Undying Hate~ Book Three

First, the air was cold—enough for Sylvie’s breath to billow blinding white smoke around her head. Then, the groans of pain sharpened her focus, and she sat, blinking against a blinding yellow light.

No, the sun.

The sun was so much sharper than she remembered.

As Mila, Shan, Brodi, and Deacon came into view, she knew something was wrong; the women and Brodi struggled, while Deacon wasn’t struggling at all. He wasn’t even moving. Instead, he stared into the nothingness of the tree-saturated sky as the red of his eyes slowly leeched away into a dull green.

“Deacon?” Sylvie whispered, crawling closer to squeeze his hand. Its rigid coldness stilled her movements, and tears prickled her eyes. “Wake up...”

Shan sat first, still grimacing in pain, and a sigh escaped as she shuffled towards them. “Your job is done, old friend.” She closed his eyes as Sylvie watched on, full of regret. Shame. “Until we meet again.”

“I’m sorry,” Sylvie whispered to Shan, shaking when she remained still, hunched over her fallen comrade. They probably had centuries of history that were all gone because of her.

Mila sniffled and touched her shoulder with violently trembling hands. “It isn’t your fault,” she rasped.

Brodi coughed up a puddle of black tar, and a wave of fear crashed through Sylvie. “What’s happening to you?”

“All Shan asked Kol for was for us to make it safely to the Earth Realm. Nothing about our fate once we made it.”

“Fucking bastard,” Sylvie hissed, scrambling on her hands and knees to Mila as she tipped over backwards, convulsing.

“What do I do?” Her voice rose in pitch, hysteria taking over as Shan crumpled and Brodi’s flapping mouth failed to make any words.

“No, no, no. This is not happening.” Sylvie looked across the three of them one last time and stared at her shaking hands.

“Fuck it. Please work,” she begged, digging her dulled canine into her wrist. Biting until blood flooded her mouth, she poised her arm to drip into theirs when her skin stitched itself back up. That was new. Why the fuck was she healing so fast?

She held the warm liquid in her mouth and shrugged helplessly.

Oh, what the hell... She crawled to Mila first, looking the worst and pulled her chin down before letting the blood drip against Mila’s tightly clenched teeth. Some must have gone down as Mila’s convulsions eased and her fangs slowly grew.

Then, laying Mila down softly, Sylvie moved to Shan, repeating the process and emptying her mouth. She looked at her wrist and whined as she bit down again, suckling and holding the blood inside before moving to Brodi.

The whole situation felt oddly intimate, and nothing felt more like cheating than when she lowered her mouth above Brodi’s and drip-fed him blood from her pursed lips.

His eyes shot open, and she jerked back, spitting a spray of red mist over him in fright before coughing and choking on the tiny drops she inhaled. He pounded her on the back and stared as Mila and Shan sat up slowly, staring at her with wide eyes.

“Did I just fuck up everything?” Sylvie asked. She didn’t mean to bind them together; she just wanted to save their lives, and it felt like the right thing... the only thing she could do.

“It’s not that,” Mila whispered, touching her fingertips to her lips as she licked the last drops of Sylvie.

“Your bloodline is familiar.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“It means your father-”

The words were cut off by a sorrowful howl in the distance, and Sylvie stood, eyes wide. Were they close to home or somewhere wild wolves might hunt and eat them for dinner? The thought flitted by as dead silence followed, and she shuffled her feet in the dead leaves.

“C’mon.” Her whispers drew strange glances from the others, but she just ignored them, searching the expanse of trees.

The howl rang out again, closer, this time accompanied by frantic snapping and crunching of leaves. Footsteps. Yes.

Inexplicably she found herself drawn to them. She smiled tightly at her companions, whispered quickly, “Wait here,” and sprinted towards the sounds.

“Sylvie, wait!”

Her chest burned as she pumped her legs closer to the sounds.

Please, please, please.

Closer and closer, the howls sounded, the noise shifting to a mixture of barks as if it had caught her scent. Her chest and lungs ached as she ran blindly, weaving between trees and through scratchy scrub. She tried calling out, but words failed her as a figure appeared ahead.

In a rush of wind, yelps, and love rushing through her, she collided with the solid, cool mass. Her body spun with theirs in the underbrush, forcing a spout of leaves to spiral around them, and Elias’ voice, thick with emotion, filled her ears.

“You’re safe, Kitten.” He squeezed her tightly as they came to a standstill, and he kissed her hard on the lips as if he had forgotten what they felt like. The smile on her face broke their kiss long before she wanted to part with him, and after a few moments of pure bliss, he begrudgingly released her.

“What-”

Sylvie’s words cut off, and she cried out as stifling-hot, tattooed arms encircled her, the desperate hug squeezing the air from her lungs.

“You’re home,” Rowan growled. “Do you need me to kill those Vampires that came with you?”

“No, no!” she breathed out in a rush, her mate-riddled brain struggling to decipher what was happening, especially when Rowan passed her into yet another embrace, warm and tender and full of longing.

Kian.

“They’re with me,” she sighed as Kian dipped his lips to hers and stole a kiss, leaving her breathless.

“Can we help them, Rowan? I think they have portal sickness. One of them has already died.” Her throat squeezed, but the grief ebbed quickly as Kian’s grip tightened.

His brow furrowed, and he worked his lower lip between his teeth, but he nodded. “I’ll take them to Amira, but wait for me before you say anything. Please,” he added, breathily seeing her slight smirk at his attempt to order her around.

Sudden dread filled her as everything seemed too good to be true. Maybe this was another one of those erotic dreams. Just in case she was still dreaming, she pinched herself. The immediate sharp pain brought relief, though. She was really home.

“I will,” she replied to Rowan, burying her grin in Kian’s neck and kissing his throat. It was so warm against her lips. “But hurry. It’s fucking crazy.”

“It’s your father. He’s been trapped there all this time...”

Kerensa’s throat bobbed as she swallowed and nodded as if having an internal conversation before turning and leaving the room. Although Kerensa preferred to process her emotions privately, her expression almost forced Sylvie to chase after her.

Kian seemed to be having a similar crisis, his face twitching as he poised to speak. “How do you know it was him?”

She pulled her gaze from the door and blinked at Kian. “He was almost identical to you, but besides that, I’m not one hundred per cent sure. He said you always wanted a bonded that was, uh, like you, I guess. He didn’t approve of me or our relationship.”

Kian hummed and rubbed his chin while Elias moved across the room and pulled Sylvie onto his lap. She curled into him, his body, the most relaxing resting place she had been in ages. She could fall asleep right then, but it felt disrespectful to Kian.

“When you are all recovered, you should go to him,” Rowan suggested from his perch on the floor, the towel from his shower barely leaving anything to the imagination. “If they don’t have him any longer, then the Vampires wouldn’t be able to poach shifters any more, right?”

“But what about the innocent ones?” Sylvie asked quietly. “There was a prisoner I promised I would free. How do we get them out before all the turned fuck them up?”

Kian’s jaw worked as Elias tucked her tighter against him. “All I know is that whatever plan we decide. You are staying put.”

“Agreed,” Rowan grunted, much to Sylvie’s annoyance.

“Hey. I handled myself all right. Without any of you, thank you very much. You aren’t gonna put me on the bench for this.”

Rowan grumbled and got up to search for some clothes while Kian paced. “He can wait,” he finally said, reaching his hand to her. She uncurled from Elias and stood, linking her fingers with his as he pulled her into his warm chest.

“Are you sure?”

“He’s a bastard, Princess. Always was. He used Kerensa and me as collateral for his poor decisions, and I don’t even remember when he disappeared. One day I just noticed he had been gone for a long time, and when I asked my mother, she said he was banished. I didn’t ask why.”

Oh. That kind of made sense. “Oh.”

He shook his head and squeezed her until nothing existed except the two of them. A subtle shift in the air and a tug on her mate marks let her know Rowan and Elias had left the room, and she didn’t know why until Kian’s hands gripped her thighs and hoisted her around him in a bear hug.

His lips found hers, and she melted into his warm, soft kiss, the gentle grunt from him only spurring her desire further. While this wasn’t the reunion she had expected, especially after what she assumed to be earth-shattering news for Kian, she appreciated it nonetheless.

“Why did they leave?” she asked after he pulled away to let her breathe.

“We each decided we’d like some time with you for ourselves if that’s okay with you.”

“It’s okay, but... I like sharing you too-”

“Of course, and we feel the same, though, sometimes a bit of unhurried, one-on-one could do us all good. Everyone wanted to be with you first, especially after that astral walk you took us on. Or dream you probably thought it was.”

“My dream- I- What? You were- That was real?” Her mouth opened and closed as Kian carried her to the bathroom. He lowered her to the ground and undressed her as he nodded, her mind racing. “Oh, that’s embarrassing-”

“How could you find that embarrassing? We see and want every part of you. If anything, it made us want you more, hence why I only have an hour with you until I have to hand you over to Elias.”

She blushed hotly as he reached past her and turned on the shower faucet, a permanent grin etched on his face.

“I quite liked how eager you were to taste me, despite being trapped in another realm.”

“Fuck,” she bit her lip and palmed her flushed cheeks. He knew how to make her feel like a giddy schoolgirl again.

“Kian...”

“Yes, princess?” he was doing it again, his hungry eyes taking in her panting body as she backed into the warm spray of their shower.

“You look like you want to eat me.”

“Oh, I do. Let’s start with that-” He undressed, his hard cock springing free and bobbing as he lowered to his knees before her. His mouth lined up directly with her pussy, and she squirmed.

“Wait- No- you can’t!”

His sudden grip on her hips stilled her, as did the quick suction of his mouth to her, his tongue flattening against her clit and licking upwards. “Mmm, oh fuck, you taste perfect. Even better than your dream.”

“Kian,” she whined, back arching into the freezing wall tiles. She felt like she was going to slip.

“I’ve got you,” he whispered, his hot words making her hairs stand on end as he latched his mouth back onto her.

“Don’t let me fall.”

He detached from her, replacing his tongue with his thumb and shook his head, eyes full of adoration. “Never.”