Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
Sin Audience Chamber, Blood Kingdom
Freya
I stand on the raised dais of the throne room with my arms outstretched.
Violet ribbons are wrapped around both of my wrists.
The ribbons rub over my soul bond marks in a way that must be driving Lanlin and Daire mad with desire.
The thick, silky ribbons that wind around their wrists and bond marks are definitely making me shiver with desire.
I am ready to be bonded for life, claimed publicly as their Omega.
Daire smiles at me, reassuringly.
The ribbons bind us together like the points of a pyramid, as we stand in a triangle, joined by the ribbons in front of the gathered court.
I scrunch up my nose at the scent of citrus blossoms, which is mixed with the sweet resin from the guttering lamps.
The lamps hang on the walls, which are painted inky blue with scattered stars. Moonlight streams through the high windows in the four sides of the pyramid-shaped audience chamber.
I shift my bare feet on the cold floor, which is inlaid with tiles of turquoise, lapis lazuli, and gold-flecked ochre.
Shadow and Devil pad closer behind Lanlin, guarding him.
I still feel like I am in a dream world.
This morning, I awoke in Lanlin’s royal vampire nest.
Confused, I studied the reeds sticking out of the torn mattress between ripped ivory linens.
Lanlin must have taken out his rage on the bed.
Alphas do have a tendency to destroy their nests when they feel abandoned by their Omegas.
I sniffed at the bedding, hardly daring to believe that I was back with Lanlin.
I could feel two sets of wings around me, one feathery and the other like leather.
I had the brief awareness of someone cradling me to their hard chest, then of flying in their arms.
I sighed. “I am either dead or dreaming.”
“Never say that, dearheart,” a low voice purred.
Then someone brushed the hair from my face.
Suddenly, however, someone else nipped my lower lip.
My eyes snapped open. “This isn’t a dream.”
“Nay, we’re real.” Daire’s gaze met mine.
When I stared into his beautiful eyes, everything flooded back to me — how I was terrified that I would never see them again.
I lurched to sit up, throwing my arms around Daire’s neck. “You son of a dickless troll. Never ask me to do that again.” My voice became small. “I thought that I’d killed you.”
“You freed me. I’ll never forget it.” He pushed me gently back into the blankets, holding up his seared wrists. “Anyway, I’m hard to kill.”
“Like a cockroach,” Lanlin suggested.
I glanced at the vampire who was lounging next to Daire in the bed.
I furrowed my brow, trying to think through the fog.
Horus had entered the chamber and compelled me to follow him to Crocodile House.
What happened after that?
How did I end up here with Lanlin like nothing bad had happened between us?
“Oi,” Daire protested. “I’ll have you know that I’m—”
“God-like?” Lanlin’s lips twitched. “I like cockroaches. They somehow survive impossible odds. And you, Little Raven, survive fire, iron, hunts, and blood sacrifices.”
“What did you survive, while I was buried under that knotless coward’s compulsion?” I reached out, hovering my hand above the claw marks in Lanlin’s neck.
I didn’t touch Lanlin without permission.
Lanlin no longer flinched from touch, but he still needed control over it.
Daire and Lanlin exchanged a glance like they were co-conspirators.
What were they hiding?
Still, at least if they were plotting together, then it meant that they were getting on again.
Daire’s love language was either banter or scheming.
“Nothing important, my dear.” Lanlin settled next to me, wrapping his wing back around me. “You survived, and that is what matters. We are together as we should be, and tonight, we marry. Until then, let us sleep.”
I thought that it would be impossible for me to sleep. Yet held between my two Alphas, my exhausted body had been dragged into rest.
I hadn’t dreamed, which was a relief after the false dream that Horus had drugged me with. I was glad that Lanlin hadn’t asked about the fake reality that Horus had woven around me.
I’d dreamed that I’d lived with Lanlin, Daire, and Aurelius together on a small farm in the mountains of the Unseelie Kingdom. I have never been to Daire’s kingdom, but my mind supplied everything that I’d imagined since I was a kid, which would mean home and safety.
We owned a cow, chickens, and a vegetable patch.
I would never be hungry again. No one could take food away from me as punishment.
Even through the warm sun, however, which somehow didn’t torch Lanlin to ash, as well as the glow of drowsy domestic happiness, I’d been unsettled, knowing that something was wrong with the picture.
Waking to the reality of these dangerous men in my arms, I knew that no fake dream could live up to the intensity of their reality.
I didn’t want a neutered dream.
I wanted the claw marks on the neck, the seared wrists, and the plotting.
Finally, when night fell, we woke up together.
Lanlin’s bat wings folded away into his back.
A rare solemnity settled over us, as we brushed each other’s hair and Daire’s feathers. Then we adjusted our makeup and jewels, readying for the marriage ceremony.
Lanlin ceremonially sheathed Daire’s double bronze daggers at his waist and then added the iron dagger with a curved hilt like a crescent moon, Night Sky Blade, at mine.
I only felt dressed once I had that blade on me.
For a finishing touch, Lanlin rubbed frankincense oil into Daire’s feathers and my hair to purify us.
“You are both ready,” Lanlin murmured. “My beautiful dearhearts, will you marry me?”
“It’s a little late to be runaway brides.” Daire’s lips quirked. “What do you think?”
I raised my chin. “We better not be late to our own wedding.”
Now, however, I wonder what the delay is.
We have been standing on the dais long enough for my feet to ache. I am rocking anxiously.
The noble Bloods in their finest outfits are beginning to become restless below, whispering to each other.
The Alphas’ kilts are pleated like geometric fans, each crease casting a shadow. The Omegas and Betas wear fine linen robes draped loosely around them with constellations of jewelry. Their braided wigs click with beads when they move.
“What’s the holdup?” I whisper.
Lanlin and Daire exchange another silent glance.
I should kick both their asses.
They may be powerful kings, stunning ones. But they are definitely hiding something.
I glance down the long chamber.
Garlands of fresh lotus blossoms have been hung in celebration. Baskets overflow with figs, dates, pomegranates, and clusters of grapes. Tall bouquets of papyrus and palm fronds line the central aisle.
Musicians play harps, flutes, and sistrums.
I shudder as I study the side of the pyramid where the priestesses of the Scarlet Temple huddle. It is hung with long crimson ribbons like strands of flesh.
The priestesses are Omegas. They hold as much power in this kingdom as the Betas or Alphas do. I admire that, but I still fear the priestesses’ magic.
It sizzles across my skin.
The priestesses are wearing long dresses made up of red ribbons that weave around them serpent-like, as if they are alive.
Their faces are covered by veils that mask everything apart from their fanged mouths, which open to repeat in a chant, everything began with the Void. Everything will end with the Void.
It should be a blessing. But it doesn’t sound like one.
“Why aren’t we starting the ceremony?” I demand more sharply.
“Patience.” A portly Blood with a face that is etched with wrinkles, Ruin, condescendingly smiles at me.
Ruin, the leader of the Void Cult, breaks away from the other Betas with shaved heads who are standing calmly below the dais. They are wearing silver robes with glowing pyramid hieroglyphs on the front.
Ruin assesses Lanlin with cold, silver eyes. He steps up onto the dais.
Like the charismatic and fanatical leader that he is, Ruin holds up his arms and addresses the guests.
“Welcome to this union, which will lead to cosmic stability. It is our King’s duty to bind himself through this treaty with the Shadow Dragons to create peace, not only through his body as a symbol of our land in submission to the Draca Kingdom, but to his fated mates.
It will bring order to chaos. Balance. As the Blood Moon rises, witness the marriage of two Alphas to one Omega.
They do not unite; they are bound.” Then he glances over his shoulder at Lanlin, before he hisses, “Where is the ex-consort? We can’t wait for her any longer. ”
Huh, so that’s why the ceremony is delayed.
I can tell by the look in Daire’s eye that Isis won’t be turning up and that he knows why.
What’s the bet that Horus will also be absent for his half-brother’s wedding?
Will I be receiving his head as a gift instead?
I can’t hold back my huff of amusement.
So, I didn’t miss anything important…?
This is what I get for marrying two assassins.
It’s lucky that they’re so pretty.
“She’s unwell,” Lanlin says with an impressively straight face. “Something she ate.”
“Or ate her,” Daire mutters, his eyes dancing.
Lanlin shoots him a warning glare.
Ruin opens and shuts his mouth like he doesn’t know what to say.
Then he rallies. “And the Grand Mage?”
“Sadly, he also sends his apologies.” Lanlin’s eyes glitter. “He’s been detained by urgent duties with…”
“Ravens,” Daire adds, helpfully.
Or possibly, unhelpfully from Lanlin’s expression.
It’s lucky that we’re already bound together by the ribbons, or Daire may be talking himself out of this wedding and into a spanking.
“Proceed,” Lanlin commands, baring his fangs.
Ruin clears his throat.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Ruin’s hands are shaking, as he places them on top of the ribbon.
I let out a gasp, when Ruin’s magic vibrates through the material. The ribbon drags us together, winding up our arms like snakes. Daire, Lanlin, and I softly bump together with our arms between us.
“Hello, love.” Daire smiles at me.
Lanlin’s red-wine gaze is piercing.