Kalina ~ Book Four

Pitch black void. Icy tendrils wrapped around shaking limbs. Blind. Hissing silence. Grey expanse surrounding a hole of darkest tar.

“Kill the daemon, or death shall follow.”

The shallow whispers of the Fates drew Sylvie up and pushed her through the greyscale world towards the black hole.

“I already did.” Her voice was distant in her own ears, as if the place she stood in was a vacuum for sound, light, joy, everything.

“Kill the Daemon, or death shall follow.”

Sylvie whirled and struggled against the iron grip around her arms, legs, and waist. She needed to wake up. Wake up. Wake up.

“Where is it? Who is it then?” She screamed and bucked. “Show them to me!”

The black hole before her bulged and squeezed as the grey expanse around it undulated.

“Open your eyes. Open your eyes. Open your eyes.”

“They are! Let me go-”

“Sylvie.”

Rowan shook her awake, and she cried out in the darkness, flopping onto his chest with her sweat-coated brow. She hadn't had a prophetic dream in years. She almost thought she couldn't anymore. But as usual, when it came to the Fates, she was wrong.

“Princess?”

“Kian?” She reached for him and sighed as his calm washed over her. “That fucking sucked.”

“Breathe.” Elias brushed a cool hand across her forehead and got her a drink of water, turning the hall light on and casting them in a faint yellow hue.

She told them about the dream, and none of them had an answer for her.

Nothing substantial, at least.

“Vampires are considered a part of the demon realm in some iterations of history,” Kian offered.

“Whether it’s them or not, they are our biggest threat at this point,” Elias added.

Sylvie lay back in Rowan's lap and held her hands out to Kian and Elias, who took the hand their wedding bands adorned, respectively.

“We’d scent them, right? Sulphur.”

They all shared a look in the dim light. That’s how it had been in the past with the hybrids and the demon that attacked her when she started working for Elias. Sulphur.

This time, though, none of them knew. Even Elias, the oldest of them all who had lived many lifetimes around various creatures, knew little about the demon realms.

“Who could we even ask?”

Again. No idea. Sylvie just sighed and fanned her face. “It’s too hot in here.”

Rowan lifted her off his burning skin. “Sorry.”

“No,” she turned and kissed his rippling abs. “It’s the house. Can we go for a walk?”

“It's three in the morning, Princess.”

“So? We’ve got nothing to do tomorrow.”

“You do,” Elias reminded her. She had a class to teach, but it could be a movie day. Bea might like that. She’d pick something fun and retro—maybe Holes.

“I’m game,” Rowan grunted, climbing from their California king. “My wolf has been clawing to get out for days.”

Kian rose, too, pulling on a jumper. “I might as well check the wards.”

“No, Kian,” Sylvie said, grabbing his forearm. “Your wards are perfect. Don’t overdo it. And besides, you need to be all powered up to finish the North pack border.”

“Your safety is first to me, Princess. Every time.” She smiled in the dark and kissed him, savouring the softness of his lips. “But fine. No work.”

“No work,” she repeated.

Elias took her hand, walked out the door, and down onto the dewy grass as Rowan thumped down on giant paws. Kian darted down the steps, hands in pockets and ducked his head to kiss her cheek as they padded across the lawn.

The faintest whimpering sounds from the unit reached Sylvie’s ears, but against her better judgment, she ignored it. Her mates had been on edge after Bea’s arrival, and the lack of answers about her only made them more protective.

Bea was safe; she was just scared.

Sensing her conflict, Kian flickered his gaze to the unit, and his power surged. The whimpering ceased instantly, and Sylvie grabbed his hand to squeeze it.

She refrained from thanking him, but he saw it in her eyes, and a grin parted his lips.

“It’s cold,” Elias muttered quietly, and Sylvie panned to him, blowing a misting breath from her mouth.

“Yep. It’s nearly the Autumn equinox. So it’s cold.”

“And what do you know about the equinox, little human born?”

Sylvie shook her head. Dick. “More than you!”

Elias tapped her ass cheek, and she jumped out of reach of the second slap. “I doubt it,” he taunted.

“I don’t need to prove myself to you, husband,” she said, darting out of reach again as he zipped across the lawn to her, a feral gleam in his eyes.

He wanted to play.

Got it.

“You two,” Kian groaned behind them, but she could almost see the smile on his lips. Rowan purred darkly in his chest, enjoying the game too.

Cat and mouse were all of their favourites. Sylvie preferred hide-and-seek—anything to distract her from the implications of her dream.

‘Her visions’.

Her cursed messages from the Fates. She thought it was over. It should have been over. She had gone ten years without their harassment. Why now?

A slap on the ass brought her back to the present, and she giggled as she sprinted for cover. Rowan howled in answer, and her heart hammered.

Even as mates, his haunting call instilled a strange sliver of fear in her. Maybe it was just excitement. Anticipation. In his wolf form, he embodied speed, agility and lithe coordination. He could navigate the forests as easily as breathing.

So she ran.

Sprinted.

Harnessed her Dryad sight and Vīs ferocity and sprinted towards the lake. Keeping her feet light and her breathing even, she ignored the dark cabins full of sleeping shifters— her family and friends and wove through the brush.

Her marks tugged, and she closed them off. It never worked for long, but her mental wall dulling their intense connection gave her more headway. She quickly sensed them gaining on her somehow, to her right. She banked left and continued weaving, hoping her haywire scent would throw them off.

Again, their presence cut in front of her, and she leapt away again, heading the wrong way. Soon, the forest felt foreign; the trees and creatures in it not what she had seen before. She paused momentarily, checking in on her mates, but they still crept closer, so she pressed on.

A cut in the forest had her stumbling. The crescent moon hung low overhead and beaconed her into a wide clearing, backed by a mass of rocks all tumbling over one another. Boulders.

Huh.

She jogged over, enjoying the tickle of fescue grasses on her shins and ran a palm across the boulders. The texture in some places was smooth and icy, almost like glass. She frowned. Obsidian? They gave off a faint glow from her Dryad sight, too. But there were no volcanoes around there. Weird. She tucked herself beside one, hoping she’d blend in and waited.

Rowan got there first, his golden eyes hooded and holding a wolfish grin as he padded from the tree line. He howled again, and a full-body shiver gripped her.

Elias was next, but he stayed hidden, his back pressed against his tree and only his red iris visible in the near-pitch darkness. She just about melted right then when a warm breath tickled her ear.

Her scream was stolen by a familiar hand. Relaxing into him despite wanting to elbow his ribs, Sylvie licked his palm, still pressed against her face.

Fucking Kian.

While she couldn’t bar him from knowing her location, he had somehow managed to do it to her. The bond between them reignited with a burst of light behind her eyes, and his hand lowered.

“Don’t forget I have years of practice on you, Princess.”

She wiggled her ass against him, loving the sudden grunt and hardening against her lower back.

“A thousand years old and still nothing compared to me,” she purred, padding towards the wolf. Her wolf.

“Nothing,” Kian agreed, his desire raking down her back so visceral she could feel his mental touch. She grinned at him over her shoulder.

She walked a slow, sensual circle around Rowan, tracing a finger down his side. He shifted from fur to skin under her fingertips, and she let him dip her, claiming her mouth with his. Again, she kept her eyes on the Fae, straining but keeping his hands at his sides. One of his kinks. Voyeurism.

She focused on the man holding her and poured every ounce into the kiss, letting the desire pool from her and reach Kian at the bonded level. He groaned from her side, and she pulled back.

“Let’s play a game,” she said, loud enough for Elias to hear too. He also had an affinity for watching Sylvie be pleasured.

Rowan hooked a clawed nail in her t-shirt, and she tutted. If he ripped another one of her damn shirts. No.

He smiled, dipping his lips into her hair and sniffing deeply. “I wanna play.”

“Good.” She shivered. “No self-stimulation.” She gazed pointedly at Kian and knew Elias would be game.

He always let her get her satisfaction before taking his, the gentleman. He was not always gentle but always chivalrous in his loving.

Kian grabbed the obsidian on either side of him, keeping his hands in her sight as Rowan spun her and bent her at the hips.

“Take control, Rowan,” she told him. “Make me cum.”

“Yes, mistress.”

He tugged her pants and underwear off, dropping to lick along her pussy as she shuddered under his touch. Kian already looked ready to bust, his jaw clenching and unclenching as Rowan stood, plunging inside her.

They groaned in unison, Sylvie reaching back to rake at Rowan's bare, tattooed thighs. Every inch of him was covered in art now. She focused on the pleasure, on her mate marks, on the primal fucking Rowan was pounding in her and pushed the bliss outward down the lines of her bonds.

“Yes. Keep going.”

Rowan curled his hands around her hips as he pulled her against him faster, the slapping of their sex sending her into a frenzy. Even Elias had edged closer, his presence only amplifying her desire. But he wouldn’t touch her or himself. In his silence, she knew he agreed to the rules of her game, even if he’d ‘punish’ her for the brazen command later.

Again, as her inner muscles throbbed with the edge of climax, she tightened her grip on the bonds and cried out. “Oh fuck. Yes, Rowan. Yes!”

Without a thought of inhibition, she screamed, the quivering of her thighs and clenching of her sex becoming the only sensation in the world. When her high finally ebbed, she straightened, getting a clear look at Kian, his breathing heavy.

She looked for Elias and found him, chest heaving while the male at her back caught his breath.

“Did it work?” she breathed.

“You mean, did we just cum in our pants?” Elias asked wryly.

She chuckled breathily as Rowan pulled out of her and kissed the soft spot behind her ear lobe. “You made a mess, sweetheart,” he said.

Kian came to her side and flicked her nose. “And now we have to walk home.”

“Wow.” She pulled her pants up in a huff even though a smile threatened. “If you hated it so much, I won’t do it again.” She stomped back towards what she hoped was home. “Happy?”

Elias clicked his tongue but didn't object as Kian swooped in to grab her and plant a kiss on her lips. She nipped his thick lower lip, and they both smiled so wide their teeth bumped.

“Insufferable.”

“I know you are, but what am I?”