Order of Scorpions

by Ivy Asher

swallow down my trepidation, suddenly noticing the flavor of terror in my mouth as though it crawled inside, died, and has been rotting on my tongue for who knows how long.

Auset looks at me. Her face is frozen and her body is stiff against the pain, but her eyes scream a different story. Like silver daggers, they rip into my soul in search of strength and comfort, and as much as I’m hesitant to trust who she is and what that means for me and my brothers, I can’t find it in me to deny her. My black gaze steadies on her moonlight-gray irises, and I offer what little I can through the strange tether that tightens between us. All the worry and mistrust sifts away as I look past the threat she could be and simply see someone who deserves more than this in life.

No. No. No. No. No! Her agonized wail rips into my depths and demands that I do everything in my power never to hear that sound torn out of her again. “Shhh,” Skull whispers soothingly as he smooths hair away from her face and tries to pull her attention away from what’s happening to her. “It hurts,” she pants. It breaks my fucking heart.

My every thought is pulled in the direction of Riall as though he’s the sun and I’m merely the day with no choice but to bow to him.

“You’re my brother and I don’t want to hurt you, but she’s my mate. If you don’t move, I will fuck you up,” I warn. “I’ll help,” Riall announces from behind me. Tarek lets loose an exasperated exhale. “You need to trust me,” he states evenly, like Auset walking out isn’t fucking with him too.

“You know the fae I hunt aren’t going to pull their hits. You’re not doing me any favors by going easy on me,” I pant as we both analyze one another, searching for an opening and working out a plan of attack that hasn’t been tried yet. “That’s what we’re there for,” he counters, as though that makes any sense. “They’d have to go through us to get to you, and no one gets through us,” he declares, and I stop moving, completely taken aback by that ridiculous statement. “You seem to be forgetting the fact that I won’t always be with you,” I argue. “You’re with us now; that’s all that matters,”

Riall made me four times the amount he made the others, which helped. Quick learner, that one.

The Scorpions don’t seem too fussed at my beastly ways, even if their impressions of me did matter. Which they don’t. Riall stares at my mouth like he’s wishing I’d tear into him the same way I attack a meal. Tarek puts more on my plate as soon as there’s room for it, and Curio adjusts himself in his seat…a lot.

aren’t going to win me anything. Not when Auset deserves better, and especially not when I’d rather memorize every part of her after she’s begged me to. I sigh at that thought, both eager for it and painfully aware that we’re not there yet. The little Moonling came back though, just like Tarek said she would. So truly it’s only a matter of time before fairy light dances across her skin as I press her back into my bed. I’ll map her body with my hands while my eyes and mouth trace a careful path over every inch of her. I want her gasps and her pleas, my name on her lips, first whispered and then screamed, while I work her over until she’s dripping with desire.

I can easily imagine how cleanup with Auset could become a new favorite pastime. The three of us will be all too happy to help her wash all the blood away and more.

I don’t say anything more as I pull the tacks out of the rest of the rind and lift off the top layer of the mold. I keep my thoughts to myself because all I can think is that’s my girl, and despite what happened here in the workshop today, she doesn’t want to hear anything like that yet.

The tightening in my chest unexpectedly loosens all at once, and I pull in a deep breath as though I haven’t been able to until now. Slowly I’m steeped in his presence, and everything inside of me that was tense with agitation and restlessness goes lax. He’s the touch of chaos I’ve been craving, and that realization slaps me across the face hard.

know I need to keep a level head, but his hands on my body might be my new favorite thing.

“Nobody actually means forever,” I contend. “I mean fucking forever,” he growls back, pushing away from the counter and closing the distance in two long strides. “My brothers mean it,” he insists, and he leans over me, forcing me to look up at him and the searing intensity in his gaze. “Fuck every fae out there. We’re not them. If you choose us, you’ll have us. That’s it,” he tells me vehemently, slashing a hand through the air in finality.

When Curio first stormed in here to reclaim his bed and his space despite me still occupying it, I thought I’d go mad. I was on edge at first, waking up to him every morning and falling asleep with him in here every night. I threatened to move to another room regardless of the fact that they were empty, but for some reason, I never followed through with that threat. Instead, I anticipated his possible ulterior motives and watched my back carefully, but nothing ever happened. Nothing bad ever happens with any of them.

“After all these years, I still can’t decide if the best thing in all the realms is incredible sex or the sound of some vile piece of shit breaking. It’s a tossup for me,” Rink confesses as the screaming suddenly cuts off and the faint sound of weeping takes its place. “How ’bout you, Poppet?” I ponder the question, my thoughts suddenly drifting to that night in the kitchen with Riall. The way he kissed me, what it did to my body all on its own merit. I don’t know if I’ll ever get it out of my head. My heart speeds up at the thought of what it might be like to have more. More than just his tongue in my mouth and the hint of fangs nipping at my lips. What would it be like to have him moving inside of me, kissing and sucking? A sudden image of Curio flashing me his cock makes me fidget, and my thoughts quickly pull him into the mix. How would Curio kiss me? What would he taste like? Would he watch or join if I let him?

“You made a decision. I can’t say whether it was right or wrong, but it’s done. In the future, I would like to be a part of these discussions. I feel as settled as I can, and I think it’s time to start preparing me for life outside of the castle walls.” “Fair enough,” Tarek concedes, and both Curio and Riall nod. A large smile sneaks across Riall’s face as he looks around at all of us. “Look at all of us being a team,” he teases, and Curio and Tarek both chuckle quietly.

I wasn’t lying when I told them that I feel as settled as I can. I also know that I wouldn’t feel that way without all of their help and support. I’m uncertain where any of this leads, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. I’m open to possibilities. I didn’t understand the importance of that before, but I get it now. I guess we’ll see where that takes me.

I have a feeling something bad is going to happen

“But then we met the Empress,” Tarek interjects from somewhere behind me. I pivot around, wondering if I’ll find some frail female clutched to Tarek’s side, or maybe he’ll have a scroll held ready in his hands to explain what they’re talking about. What I don’t expect to find is Tarek holding a scorpion the size of my foot.

Yesssssssssssss

“They’re an incredibly brutal species,” Riall provides, scooting to the edge of his chair and leaning closer with interest. “The female stings the male when he approaches her to mate, and then he stings himself until he either counteracts her venom or dies. Seems fitting,” he adds, his hazel eyes once again fixed intensely on me. I work not to fidget under the thick fervor that saturates Riall’s stare or to see any link in his description of fettik scorpions versus what me and my Scorpions are doing. What we do and what we are is brutal, but I’m not some creature that could end them because they want to claim me…am I?

They’ve taken something that most others would consider a threat, a hazard that should be immediately destroyed, and not only saved it, but respected and revered it. I’ve convinced myself that I could be nothing more than a passing fancy to them. I’ve done what I could to keep a firm distance, to not take what they say and do at face value. I’m always looking for ulterior motives and trying to stay several steps ahead of how they could turn things against me. But as I look at the Empress in all her alarming glory, held so gently in hands capable of ruthless violence and callous annihilation, I question the way I’ve been seeing things.

How many times will I watch the Scorpions sting themselves in an effort to prove the sincerity of their actions and words?

I’ve been tortured and beaten, violated and poisoned, abandoned and stripped of who I am for as long as I can remember, and I’ve had to survive it all alone. But now, as I struggle to find the surface of this suffering, I feel them. Hands caress my limbs. Fingers rake through my hair. Lips skim the shell of my ear as calm assurances pepper my skin. Their strength laps against me like rippling water as they try to pull me from the pain.

“It’s over,” Riall assures me, absently running his rough callused hands up my thighs again. But he’s wrong, because in this moment I know, without a shadow of doubt, that nothing is over, it’s all just begun.

I don’t know what I want to do about it, about them. I could spread my thighs further, offering Riall better access to the intimate parts of me. It would take the barest hint of pressure to guide Tarek’s arm from my waist and settle his fingers over my clit instead. His other hand could easily be redirected from my face to my breast, and if I demanded it, I know Curio would be all too eager to let me taste his lips. It would be no hard feat to turn the comfort they’re currently offering into so much more, but can I do it? Can I push for more from them when I don’t know what I’m willing to give in return? Handing over my body is the easy part; it’s what they might want afterward that troubles me. As though Tarek can hear my tumultuous thoughts, his hand drops from my face. I hold my breath, all at once eager and tentative about where I want it to settle. Is he going to make the decision for me? Will I let him? Long, thick fingers wrap around my throat, administering the barest hint of pressure as the short stubble of Tarek’s chin scrapes deliciously across the crook of my neck. “I can practically hear the debate going on in your head right now, Little Dagger,”

“Full moons, half-moons, crescent moons, all the moons, now just as deadly as my Moonling,” Curio tells me, and my eyes flick from the gorgeous little daggers hidden down my legs to his warm ardent eyes.

If the three of them are the bargain for my soul, they can have

Aaaaaaahhhhhhh

reaction. They’re not going to stop me? They’re not even offering a word of censure or a grunt of admonition. I study all three of the Scorpions’ faces, looking for traces that this is some kind of trick. I watch for any hint of doubt or concern, but all I see are three fae who are willing to do exactly what they said they’d do…give me anything and follow me anywhere. Their unwavering support and validation from the moment I woke up free from the ludere until now, takes my breath away. They stand guard around me, three of the most deadly and ruthless fae in all of the realms, ready and willing to ensure I get the retribution I need no matter the cost. I don’t know how I ever thought that I was just a game to them, a simple passing fancy. How did I not see sooner what’s etched so plainly on each of their faces, that I’m the everything they swore I was right from the beginning, and now…they are everything to me.

They’re mine, and we’ll possess and protect each other long past our last breaths, because even death will know it has no claim here.