Finding fae, p.15
Finding Fae, page 15
part #1 of Lost In Fae Series
Zed was the last to pop into the room, and his eyes lightened in relief and then surprise. “Did you two fuck?”
“No,” I shook my head at his blunt nature as he nodded in understanding and sat on the bed, laying back and wrapping a hand around her ankle. I think I found his reaction the oddest because it was so the opposite of Zed in every way.
“So what did she say?”
“A lot,” I murmured back to Philip’s question. “She’s coming back with us, and I told her to give the whole mate thing a fucking try before running away from it.”
“What?” Charm snapped as I tried to figure out what he was upset about now. Oh.
Shit. I sighed, “She’s pure fae. She has a mate, well mate-s in this case, that’s us by the way if you didn’t already know.”
“Why didn’t she tell us?” Charm looked panicked as I tried to not be amused by his reaction.
“She didn’t want you to act how you were ‘supposed to’, most likely, although it could have also been fear.”
“Don’t worry, Charm, now you don’t have to hide being an ass,” Maddox chuckled softly.
“I apologized,” Charm muttered, and I wasn’t positive what it was about the mate thing, but it seemed to really upset him. Not in the ‘feeling guilty’ or ‘don’t want to be mates’ aspect either. It was very odd.
“So if we’re her mates…does that mean she wants to stay or feels like she has to?” Cannon asked quietly.
“I think it’s clear that she doesn’t feel like she has to stay, so if she comes back it’s her choice,” Chait whispered, his eyes closed. Zed was already sleeping and the only one that hadn’t said anything was Philip.
“She better stay.” Philip muttered, “Not making this fucking mistake again.”
I wouldn’t put it past him to handcuff himself to her. Really.
“Should we wake her up or sleep here?” Someone asked, but I was already too focused on her. Those eyelids stayed shut, and she let out a soft sigh seemingly content. I wondered if it was helping her sleep, being around us. I didn’t know how the mating aspect affected her, besides the obvious.
Within minutes. my team had shifted and fell asleep throughout the room, creating silence except for our slow breathing. I kept my eyes closed but didn’t bother to try to stop myself from bathing in the comfortability. I hadn’t been lying about us being a family. We didn’t make sense together, like a lot of the teams, but we were all misfits. None of us fit in how we should, except with each other.
Most naturalistic mages, like myself, couldn’t shift into an animal for long. At least, not one that was a part of them like actual shifters. If they did, it was usually a predator of some kind, which was why my ability to shift into a raven had never been exactly respected in the mage community. That was fine by me. It was a secondary magic as far as I was concerned, one that only existed because of my mother. My father, who I had never actually met, was rumored to have been from the God realm. So I was betting on a demi-god of fear or terror, possibly from the Greek-influenced community. I had no urge to find out and my mother didn’t either.
That was another reason I had suggested coming out of the field after a few years of doing missions. My mother, the only family I had, was sick. I’m not talking normal sick either. I think the closest thing it would be related to on Earth would be a cancer of the lungs, but we didn’t have an origin for it. It just was there, and through my connections, I’d been able to get her in a permanent place in the medical wing of the castle, despite the healing mages only being able to stop growth, not get rid of current growth. I made sure I got to see her at least once a week which, she no doubt, found too little and would complain to me about. I smiled, wondering if it would freak Maize out if I brought her with me. I was terrible at gauging her reactions to things so I hoped that changed with time.
At twenty-two, the woman seemed far older, and despite being haunted, I didn’t think that was necessarily a bad fit for our team. We had seen a lot of crazy shit throughout the years, all of us having joined the Red Masques upon inception despite Edwin being slightly younger than myself. We were in the field until about three years ago when I’d been twenty-four. I think at the time of quitting, Zed and Maddox had both turned twenty-three and Chait twenty-two, so all four of us were fucking over missions. Cannon had been around nineteen so he’d been disappointed, but not nearly as bad as Philip and Charm who had been eighteen and only had a year in the field. I think after some time they realized it was a better fit for us teaching at the academy, and since taking over, it had been only growing in size. It had also given me a purpose, my eyes fluttered down to Maize knowing that any plans I had would be altered slightly because of her, and I didn’t mind one damn bit.
I looked down at her lips and wondered what it would take to get another drug-like inducing kiss. I was tempted to just steal it myself but we had all tomorrow to figure it out. I was just glad I had an excuse to touch her now. Now there were no more secrets. Well, not any misunderstandings about our feelings. Specifically mine. My point was that I was going to be touching her far fucking more, and I could only hope she was cool with it.
Maker, I prayed she was okay with it because I felt like a fucking addict after tasting her. I groaned putting my head down, wondering if I would actually get any damn sleep. Somehow, with the scent of cool wind and lilacs, I fell asleep within minutes.
Chapter 17
Maize
“You want me to sleep where, while my room is being repaired?” I tried to hide my grin, standing in the lounge staring at the closed-off area of where the hallway led to my room. A chest of my things including my bow having been packed and placed in the main room.
“In each of our rooms, you can switch off each night,” Zed concluded happily, as I leaned back slightly unsurprised to find Valerio there. The man had been rather attached to me since last night, and see if I minded - I didn’t for the record. In fact, not that I would admit it to him, but I was loving his touch.
I nibbled my lip and spoke openly, “I’m not sure if that is a good idea, I have really bad nightmares and sometimes night terrors.” Normal. I am so ridiculously normal. I promise.
“That’s okay, Maize,” Cannon offered me with a soft hand squeeze from where he lounged next to me, sitting on the chair I leaned on. The small smile on his lips made me feel far better than the conversation we had early that day. I shook my head trying to not think about that just yet. Besides, most of them seemed relieved I was back, and the only two people that seemed off were Charm, unsurprising, and Philip who just kept looking at me. I think I may have hurt his feelings, a lot. I just wasn’t sure if it was from leaving or something else.
“Philip, can I sleep in your room first then, just in case?” I asked, taking a risk and honestly expecting a bit of rejection, since he was acting off. Valerio nipped my shoulder slightly, and I tried to not smile at his low rumble of jealousy, but he didn’t say anything.
“Yeah?” Philip arched a brow as his eyes went from sad to lit up. I inhaled happily to see a bit of the Philip I met on the first day shining through.
“If you’re okay with that?” I asked softly, he winked at me, stood up from the couch walking forward. I shivered as he dipped his head and nipped my nose before walking towards his room. Why the heck was everyone biting me? Mind you it was very light, but hell, talk about turning a girl on. I know. I know. I’m weird.
“Bring whatever you need for tonight in here, sweetheart. You’re always welcome in my bed,” he said, chuckling as Chait shook his head, offering me a dry look. Maddox had his eyes narrowed at Philip’s room, and I could see his new overprotective streak shining through. Valerio, as mentioned, was being sort of cute and clingy. Despite being hesitant, I was really trying to start on a new foot and give this a chance. It wasn’t very hard to fall into rhythm with them. Cannon was reading through something near us as my hand drifted to his dark hair, a low rumble breaking through his throat at my touch.
Charm looked...Charm-ish. Except his gaze was focused on me, and I couldn’t tell if he wanted to say something or do something. I broke away from Valerio and grabbed a small group of clothes and walked towards Philip’s bedroom, placing them on a small night stand. I smiled because his room was like him, rich and luxurious looking. I rubbed the silk sheets with my finger as my center clenched at the idea of sleeping in his bed. For the record, I think I could have probably slept in the main room…but this was sort of fun.
A knock on the door sounded as I turned and looked at Charm. He spoke roughly, “Can I speak to you in my room?” You know, for being named Charm…he wasn’t very good at being charming. Ha! I sort of liked that about the odd bastard. He was still a bastard though.
Ah! Now that they couldn’t come bother me in my room, I would have to go room to room. This was going to be a lot of walking. Philip offered me a charming smile as I blushed and walked through the door, my arm suddenly in the firm grasp of Charm’s grip. I cursed as he entered a door that brought me into a room that was so not what I’d imagine his room to be like.
Everything was light and airy from the large windows to cream and gold bedding. Honestly, it reminded me a bit of a cloud and I looked up, spinning slightly, finding it downright beautiful the way the ceiling peaked and faded into a deep blue.
“This is beautiful,” I admitted and looked down to find the bastard sitting on the edge of the bed with his head tilted and indecision on his face.
“Why didn’t you tell me that we are your mates?” he asked softly, his eyes a dark hard amber.
I growled as I turned towards the door, “Seriously, Valerio?!”
“Sorry, baby,” he called, not sounding sorry in the least.
“Baby?” Cannon chuckled and then said ‘ow!’ as a smack over the head sounded throughout the main room. Honestly, it would have been funny if I hadn’t been so damn annoyed. At least I didn’t have to break the mate news…which actually took a lot of pressure off me. I had to admit I would have probably still put it off for some time.
Charm tugged my hand back so I was standing between his legs and looking at him, his hand dropping but hanging on his leg as if worried I’d try to get away.
“I didn’t want you all to know yet,” I admitted.
His jaw clenched, “If I had known--”
“You would have acted differently?” I arched a brow.
He grunted, “I felt like shit about how I treated you before finding out, but now I just feel awful, Maize. I don’t know how to say sorry without repeating it a million fucking times.”
“I’m not asking you to do that,” I stated softly. “Why does it bother you even more now?”
Charm’s eyes scanned mine as a slight vulnerability flashed there. “I grew up in the Demonic realm, my father is a prince in one of the kingdoms there. My mother was from the Light Fae Kingdom, unfortunately the two of them ended up being mates.”
“Why unfortunately?’ I asked softly.
“Because my mother was abusive as hell,” he admitted, “she used the mating bond to torture my father, essentially. I just saw how that shit killed my father, and I would never want to put someone through that agony, especially when that is the person that’s supposed to be protecting them and on their side.” My eyes widened. It was fascinating that he was worried about my reaction rather than assuming I would use it against him like how his mother did. I actually think that said way more about his character than he realized. I didn’t think it was time, but later…I needed to know what happened to that bitch.
“I would never do something like that,” I mumbled, “but Charm, I also, in some ways…despite you being an ass, am glad that I know it is real and not just how you think you had to act to be a good ‘mate.’ I mean sure we are sort of in a weird spot, and I don’t really know how to, you know, move past all this…but you apologized and I came back. I would say that’s a good start.”
He searched my face and inhaled, chuckling softly, “We are probably going to fight still, you drive me fucking crazy.”
My lip twitched and a thought popped in my head, “Let’s at least make it a positive outcome. Would you still be willing to train me?” See? Now that was a good attempt at trying right there. Look at me go…
His eyes widened as he nodded, “Absolutely. Why now, though?”
I should just tell him. Closing my eyes I spoke, “I think I know who trashed my room because it was the same asshole who threatened me my second day here, and also hit me with a punch of magic on my way to the pub. I forget his name, or didn’t ask Alexander, but apparently he has some stupid political pull, and his uncle advises as an SE commander.”
“He did what?” Charm stood up and I squeaked, trying to step back, but his large arm wrapped around my waist. Before I could speak, he was doing his shit. “Valerio, did you hear this shit?”
After that, I didn’t even bother talking, to be honest. I think they were a bit crazy. Actually, I didn’t think, I knew. I watched quietly with interest as they began to argue on how to handle this. I heard the name David being thrown around a lot, so I was thinking that was either him or his uncle, that made sense to me. Quietly I pulled one of Charm’s blankets up and around my shoulders, climbing onto the bed. A small yawn slipped from my mouth as I felt a small pulse of happiness run through me. Despite their grumbling and anger, I was a bit happy to be around them. Not that I would admit it… yet.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Cannon demanded, looking very worked up.
“Well I got absolutely wasted and then…you know, left,” I mumbled as I blushed. It didn’t matter though because they went back to arguing. I stretched my hands above me and let out a content sound as Zed looked over at me with narrowed eyes, I smirked as he moved towards me.
“What did Alexander say about politics?” he asked softly, leaning over me. I let my fingers run over his soft shirt loving the texture under my fingers, before I realized I was being a total weirdo touching him so much. Oh well.
So I repeated that they had tried to get him in trouble, and apparently, it failed because of this uncle figure. Zed shook his head and spoke, “Well politics aren’t going to save him from his throat being ripped out.”
A small laugh bubbled out as he smirked, the others getting louder somehow.
Finally, I stood and walked out of the room, looking at the lowering sun. Once I pulled my hair into a messy bun, I slid on shoes. Philip was there then in my space with a confused and slightly panicked look.
“Where are you doing?” he asked quietly and quickly.
“Dinner,” I responded calmly and then took the chance to reach forward to grab his hand like he had mine that first night, “want to come?”
I saw his worry disappear and he flashed that sexy smile, “I would love to come, sweetheart.”
“Perv,” I mumbled as the others walked in.
“You have no fucking idea,” he muttered softly.
As we walked down the steps, I took my time, happy to be back, which wasn’t something I had expected. I knew it had only been around a day, but you know, some places are just intrinsically comfortable for you. I think it was also about the people I was with. These men. It sure as heck wasn’t the others here. I swallowed, trying to decide if I was going to give in fully to the mating bond, but as Philip squeezed my hand laughing at Zed’s annoyance about something, I realized I already was. I think everyone else was starting to realize it as well. My lips pulled up, thinking about this morning leaving the bedroom.
I sat up and realized that I was literally surrounded by men. My men. My mates. My heart squeezed but not nearly as tight as the Chait and Valerio sandwich I was part of. Someone squeezed my ankle. I looked down to find a sleepy Zed, whose eyes were focused on me as he smoothed a thumb over my skin. I wiggled out from my captivity and crawled forward, looking down at him from where I was kneeling on the bed. The rest of the room was much the same, Maddox in the chair that Valerio had appeared in when I’d woken up, and Philip on one of the large couches in front of the fire while Cannon was on the other. Charm was laid out on the floor, his brow dipped as if in a bad dream.
“You okay?” Zed asked softly, grabbing my hand and bringing me back to him. His body was tense, his eyes continued to flicker across my form as I realized that I was literally wearing nothing except for a lace bra and panties. Oh well, I guess it was time to get comfortable, right?
I nodded and sighed, “I… I just want to get back.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” he grinned.
Slipping from bed, I’d walked towards the bathroom right past Philip’s sleeping form, feeling Zed’s eyes on my ass…which was a pretty good feeling. I wasn’t positive why, but I didn’t lock the door, stepping underneath the hot water, but keeping my hair out of it not really wanting to deal with how much of a mess it could be sometimes. Scrubbing my form, I hummed softly, feeling far better about the day as I stepped out into the bathroom realizing I hadn’t brought extra clothes in, and I wasn’t about to put back on my lace bra and underwear. I huffed, shaking my head as I pulled on a large plush robe and scowled at the dark hickey on my neck that Valerio left. Possessive much?
As I walked out of the room, I found several of them up, and I blushed not meeting their gazes as I slipped into the closet, laughter following me. I closed the door, thankful for how large it was. Honestly, I wasn’t opposed to being naked…all together, but after everything that went on I was feeling a bit shy. I could admit that.
Sliding on a black pair of lace panties and a matching bra that gave the girls a little boost, my eyebrows shot up because I looked fantastic. I turned in the mirror and smiled happily as I walked back towards the rows of hanging pants available. I squeaked, turning as the door opened and Cannon’s eyebrows went up, deep laughter exploding from the other room, his jaw clicking.
“Sorry, Maize,” he growled looking over me with heat and then back to the room, “they told me you weren’t in here, I just needed a shirt.” Oh yes. He was shirtless. I could see the slight amusement in his eyes, so I motioned for him to come in as I plucked a larger unisex shirt from the drawer, it was as large as it would get. I turned and squeaked, finding him right in my space, looking over me with a smoldering heat that had my pulse beating fast, something his eyes tracked with curiosity. Sometimes, I really saw the predatorial side of him.
