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“We need to hold on. The queens are coming for their crown, they’re growing into their strength. They’ll end this, sooner or later they’ll-” “Darius trained his entire life and still fell at the hands of that monster,” Frank breathed from the back of the room, the rest of Seth Capella’s old pack gathered close around him. “The Vegas could take decades to grow into the fullness of their power, to learn to wield it the way they’d have to in order to reclaim the throne from that son of a bitch. We don’t have that long to wait. We’ll all be dead long before they can-” “Enough,” I mooed, shoving to
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“Are you sure its untraceable?” Alice asked in a low voice, her hand moving to grip Frank’s knee like she was hoping the other Wolf might be able to offer us that reassurance. “It came from Portia Silverstone herself. She left the rebel stronghold so that she could focus on reporting the truth from the front lines, and she needs Fae like us to help her break that news. I met her in the back of Andromeda Place. She says she’s trying to get in contact with Tyler Corbin so that they can collaborate on stories and get the truth out there. If we want to expose all the fucked-up Orderist shit going
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“Keep looking at me like that and we’ll end up doing something we swore we wouldn’t,” I murmured, my blood heating at the liquid brown of her eyes. “Maybe I’m starting to think differently about that promise,” she said quietly. “Maybe I’m thinking that life is too short and can be stolen so briefly. So why deny ourselves anything in the time we have?” I swallowed the lump in my throat as I considered that, considered her.
Sometimes they were polyamorous, generally a group of females with one male, though there could be solo gender herds or even mixed groups so long as there was an acceptance of the dominant bull. Sometimes they weren’t sexual in nature at all, or they could be formed from a monogamous couple and their subsequent children.
“Milton?” a girl shouted from beyond the door, and I stilled in horror as I recognised Marguerite Helebor’s voice. “You have to run!” she cried. “Mildred is on the hunt and she’s on your trail. I know you’re all in there, please, listen to me!” “Shit,” I cursed,
I had no idea why she was helping us, but the frantic panic in her eyes was more than enough to force me into action, and I shoved the others towards the hidden passage as quickly as I could. “Why?” I asked as I backed into the gloom beyond the fire, Marguerite’s grief-stricken eyes meeting mine with a hollowness which gave me my answer before she even spoke the words. “Because I loved him,” she said simply. “And that bastard killed him. Now go.”
Marguerite Helebor had just risked everything to save us. So it looked like the Undercover A.S.S. had just bagged themselves a K.U.N.T.
“Cruelty is a construct of Fae, not us. When we are perched within the sky, we are neither good nor bad. We see all, we offer answers, we guide and gift, but we may take and destroy if the choices made below us invoke it.”
“Fate is unbalanced. The wrath of Clydinius wove your woes.”
“Clydinius wants you to keep the broken promise, warrior of the Vega line.”
“It is time for my end. My death is the gift of Fae, a gift all stars offer in their demise. It is why magic lives in your world, for my magic is your magic.”
My pulse thundered in my ears as I thought of Tory and Lance and Gabriel, of the people who would never find me in this watery grave if I didn’t make it out.
This was Vega territory, and if I ever got the chance to defend it, I’d damn well do so.
He was the epitome of the most reckless, soul-bursting love I had ever known. We were star bound, but more than that, we had fought for each other through laws and battlelines, blood and tears. We were meant to remain together, there was no alternative. I was done losing him and done with all the monsters who kept lurking at our door. Lance Orion was mine, on this plane and every other, and he was not going to be stolen from me now.
“What have you done to her?!” Orion barked at Lavinia. “It is the curse, pet,” Lavinia spat, her rage still sharp. “And you had better keep her well behaved because the curse will move along far quicker if I have to encourage the beast to feed more often. She will be mortal in a few weeks if this is how she behaves.
Three moon cycles is an awfully long time for such an advanced curse, Lance Orion. Are you sure she will survive it?” “You fucking bitch,” he snarled, his fangs on show.
“Darius didn’t make it.” “No,” I gasped, sitting bolt upright, refusing that fact with every fibre of my being. Because Darius Acrux was one of the strongest people I knew, he was a warrior, a creature as powerful as a deity.
“No, no, please. It can’t be true.” “I saw his body,” he said, his voice breaking as agony spilled into his eyes. “Lionel killed him. He’s gone.”
I yearned to be with Tory more strongly than I ever had in my life, and the torment that caused me was unimaginable. She might as well have been an entire universe away for how impossible it was to reach her now.
“Nebula Allies are the most precious of friends. They are rarer than gold, and far more valuable.”
Darius kicked off his shoes and dove headfirst into the gold, all of it cascading down beneath his weight. “I know I’ll be a Dragon because this feels so good.”
He folded his arms with a serious look. “It’s yours. Keep it.” I shook my head, trying to make him take it back. “If your dad found out-” “He won’t. That book’s been sitting there untouched for years,” Darius said. “Besides, it’s meant for a friend. And that’s what you are.”
Darius and I were friends regardless of what relationships he had with the Heirs. It was me and him, and nothing and no one would ever come between us.
“Listen to me, Blue. I loved you when your soul shone with all the starlight in the night sky, and I’ll love you now when your soul is the blackest you’ve ever known. I will love you whole and I’ll love you in pieces. It doesn’t matter, light or dark, I am here. That is what mates are for. It’s what I’m made to be for you by the stars themselves, so stop trying to shut me out.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just…when you look at me like that, I feel so damn undeserving of it after everything I’ve done. Darius was your best friend-” “And he loved you like a sister. He will be watching us now, cursing you out for feeling this way. And knowing Darius, he’ll be busy blaming himself for his failure. He won’t be thinking for a single moment that you were responsible for his end.”
I wasn’t sure it helped. I hated to think that Geraldine Grus was gone. That girl was one of a kind. I respected her and her unwavering loyalty to the Vegas, even if we hadn’t always seen eye to eye in the past.
“My King,” Lavinia said gently. “They are under my control. I am afraid I cannot allow it.” “Allow it?” Lionel hissed venomously. “It is not your place to allow me anything! I am the power here. I am the ruler of Solaria.” “And I am owed a debt from the Vega and her mate because Queen Avalon banished me to the Shadow Realm all those years ago.”
Only family is capable of that. And you cast yours aside. I love your sons, and I love Catalina; they’re the greatest treasures you ever had, and you lost them. Thank the stars you did, because they escaped the monster who tried to bend them to his will. They cut out all the pieces of you that were left in them too. They’re free of you now. Dead or alive. They’re fucking free. And you can never take that away from them. So live your hollow life and enjoy your hollow death. At least wherever I end up, there’ll be warm arms waiting to greet me.”
My twin was my other half. My brother my wings of guidance. My mate my soul-bound love.
“You never play with me anymore,” she said with a pout. “You don’t look at me the way he looks at her.” “Who looks at who? What are you talking about?” Lionel demanded, though there was an undeniable quaver in his voice that made my heart race. Holy shit, was the asshole Dragon afraid of Lavinia? “The Vampire and his Vega,” she spat, fury lining her words. “If you love me, then why do you not touch me anymore?” “We are at war, Lavinia,”
“You will have to be patient.” “I can be patient, Daddy.” Lavinia floated up to kiss Lionel on the lips, his relief a palpable thing as she gave in to the lure of his words, but then she opened the doors and tossed him through them like a sack of shit before slamming them shut in his face and locking them tight.
Darcy was unmoving on the floor, her limbs twisted awkwardly and burns covering her body. She was leaving me, and the moment she vanished, I’d vanish too. There was no life without her. She was the centre of my existence, my saviour, my warrior, my sunshine.
“Hurry up!” Lavinia cried, and I squeezed my eyes harder to block her out. There, at the very edges of her being was the last of Darcy’s power, swirling like embers in smoke. I drove my magic into hers, offering her everything I had to give, healing her as fast as I possibly could. “Take everything,” I commanded. “Take it all, Darcy Vega.”
“You can’t have him like that,” Darcy said in realisation, relief coating her words. “It’s the Elysian Mate bond. Lance, your eyes… they’re burning silver.” Whispers rushed through my head and the voice of the stars themselves trickled through my mind, their power rattling through the centre of me. “A gift, Libra, son of the hunter, for there must be a balance. A light to counter the dark. Your bond will be safeguarded with starlight from this day forward.”
“It’s okay, beautiful,” I promised her through a crazed smile that made her pause, her eyes searching mine as she took in this renewed strength in me. “She can’t have anything more from me than pain. I’m all yours. She can’t touch my soul; it’ll be whole and waiting for you when this is over. So let me bleed for you, my Queen. It would be a fucking honour.”
“What has she done to you?” a female voice spoke that didn’t belong to my mate, then healing magic washed into my skin, followed by a kiss of power that peeled away the worst of the shadows inside me. My eyes cracked open as the pain subsided and I rasped down a breath at the relief I was being offered, though it was soured by who I found there giving it to me. “Come to gloat?” I asked icily, dragging my hand from my mother’s through the bars of my prison and pushing myself up to sit against the back wall. It had been her hand after all, not Darcy’s.
“Of course not.” Her eyes widened and I realised she was taking in the silver rings that adorned my eyes. “I heard about your Mating, but seeing it now is just…” She trailed off, shaking her head in awe. “Is she good to you?” “She’s every good thing I forgot existed in this world.”
“You’re so like him...” She searched my features with an ache in her expression. “It’s so difficult to look at you these days. All I see is Azriel looking back at me, judging me like he always did.”
“He knew what you were,” I muttered, unsure why I was even bothering to entertain a conversation with her. “And what am I?” she asked in a shaky voice. “You’re Lionel’s little lap dog.” “No, baby boy, it’s not like that.” “Then what is it like?” I drawled, wondering what lies she planned on weaving for me now. Wasn’t she tired of all these games? I certainly was. “Lionel and I…we had history. We were together once, you know? When we were studying at Zodiac Academy. I was a foolish girl in love with him, with his power. The stronger he became, the more I fell into his shadow, but that didn’t
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“You mean you thought you’d just replace my father after he was done serving both of your purposes,” I snapped, fury making my blood heat. “It wasn’t like that. After a while, I came to love Azriel. We weren’t perfect but it was there for a time. It was born of you and your sister. There wasn’t anything we wouldn’t have done for you both.” “Well congratulations, Stella. I hope you’re happy with your life choices. You can save the tears for someone who actually gives a fuck though. I’m not buying them.” “You’re still my child,” she rasped,
“You can’t do this,” Stella gasped. “It’s already done. I can endure anything for her.” She shook her head, some dawning comprehension in her eyes. “Please, Lance. As your mother, I’m begging you. I’ll speak to Lionel. I’ll have him order Lavinia to release you.” “Where is this even coming from? I’m your disappointment. You disowned me a long time ago, don’t act like you’re some loving mother now. I’m not going to swallow your lies.”
“My surname isn’t Columba anymore. I’m not a dove, I’m a hunter. An Orion. I am your family whether you want me or not.” “You are no Orion,” I snarled.
It’s knowing someone, truly knowing them, and accepting everything they are even where you differ or clash. It’s making effort despite the differences, it’s apologies when they’re owed and forgiveness even when it feels impossible. And it took me so fucking long to become a man capable of those things, in part because of you. But mostly because of him. This false king you claim to love. A man who stole everything away from me and is still keen to take more. If you can love a monster unconditionally then that makes you a monster too.
But I know the truth of you. You’re corrupted by power and greed, and of course you love Lionel Acrux, because he is the epitome of those things. My father was worth far more than your superficial love ever could have offered him. He was brave and honourable, and he sacrificed himself so that the entire kingdom might have a chance at fighting this malevolent fate we’ve all been handed.
“You can forgive me, just give me a chance,” she croaked, and I saw the fear in her eyes of being all alone in the big, wide world, where everything she had put her faith in had abandoned her. “No. And I hope you live a long, arduous life all alone, with no one but yourself for company, because there’s no greater curse that I could wish on you but that.” “Baby, please. You’re my boy. My little hunter. I love you. I know things have been difficult, but I’ll make it right. I’ll get you out of here.” “And then what? Sign me up to your Acrux fan club?” I sneered. “No,” she whispered, inching
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“You and Clara were the best thing I ever had,” she croaked as she managed to compose herself a little and look me in the eye. “I wasted so much time being elsewhere as you got older, plotting and scheming, working out how you could both fit into this world Lionel and I were creating. I got lost in dreams of the future we were building. And for every inch of power I claimed, the deeper I fell into that fantasy land. I thought that once I seized the world with Lionel, everything would slide into place, but instead it’s shattered into a million pieces. Lionel holds no love for me, and now I look
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“I can see that there is no apology deep enough to fix us,” she breathed, a dark acceptance veiling her eyes. “It’s like you say - words mean nothing. I’ve failed in loving you. And now it’s too late to be the mother I should have been. You’re all grown up and full of sharp pieces because of me. The stars have offered you an Elysian Mate only to demand a terrible sacrifice from you. An unimaginable sacrifice.” She squeezed my hand, looking at me in despair. “You may not be mine any longer, but you are Azriel’s son through and through. I know he is watching you from beyond the Veil, and he’s
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“I’m fine,” she promised, though the way her throat bobbed told me something had happened. “What did she make you do?” “She gave me to Vard. He sifted through my memories,” she said, a flash of power in her eyes. “I shielded a lot of them, like you taught me, and gave him enough to believe he’d seen everything.” “Good girl.”
“She was an okay mother once. And I had my dad too. You’re the one who grew up alone when you should have had the whole world placed at your feet.” “I saw a vision of my parents on the mountain,” she revealed, a crease forming between her brows. “They could speak to me like they saw me. It was a vision for them in the past, but it was real for me.”
“What will happen if I turn mortal?” she whispered as our lips broke apart and I pressed forward, claiming her mouth again, murmuring my answer between kisses. “You won’t.” She drew back again. “Will your mate rings fade too? Or will you be stuck pining for a mortal you can rarely visit?” “Blue,” I growled, furious that she would even voice such a future. “I will save you.” “What if it’s already too late?” she said in fear. “Then I will find a way to tear my own magic from my flesh and join you in the mortal world,” I said, the words falling easily from my tongue. “Where you go, I will follow.
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