Chapter 39 Aurora #5
“That’s fine, Ez. Then no magic, no wards, no help. The little blackbird can figure all of this out on her own, I’m sure.”
Iain runs his finger along the blade of his axe, then winks at Louie.
Louie immediately grabs the nearest object—a tiny taxidermy mouse standing upright in a hand-stitched waistcoat and top hat, mid–Puttin’ on the Ritz—and hurls it directly at the wrakh’s face.
“Motherfucker. Fine. You’re the better lover.”
“What was that, Ez? Didn’t quite hear you.”
Ezra glares at Iain with so much hatred, it makes my stomach cramp.
His shadows, clearly insulted on his behalf, twitch violently. One of them even slaps the table with enough force to rattle the teacups, then sulks into the floor.
Ezra clears his throat then says loudly, “I said, you’re the better lover, you smug piece of shit.”
“Ah, yes. And why am I the better lover, shadow man?”
Iain puts his axe back into whatever magical pocket he pulled it from and leans over the table.
Ezra exhales through his teeth, each word peeled from his soul with a blade. “Because you taught me how to fuck.”
The eddies physically recoil at the unholy curse he just uttered. One slaps backward, bowled over by the sheer force of Ezra’s mortification.
Iain claps Ezra on the back, voice practically cooing. “That’s my boy.”
The eddies writhe in visceral horror. Eddy the fifth slaps a tendril to its nonexistent forehead, then dramatically slides off Ezra’s arm, clearly submitting itself for execution by cringe tribunal.
Louie falls off her chair from laughing so hard, and as much as I want to be a supportive girlfriend, I’m struggling to hold back my snorts of amusement.
“Wait,” I say, my voice wavering with amusement. “You taught Ezra how to fuck? Like all of it?”
“Aye. Took a lot of patience, too. He was hopeless at first. He was a taker, not a giver. But we fixed that, didn’t we, Ez?”
“I swear to the fucking cosmos …” Ezra mutters, half to himself, half to the ancient dark that clearly stopped listening a long time ago.
“Damn,” I say, tilting my head, as if I’m actually considering it. “I gotta hand it to you, Iain … you did good.”
Ezra’s shadows convulse, one of them actually slapping the air in an absolutely scandalized display of rage.
“Do not encourage him, Aurora,” Ezra whispers before turning on Iain. He drags both hands down his face, exhausted. “Can we fucking move on now that you’ve finished swinging around your metaphorical dick?”
His shadows coil aggressively, riled by his frustration. “Stars save me, you’re a three-thousand-year-old child.”
“Absolutely, Ezra,” Iain says with the biggest shit-eating grin I’ve ever seen.
Iain drops back into his chair, his gaze sliding to Louie, who is still reeling from his exchange with Ezra.
“Look at you, lass. Shook just thinkin’ about it.”
His grin spreads, slow and wolfish. “I’d ruin you so good, wee hound.”
Louie’s eyes flash, her fangs bared. “I will fucking gut you.”
Iain leans back, hands behind his head. “Aye, but you’d scream my name doing it.”
Ezra finally snaps.
“Can we stop the murder-flirting and ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING?”
He slams his fists onto the table, and one of his shadows slaps down beside them—hard.
Iain side-eyes it but wisely says nothing, moving his hands in a circular motion to produce a steaming mug of tea that reads, “LBI—Lorewood Booby Inspector.”
Classy.
“Where do we start?” Iain asks.
Ezra rests his forearms on the table, calm as ever. “Payment. How much this time?”
Iain waves his hand dismissively, taking a slow sip of his tea. “Don’t worry about it, Ez. It won’t cost you money this time.”
“Christ, Iain. You’re exhausting,” Ezra mumbles, pinching the bridge of his nose. “What will it cost me, then?”
Iain tilts his head toward me, his voice lazy. “It’ll cost her.”
“Absolutely not. Aurora will not be in debt to you,” Ezra growls.
When I place my hand gently on Ezra’s arm, he immediately relaxes.
And being the one thing that soothes a creature like him?
Yeah. That kind of power feels divine.
“It’s okay, Ezra,” I say, planting a kiss on his cheek. “Iain, what will it cost me?”
Iain chuckles, obviously enjoying the game he’s playing with us.
“Don’t you worry now, little blackbird. It’s really nothing. I just want the hound over there,” Iain smirks.
Something cracks inside me.
Emme surges forward, wrathful and ravenous, feeding on the rage.
Fucking opportunistic bitch.
Iain stumbles back when I burst into flames, his gaze snapping up when my antlers and sweet briar crown twist their way out of my head.
My rage sharpens, focused entirely on the wrakh. Ezra’s shadows churn at his feet, thickening into something old and terrible. The Cù Fèidh emerges, clawing its way free. It joins us in the cramped kitchen, and although Iain looks terrified, he also looks at me in awe.
My hand rests on the Cù Fèidh’s back, shadows and flame reaching for each other.
The hellfire twists along the darkness of my shadowed protector, creating a writhing, deadly beast ripped from any child’s nightmares.
Ezra and I glance at each other, and I flash him an excited smile.
When his gaze drops to my fangs, I make a show of running my tongue over them as a shadow curls up my throat, drawn to the promise of my bite.
Emme may be steering the magical part of me, but it’s not like before.
I’m here, too, holding my own.
Turning back to the wrakh, I nod my head, and the Cù Fèidh stalks toward him.
“You dare ask for an underborne as a reward for helping one of your own? Louie is not a thing to be given. She is a living, breathing being who can make her own fucking decisions. I’ll pay you whatever money you ask, but if you try this shit with me again, my friend here will rip you to shreds, even if we are on friendly terms,” I roar at Iain while he cowers against the wall.
Emme disappears the moment Ezra’s cool fingers touch my cheek, applying just enough pressure to turn my head.
He kisses me deeply, then whispers, “Aurora, you’re so violently tempting right now. I want to feel your fangs scrape along the length of my cock, little goddess. Please calm yourself so we can go home.”
Ezra kisses me again, his tongue curling around one fang with a barely contained growl.
His shadows tremble, desperate and starving for more. One of them wraps around my throat, a jet-black collar loosely holding me in place.
I take a deep breath, and my magical form retreats, while the Cù Fèidh returns to Ezra in a swirl of shadows and ember-laced aether.
Iain sits on the floor, arms dangling over his bent knees, chuckling.
Louie is still sitting in her chair, picking at her nails, popping her gum, and generally looking bored.
“I told you, little blackbird. You already know what you’re doing. It’s that rage you gotta keep under control.”
Iain stands with a grunt, then returns to his seat and his still-steaming cup of tea. “But you didn’t let me finish my request. The little hound?”
His gaze slips to Louie, who immediately gives him the middle finger.
“I don’t want to own you, sweetheart. I just want to talk to you. Hell, I’d be your goddamn punching bag if that would make you happy.”
Iain’s amber gaze meets mine.
“I’m only askin’ you to put in a good word for me. Convince this stubborn little shit to stop by some day since I don’t do dates,” Iain says with a wicked smile.
“You horny old bastard,” I mutter, scrubbing a hand over my face.
“Is everyone done talking about me like I’m not even fucking here?
Great! First, Aurora, thank you for sticking up for me.
I love you. You’re perfect. Don’t ever change.
Ezra, mate, stop pouting. At least someone taught you.
Most men go to their grave still looking for the clit.
And Iain,” she growls, planting both feet on the floor as she leans forward in her chair.
“You can suck my lady balls. I ain’t got time for some pathetic wrakh simpin’ over me. I’m fucking out of here.”
Louie stands up with so much force that her chair slams to the floor. She spits at Iain’s feet, gives him a smug smile, and then stomps toward the front door.
I reach out instinctively, my voice cracking. “Wait. Lou. Please don’t leave. I … I need you. I’m … well, I guess I’m scared.”
You know those huge life events you can feel coming? The really terrible ones? Where your body clocks it before your brain does? Where everything in you just knows you’re on the edge of something you won’t come back from?
That’s how this moment feels.
Sure, Ezra is amazing. He’s all-consuming, protective, and makes me forget my own name in bed.
But Lou? She’s my tether, my voice of reason, my fanged constant in a world that won’t stop shifting.
Louie rolls her eyes, then growls.
With a harsh screech, she drags her chair across the kitchen and plants it beside me. Then she grabs the hand Ezra and his shadows aren’t currently manhandling and bares her fangs at Iain.
The wrakh just grins, like he’s been waiting his entire life for her to growl and bare her teeth at him.
It would almost be cute if it weren’t Iain.
“Alright, queenie. Give me your hand so we can figure out what’s going on here.”
I offer Iain the hand Ezra’s been holding, brushing eddy #4 off my wrist. It resists, tightening like a stubborn vine before finally slithering away with a shiver of reluctance.
Iain gently takes my hand and closes his eyes. A light tingle travels through my body as he sifts through the magical and non-magical parts of what makes me … me.
But that light tingle becomes more intense, until it burns through every inch of me.
Iain’s grip tightens around my hand, pain shooting through my arm.
I look to Ezra, panic pooling in my stomach.
He moves to pull Iain away, but the wrakh suddenly goes flying, slamming into the wall with a sickening thud. Smoke from the hand he used to sift through my magic twists and twirls in the air like some fucked up Swan Lake.