Chapter 52
Raven
Heat surrounded me on all sides when I woke. I lay with my cheek pressed against Alaric’s chest while Maverick spooned me. When I cracked an eyelid open, Zane was curled up behind Alaric, with Rasmus on his other side. I couldn’t see Kai, but the bond told me he was close by.
This was the first time all of us had slept together, and once I’d recovered from the shock of finding Alaric in my bed, I purred in satisfaction.
Shadows and fiery embers filled the room as my magic reacted to my joy at finally being with all my mates. This was how it was supposed to be.
Alaric stirred beneath me but didn’t wake. None of them did.
I had no clue what time it was, but no light filtered through the heavy drapes.
My stomach growled. How long had it been since I ate?
Maverick lifted his head and rumbled, “Little mate, you need food.”
“Shh, I’m fine. Don’t wake the others.”
They needed to sleep. We all did. I tried closing my eyes, but an image of my father popped into my head. Goddess, what a mess we’d left behind at the Mage Council offices. The humans must be panicking right now.
“It’s all over the news,” Kenji confirmed, sounding bored. “You’re famous. Again.”
“Oh no, are we going to be arrested?” The thought of losing my mates sent me into a panic spiral.
“Doubtful. Nobody knows Vane is dead. The resistance has released a ton of evidence online, linking Tiberius Vane to all kinds of crimes, including female trafficking, inhumane experiments, embezzlement, and best of all, there are emails proving the Mage Council was involved in the bloodborne virus.”
“So we’re off the hook?”
“The MIB has arrested most of the top-ranking mages, as well as several others implicated in the evidence drop.” Kenji sounded pleased about that.
Maverick huffed out a sigh and rose from the bed. He must have been listening to my conversation with Kenji. I waited until he disappeared into the bathroom before shuffling down the bed.
Kai lay stretched out on a thick rug, his delicious abs on full display. I drooled. My merman was a tasty snack. All my mates were.
Kenji stretched on his upholstered chair. “I’m disappearing on kitsune business for a bit. Be back later.” I blinked in surprise. Kenji almost never shared his plans with me.
“Thank the Ks for me!” Kenji hadn’t said so, but I was certain his cousins had helped us both last night when I drained my familiar’s magical battery dry. They showed up to help, and I suspected they had shared their power with Kenji.
No wonder the mages had coveted kitsunes. They were freaking amazing. Which reminded me. Had Oakman been involved in the experiments on the kitsunes? I must remember to ask Kenji.
“Yes,” he said in my head. “Kyro confirmed he’d been present at the laboratory.”
“That asshole!” Shadows burst free from my chest and filled the room. It wasn’t until Kai reached for my hand that my anger sputtered out and the shadows dissipated.
“Oakman is on the MIB’s list, little mate,” Maverick said from the bathroom doorway. “They’re investigating him right now. Once they find enough evidence, he’ll go down.”
“Will he be executed?” Goddess, was it bad that I hoped so? The creepy mage deserved to die for hurting my poor, defenseless kitsunes!
“Quit your nonsense. We’re not defenseless!”
I climbed off the bed and padded over to my bear.
“Executed, no. But he can expect a life sentence, along with the rest of the Mage Council,” Maverick said while stroking my cheek. He sighed happily when I nestled against his warm, hairy chest.
“Good. I hope they all rot in a cell for the rest of their miserable lives.”
“There will be trials, of course, but mostly to appease the humans. The evidence is indisputable.”
“What will happen to the other mages? They can’t all be bad, surely?”
“I don’t know, but that’s tomorrow’s problem. I’m more concerned about you, little mate.” He cupped my jaw and frowned. “You need food.”
“And then I need to feed,” my vampire rasped from the bed.
When I turned around, he’d propped himself up and was staring at me, fangs on display.
A heated shiver shot through me at the thought of my sexy vampire sinking his sharp fangs into a vein.
It had been a week, and I was more than ready for him.
“Hold that thought, pet,” Zane groaned with a smirk. “Your lust tastes delicious.”
Alaric grumbled. “For fuck’s sake, I died yesterday. Surely I deserve some alone time with my mate?”
Alaric referencing his death acted like a bucket of cold water on my libido. All thoughts of sexy time vanished, making Zane pout.
“Should have known you’d be the realm’s biggest fucking cockblocker, zombie boy.”
“I’m not a fucking zombie!”
“She resurrected you. That makes you a zombie.”
Kai muttered something rude and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He didn’t look happy at the pointless bickering, and I wondered whether this was my life now—listening to my mates bait each other in a stupid points-scoring exercise.
If so, I’d happily move to the fae realm and find myself a nice fae royal, i.e., someone unrelated to Farris.
Perhaps the goddess would grant me a pardon and let me exchange five useless mates for one decent one?
“Not fucking happening,” Maverick growled, but I shoved him away and crawled over the bed. Alaric’s eyes widened in surprise when I moved astride him.
“No more bickering,” I said in my best no-nonsense voice, the one I’d modeled on Miss Windborne. “If you idiots can’t get along, this is shut for business.” I gestured from my head to my toes.
Alaric’s mutinous expression told me we had a long way to go before he got the message.