Chapter 49 Raven
Raven
Humans queued up for Heaven, a line of them snaking away from a large black door on the main street.
Two men in gray shirts with earpieces checked IDs and let people in.
I watched them on the camera from the lobby of Hell.
Many of the women outside wore similar outfits to me, but some wore even less.
One girl stepped through the door in a gold bikini, matching boots, and a long leather coat. I shivered on her behalf; it was well below freezing out there.
“Heaven has sexy rooms too,” Zane explained when he caught me staring. The siren chuckled from behind her desk.
“Heaven is the same as Hell, except it’s for humans. We allow some humans into Hell, but only those who pass a security vetting. There’s too much anti-magical sentiment these days to risk blending the two clubs. So just the three of you this evening?”
“Yep.” Alaric had remained in his room, and Rasmus didn’t want to test his glamour. Kenji had stayed behind too.
My mind drifted back to Kai. I kept hoping he’d reappear and apologize for leaving me, but he hadn’t so far. The mark on my chest tingled briefly and then faded. I frowned and rubbed the spot.
Kai was still there, I could feel him, but when I reached out down the bond, the tether between us was muted.
Thinking about how far away he was right now brought tears to my eyes, but there was nothing I could do. If fate wanted us to be together, he would come back to me. It wasn’t as if I could go to him. Not when his home was deep in the ocean.
“Ready, pet?” Zane’s eyes softened. An incubus could sense emotions, feed from them, but I knew Zane would never feed from my sadness.
“Just thinking about…”
He stroked my cheek. “I know. But he’ll come back to you.”
I brushed my tears away before they ruined my makeup, and I stiffened my spine. The new semester started in three days, so he’d have to return by then. I refused to accept any other outcome.
Maverick’s hand wrapped around mine. His warm, comforting scent rolled over me, settling my emotions.
Tonight was about having fun. A chance to enjoy myself before we got stuck back into lessons at the academy. My first semester at Starfall had been dramatic to say the least, but I had high hopes the spring semester would be less stressful.
Shoving all negativity down, I followed Zane through a shiny silver door, with Maverick close behind.
Loud music pumped from hidden speakers, the steady pulse of bass vibrating through my feet. Everywhere I looked, bodies writhed to the beat.
My body tingled as the music pulled me toward the crowded dance floor. Was there some kind of magic at play here? I liked to dance, but mosh pits were not my thing.
“We need drinks,” Zane yelled, tugging me away. He kept his hand firmly locked around mine as we headed for the long bar that stretched along one side of the cavernous room.
People nodded at Zane, smiled, flirted, and tried to engage him in conversation, but he mostly ignored them all. I tried not to think about how he’d probably fucked many of them.
The minute we reached the bar, Zane pulled me into the cradle of his thighs. I tried to wiggle away, but he held me tight.
“Stay close to one of us at all times,” he said in my ear. “It’s safe in here, but there are magicals who’ll want to feed on you given half a chance.”
“Feed on me?” Were there vamps in here? Surely not.
“Sirens feed on lust and sexual energy, like I do, and basilisks absorb pain to replenish their magic, which is why you’ll see them in the kink rooms.”
“Kink rooms?”
Zane grinned as he handed me a glass of something pink that smelled of fruit.
“Oh, my sweet summer child. We are going to have so much fun tonight.”
“We’re here to let Raven dance. No more.” Maverick ground his teeth, apparently not into kink. Was I disappointed? It was hard to say when I had no clue what Zane meant by kink. Kinky? Hopefully not pain because I was definitely not into pain.
“Don’t knock it until you’re tried it, pet.” Zane’s hand brushed my thigh, and I shivered.
“You hurt her, and I’ll hurt you,” my bear hissed.
“Ooh, I like the sound of that.” Zane hummed and bit his lip, looking way too excited about the idea of Maverick hurting him. My incubus had issues, clearly.
“Brought friends, I see,” a dry voice commented from behind me.
When I turned around, I saw a tall guy with long blond hair tied back with a leather cord.
He wore a tight pair of black pants, but his lean torso was bare.
Tattoos covered every inch of his pale skin.
The more I stared at them, the more I became convinced some of them were alive. It was creepy. What was this male?
“Raven is my mate, Farris. So keep your grubby little hands to yourself.”
The male reared back in surprise. “You have a soul-bonded mate?”
“Did I stutter?”
To my surprise, the male burst out laughing. “No, I’m just surprised. You never struck me as the settling down sort.”
“Fuck off, Farris.” From the edge in Zane’s voice, he didn’t like this male.
The asshole turned to look at me. There was nothing warm about the way he slid his gaze down my body, lingering first on the ruby and then on the amulet resting in my cleavage before checking out my legs.
I very much regretted not wearing something with more coverage.
“Interesting,” he muttered. Was that supposed to be a compliment? If so, it was a terrible one.
“Get your fucking eyes off my mate,” Maverick growled. His shoulders bunched, stretching the seams of his shirt to the limit.
“Oh, she’s your mate too?” The male smiled. Whatever he was, he didn’t see my bear as a threat, which was pretty dumb of him.
Maverick moved at lightning speed, but the male blinked out of sight and reappeared a few feet away.
“Since you three are in that annoyingly possessive stage of bonding, I’ll take my leave,” he chuckled. “But have fun!” Then he was gone. Like, actually gone.
“What is he?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.
“Fae.”
“Fae? I thought the fae were a myth.”
“Sadly, no. But there are very few of them in this realm because they grow weak when they spend too long here, but some come and go. Like Farris. As the heir to the Autumn Court, he’s more powerful than most.”
“I didn’t like him,” I admitted.
“Farris is a slippery cunt. Never make a bargain with a fae; it always benefits them.”
Maverick chuckled. “Found that out the hard way, eh?”
From the way Zane drained his drink and ordered a second, the answer was yes.
“I got my own back,” he smirked after a moment.
I shivered. The fae gave me the creeps with his strange tattoos. I hoped we didn’t meet him again.
“Come along, my pet. Let’s go explore downstairs.” Zane snatched my empty glass from my hand and placed it on the bar.
“What’s downstairs?” Something told me it wasn’t another dance floor.
“The fun stuff, darling!”