Chapter 55
Vesper
Ishifted away from Veylor's sleeping form and turned to face Oryx. Behind me, Veylor's arms found their way around my waist even in his sleep, his gentle snores vibrating against my back as Oryx completed our tangle of limbs.
"Back then, fated mates didn't exist among the high courts. Instead, we were pawns in political marriages—traded between courts for status, wealth, power. The nobility schemed constantly. Some courts waged battles while others formed tenuous alliances. It was what you call, a hot mess."
My lip quirked.
"Veylor despised the whole arrangement. I'd observed him from afar for months.
Even among the naturally sullen Shadow Court fae, his brooding stood out like a thundercloud.
He'd skulk in corners during gatherings.
His parents couldn't even find a noble family desperate enough to consider him for their daughters. "
I silently giggled and pressed my head into Oryx’s chest.
“Slowly I won him over—”
“—Because of your charm and devilish good looks?” I interrupted.
Oryx licked the side of my cheek. “Well, you saw me. I was a good specimen for a fae. We had to keep our coupling a secret however, males together were frowned upon. They could not produce heirs.
“Veylor’s sister took notice of me, I think she found out that we were an item. She was a selfish female and soon our parents paired us together to be married. That was when Veylor hatched a plan to destroy the courts. He was done with the foolery, and so was I.”
I ran my hand up his chest. “That was very brave of both of you.”
Oryx huffed. “It was dangerous. Veylor had little magik at that time that he didn’t tell anyone but me about.
He could warp shadows, bend them at his will, but his strength was not as magnified as it is now.
So he practiced, broke a wall within himself.
He did it quickly, far too quickly, I don’t know how he did it, I was just a pretty face, he was the brains. ”
I bit my lip and ran my fingers through his hair. “You are still pretty and you have two brains you are connected to now. That’s winning.”
Oryx's tail coiled possessively around my leg.
"Nobles from all the courts attended that day," he said, his voice dropping to a whisper, even inside my mind.
"They cleared out the servants—wouldn't let the common folk witness such a prestigious union.
The room held only the elite, the powerful. .. the guilty.
"There I was at the altar, his sister facing me, as I readied myself to flee from Veylor's unpredictable magik.
I knew better than anyone how tenuous his control remained.
The moment the announcer began the ceremony, I stepped backward.
Veylor rose from his seat. Then it happened.
Shadows poured from his body like liquid night, while lightning danced across his skin, consuming the entire room in its terrible glow. "
I stared up at Oryx in awe.
“As I backed away, someone tackled Veylor to the ground. I leaped off the platform to help him. Doors from the back of the room burst open and with it were his servants, those that he had helped in the estate.”
I covered my mouth with my hands. “Why were they there?”
"The servants had been captured and presented to my court as 'gifts.
' They'd been hidden away until they managed to escape their bonds.
In an act of defiance, they burst into the ceremony.
Veylor, not recognizing them, believed we were under attack.
The shock triggered his untamed powers—the storm he'd summoned above us roared with thunder, and lightning flooded the chamber with blinding light. "
I closed my eyes, but couldn't stop the vision that invaded my mind: elegant fae in their ceremonial finery, frozen in terror as the golden chamber plunged into darkness. Then came the lightning—blinding flashes illuminating horrified faces for split seconds before thunder swallowed their screams.
"The lightning consumed them all—flesh charred black, bodies crumbling to ash. Those closest to Veylor simply... vanished, leaving nothing but scorched outlines where they once stood."
Tears ran down my cheeks.
“Seeing it through Veylor’s eyes, it’s terrifying. I don’t remember any pain, suffering. It was like I fell asleep. My hand was reached out to him, and when he stood up I was gone. My body was unrecognizable, I’m surprised he knew who I was.”
I bit my bottom lip, while I tried not to cry. “His heart knew.”
Veylor groaned behind us. “Both of you are in trouble, and not the fun kind.”
Oryx chuckled, it shook us all as we laid there on the tossed sheets. I turned my body over and wrapped my arms around Veylor, and he buried his face into my breasts. “I’m so sorry. Oryx, I am so sorry.”
Oryx growled, his tail wrapped around all of us tightly. “How many times do I have to say it doesn’t matter. I don’t remember and the way it appears, no one felt pain. A shame really, for all the evil that was in that room. Also a blessing for those who were innocent.”
I ran my fingers through Veylor’s hair. “It was an accident, I saw it.”
Veylor flinched. “I didn’t want you to see it. Either of you. You shouldn’t have looked.”
Veylor's words lingered in the air, heavy with guilt and sorrow. I could feel the weight of his pain pressing down on all of us, suffocating us in its intensity. Oryx's grip tightened around us, a silent reassurance of his support.
I leaned in closer to Veylor, my heart aching. "We're here for you, Veylor. You don't have to carry this burden alone. You have us now, remember?"
He lifted his head from my chest, his eyes searching mine for the truth. "I never meant for the innocent to suffer, for any of this to happen. I never wanted to hurt anyone but the wicked."
Oryx placed a gentle hand on Veylor's shoulder. "We know, Veylor. What happened that day, it wasn't your fault. You were just trying to protect the future, to protect you and me."
Tears welled up in Veylor's eyes, shimmering like liquid silver.
"Everything happens for a reason, Veylor," I whispered, the pieces finally clicking into place.
"That day when Oryx died—it set you on the path to becoming a lich, to bringing him back along with countless others.
Without that tragedy, he and I would never have crossed paths.
" I gave Oryx a gentle nudge in his stomach.
Oryx chuckled, his slick tongue tracing the curve of my neck.
"Without your stubbornness, we might never have found each other…
discovered that the three of us belong together.
The stars charted this path long before you ever considered walking it.
And the way you preserved that fragment of your soul in your heart?
It defies everything I've read about liches.
Their souls should be utterly destroyed, yet yours survived.
As if fate itself, or perhaps the gods, knew we were destined to intertwine, and bent their own rules to make it possible. "
Oryx huffed. “His soul was too large, too much love to give.”
I snorted. “You’ve been looking through my romance book memories. That was cheesy as fuck.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “It’s true.”
“It is,” I agreed. I turned my head back to Veylor.
His once watery eyes, his look of anguish on his face had faded, now it was brought to be nothing but thoughtfulness. “You are very insightful for a human female who knows nothing of magik and this realm.”
I bit my lip. “I’m a fast learner.”
Veylor leaned forward and captured my lips in a kiss. Oryx, not one to miss out, pressed himself against me from behind, his hands wandering across my skin while his tongue traced hot patterns along my neck and shoulders.
I guess this was how it was going to be, we have an emotional talk and end up having sex.
Not going to complain.
I laughed as I was completely sandwiched between the both of them, shadows descending between all of us.
The knock at the door didn’t pause the two males beside me but it got my attention.
“Vesper?” The male on the other side of the door called.
I tried to push away Veylor, but he was already sucking on my nipple and Oryx was dangerously close to sticking his tail up Veylor’s ass.
“Yes?” I squeaked.
“Can we come in, we… we need to speak with you. I know this is rather sudden having two fathers, becoming bonded, but it is rather important.”
The sun was setting outside, we had been in bed all day.
It wasn't the first time we had done that but I guess having parents they are bound to get worried.
Ew… they probably knew we did the deed.
But they did too, so it was okay.
Oh, gross!
"We're not decent!" I called out, squirming between their bodies as they continued their passionate assault. I yelped when teeth grazed sensitive skin, my protest lost in a gasp.
I slapped both on the shoulders. “My dads are outside, they want to come inside!”
Oryx perked up his head. “That is incest, they cannot do that with their daughter.”
I slapped my forehead. “No, in the room, sweet child! They want to come in to talk.”
Veylor's laugh erupted like thunder as he collapsed back onto the mattress. With a casual flick of his wrist, darkness spilled from his fingertips, weaving itself around our bodies for a blanket like liquid silk. "Come in," he called, "we're covered."
I gasped and wiggled back in between both of them. The shadows were so thick, it was like a silk blanket I was able to move and cover my breasts.
My fathers entered the room, each clad in ceremonial robes that reflected their personalities—Sylvaine wrapped in autumn colors like oranges, reds and yellows while Thackery floated in pristine white fabric adorned with delicate blue swirls that caught the fading light.
Thackery smiled, and leaned his head on Sylvaine’s shoulder. “Never thought this would happen to our daughter. I feared she would never experience it.”
I gazed at both of them in horror. This was weird. My dads were staring at me, in the bed with my two lovers.
“Ahh,” I began.
Thackery waved his hand. “This is most traumatizing to her. She was raised around humans and they are prudish, they just don’t understand. We must be quick, Sylvaine.”
Sylvaine nodded and I held the blanket a little tighter.
“Your mother is alive,” Sylvain blurted with a smile.
My eyes grew wide and I nearly lost the shadows covering my breasts.
“What the fuck! What do you mean she is still alive!?”
Oryx wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his lap, he snarled and snapped his jaws. “Don’t scare her!”
Thackery laughed. “He is so amusing, isn’t he? Perfect to protect her.”
Veylor stood, shadows wrapped around his legs like trousers. “I think it is best if you tell us what’s going on, you are putting Vesper in distress.”
Sylvain nodded. “Quite right. As I was saying, she’s alive.
Thackery sensed she had a disease while Vesper was away at school.
It is quite curable here in this realm, but not on Earth.
Thackery used the last part of his mana to put her to frozen sleep.
With no more mana, it trapped him in his feline form. ”
I covered my mouth in surprise. “All this time? You were the cat, you never showed yourself to me!”
Thackery stepped forward. “I spent most of my time as a feline, my sweet child. I’m either animal or fae, nothing in between. I would hunt for the portal daily, to find us a way back home… but I watched you grow…”
My lip wobbled.
"And I yearned to hold you, to be the father you deserved," Thackery's voice cracked, his fingers curling into fists at his sides.
"But revealing myself risked everything.
Earth's realm distorts our magik in unpredictable ways.
The spell I cast to preserve your mother nearly exposed us all.
I couldn't abandon her in that state. Once you returned I vowed I would follow you if you left again, because even I was losing hope of finding a way back home and waking her. "
I choked out a sob.
“But now I know after following you, listening to those idiots that ran that funeral home that the portal opens and closes during certain times. Now that I have my strength, we can retrieve her. Gather our triad, your family will be together again.”
“Holy shit,” Oryx said.
My lungs screamed for air, but I couldn't make myself breathe. The thought hammered through my skull with each thundering heartbeat: Mom. Buried alive. In that cold, dark casket. Underground. Alone. For years.
Veylor hopped back on the bed. “Vesper, breathe! I command it!” He put both hands on my shoulders. “Breathe!”
I sucked in a breath, but my head was light, spots danced in my vision.
“Lean back, darling. Just sleep.” Veylor’s hands waved over my face, his shadows crept in the sides of my vision.
Yeah, sleep. That was exactly what I needed right now.