Psycho Devils: Aran’s Story Book 2 (Cruel Shifterverse 5)

The beginning: Shackles—Day 4, hour 4

Iwas going to kill her.

My Revered trembled beside me, his body vibrating from the force of his anger.

Scorpius and I stepped closer to comfort him.

Lightning flashed, and it highlighted the gold network of veins that crawled through the cracks of the black marble. The crystal chandeliers tinkled on the ceiling as they rocked back and forth.

The hall was quiet as everyone in the academy was lost in their multiday bender.

Electricity crackled in the air, and it tasted like violence.

Flames leaped higher off my skin.

I crackled with danger.

The eerie silence wrapped around us like a tangible force.

I rubbed at the growing ache in my chest and breathed slowly, forced the tender irrational feelings from the slave tattoo to dissipate as I concentrated on how I really felt about Arabella.

Hatred. Disgust. Revulsion.

She’d run from the room like a coward, and we’d stalked her to the party. Arabella was so dumb that she hadn’t even seen us following her, and we weren’t trying to make it discreet.

For a time, we’d lost her in the crush of bodies.

Hundreds of students and guests had been packed like sardines in the great hall, dancing, and it was almost impossible to move because people had swarmed us. They’d thrown themselves at us with fewer inhibitions than usual.

Everyone wanted the chance to fuck a devil king. They wanted a taste of our wealth, power, and prestige.

It had been infuriating.

After hours of combing through the crowd, searching for the girl with blue hair, we’d almost given up.

Then we’d seen her.

We hadn’t looked closely at the couples fucking on the dance floor because we hadn’t thought we were searching for a whore.

But alas.

A horned nymph from the Olympus realm had been groping Arabella’s tits roughly. Crotch pressed against her like he had a right to touch her.

Arabella’s eyes had been closed as she smoked and let him touch her like she didn’t care.

She was now associated with the House of Malum.

She was our slave.

Until we figured everything out, only we got to touch her. No one else.

When I’d described to Scorpius what we were seeing, the eye tattoo on his neck had opened wide, and his white eyes had begun to glow.

Cherry-blossom petals had floated across Orion’s neck.

The dagger across my neck had become uncomfortably heavy against my flesh.

Flames had danced higher across my arms, and for a long second, we’d all contemplated the same thing.

For a second, every person at the party had been in danger.

Then the nymph had grabbed her ass and buried his face against her neck. He’d decided for us.

We hadn’t had time for theatrics.

He’d needed to die quickly.

Scorpius had whispered in Arabella’s ear. Orion had snapped the man’s neck.

I’d burned the body to ash as we’d walked away.

Now Scorpius smiled at where our slave was sprawled across the floor.

His voice dripped with malice. “You don’t get to touch other men while you’re our slave. We don’t like our possessions to be dirty.” A muscle in his jaw ticked as he licked his lips. “Let another man touch you like that and we’ll leash you.”

I nodded in agreement.

Orion cracked his knuckles as he stared down at her.

She looked bored by Scorpius’s harsh words.

“You’re just an object,” I echoed more forcefully to get a reaction out of her.

She laughed like I’d made a joke.

Anger shot through me as she lazily lay back on the marble and stared at her pipe like it held the secrets to the universe.

The bruises under her eyes were so dark they seemed to glow against her pale flesh. On the wall above her, the stained-glass window depicted a crying woman on her knees. Her position was subservient. Broken.

Arabella held her fingers up to the chandelier light and made a shadow puppet on the wall.

Her attitude was a harsh contrast to the woman in the window.

It rubbed me raw.

Scorpius laughed louder like he was also trying to get her attention, and the sound was gritty and harsh in the quiet hall. He walked in a circle around her like a predator circling its prey.

“You know,” Scorpius drawled. “I’ve always thought of you as an object, but this just makes it so much sweeter. A little deceitful, slutty fae. Ours to hurt. Punish.”

Scorpius cocked his head and listened for her reaction.

She silently mocked him, then rolled her eyes.

Pointed her pipe at him like it was a gun and pretended to shoot him in the face.

Scorpius scowled.

Arabella stuck her tongue out between her teeth like she was concentrating and pretended to shoot him again.

My Protector cracked his knuckles. Loudly.

The feeling of wrongness, the quiet, and the ache in my chest intensified the longer we stood leering over her pathetic, prone form.

I wanted her on her knees but not like this.

This wasn’t obedience.

She’d basically fucked that pathetic nymph on the dance floor, but she wouldn’t even look at us. We had over a foot and a hundred pounds of muscles on the man, yet she’d give him her full attention and ignored us.

I wanted to kill the nymph again.

Everything was spiraling out of control.

Arabella made a pouting face at Scorpius and rubbed at imaginary tears. “Just want to let you know.” She smacked her lips and said in an exaggerated girly voice, “I’m sobbing. I’m super sad.” She popped the P and drawled, “Like, I’m completely devastated.”

She made a dramatic wailing noise, then burst into laughter.

Scorpius lunged for her.

Orion was quicker. He muscled himself in front of Scorpius and stood protectively over the girl.

None of us breathed.

My Revered was chest to chest with my Protector.

Violence swirled.

“Calm down,” Orion whispered to Scorpius and gently pushed him backward. My blind mate nodded and took a step away.

Orion slowly turned, and his expression softened. “Sweetheart, are you okay?” he whispered breathily to Arabella.

Scorpius and I scoffed.

He was such a manipulative bastard.

Arabella’s eyes glossed over as she instinctively smiled up at him. Her expression changed like she remembered he’d just snapped a man’s neck.

She leaned away from him and whispered, “Um, you just killed a man.”

Orion’s gentle expression darkened, and his eyes flashed with hurt that she was questioning his action. He stared down at her like he was lost.

She was hurting my Revered’s feelings.

The never-ending well of violence inside me expanded, and fire spread across my shoulders.

“You dare treat Orion so rudely?” I asked as the hall became feverishly warm. “You trap us by tying us to your disgusting presence, then dare to scoff at my Revered? He’s everything, and you’re nothing.”

I poured all my malice and hatred into my words.

Arabella chuckled softly, and the sound was husky. “All I did was point out that he murdered someone. Also, you think I’d want to be tied to your literal flaming ass for all of eternity? I couldn’t think of a worse fate for myself.”

Scorpius sneered, “Then why aren’t you afraid? You’re at our mercy.”

“And we have none,” I promised.

Flame shadows flickered across black marble, and for a second, dark-blue eyes shuttered as they met mine. From her expression, she was remembering how she’d boiled alive beneath my might.

The moment passed, and blue eyes became black.

Empty.

Ice cold.

She said in a monotone voice, “Because I don’t care. Never have.” Arabella laid her arched cheekbone against the floor as she exhaled smoke.

She grinned, and it wasn’t a pleasant expression.

Dust particles floated in the hall and shimmered as stained glass cast colorful shadows across my mates.

I’d never noticed how beautiful the academy was. It was peaceful. The architecture was grand and artistic, the perfect space for silent contemplation.

I shook my head at my whimsical thoughts.

I was losing my mind.

The slave tattoo must still be affecting me, because this was beyond weird.

I didn’t have peaceful thoughts. Ever.

And while I freaked out, Arabella lounged like a pampered princess that didn’t know the meaning of suffering.

She was a drug addict, and from what I’d seen on the dance floor, she was a slut.

She had no discipline. Sure, she’d trained beside us, but it had only been for two months, which was no time in the grand scheme of things.

We’d suffered for years and hadn’t complained half as much.

A sudden burst of excitement bubbled up my chest as I realized what this opportunity meant.

We would teach Arabella the meaning of true torment. I would teach her what it was like for your soul to ache every waking minute of your life.

It was the perfect plan.

When Arabella learned a tenth of the pain we lived with every day and Lothaire found our missing mate, then we’d get rid of her.

Even enchanted tattoos were just marks on flesh.

And flesh could be removed.

Our missing mate would never suffer the injustice of being tied to the lying bitch before us. His Ignis would not allow it; it was the least I could do for my missing Protector.

Everything would work out.

The sun god had named us and marked us as his kings for a reason.

It meant something.

Symbols of what we were: the eye on Scorpius’s throat and “Vidimus” on his shoulders; flowers along Orion’s collarbone trailing up to his jaw and the “Venimus” on his back; a sword on my neck and “Vicimus” across my shoulders.

Orion’s tattoo translated to “we came.”

Scorpius’s—“we saw.”

Mine—“we conquered.”

The ancient saying and art on our skin reflected the powers that lived within us. Like the colorful markings of a poisonous animal, they were a warning to others.

We were destined to do the unthinkable for the greater good.

Arabella mumbled something derogatory under her breath.

I swallowed down the urge to growl at her like a wild animal.

Instead, I said calmly, “You’re our slave, and your father isn’t here to protect you. I wouldn’t be saying shit under your breath if I were you. Especially since he can’t be around at all times to protect you. And you’re stuck with us.”

Scorpius chuckled. “You’re going to wish you were never born.”

“Too late,” Arabella whispered.

An unfamiliar pang twisted in my chest. Orion rubbed at his forehead like he had a headache as he stared down at Arabella with a sad expression.

Hardening my heart, I tugged him behind me.

I crouched so we were at eye level. “This is how it’s going to go.”

I clicked my tongue. “We own you.”

Click. “As soon as Lothaire finds our mate, we’ll cut the brand from your flesh and sever this bond.”

Click. “You won’t interfere with our mate bond forever, and you’ll never know our secrets. Not while I live and breathe.”

Instead of cowering like I expected, Arabella sat up, and her eyes shone bright with excitement. “Cutting off the tattoo will sever the bond? Then I’ll cut it now.”

Sun-god-damn it. I’d let my anger get the best of me, and I’d wanted to hurt her so badly that I’d inadvertently revealed our plans.

Everything about her had me off-kilter.

She pulled at her loose sweatpants and clawed at her skin like she was going to rip off the tattoo with her bare nails.

Annoyance sparked.

How dare she want to remove the tattoo? She should be honored to be bound to us.

I shook my head at the irrational thoughts and grabbed her wrist. It was pathetically small, and my fingers overlapped twice.

The girl was fine-boned, for fuck’s sake.

Gross.

She had long limbs, and the lean, cut muscles of a dancer.

Soldiers needed width. Thick muscles to protect us from the elements and weapons.

She wasn’t built for war.

We were.

Even Orion, who was built slightly shorter and leaner than Scorpius and me, was still covered in layers of impressive muscles. Our size, just like our tattoos, reflected what we were.

Power incarnate.

Arabella tried pathetically to wrench her arm from my punishing hold.

“Stop it,” I snarled. “You will not remove the tattoo until we find our fourth.” I tightened my hand until her bone creaked. “If you remove it, we’ll immediately have a new tattoo branded on you,” I lied through my teeth.

The ringing silence of our missing mate bond hung heavy around us and was testament to the fact that I’d never willingly agree to another binding.

Arabella saw through my ploy and scoffed, “If I remove it, you won’t ever find me. You have nothing over me.”

I exploded into flames.

She called my bluff so easily it was infuriating. Could she not be agreeable for five fucking seconds?

I held her tighter.

“But, Arabella, Daddy wants you protected.” Scorpius laughed as he crouched beside me. “We’re only in this predicament because he’s convinced you’re so weak you’ll be immediately killed.”

His milky eyes flashed with cruelty, and his sharp jaw was tight.

Scorpius had never liked Aran and had raged over Orion’s infatuation with the pathetic boy. Now he could do something about it.

I almost pitied the girl.

Almost being the key word.

Scorpius leaned closer so his breath fanned against both our cheeks. “Actually, you should cut the tattoo off.”

He shuddered dramatically. “I can’t wait to hear the sounds as you’re brutally murdered without our protection. You’ll scream for help, and we won’t move a muscle to assist.”

He smiled like he meant it.

I didn’t miss the way his hands were balled into fists or how his voice had the edge it always did when he was stressed and trying to hide it.

His words were cruel, but his body language didn’t match them.

He never showed weakness.

Growing up, Scorpius had been bullied ruthlessly for his blindness, since anything different was viewed as deficient. Devils were ignorant and quick to assume weakness even where there wasn’t one.

As a result, Scorpius saw the worst in everyone.

My Protector liked to terrorize people, before they could hurt him. And from the tension in his shoulders, antagonizing Arabella wasn’t coming easily to him like it usually did.

It was the damn tattoo.

The bitch was clearly a murderer and a liar.

Sure, Arabella’s blatant defiance was making it hard for me to think rationally, but it was still obvious that I needed her to submit.

Brutally.

She scowled at my words but pulled her hands away from her tattoo and looked past me and Scorpius. She stared at Orion sadly like he had betrayed her.

Her gaze was locked on my Revered.

Orion made a pained noise in his throat and mouthed, “Sweetheart,” as he took a step toward her.

Her expression cracked as he looked at her pleadingly.

Emotions swirled between them.

My soul ached.

I didn’t like this little moment for them. He was everything to me, and nothing would harm him.

Including her.

Orion reached down and grabbed Arabella. Before she could say anything, he hauled her to her feet and brushed dust off her shoulder like I’d done earlier with Scorpius.

“Don’t be mad, baby,” he whispered and gave her a small smile.

What was with the endearments?

Arabella flinched from his gentle touch like she’d been struck. “You shouldn’t have killed a man for no reason.”

Orion stared down at her without blinking, like he was trying to figure out his next move.

They were stunning together.

Arabella’s pale skin and blue hair contrasted with his golden skin and white-blond hair. Both of them were unnaturally pretty. An image of my dark-bronze skin tangled with theirs in a writhing mess of limbs played in my mind.

I forgot to breathe.

Scorpius tried to pull Orion back, but he lunged forward to avoid his grip. Arabella stumbled as she was knocked backward with a wince.

For a second, she looked just like her boy disguise.

Memories of drowning, punching, force-feeding, and burning her flashed through my mind.

I’d thought we’d been training a male soldier, someone strong who could handle war.

I swallowed bile.

No. She did it to herself.

I raked my hand across my shaved head and breathed roughly.

Everything was a tangled mess.

Orion frowned as Arabella rubbed at her sternum where she’d been pushed, and he moved toward her with wide eyes.

“Please don’t take another step closer,” she whispered to Orion as she stepped away from him. Her eyes were wide and filled with pain.

She clutched at her stomach protectively.

The pink cherry-blossom flower petals on Orion’s neck began to drift down his collarbone. They swirled and spun. It only happened when he was close to losing control.

The girl was triggering him.

“Find your center,” I ordered my Revered and wrapped my arms around his chest. His elevated heartbeat pounded against my palm.

“What’s happening?” Scorpius tilted his head with confusion.

I squeezed my Revered tightly and said, “He’s losing control.”

Scorpius’s eyes widened.

Orion rarely lost control. I did.

Scorpius pressed himself against Orion’s back so he was sandwiched between the two of us.

Together we cocooned him with our strength.

Physical contact with one another was the only thing that allowed the three of us to squelch the chaos that lived inside us.

Scorpius whispered in Orion’s ear and talked him through breathing exercises.

I clung to my Protector’s words and focused on my breath, embarrassed that I needed the grounding as much as Orion did.

Lightning struck the walls, and sparks crackled.

The three of us embraced.

We breathed together.

Arabella stared at the stained-glass window and smoked like she was giving us privacy.

When the petals finally stopped drifting across Orion’s neck, I reluctantly pulled away from my mates.

Scorpius kept his head resting on top of Orion’s. Mollified that Scorpius was still protecting our Revered, I turned to deal with the problem.

“Hey.” I snapped my fingers. “Look at me.”

Arabella turned around slowly but kept her eyes on the wall behind me.

I stalked closer to her.

“Are you purposefully doing this to us?” I snapped with agitation. “Is this a game to you?”

Arabella inhaled, then slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke. “Sorry I didn’t respond, I was purposefully ignoring you.” She smirked. “The only thing I’m doing right now is trying to find a scrap of will to live.” Her dark-blue eyes stared at the wall. “And I’m not finding it.”

She picked at the scab on her lower lip until it dripped blood. Her fingers smeared it around her lip as she twirled her pipe.

Before I could stop myself, I reached forward and buried my fingers in her ridiculous blue curls and yanked her face toward me. “Look at me.”

Arabella kept staring blankly at the wall.

Bitch.

She blew out another puff of smoke but said nothing else.

I leaned forward so my lips were pressed against the sensitive shell of her ear. “Look at me, you lying cunt,” I whispered harshly as my tongue flicked against her warm skin.

Frost and spice exploded across my tongue.

Arabella’s pupils blew out wide, and she shivered, then she flinched like I’d hurt her.

She started fighting like a hellcat.

A strange sense of relief filled me as light came back to her eyes and she struggled against my hold. Fingers still tangled in her hair, I was surprised at the silky texture of her wild blue curls.

I rubbed a smooth lock against my cheek.

I taunted softly, “You need to figure your shit out, slave.”

Blue eyes flashed black.

“Stop fondling me like a freak. And if you think I’ll act like your slave, then you need to be lobotomized. Actually—” She paused like she was thinking. “I recommend just preemptively euthanizing yourself. Your personality is messy, and I don’t see it improving.”

I missed when she’d been staring at the wall in silence.

Aggressive wheezing filled the hall.

I turned around to glare at my mates as I tightened my fist around her curls and yanked her head back as punishment.

“Really?” I asked as Scorpius bent over laughing and Orion smiled widely. “It wasn’t even funny.”

Scorpius shrugged. “You have to admit that was a good one.”

“Thanks.” Arabella grinned proudly.

Blood dripped off her chin from the scab on her lip, and I had the irrational urge to lick it off.

What is wrong with me?

Scorpius scoffed at her. “But your delivery was weak. Your words were generalized and nonspecific. If you want them to matter, hit where it hurts.”

“Oh, I’ll hit him where it hurts.” Arabella tried to slam her thigh into my dick, and I just barely avoided her move.

Yanking her roughly to the side, I shoved my knee between her legs to subdue her. I pressed myself against her just like she’d let the nymph touch her.

Unlike him, I fully dwarfed her frame, and she was completely at my mercy in the position.

She slammed her elbows into my kidneys.

“Stop fighting me,” I demanded as she refused to submit. “You let that nymph fucker touch you, but now you don’t like it? Make up your mind, slut.”

My throbbing dick was pressed against her, and it took every inch of strength I possessed not to moan at the friction.

She said coldly, “I was interested in him. Not you. Learn the difference.” She blew smoke into my face.

Arabella was ice, while I burned alive.

I shook her back and forth like a doll. “Keep speaking to me like that and I’ll wash your mouth out.”

“Wow, growling like an animal.” She made a face. “Very intelligent.”

I turned my wrist so my entire fist wrapped around her curls, and I yanked her head back at an awkward angle.

I opened my mouth to threaten her but got distracted by her scent.

It was unexpected.

I inhaled deeply.

Smoke and ice mixed with something so rich and tangy that I couldn’t put my finger on it. It was intoxicating.

“Why aren’t you afraid of us?” Scorpius asked as he moved closer, and Orion nodded like he also wanted to hear her answer.

I didn’t know why we were engaging with her.

She should be on her knees.

Pleading for the mercy we didn’t have.

Arabella shrugged. “If you hurt me, I’ll kill each of you. Then I’ll kill myself before the tattoo can regenerate any of our lives. Don’t worry, I’ve come up with a plan on how to end myself. I’ll rip out my heart and feed it to some type of cute woodland animal.” She smiled. “Aw, imagine a little teacup pig ruling from the fae throne. That would be adorable.”

“And you think,” Scorpius scoffed, “that you could take down the three of us?”

Arabella smirked like she had a secret. “Do you know how a fae becomes queen?”

Of course we didn’t.

We didn’t bother with the politics of inferior people, but I could guess. Monarchies in other realms always revolved around nepotism.

“You’re a princess. It’s pretty self-explanatory.” I yanked on her curls because I couldn’t get myself to release them.

I wanted to torment her with it.

Use her hair like a leash.

She made a face like she knew what I was thinking.

Red rays cast her too-pretty features in shadows as she said flatly, “A fae ascends to the seat of death by ripping out the current ruler’s heart and eating it.”

The words echoed.

She reached up and picked at the open wound on her lip. “I ate my mother’s heart, and now I’m queen. She was centuries old and known to be mad with unfathomable power. It wasn’t planned out.”

Her eyes were so dark they were black.

“I did it because she’d wronged me and I wanted her to die in the most brutal way possible.”

Vapor from her pipe swirled in tendrils around her.

Orion frowned, and Scorpius arched his brow.

I subconsciously tightened my fingers in her hair and dragged her closer to offer support. Of everything she could have said, this wasn’t what I’d expected.

Arabella smiled. “It was an uncontrollable fit of rage.”

She turned to me, and the full weight of her empty gaze slammed into me. “It will happen again if you try to hurt me.”

The words lingered like smoke.

“We will all die,” she whispered. “I promise.”

I forced myself to release her and step back. I refused to feel sympathy for her.

Every cell in my body cried with distress at the loss of her body heat. I liked her pressed against me.

I liked her under my control.

Orion made a wounded noise and stepped toward her. He blanched and whispered, “Sweetheart, you never should have had to experience that.”

She looked up at him with wide trusting eyes.

He took another step closer.

They were acting like they were alone. Like Scorpius and I didn’t exist.

Like my Revered cared more for her than his Ignis and Protector.

I pulled Orion back and snarled, “You’re disgusting.” The words tasted like ashes in my mouth because I meant them with every ounce of my being.

Arabella had also murdered Horace in cold blood.

It made sense.

She was one of those women who didn’t care about anyone but herself. We killed because we had to but never for personal gratification.

The nymph had touched what was ours, so he’d deserved to die. He’d groped her roughly, and she’d been too high to see that he was hurting her. We killed but only those who deserved it.

Arabella didn’t care. She was just like the whore who’d birthed me.

She nodded.

The ashes burned my throat like flames were eating me alive from the inside.

Scorpius shook his head. “Your plan is dumb. We’d kill you first before you touched us.”

Arabella pursed her lips. “Agree to disagree. Maybe someday we’ll find out.”

“If it ever comes to that.” Scorpius went impossibly still. “If you try to kill my mates, you better hope you’re already dead. Because the things I will do to you will make you wish you were.”

She balled her fists, and her features tightened.

In her profile I saw the shadow of Lothaire’s high cheekbones and arched brows. She had her father’s anger.

She was a worse version of him.

“We’ll see,” she snapped.

A muscle jumped in Scorpius’s jaw. “You better hope for your sake we never do.”

Arabella counted under her breath like she was trying not to lose control.

I tested her restraint and sneered, “You’re an abomination, and we’ll suffer your presence until we find our mate. Then I promise on the honor of my ancestors that I’ll remove you from our lives. By any means necessary.”

Before Arabella could respond, I turned away and pulled my mates with me.

I headed back to our room.

I was done arguing.

But as we walked down the hall, pain flared in my chest.

Whimpers echoed.

You must protect her, my subconscious demanded.

I gritted my teeth and ignored the tattoo messing with my thoughts.

Instead, I whirled around and snapped, “What are you waiting for, an invitation?”

Arabella stared for a long moment like she wanted to argue, then she jogged down the hall to catch up with us.

I pushed her behind us when she tried to pass. “Scorpius and I always flank Orion for his protection. He’s our Revered; he walks first. As our slave, you’ll walk behind all of us. That’s where you belong.”

“Sure, master,” she scoffed.

My dick jumped.

She had the type of brattiness I liked to break out of a woman during sex. It was all about the power dynamic.

Nothing else.

No. I don’t touch filth.

“Be careful how you speak to us.” Scorpius whirled around and reached out to drag his long pale fingers across her cheek.

His nails left five red streaks across her delicate skin. “We like to hurt women like you.”

He dragged his thumb through blood and painted her stupidly full lower lip.

She froze and blinked up at him.

Long lashes fluttered.

Scorpius pressed his thumb aggressively between cherry lips and made a rough sound in the back of his throat. The noise hit me in my lower stomach. I breathed out harshly.

Arousal pounded painfully.

I wanted my Protector beneath me, bulky muscles quivering as I owned him. I wanted to take him while he played with Arabella. He’d choke her delicate neck while I fucked him.

I adjusted my sweatpants.

Instead of freaking out like we expected, Arabella arched her brow and opened her mouth wider. She dragged her tongue wantonly over Scorpius’s thumb like a trained whore.

He jerked with surprise and pulled his thumb out of her mouth with a wet pop.

Arabella smirked like she’d proven something.

“But we won’t touch a slut like you,” I said as I tried to regain control over the situation. “You’re disgusting to us. You were more attractive as a man.”

Hurt flashed in her eyes, and she quickly masked it with a blank expression.

Good. It was true, after all. I was most attracted to the impressive strength of my mates. And when I used women, I preferred them voluptuous.

Not lean with muscle definition.

No. She wasn’t what I wanted.

Not at all.

“Trust me.” Arabella pushed her pipe between her lips and rolled it around like she needed something in her mouth at all times. “I don’t want what you’re selling. Just like your missing mate.”

Her words rang loudly in the quiet.

I pushed open the door to our room.

And slammed my flaming fist into the wall as I ordered, “Stay out of our way, slave.”

Marble and stone cracked against my knuckles. Core twisting, I punched viciously.

Somewhere behind me a bed squeaked, and Arabella said, “Don’t worry, I will.”

“Good.” I punched the wall harder until blood dripped down my forearms.

Everything was spinning out of control.

When a chunk broke and shattered against the floor, Scorpius roughly dragged me away.

He shoved me onto the bed, and he and Orion climbed on top to pin me to the mattress.

They held me down.

I bucked against them.

The problem with unimaginable power was it came with externalities that other people couldn’t comprehend.

I needed to control.

Every person.

My muscles tensed, bones ached, twenty-four seven with the urge to conquer.

If only I could have sex with my mates and know peace. Balance.

Burying my face roughly in Scorpius’s smooth, wide chest, I breathed in his warm, familiar scent. Bergamot and musk.

I couldn’t until we found our other Protector.

Orion ran his long fingers through my hair. He whispered endearments against my ear.

I tangled my hands in his silky hair and held him close against me. Let my mates pin me with their heavy weight.

It wasn’t enough.

How dare she taunt us about our missing mate? She had no idea how we suffered. The endless pain.

She’ll beg me on her knees while she sobs.

I was going to ruin Arabella.

Until she felt how I felt.

Broken.

Uncontrolled.

Every. Single. Day.