Chapter 10
I think it was the growling of my belly that woke me.
Something smelled delicious and the gnawing, empty pit of my stomach demanded I fill it—now.
It took some effort to wiggle out from under the Dante and Hendrik blanket. I vaguely remembered Orion doling out death threats, but Kaito must have talked him down, because he’d allowed the Dark Mage and Hunter to sleep with me wedged between them.
Heat uncurled between my thighs thinking of how much I enjoyed that.
My belly rumbled, demanding food, first.
Right, focus.
My mates slept hard, although Orion and Kaito were notably missing. They had to be exhausted. I sensed only Logan was otherwise awake, cooking a midnight snack while Orion and Kaito patrolled outside.
If I’d been worried about eating stag meat, my stomach no longer had any concerns.
Before I joined him at the cave’s entrance, I pulled on the clothes Dante had left out for me. My wings ached and I stretched them, groaning at the pull of tired, strained muscles. Whatever boon I’d felt from Cole had already faded. I’d have to have them bound again soon, but not yet.
Following the slight curve in the shallow cavern, I spied the source of the scent right away. Logan sat in front of a small fire, roasting meat over a spit.
Uni was only a few feet from me. I went to kneel by him, but froze at the sight of the bloodied thing my pet happily chewed on.
“Logan, aren’t bunnies usually vegetarian?” I asked as my Uni-Hare lifted his face to me, baring his bloody fangs in what looked like a proud smile.
Logan jolted at my voice, then grinned. “Glad to see you’re alive.” He winked. “Somebody had a good time last night.”
Uni hissed.
Logan chuckled. “Right, I was getting to that.” He turned the chunk of meat over the fire. “Uni was the one who brought the stag down. Little bastard took my kill.”
My jaw went slack. “Uni?” I asked, my voice lilting up in pitch. My cute little unicorn-bunny creature was a cold-blooded predator?
Logan pointed to the prize and my jaw fell open at the sight of the absolutely massive head with horns stacked against the cavern wall. I hadn’t noticed it, assuming the jutting lines had just been part of the cavern.
Observational skills were not my strong suit.
It was vaguely deer-like, but along with antlers, it had a horn, similar to Uni’s. “Uni killed that? It’s huge.”
“Yep.” Logan gave the small creature near my feet a proud smile. “I’ve got most of the meat already cut up. Dante has a method of fast-drying with some magic from Hendrik so we can turn the rest of it into jerky. Nothing we can do about the head, though.”
Shuddering, I jerked my eyes away from the thing’s dead eyes. “Thank goodness.”
“Awww… don’t you think Uni deserves a trophy?”
Pointing at him, I said, “Stop it. Now. And FYI, if any of you ever hang something like that in one of your rooms, don’t expect me to have sex with you in said room. Ever.”
Logan’s eyes danced in the flickering firelight, a smile on his handsome face. But all he said was, “Come on. Enough foreplay. You need to eat.”
My stomach seconded that with a demanding growl.
Accepting what looked like a piece of charred wood laden with several chunks of Uni’s kill, plus a couple of roasted root vegetables, I looked around. “Where are the others?”
“Kaito and Orion are rechecking the protections around the camp.” He hitched up a shoulder. “I’m not much help in that area so I’m on kitchen duty.”
I brought a piece to my lips and groaned at the juicy, delicious flavor exploding in my mouth at the first bite. After swallowing it, I pinned my wolf with an appreciative look. “You rock at kitchen duty, so I’m kind of glad you aren’t outside right now.”
He winked at me.
“Have Kaito or Orion eaten?”
“No. I was about to take them something when I heard you get up.” He took a few minutes to bank the fire, bringing the flames down to hot, glowing embers.
He wrapped his hand in a heavy piece of cloth and moved the spit with the sizzling bulk of meat to another large, flat rock.
He flipped out a knife and I watched him slice up pieces for the others, while I ate a little more.
“Come out with me?” he asked as he rose.
I nodded, taking my food, only half-eaten, as we walked to the mouth of the cavern.
The trees overhead weren’t as thick in this area and silvered light shone down, illuminating glittery dirt and emerald leaves everywhere I looked.
Although, whether it was actually the moon or some magical construct created to mimic moonlight, I didn’t know.
Magic was thick in the air, so heavy, it made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
Logan noticed my slight shiver. “Are you cold?”
“No. It’s just, there’s so much magic here.”
“This entire place is teeming with life,” he agreed. “Nearly everything I’m scenting has a magical tinge to it. This forest is intense. If I had the time, I could probably spend weeks exploring.”
“I’ll pass. The man-eating plants were enough to turn me off.” I shot Logan a dark look. “Between that and the demon-mines out there with Lucifer’s essence, I’d think we’re better off exploring elsewhere.”
Logan just grinned.
“The wildness calls to his wolf, Lily,” Kaito said, emerging from the brush. He accepted the bark-platter of meat with a polite nod to Logan. “And this general vicinity is free from demon-mines. I made sure of it.”
Orion joined us shortly after, gave me a once over, then snatched up the food that Logan offered him. He marched over to me and planted himself at my side. “How are you feeling, little star?”
I laughed. “I’m fine.” I rested a hand on his massive arm. “I hope you weren’t too hard on Hendrik and Dante.”
He scoffed. “You’re lucky I didn’t kill them after the stunt they pulled, or Kaito and Logan for splitting up while we were on the hunt.”
I crossed my arms, my wings growing heavy against my back. “Splitting up? I don’t think any of us need to be out there wandering alone.”
“I wasn’t alone.” Logan smiled, clearly not worried. “I had Uni with me. Plus…”
He pulled a glimmering dagger from a sheath at his belt. It had a seven-inch blade, glinted with a dark metal I couldn’t identify, and reeked with power that smelled of blood and roses.
“Courtesy of Hendrik—possibly with some help from Dante, on the sly,” Logan said when I met his gaze again. “I’m covered.”
The magic of the blade called to me and I moved closer.
“Now that we’re restocked, there’s something we need to talk about,” Logan said, sliding the blade back into the sheath. “I found something out there.”
“Oh?”
He gave me a short, single nod, his face now set in grim lines. “It could be nothing, but I don’t want to risk being wrong. There’s a path marked with footprints burned into the dirt, crystallizing the soil. It goes deeper into the forest. Freaked Uni out a bit, too.”
“What do you think it is?” I asked.
“Dunno.” He hitched up a shoulder in what looked to be a casual shrug, but his eyes were flat and hard. “As I said, it could be nothing. But, it could also be something Lucifer left behind when he first found this realm.”
A harsh noise behind me cut me off before I could reply and I turned around.
Kaito doubled over, his head in his hands as his whole body shuddered. Blue flames licked around his sides as if they meant to swallow him whole.
“Kaito? What’s wrong?”
He jerked at the sound of my voice, half-lifting his head.
The silver of his tattoo gleamed and writhed, almost as if it was coming to life on his skin. As I watched, Kaito’s horns started to grow.
I took a step forward.
Logan grabbed my arm. “Stay back.”
Like hell.
I shoved between Logan and Orion, now just a few feet from Kaito.
“What the hell is going on?” I demanded.
Orion gave me a pained look. “Lily, go back in the cave… please.”
“The fuck I will. Talk.”
Fire erupted around Kaito and his whole body spasmed. His broken cry was like a spike through my chest. Moving closer to Orion, I said again, “Talk.”
“It’s the evil he’s been dosing himself with.” Orion closed his eyes, his strong, proud shoulders slumping. When he looked at me, the fear and worry in his eyes cut right through me. “We’ve been mixing it with Holy Water to amplify the effects and he’s done fine… up until now.”
He looked down at the flask and I followed his gaze, saw the ground scorched where the liquid had splashed.
Fuck.
Spinning to Kaito, I grabbed onto him, ignoring the eerie flicker of flames.
“Lily!” Orion went to grab me.
“Don’t!” I snapped, focusing on Kaito. “The fire isn’t hurting me.”
And it wasn’t. The fire felt like Kaito. But it was Kaito in pain and I didn’t like the feel of it.
I could handle it, though.
“Kaito… listen to me,” I said, sending the words to him through our bond as well.
Something dark and twisted interfered.
It hissed at me, a wordless threat, pushing between Kaito and myself. I tried to push past it and again, that dark, twisted thing resisted.
“What are you?” I whispered.
But even as I asked the question, the answer came to me.
Kaito jerked his head up, eyes wild as they locked on my face. His tattoo glowed so bright now, it almost hurt my eyes to look at him.
“It’s the Kami,” I said out loud, knowing the others were worried, scared, just like Kaito and me.
The Kami was Kaito’s demonic aspect, the part he’d battled against and overcome. Only now, the demon was fighting back. Something about being here must have called to it. Maybe the very wildness that Kaito had suggested appealed to Logan.
“You can’t have him,” I told the darkness, pushing the words out, to both the Kami and to Kaito.
Another hissing denial and the thing swelled up, trying to shove me out, trying to break the connection I had to Kaito.
But nothing outside of us could do that.
Letting my instincts guide me, I cupped Kaito’s face. He tensed, his entire body going still at my touch.
Behind me, Orion swore and I heard his angry mutter, “So fucking stubborn.”
Yes. I was. I was stubborn, too stubborn to let something steal away my mates—any of them.
“Kaito.” I pressed my mouth to his. The flames surged higher. But around us, something silvery and bright pulsed, the glow of it now overpowering the blue flames. “You’re mine. I won’t let you go. Don’t you let go either.”
Warmth spilled out of me.
Kaito jerked, but he didn’t break away. His hands closed around my wrists, the grip nearly punishing in its strength.
“Kaito…” I breathed his name out and folded both of us in that surreal, glowing warmth. It was me, I realized now. That silvery warmth that filled the night air was coming from me and I could use it to drive out whatever darkness tried to encroach upon us.
I slammed into that darkness, my mouth still pressed to Kaito’s.
The darkness lingering between us, trying to smother the bond we shared, shrieked, its wordless denial full of rage and hate. “You can’t have him,” I said again, using my mind to send that message down through our bond.
With one last, final shriek of defiance, the darkness vanished and Kaito fell into me.
“It’s okay,” I murmured, closing my arms around him.
The silvery glow lingered.
My strength drained out of me and the two of us all but folded into the other as we collapsed, sinking to the ground in a tangle of entwined limbs.
“Kaito,” I whispered. “Look at me.”
Even though I could feel him again, even though I knew that darkness was gone, I needed to look into his eyes.
Kaito lifted his head, his eyes ablaze. My breath hitched as he slanted his mouth over mine, stealing a greedy, dazed kiss. When we broke apart, he closed his eyes, licking his lips. “Ambrosia.”
My face heated but I said nothing. I’d caught the delicious taste, too, and couldn’t really explain it.
Kaito’s eyes cleared somewhat and he eased farther back, looking around. When his eyes finally landed back on me, he asked, “What the hell was that?”
I shook my head, my thoughts spinning and twirling inside my mind. I had no answers for him, not really.
Orion sank onto his knees, his hand stroking down my hair in reverence. “Not Hell, Professor Nakamura. Heaven.”