31. Lirion
Three days.
Three full fucking days trapped on that little island, surrounded by nothing but a ramshackle town and drunk, horny pirates while they watched the skelebabies hammer away at the ship, getting it back in sailing order.
He’d made countless trips into town for supplies and sometimes just out of boredom.
He’d thought he’d feel better when they got underway again—the bob of the deck under his feet and the sea breeze threading through his hair—but the restlessness that felt like a thousand ants crawling under his skin didn’t abate when the ship pulled away from the dock on the fourth morning and headed back out to open waters.
How long had his sister been waiting for him? Was she okay? Was she being abused? Fed? Did they understand a succubus needed more than sex to stay alive?
Or what if Aria didn’t even need him? What if this was what she wanted, and he was about to charge in like an overbearing, overprotective older brother no one wanted and ruin this new life she’d created?
It was just as possible that the letter she’d sent to him had simply gone astray.
She could fully believe he knew she’d changed her plans.
No. She needed him. Count Pierres had her in his clutches, and there was nothing good about that wretch of a man.
But the growing anxiety and the lingering doubts gnawed on his brain, killing precious cells until he was sure he was going mad. The only thing that seemed to give him a moment of relief was having sex with Fenric.
Of course, that meant he was cornering the man at every turn. He might not have realized how bad he’d gotten until the day after they’d left Pirate Isles, when Fenric grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed him against the wall in the cabin they shared.
“Lir!” he snapped. His unexpectedly harsh tone sliced through the haze enveloping Lirion’s brain. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all our time together, but babe, we gotta slow down. If we go again, I swear my cock is going to fall off.”
Lirion jutted out his bottom lip and attempted to pout, but Fenric’s hard expression only turned to worry rather than horniness like it usually did.
“What’s going on with you?” Fen pressed.
“Nothing. Everything is fine, my sexy thief. Is it so unbelievable I just can’t get enough of you?”
“Yeah, it is. No offense, but you have thoroughly gorged yourself on this trip. If incubi could gain weight from sexual energy, you’d be fifty pounds heavier.”
Lirion placed his hand on the center of Fen’s chest and slowly ran it down to stop at his belt buckle. “Would you still want me if I was heavy with your sexiness?”
“Lir, please.” Fen’s voice softened to gentle pleading, worming its way through the last of Lirion’s defenses. “I’m worried about you. I can’t help you unless you tell me what’s wrong.”
How the hell was Lirion supposed to stay strong against this? It was evil. He might have given Maxie lessons on guarding against seduction, but this was a kind he had no way of protecting himself from—genuine concern.
Lirion stared at the darkly handsome man in front of him, finally seeing the full weight of worry in those eyes as they watched him.
Since they’d stepped onto this ship, Fenric had always been right there, giving in to Lirion’s every whim, regularly checking on him to make sure he wasn’t only comfortable and well fed, but also distracted from the worries trying to eat him alive.
“You’re serious, aren’t you? This isn’t about sex. You…care…”
“Fuck yes, I care about you!” Fen shouted in his face. The rogue flinched and his cheeks flushed slightly. Yeah, not the kind of thing you should bellow in someone’s face. “Please, Lir. Help me out. This feelings shit isn’t really my forte. I just know something is bugging you, and I want to help.”
Lirion drew in a shaking breath and closed his eyes. He couldn’t meet Fenric’s piercing gaze while trying to gather his scattered thoughts and rampaging emotions. Everything felt too sharp and jagged. He had to pick up each piece with caution before putting them into words.
“I guess I’m anxious about getting to my sister.
” He started slowly, but with each word he spoke, they sped up until he was nearly breathless and panting.
“We stopped for repairs longer than we expected, and two months have passed since I last heard from her. Gods only know what has happened to her. What if…what if I’m too late and—”
Fen’s fingers tightened on his shoulders, digging into muscles, snapping him out of his rising panic attack while also reassuring him.
“No.” He said it with such firmness, it was like he was a king setting down a law for all the land and people to follow.
“If she’s anything like her older brother, Aria is a survivor.
With our shitty luck, she’ll have probably escaped before we even reach her and will be living fine and dandy on her own. ”
As he spoke, it was like Fen plucked at all the strings that had bound up Lirion’s lungs, allowing him to draw in a deep breath at long last.
“Okay. I would hate myself if that was true. Putting everyone to such trouble. Putting your lives in danger. But…”
Fen smirked and finished his thought. “You’d still be relieved.”
“Yeah.”
“We wouldn’t hold it against you. Shit happens that you can’t plan for and you learn to roll with it. We’d probably raid the place just to make a little scratch on this trip and to stomp on some sex traffickers because that shit is beyond the pale.”
“But if she’s not free?”
Fen released his shoulders and grabbed his hand, pulling him toward the door. “I’ve got an idea of how I can help with your worry.”
Without another word, he led Lirion out of their cabin and down the narrow corridor to the galley, where they found Hapi and Malfas seated at the long table, while Belstrom placed a teakettle on the stove.
“Exquisite timing. I was preparing a pot of water for tea,” Bel said in greeting.
Malfas jumped in. “I was explaining to my companions that a nice white tea can help flush out the humors and rebalance the different auras while cleansing the mind. It’s all very scientific and I can go into the specifics if you’re interested—”
“Please spare us,” Hapi grumbled, cutting off another of Malfas’s long rambles.
“Tea would be perfect,” Fen stated as he shoved Lirion down on the long bench opposite Mal and Hapi, then he sat down beside him. He’d released Lirion’s hand, but their knees bumped under the table. The small, subtle connection helped keep his edginess and anxiety at bay.
“Lirion is concerned about how we’re going to free his sister once we reach this swanky brothel holding her prisoner,” Fenric said.
“Well, there’s not much we can plan for until we actually see the location where she’s being held and do some scouting,” Hapi reminded him.
Fenric shot the elf a dark glare that sort of said If you can’t say something helpful, keep your fucking mouth shut.
“True, but I don’t think Lirion has a strong understanding of our abilities, and since we won’t reach Baza for another two days, we’ve got time to lay all our cards on the table.
While we’re not in the rescuing business, per se, we have had to rescue a teammate on more than one occasion. ”
Hapi huffed and folded his long, slender arms across his chest, pulling his pristine white shirt tight across his narrow shoulders.
“One time you had to rescue me. We’ve had to break Malfas out of dangerous situations at least six times, two of which happened before you joined us, Fen. Bel, was it four times for you?”
“Five,” Belstrom corrected primly as he placed dried tea leaves into five mugs. “The latest event is not included in the count due to the fact I was assisting Malfas with his own precarious predicament.”
“Rain three times,” Fenric added.
“And you?” Lirion nudged, the first genuine smile tugging at his lips.
“None, so far.” Fenric smirked. “But sneaking in and out of a place is my bread and butter. When we’re working as a team, my job is stealth and reconnaissance.
If the entire team needs to enter a place, I’ll usually go in first, snoop around, check out the level of security, entrance, exits, and targets.
It’s also my job to handle basic thefts and assassinations, though I try to avoid killing where I can. ”
A small part of Lirion relaxed at Fenric’s words; not that his stance on killing should have made any kind of difference. Lirion had killed more than once when people had tried to use and abuse him, but it wasn’t his first choice. Maybe he was just relieved Fen took a similar approach.
“Hapi—”
“Provides an endless army of the dead to frighten and overwhelm,” the elf supplied with a brittle smile.
Belstrom snorted from where he stood by the stove. “So long as your spell ingredients and personal reservoir of power prevail.”
Hapi rolled his eyes. “Yes, ‘endless’ is a bit of a misnomer. Raising mindless zombies takes more personal power. Raising morons back to life after they die stupidly takes more ingredients. Regardless, when people suddenly find themselves battling zombie versions of their newly slain comrades, it tends to turn the tide of the fight. I don’t need to raise hundreds of them to win the battle. ”
Fen leaned toward Lirion, bumping his shoulder. “Having a necromancer simply walk onto the field is usually enough to turn the tide.”
“Plus, his skelebabies on the ship have been immensely helpful. They are quick to act, don’t complain about the working conditions, and you don’t have to pay them, unlike a human crew, which can be very rowdy and expensive,” Malfas added.
Lirion smiled at Malfas. There was something adorable about the chatterbox warlock, and he definitely wasn’t put off by the necromancer’s dour mood.
He’d already witnessed how the elf doted on Maxie.
Hapi could pretend to be as crusty as he wanted; they all knew he was gooey soft on the inside for Maxie.
“When it comes to fights, Bel and Rain are our bruisers. They’re good with a variety of weapons and fighting styles, though Rain will claim his only fighting style is dirty.”
“Please do not reduce my contribution to our team to mere brute strength,” Bel chided as he lifted the steaming kettle off the stove and started pouring water into the mugs.
“I wasn’t done yet,” Fen snapped as he accepted a mug. “Belstrom is also well read and very intelligent. He usually serves as our chief strategist for getting into and out of sketchy places. He is our problem solver.”
“Like how he noticed I was attacking the kraken with the wrong spells, even though he has no formal magic training,” Malfas said.
“My contributions were merely simple logic and observation,” Bel murmured as he finished handing out the tea.
Lirion wrapped his hands around the uneven clay mug, letting the warmth seep into him.
Not that he was necessarily cold, but the heat and the interesting conversation helped him shed the last of the anxiety chewing on his nerves.
All the buzzing and restless energy drained out of him.
The rock of the ship and their simple conversation were soothing.
“Of course, my principle contribution is my magic, not to mention the guidance I can provide by translating the will of the constellation,” Malfas explained.
“Except that the information from your god isn’t all that helpful at times,” Hapi complained.
“Right now, Puppy is still in training. We don’t know what his true specialty is going to be.
His poisoning could be handy now we’re learning how it works,” Fenric cut in before Hapi and Malfas could start arguing.
Fen rested his elbow on the table and placed his chin in his hand as he stared at Lirion pointedly.
“That’s our little group. The only thing missing is you. ”
“Me?” Lirion said, sitting up straighter.
“Yes, what attributes do you possess that will enhance our rescue operation?” Belstrom asked, leaning against the counter behind Malfas.
“A full understanding of your strengths will help us weave you appropriately into our dynamic ahead of the upcoming fight to liberate your sister. It would be dreadful to not take full advantage of your abilities.”
“Oh. Yes.” Lirion paused and cleared his throat, hesitating for a moment.
He’d never revealed so much information about himself.
Hiding his magical abilities had always given him an edge in all situations.
But in those moments, it had always been him against the world.
This time, he had an entire team of villains on his side to fight with him to save Aria.
His throat tightened, and he had to clear it for a second time before continuing to speak.
“So, as an incubus, I have many natural abilities of seduction, which can work to confuse and cloud the mind. I can even make people forget they ever met me. In a lot of ways, my gifts are similar to getting drunk on strong alcohol. I have developed my musical magic skills slowly, and I’ll admit they aren’t terribly powerful, but I am good at distracting and even some basic hypnosis, so long as the crowd isn’t too big.
” He paused and licked his lips. “Plus, I have the ability to walk through walls.”
Malfas, Hapi, and Belstrom gasped before exploding in excited chatter.
Lirion glanced at Fenric to find the thief smirking at him as if he’d expected this response.
Or was maybe even proud Lirion had volunteered that tidbit.
Why not? He was trusting them to save his sister.
Shouldn’t he trust them with this valuable information?
“Hmmm.” Belstrom readjusted his glasses so they rested higher on the bridge of his nose.
“I will need to ponder more about this, but I can foresee you working heavily with Fenric on this quest to rescue your sister. You both should be able to gain entry into this monstrous lair and obtain valuable information so we can formulate our plan of attack.”
Lirion lifted his gaze to find Fenric’s smirk again. Yes, that didn’t sound like a bad idea at all. He was more than content to work alongside Fen on just about any project.