“This,” Briar giggled, looking between both of us with an incredible smile that radiated through her entire being, “is the best present I’ve ever gotten, so don’t worry about me.”

  I didn’t know if it was just the way the town looked, with its gorgeous lanterns glowing through the trees as Jack-o’-lantern faces illuminated every walkway, but the usual stoicism I existed with was replaced by a warm optimism that felt terrifying and exhilarating. I’d been blessed by fate with two mates, and I wanted nothing more than to spend my eternity with them. Right now, well, it felt like that might actually be possible.

  “As a being without a birthday who’s never received a gift at all,” I lifted Briar’s hand to my lips, kissing deeply before turning to Sez and meeting his fuchsia stare with my glowing yellow one, “I agree.”

  “You two are a bunch of saps. Let’s go get free candy.”

  Our demon yanked on our hands, and Briar and I tumbled along after him, laughing like fools. When Sez had gotten us inside the park, complete with our own large cups of cider with a cinnamon stick poking out, he hauled us toward a bench in the back corner. A sizable fake cauldron of candy had been set out in front of a central pavilion, and he jogged over to snatch a handful for us all to share.

  “Gross. So much of this is fucking Bit-O-Honey.” Sez grimaced, doling out the chocolate and lollipops among us.

  “I actually like those.” Briar held out her hand. “I mean, yeah, they do get stuck in your teeth no matter what, but they taste good. Honey is one of my favorites.”

  “You are welcome to mine, too.” I dropped the sweets in Sez’s hand again. “I don’t eat.”

  The two of them blinked at me before Sez broke the silence as usual. “Umm, that’s a total bummer. And not technically true if you count the blood thing.”

  Briar’s eyes flared, and she smacked Sez in the arm. “Dude! Careful.”

  As if on cue, three children approached us, each dressed as a character from a TV show I didn’t know. That was my best guess, anyway.

  “What are you supposed to be?” The tallest asked, a girl in a red outfit with matching red hair and a pocket watch.

  “Oh, umm,” Briar glanced over all of us, a smirk appearing at the corner of her mouth, “I’m a witch, he’s a demon, and they’re a reaper.”

  The children paused, considering. At last, the smallest one, a boy dressed in some type of blue catsuit, shook his head and said, “Nuh-uh.”

  He pointed to Briar’s head. “You’re not wearing the hat.”

  She smiled falteringly, her brows pinching together. “Oh, right. Well, umm, I think I lost it.”

  I reached behind the bench where the children couldn’t see.

  “Oh, sorry. I forgot to return it to you. Here.”

  Lifting my hand back out, I produced the witch hat I’d conjured up from a bit of smoke and set it on Briar’s head. The crooked peak stretched tall over her, and the thick fabric was sturdy and gently creased around the wide brim. Adjusting it so that it tipped back, Briar glanced over to me with a tiny grin.

  “You’re a terrible jokester, Shaed. Thank you.”

  The gratitude was heavy in those two words, and I felt naked under Briar’s gracious stare. I wasn’t accustomed to praise or thanks, especially not from a mortal, and it was a little uncomfortable to wear.

  “Okay, now you’re good,” said the little boy, and the three children ran off into the park after Sez deposited his fistful of candy into their shared sack.

  “I like it,” Sez nodded, running his eyes over the hat, “but I still think you look best naked.”

  Briar laughed, swatting at him again, but then she let out a long sigh and looked around the park and toward the rest of the small town.

  “We’re not going to find that warlock today. There’s no way to track him with all these people. And I can’t get a good read on his emotional signature in all this chaos.”

  The disappointment was evident, and I took her hand as I stood up off the bench. “You’re right. It is likely best to resume the hunt once more of the night has passed and fewer children roam the streets.”

  “Ugh, I hate to wait that long. He could be getting stronger while we sit around and do nothing.”

  I cocked a brow at her, shooting a glance to Sez, which he immediately understood and answered by standing up and hovering near Briar.

  “Who said we won’t be doing anything?” I smirked, letting a little bit of Sez’s impulsiveness rub off on me. “On the contrary. We’ll go to the woods, near the lakeshore, and honor this All Hallows Eve with a little revelry under the moonlight.”

  Ducking her chin, Briar regarded us and took a step back. “Revelry? And just what did you have in mind, Shaed?”

  “Sometimes,” I leaned down toward her ear, whispering as Sez helped me to walk Briar deeper into the shadows where we wouldn’t be seen, “the best way to clear your head and gain new momentum for the path ahead is to stop thinking and worrying and be completely in your body.”

  She shivered against me, goosebumps rippling over the bare skin of her neck and chest. When both of us were sure that it was clear, Sez and I disapparated and took Briar to the depths of the woods near her house, the lake glinting in the moonlight through the treeline at our right.

  Briar stumbled only slightly, looking between us with wide eyes as she took in her surroundings.

  “Now, do you think you can do that, my belladonna?”

  Swallowing hard, Briar flicked her stare to the ground before returning those sapphire eyes to mine and nodding.

  Allowing her to back up, I held my ground with Sez right next to me. When he let out a low rumble, his form flickering to his more demonic one, I mirrored his change, letting the “human” guise I usually rested in to fall away. As a howl echoed in the distance and a raven’s caw sounded overhead, my shadows pulsed around me, hungry and impatient.

  Nervousness bloomed from Briar’s scent, making Sez’s and my essence in her blood well to the surface. I turned to him, smiling as I nodded and signaled it was time.

  As one, my cotton candy pet and I let the power of our voices slip through the air toward Briar on a single word.

  “Run.”

  Nineteen

  Run, Run, As Fast As You Can

  Briar

  Twigs snapped under my feet as I ran as fast as my legs would carry me. The hat Shaedir had conjured me quickly flew off my head, lost to the thicket of trees and bushes that sat to the west of the lake and blanketed the path that led to the coven house. Without reason, since we hadn’t talked about it, I believed that all I needed to do was make it that far. If I made it to the house, I would have proven myself.

  I wasn’t sure who exactly I was trying to prove anything to—likely myself more than Sez or Shaedir. But still, it was my goal: get home, and in the proverbial sense, I’d win. It was also the smart place to “entertain” ourselves since the coven would be out at the lakeshore preparing the protection spell and Samhain magic to keep the Veil guarded.

  But I definitely had a feeling that was easier said than done.

  Even if the two of them silently agreed not to cheat and disappear, they were undoubtedly faster than I was. I was just glad that I’d chosen to wear pants and boots. I knew I wouldn’t be able to run for shit if I’d gone with the typical Stevie Nicks look of fluffy layers and too much skirt.

  Fucking hell, my lungs are burning.

  It wasn’t that I was horrendously out of shape. I enjoyed the occasional frolic through the woods or hot yoga class in town, but sprinting was not my thing. I liked slow and steady. This was not that.

  “Briar.”

  The singsongy tone of Shaedir’s voice sent a shiver through my spine, and my steps faltered. It wasn’t enough to get me to trip, but I slipped down a tiny slope at the base of a tree, and I had to catch myself on the trunk.

  Bark bit into the palm of my hand, and I held back the need to curse. My coat was far too fucking hot now, too. Taking the thing off, I draped it over the low-hanging branch near my head. I could summon the jacket back later, and if either of my mates were going by scent, maybe it would confuse them for a second.

  Not that I really wanted to keep them from finding me, of course. I just wanted to impress them first. You know, before they fuck me silly. Talk about a good distraction.

  Leaving the tailored cloak-like coat to hang, I crept slowly further to the west, hoping to push through a thicker section of woods and then jut back over once I’d put a few more feet between us. The ground on this side of the path was a bit less squishy than it was on the side closer to the shore, and it did help me get running at a faster speed.

  That was the last of the favors it did me, however, because as soon as I climbed up the bank that led up to the footpath that I used to get home all the time, the root that I stepped on broke. As it did, a massive rock that it had been entwined with tumbled down the few feet to the area under the path and landed with a loud thump.

  “Shit.”

  I immediately hopped into a sprint. The commotion had been less than quiet, and I just needed speed at this point. I just had to hold out long enough to get to the house. That was it.

  As I came around a steep corner, pulling myself forward by the wooden handrails on the side of the stairs that went up, Sez’s glowing eyes forced me to slam the brakes, and I nearly fell to my ass.

  “Dammit.”

  “Aww, don’t be too disappointed, cutie,” Sez smirked. “At least this way, I get a few moments with you before Shaed comes and spanks my ass for taking off without them.”

  My heart hammered against my ribs, but based on Sez’s words, I saw a unique opportunity ahead. I wasn’t one to do the commanding; I knew this about myself from day one, and still, that sliver of dominance that bubbled to the surface whenever I saw Sez was growing stronger.

  Standing straighter, I put a hand on my hip, regarding Sez, with a smirk of my own as I let his magnetic sex magic swell in my blood.

  “Did you break a rule, Sez? That’s not being a good boy. What would Shaed say if they were here?”

  A flicker traced over my demon’s pink eyes, and he ducked his chin back as he squinted at me. “Probably something ineffectual. I don’t like listening to the rules. I like being naughty.”

  The unspoken flip in our dynamic was seen and recognized by both of us, and Sez gave me a challenging grin. My blood hummed, and the need to make him get down on his knees and find that hidden “good boy” within him burned brighter.

  “I’m sure you do, Pinkie. Probably,” I straightened my spine, drawing from my little-used well of confidence, “because you’re a dirty, little pain slut. Don’t think I didn’t see how you reacted before.”

  Sez’s eyes flared with excitement, and he stepped forward, closing the distance between us to a few inches. I knew that Shaed had to be watching from somewhere, and I only hoped that I was making our big, bad Bone Daddy proud.

  “Move, pet. I want back to that house.” I gestured with my chin up the path.

  “And what if I don’t?”

  Smiling, I pressed myself to Sez’s chest before I wound my fingers up through his hair. With a solid yank, I got him down to my level, hovering my lips over his as I spoke.

  “I’ll just have to punish you. Shaed might have smoke, but I have fire.” I let my fingers glow with heat, holding them over his neck. “And you’d look so pretty with a cute little heart burned right into your neck over these teeth marks.”

  “Goddamn, witch.” Sez’s eyes rolled closed, and I felt his cock rub against me, hard and long and ribbed with those delightful piercings. “Here.”

  Without looking, Sez bamfed us up the walk a few steps, but he didn’t get out of my way.

  “Cute. But that wasn’t obeying my command, now was it?” I lowered my finger to his neck, the heat there turning his lightly pink skin a darker red, which forced Sez to his knees. “Naughty, naughty boy.”

  I drew the bubbly heart shape, Sez’s skin reddening beneath the magic until a precise design was blazed into his skin just enough to stand out from his rosy flesh.

  “Fuuuck,” he groaned, his hand going to the square collar of my black, long-sleeved shirt in an effort to pull the thing away from my breast. “You’re too fucking good at that.”

  He lowered his mouth to my collarbone as I tightened my grip on the roots of his hair. Sez rubbed against me, roughly tending to his needy shaft in any way he could. It felt deliciously powerful to be lording over him like this, to have my demon so hungry for me that he risked pulling out his hair for just a taste of my skin.

  “Taste me. And then get me back to the damn house before Shaed, pet.”

  “Anything, gorgeous,” Sez murmured against my breast, yanking the fabric away so that he could suck my nipple between his teeth.

  His little fangs pierced my skin again, and he lapped at me as my blood welled to the surface. My pussy clamped down around nothing, wet and ready for so much more. I wanted to push these limits as far as my mates would let me. I wanted to feel indestructible while completely giving up myself to the experience. It was a perfect combination, having Sez to dominate as Shaed ruled over both of us, and I was the luckiest damn witch on earth.

  In a flash, we were back at the coven house and in my room. My eyes flew open as the rush of traveling spun my head, and I pulled Sez away from my breast roughly.

  “I want every toy and trick you have brought here.” I eyed him as he knelt in front of me. “Especially ropes…and wax.”

  Lust-lidded, Sez’s stare focused only on me, and in a blink, my room was decked out as good as any renowned BDSM club.

  “Perfect.”

  A raspy growl sounded behind me, and I spun around to see Shaed standing in the doorway, their human form gone and their blazing, golden eyes locked on the display Sez had set up.

  “Indeed it is. But,” they stalked forward, crossing the room in a waft of black smoke, “I think you both know that there will be some punishments to deliver.”

  I was frozen in place from the rush of rising lust and fear. It mixed into an intoxicating elixir, and my cunt fucking wept for everything these two could do.

  Perfect, indeed.

  Twenty

  Heaven, Anise, Cages, & A Pair Of Sounds

  Sez

  Shaedir’s voice was a velvet needle threaded through my brain that went straight to my cock. They offered a malicious smirk as they stepped farther into Briar’s room, using their magic to close and seal up the door. My nerves hummed as he clocked me with an icy glare, and my dick twitched, practically leaping off me to get near them.

  “Oh, this will be fun,” they drawled, and as they reached level with Briar, Shaed ran their molten gaze over the room. “And just where did you get all this?”

  Grinning, I let my head fall to the side, exposing the new mark I wore on my skin thanks to Briar. “Hell. It’s real damn handy to have a full cupboard back home at my disposal.”

  Shaedir pressed in closer to me, and when they reached out to push down on my chest, they barely had to do any work before I fell to my knees in front of them.

  “That is handy. Hell has a unique blend of tricks, I see.”

  Briar circled around behind me, leaning over so that she could drag that fire-poker finger through the back of my shirt. The thing split cleanly down the middle, going by the way the two halves flopped over my shoulders. I didn’t bother trying to hold on to it, simply letting the destroyed tee fall to the floor.

  I could feel the phantom movements of the ink I’d tattooed into my skin, the swirling of the intricate shapes like branches wafting in the wind. The hounds roamed in tight circles over my arms, and the chimera roared silently over my stomach.

  “Sure, but you can just pull things from smoke, Bone Daddy. I’m sure stealing a trinket or two from your home base would be easy as pie.”

  In a flash of movement, Shaedir rammed their fingers through my locks, yanking my head back by the hair as they towered over me. I was lost in the flaming gold of their eyes, which poked out from the dark recesses of their mask-like skull face.

  “It's a gate to the underworld, not a Come'N'Go gas station, pet.” They smirked down at me, the cracked smile carved through the bone tilting up on one side. “If that applies to anything in this room, it’s certainly you.”

  Hissing as I leaned into the pull, needing that ache in my scalp to spread through my entire body, I grinned up at them.

  “Oh, I’m so very here for the coming.”

  And then a zinging line of pain blazed over my shoulders, and I knew immediately that Briar had dragged her finger over my skin again. Fuck, yes.

  “I’m sure you are,” Shaed’s voice cut through the delicious haze of pain that overwhelmed my mind, taking me to that sub-space where I didn’t have to be anything but an enthusiastic participant, “but you disobeyed. Coming isn’t going to happen for a long while. And when it does…”

  Shaedir let the sentence hang, releasing my head with a shove as they raked their claws down my front until they hit my pants. There, they tore the fucking things to shreds, and my cock bobbed free, hard and eager.

  “You’ll be my good boy and cry for me like before. And maybe I’ll stop right there. Or maybe,” they smacked my erection, sending a lick of pain down the shaft to my fucking toes, “I’ll make you do it again and again until I’m sure that you’ll never want to come again.”

  The threat warmed my insides, making all those terrible bratty instincts flare to the surface. I knew it was what got me in trouble. I knew that The Boss hated it. He’d respond how I wanted him to, though—using me too roughly and knocking me out.

  Shaedir wouldn’t do that. There was a sadism behind his actions, the malicious desire to see me beg, to see Briar be pushed to the limits, but there was no cruelty.

  And for the first time in over seven hundred years, I trusted the creature lording over me.

  “How was I supposed to know you wouldn’t materialize right away? I swear, Shaed, I thought you were right behind me.”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20