Order of Scorpions

by Ivy Asher

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.

“It’ll get easier in time,” he assures me, and I’m not entirely sure if he’s talking about using my thura or wading through what was done to me. “Until then, I’m always up for the hard way.”

I know who I am to them and who they are to me, and I’m ready for anything and everything that comes next.

“You are not defenseless. You are not at their mercy. You are the dangerous one now. You are their reckoning.”

They’re mine, and it’s time each of us cements that unshakable truth.

Fuck respectful. I want feral.

They’re bastards. Each one of them is a fucking scoundrel in every possible way…and I loved every moment of it.

“If I die today, it will be the freest and happiest I’ve ever been in my life. What you and your brothers have given me is so much more than I ever dared to dream. I will take my last breath with no regrets in my heart, needing nothing more than what the three of you have already given me.”

“We would follow you. There’d be no choice in it. Where you go, we go,”

“Then follow me,” I whisper back. “What do we have to fear from death? We are its faithful servants, it can give us this.”

“Don’t let might and could rob you of what is right now.”

I want the keys to my past. I want answers. But I need a future with my Scorpions more.

“No resemblance to a slave we know, but they could definitely pass as kin to a goddess we often cross paths with,”

Who needs romantic overtures and jewels when you can have fights to the death and the torturing of your enemies?

Something infinitely strong and otherworldly snaps into place between us as he brands my throat with his fangs. It’s a homecoming, a uniting, a claiming of my blood and my soul.

“I can’t wait to tell Rink. We thought for sure you all had your work cut out. Auset, I’m so thrilled. You’re an incredible treasure, and I can’t wait for the brothers to show you just how incredible you are every day for the rest of your life!”

I’m once again astounded that we found her, that she’s ours—or rather we’re hers as she likes us to concede whenever we’re feeling particularly possessive. I’ll never stop being in awe of that, because we are, in every possible way. We’re hers.

“I’m done measuring cocks. You think yours is a prized piece, but we both know mine is bigger and better. Either prove that what you say is true or fucking die and stop wasting my time.”

“We can still give her a show, but it’d be more something to remember us by and less don’t make me cut you.”

“I was already a monster; you just showed me how to embrace it.” “Awww, Beasty!” Riall coos, picking me up and twirling me around. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me!”

“Mind your fucking tone,” I snap at her before I can stop myself. Shit. This fae makes it hard to not want to deck her. I know I need to play this right, be whoever it is they think I am, but I’m not going to tolerate anyone shitting on my Scorpions for any reason. I love my cloak. I was in awe when Tarek draped it over my shoulders.

“You speak to me like I’m a child. Does that make you reckless or daft?”

“Turns out you’re both reckless and daft,” I whisper to her as she chokes on her own blood. “If only someone had taught you to never turn your back on a Scorpion.”

“You could feel it?” I ask hoarsely. “What they were doing to me all this time…you knew?”

The Scorpions are here.

But I’m not trying to escape. I’m trying to make myself easier for the Scorpions to find.

“You want to rule the realms, and yet you can’t deduce what’s happening here.” I tsk and shake my head with exaggerated disappointment. “Not a promising start.”

“Your name, to start. Eventually your lifeless body at my feet, but I’m in no rush.”

“Oh, did I forget to mention,” I taunt as I feel my Scorpions step out from the shadows behind me. “I’m not alone.”

They look like wrath incarnate, and they’re here for me. Their tender touches and their powerful presence wrap me up in strength and fortify me in all the ways I desperately need right now.

I’m not a princess, but I’m sure as fuck not a decoy or a sacrifice either. I’m a survivor. A disciple of death. A purveyor of pain. I’m a Scorpion, the best of the fucking best, and it’s time to show these moon-blessed bastards exactly what that means.

“How can you be such a monster?” she snarls. “What is wrong with you?” I press my knife harder to her throat, ignoring the stinging twinge I feel at the front of my own. “Not a fucking thing, princess,” I growl right back. “I’m exactly who all of you abandoned me to become.”

“There is no right time! Are you daft or just a coward?”

“So why now? Why fight today?” I press as the Scorpions move to surround me. “Because I can’t let you kill everyone,” she answers simply. “And you’re right, I haven’t been strong enough to lead, but it doesn’t mean I can’t change that. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity, and I decided that you’re it.”

And she called me the monster.

I’ve found my family. I have my clan, and they wouldn’t sell me out or hand me over for anything in this forsaken fucking world.

“I can admit defeat. As much as I’d like to be able to light things on fire at will, I don’t think it’s in my destiny.” “It’s probably for the better; you’re deadly enough as it is,”

“You’re probably not going to be able to reconcile the girl who did that with who you are now, Beasty. You’re going to drive yourself mad trying to make sense of that. What’s the point of being pissed at a ghost?”

“I don’t loathe her. I suppose that should be somewhat comforting.” “I’ll count that as progress,” Neith declares as she walks up behind me, a cheeky twinkle in her silver gaze. “There’s an ebb and flow to it. I wouldn’t get too excited,”

“You’re going to cause trouble for me, aren’t you?” I accuse with a cocked eyebrow, but there’s no real bite in my tone. “That’s quite audacious for someone who’s wearing my face and tied to my life,”

Maybe all any of us can do is offer justice when we can. We can attempt to right the wrongs that fall into our path. Nothing more, nothing less.

“Can I count on you, if I need help or anything?” she asks simply. I shrug. “It’ll depend on what it is, and if I’m busy washing my hair or napping, you know, the important things.” “Naturally,” she replies with a smooth chuckle. “Same,”

“I hope the moon watches over you and you find everything you deserve in this life.”

“Toughen up, princess,” I playfully chastise, and she huffs out a laugh and shakes her head at my antics. “I guess if you need anything, stab yourself or something,” I tell her as I move toward the Scorpions. “That can be our signal,” I call back over my shoulder. “Or we could just send a missive,” she suggests alternatively. “Where would be the fun in that?” “You’re a monster,” Neith teases with a laugh. “Says the bigger monster,”

“It’s hard,” I admit, my voice cracking from the overpowering adoration I feel right now, and Riall pulls me into his lap and runs his big hand down my hair. “I think about how horrible and fucked up everything has been, how unfair it all was and what it’s done to me. Then I look at you three and realize that there would have been no path to you if I hadn’t gone through that. I just wish the pain of it all didn’t still linger,”

“I don’t know if the hurting or the grief ever really stops or if we just get better at living with it. In the end, I did find you, I found this, and it’s more than I ever dared to hope for.”

“You might have needed us, Auset, but we needed you too.” “And we always will, Beasty,” Riall adds. “You’re not alone. The fucked-up shit is behind us.”

We are the dealers of death that creep from the shadows. We are the owners of each other’s destinies. We are the Order of Scorpions, and our reign begins now.