Chapter 8 #2
I stripped, knowing that Dante and Hendrik watched me. They’d followed me here for a reason. Maybe they didn’t think I was ready for their brand of passion, but I didn’t care what they thought.
I’d show them I was ready.
Slipping into the water, I sighed as heat crawled up my calves. I indulged in the sensual heat with a groan, enjoying every inch of warmth as the water caressed my curves.
“If you keep moaning like that, I’m going to come in there after you,” Dante said with a warning sparkle in his eyes.
I had to turn to see him, my bound wings keeping my spine rigid. The leather straps kept them supported, at least, even as they grew heavy and waterlogged. I stood, allowing the water to slip down my chest. I became acutely aware of each and every droplet.
Dante’s hooded gaze took in every inch of me, but he didn’t move.
“Maybe I want you to join me,” I said, voice husky as I glanced at Hendrik. “The both of you.”
My Dark Mage’s eyes, an onyx darkness in the cavern’s shadows, burned into me. “You’re still not ready,” he decided, his statement pissing me off. “But you might be, after we’ve had a chance to talk. I came to talk to you because you held your own today.” His nostrils flared as he averted his gaze.
Hendrik was as hard as a rock on the surface, but I could feel his struggle through our mate bond.
It took every ounce of restraint not to rip his clothes off and join me in the hot spring.
I couldn’t understand why he resisted when I wanted them.
Was he afraid to hurt me? I was tired of being underestimated and treated like a fragile doll.
I’d indulge his little talk, and then I’d force the matter. I would not tolerate my mates being afraid to touch me, whatever the reason.
“After,” he said, reinforcing his decision, likely hearing me berate him in my head. He turned and strode away while Dante continued to watch me for a long, tension-filled minute. I held my breath, hoping at least my Hunter would change his mind.
And when he did the same as Hendrik, leaving me alone, I huffed out a breath of annoyance.
Fine.
I was tempted to sulk and linger in the water, but I would play Hendrik’s game, for now.
Puffs of rainbow bubbles floated along the surface.
I reached for one, finding it soapy. “Huh, cool,” I said, and used the stuff to wash myself.
I lathered it into my hair, appreciating the glimmering sheen it left behind.
I had finished up my arms and legs just as Uni bound through the cave, splashing into the water.
“Uni!” I screeched as his horn narrowly impaled me.
Death by Uni-Hare belly-flop was not how I envisioned dying tonight.
He waded around the perimeter of the pool, using his horn to zap off little pearls stuck to the edge. More of the soapy suds released from the exposed edges, then I realized they weren’t pearls Uni had jolted loose.
Tiny pixies uncurled from their shells, wailing as they stilled in the water. Little daggers fell from their hands and Uni nudged me away from them.
Poison, I heard the word in my mind.
A trap.
Uni squeaked at me again and then scampered out of the steamy bath.
“Why are pixies such dicks around here?” I asked as I waded out of the silken, delicious heat of the water.
“Huh,” was all Dante said when he returned, eyeing the dead creatures. “Maybe that’s why nothing lives in this cave. It’s a pixie trap.” He smirked at me. “I guess even for someone of your size, they could live off of your bones for at least a week, maybe two or three.”
While we hadn’t brought towels, he offered me one of Hendrik’s long robes. The gesture made me smirk and I wrapped myself up in it, bringing the collar to my nose as I breathed in Hendrik’s scent. “I’m not very tasty,” I complained.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Dante retorted, a glimmer in his eyes.
I glowered at him. “Don’t be a tease.”
He slipped his fingers through mine. “Says the naked girl. Come on,” he said, gesturing me toward the mouth of the cave as he gathered my clothes.
I noted that Hendrik had spelled them before he left, leaving them fresh, dry, and clean.
“We have a fire going and I can take the bindings off your wings for the night. It’ll be good to stretch them out and let them dry off. ”
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on between you and Hendrik?” I asked as we walked. “You’re both acting so weird.”
He surprised me when he nodded. “I’ve convinced Hendrik you’re ready.” He pinched my chin when we paused at the cave’s mouth. “It’s your job to prove me right.”
There was a large, rather smooth rock that had been placed near the fire and Dante nudged me down onto it. I let Hendrik’s robe fall from my shoulders and Dante started the process of unwrapping the leather bindings.
Kaito’s presence lingered outside the mouth of the cave, but he didn’t venture inside so I could see him.
He sensed that I had unfinished business with my more violent Virtues. His whisper of support ran through the mate bond, assuring me that he would step in if needed.
I touched on my connection with Orion and Logan next, simply out of need to feel all of my mates. Logan’s focus wavered from his task momentarily, but Orion managed to shift the air to keep them hidden from the stag they tracked.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about eating deer meat.
At least it wasn’t a bunny.
Satisfied, I slipped back into my immediate surroundings. I found Hendrik crouched by the fire as he held a knife. A faint glow pulsing from his fingers and the familiar ache of his magic hung in the air.
Just beyond him rested several sleeping bags. Springy branches peeking out from under the thin blankets, forming a nest. It looked heavenly and my fatigue hit me all at once, making me sway.
Hendrik watched me, his eyes pointedly on mine instead of indulging in the view of my naked breasts.
“If you’re going to talk, then talk,” I said on a sigh.
He tilted his head in that eerie way of his. “You first. What’s going on with Cole?”
I frowned because that question wasn’t one I’d expected. “What do you mean?”
“He wasn’t at the battle, for one,” Hendrik replied.
Dante grunted in agreement from behind me. “He also hasn’t been making my life hell. While I’m not complaining, that’s unlike him.”
“Well, how do I explain…” I paused, then groaned as Dante finished with my right wing.
Stretching it wide against the tightness, I indulged in the relief it offered.
I treated my wings like useless appendages, but really they were just parts of my body I didn’t understand yet.
It still felt good to set them free. “The other one,” I begged.
Dante’s soft laugh sent a shiver down my spine and he lingered enough to stroke his fingers along that sensitive line before working on my left wing.
When Dante started undoing the buckles, I answered Hendrik. “I decided to beat Cole at his own game. I caught him in a trap he’d laid for me. I trapped him instead.”
Hendrik’s eyes widened, a sign I’d managed to do something rare—surprise him.
Dante’s hands tightened briefly on my wing and I looked back at him. “Everything okay?”
A savage smile twisted his lips. “I’m even better now. I hope the son of a bitch rots there.”
I wasn’t going to tell them that I planned to free Cole, eventually. He was one of my Virtues, after all. But he’d had a terrible impact on my mates, on the entire Academy and he definitely needed a time out.
Before either of them could ask if I had any plans for Cole’s future, I asked, “What exactly is it we needed to talk about?”
The magic Hendrik was weaving into Dante’s blade pulsed, then flared brighter before he lifted his head, our gazes connecting.
In that moment, the scent of his magic, blood and roses, thickened.
Dante freed the last of the bindings and stroked strong hands down my back, his thumbs digging into the sensitive place where my wings extended from my skin.
The muscles there were tight and knotted and while he might not command the kind of magic Hendrik had, he had something special in his hands regardless.
I all but melted into a puddle as he worked at the knots.
Dante was so good with his hands that I didn’t pay much attention to how Hendrik had ignored my question.
“Do you know what a soul artifact is?” Hendrik asked.
Drowsy and warm from Dante’s hands on me, I cocked my head. “Yes.”
Frowning as a memory flashed through my mind, Uni racing toward me, a necklace in his mouth like the little critter was a furry jewel thief racing toward freedom, I narrowed my eyes on the Dark Mage.
“What about it?”
Instead of answering, Hendrik looked past me toward Dante.
Scowling, I turned to do the same, but my Hunter rose, avoiding my gaze.
Hendrik straightened as well, the blade in his hand extended toward Dante. “I’m done.”
Dante went to take it and Hendrik pulled it out of reach, a sly smile on his darkly handsome face. “Say thank you.”
“Fuck off,” Dante suggested. “How’s that?”
“Not good enough.”
Rage always lingered just underneath the surface with my Hunter. The Dark Mage had a special kind of skill to bring it out at any moment.
Dante lunged, one hand closing around Hendrik’s throat and he powered the Dark Mage backward, slamming him into the cavern wall.
My heart lurched into my throat and while part of me was stunned at the sudden aggression that charged the air, another part of me was eager to be a part of this—whatever it was that Hendrik and Dante had that released such violence.
Heart racing, I watched as Dante leaned in closer. “I’m not up for your games tonight, Hendrik.”
Hendrik’s eyes flashed and before he could say anything, I rose. “Dante, that’s enough. He’s just goading you.”
I was surprised when he actually did stop and it must have shown on my face because Dante’s lips twitched, while Hendrik cocked a brow.