening, dropping away a breath before the sharper, living points beneath them pushed free, elongating into real fangs that pricked her skin
“Now, Kae! Bite him now!” she choked, struggling to form the words as her body responded involuntarily, pressing into Fenn, squeezing him closer.
Kaelith moved swiftly, reaching for one of Fenn’s arms, his serpentine fangs extending.
“No!” she panted, battling to keep her trembling hands from wandering down beneath Fenn’s pants where she could already feel the hardness her blood had stirred in him. “It’s got to be his neck, the main artery, or you won’t get enough, fast enough.”
Kaelith bared his fangs and dipped his head, nuzzling into the crook of Fenn’s shoulder.
His tongue licked the skin for only a heartbeat before he bit deep.
Fenn’s body jumped in response, muscles tensing as a shudder ran through him, his grip on Rynna’s wrist loosening, and the darkness receded slowly from his eyes.
“Rynna?” His voice was shaky.
“Shhh, I’m here.” She pressed her lips against the other side of his neck, where she inhaled deeply, taking in his rich pine-filled scent.
“What is this?” He tried to turn toward her, but Kaelith held him firmly in place. “Is it working?” His hands reached for the wounds that had only recently threatened his life.
“I think so.” Rynna placed her palm over his heart, feeling its solid rhythm as she pulled him tighter against her, unwilling to lose even an inch of contact.
“Good,” he started, then paused, leaning further into Kaelith’s hold on his neck before his eyes locked back onto her wrist. “Rynna…” His voice rumbled low, almost a growl.
As Fenn shifted in her lap, reaching for her wrist again, Kaelith lifted his head from the curve of the other man’s neck, fangs sliding free with a wet pull.
Fenn’s body shuddered, and a low, winded “Gods…” escaped his lips.
They sat like that for what felt like an eternity, the air thick with the tangy scent of blood.
Rynna couldn’t wrench her eyes away from them—Fenn and Kaelith.
They held her utterly captivated, the glint of pointed fangs teasing their lips as blood slowly dribbled down their chins.
Their bodies moved in soundless unison, dark streaks swirling in their eyes just beneath the surface.
What have I done? She should have felt horrified for changing them like this. But she didn’t.
They were beautiful. They were hers.
Rynna moved between them, crawling up until she stood on her knees. She reached for Fenn first, pulling his face close, her tongue flicking out to lick the blood from his cheek as her eyes searched his. “Are you okay?”
“I’m alive.” Fenn’s hand slid down, gripping the waistband of her pants and yanking her hips roughly against his, where she felt just how alive he really was. “And I’m still me.” His tongue danced over one of his extended canines. “For the most part.”
Rynna smiled, but then her gaze shifted to Kaelith. He hovered just behind, looking uncertain, as if caught between staying and leaving. She reached out, grabbing the loose folds of his tunic, and tugged him closer. “Thank you.”
Without giving him a chance to respond, she pulled his body flush against hers for a kiss. His eyes widened as her tongue slipped into his mouth, tasting the remnants of Fenn’s blood and testing the new shape of his fangs.
Pulling away, her heart stuttered as she looked between both men. “I... I…”
“You seem a bit piqued.” Kaelith leaned in, no longer unsure. His mouth was hot against her ear, tongue flicking, teasing. “Maybe you shared too much with the wolf? Maybe he should give some back?”
Her body jerked at the touch as something smooth and cool slid from Kaelith’s sleeve. A serpent, its scales gliding across her skin, coiled around her waist as it slithered up her shirt.
She arched into him, and the serpent tightened its hold, biting down lightly on her breast. “Kae…” Her body shuddered against him.
It wasn’t hard enough to draw blood, but just enough to send a piercing flash of pleasure coursing through her.
Looking up, she saw Fenn watching her with a focused intensity.
She tensed for a moment, but there was no anger or jealousy as his eyes tracked Kaelith’s movements under her shirt.
Instead, he nodded to the other man and gently cupped her chin, tilting her face toward him with a tenderness that nearly felled her.
“You’ve given me so much.” His voice was low, almost reverent, as he bit into his bottom lip, just enough to break the skin, then bent forward to meet her.
Holy fuck. She squirmed as his blood touched her tongue. It was like fire igniting every nerve, like nothing she’d ever felt before.
With every drop, she felt the very essence of his life, everything that made him who he was, and everything that made her love him.
He coursed through her, fingers tangling in her hair as his tongue moved through her mouth.
Hungry, it grazed against her fangs, cutting and spilling more of that delicious, intoxicating substance down her throat.
Yet, each wound healed almost instantly, only to be cut again, the cycle repeating, filling her with wave after wave of ecstasy.
She opened her mouth in a wide moan, feeling the pressure building, pressed between both men.
Fenn’s kiss deepened, his lips devouring hers as Kaelith moved behind her, his mouth finding the curve of her neck, teeth grazing her skin while his serpents pulsated around her body, slipping under the waist of her pants, diving lower.
And just when she thought she couldn’t take any more, Kaelith slid his already bleeding thumb between her lips.
Holy, shit fucking, mother sucking… She held onto them, nearly beyond coherent thought.
Her head swam, the taste of his blood mingling with Fenn’s, the intensity building, the sensation unbearable.
Fenn’s kiss grew more insistent, working in perfect rhythm with Kaelith, the two of them moving as one, their bodies closing against hers until she couldn’t tell where her skin ended and theirs began.
The heat, the taste, and the sheer power of them both consumed her. Every touch, every drop of their blood was a throb of raw pleasure that left her panting, her senses spiraling out of control.
The world around them blurred and faded until all that existed was the three of them.
One heartbeat, one breath, one overwhelming feeling of bliss until she shattered, and a climax unlike anything she’d ever felt tore through her.
Her vision exploded with stars as the world unraveled as she clung to them, riding the waves of ecstasy that crashed over her, again and again, until she thought she might fall apart.
And still, it didn't stop.
Pleasure echoed through her, softer now—aftershocks trembling in her muscles, sparks flaring in her belly. Her body arched once more, a final beat chasing the last of it from her bones.
Then the silence came, thick with panting.
And as the tremors faded, so did the urgency.
Sweat-slicked skin pressed to hers, chests rising and falling in an unsteady rhythm.
Fenn’s fingers threaded lazily through hers, his knuckles grazing her thigh.
Kaelith’s nose ghosted against her shoulder, his lips skimming her damp skin in something that might have been a kiss, or a thank you.
For a moment, they just existed—tangled, changed, suspended in the warmth they’d made together.
And then, as the stars crowding her vision began to fade, she realized they were no longer in the lab where Fenn had died.
Awestruck, she looked around, finding herself surrounded by darkness, but it wasn’t the void of Veilroot.
This darkness was alive, warm and infinite, lit by the brilliant shimmer of stars, each one glowing like a beacon.
A hum threaded through the air, vibrating in her bones—a harmony that didn’t belong to any one voice, but all of them at once. And somewhere between the beat of three hearts now quietly aligned, she felt it—the bond. Not just bodies. Not just power. Something deeper twining them together.
A soft cough pulled her from the spell.
She turned, and her body froze. Somehow, she saw both Fenn and Kaelith at once, from separate sets of eyes
Standing before her. Naked. So different in form and presence, it almost felt surreal.
One with all harsh edges and silver fire, the other dark silk and danger, both mind-numbingly beautiful in their own way.
Her lips curved into a slow, irrepressible smile as her heart began to pound all over again.