“I thought Incubi were supposed to be graceful?” I couldn’t stop the
laughter that slipped out. His lips twitched at the sound.
“I’m not like the other Incubi,” he admitted, as if that answer should’ve
been obvious.
“What do you mean?”
“Well I have a stutter for one.”
I raised an eyebrow at him, as if eloquently asking why that mattered.
Once again, his cheeks flames.
“And I’m also not the most..articulate...around other people.”
“You just used the word ‘articulate’,” I pointed out. “That’s a pretty big
word for someone who struggles with speaking.”
I didn’t know why I was entertaining the idea of having a conversation
with Killian. It wasn’t as if I was automatically anti-Nightmare, but those
who lived in the Capital were inherently evil. This was the same group of
people that supported human segregation and work camps. They were
disgusting, but at the same time, I couldn’t deny that the shy smile on
Killian’s handsome face nor his anxious chuckle made my heart hammer.
“Kill! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”
We both spun towards the intruding voice, and my jaw practically
dropped to the ground. It was a female who had spoken. One look confirmed
that she was an Incubus.
I had never been attracted to females before, but hot damn. Her Incubus
allure was strong, nearly staggering, and only made me think that she was of
a noble family to have a power that strong. She was almost ethereal in beauty
with caramel highlighted hair and large blue eyes.
Those eyes were currently locked on Killian, lust darkening her features.
My hands clenched into fists at her blatant ogling of him. The
possessiveness and jealousy came from nowhere. And yet…
I wanted to claw her eyes out.
“Hi Tessa,” Killian stuttered, offering her a warm smile.
“I just wanted to see you,” she purred. Actually purred. I didn’t know
whether to punch her or vomit. Or both. I had a WhyChoose type of
mentality.
“See me?” Killian quirked his eyebrow adorably. He seemed honestly
confused by the various sexual innuendos behind that one statement.
“It’s a shame that you weren’t one of my mates,” she cooed, her lip
pushing out into a pout. Grown women shouldn’t pout. Never. It was
disgusting and demeaning to all women everywhere. “But that doesn’t mean
we can’t still have some fun.”
She reached a perfectly manicured hand out and touched his bicep. I saw
red at that diminutive gesture. Killian gave her an awkward smile,
sidestepping her greedy hand. That bicep she was touching? It was mine.
“Shame,” Killian said with a forced smile. His eyes flickered anxiously to
me, gauging my reaction. I wasn’t sure what he saw, but his lips crooked
upwards at the expression on my face. “Tessa, this is my... friend, Zara.”
Tessa reluctantly turned to face me. She couldn’t even bother to hide the
distaste from her face.
“She’s human,” she pointed out. Rather obviously, if you asked me. She
wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.
“Yes.” Killian’s voice was suddenly tight. “She is.”
“You can’t possibly believe that this will last?” she continued, ignoring
the penetrating glare he directed her way. Tessa’s expression was almost
pitying as she stared at me. I, however, struggled to understand what “it” she
was referring to. “What are you going to do when you find your mate, Kill?”
I knew that every male Nightmare had one fated mate. Females, on the
other hand, could have up to two. I once heard of a female Shifter having
three mates, but anything higher than that was unheard of. The female
population was significantly lower than the male population, especially since
the Nightmares came into power. Humans liked to believe that it was God’s
way of punishing the monsters.
I had thought that Devlin and S were my mates - though I wasn’t sure if
humans were even capable of having some. I had loved them both in two
entirely different ways. S was my heart, and Devlin was my strength. But
they had both left me, albeit unwillingly in S’s case. Mates were supposed to
be infinite, and yet we had been torn apart as if our bond was nothing at all.
I shook my head, focusing once more on Tessa.
“You’re sadly mistaken,” I said, unable to hide the laughter in my voice.
“I just met Killian like an hour ago. We’re not... anything. ”
Killian’s face briefly flashed with hurt at my words, but he schooled his
expression quickly. It was replaced by careful indifference.
“Practically strangers,” he said, tone clipped. I glanced sideways at,
stunned by his change in behavior. Tessa eyed the two of us.
“Whatever. I’m going to visit Bash. I heard that he’s having lots of fun.”
Woah. I did not want to know what type of fun she was referring to. My
type of fun was stabbing a Nightmare in the neck. Her type? It probably
involved penises. Lots and lots of penises.
“Great! We’re looking for Bash too. I need to borrow his car keys.”
Killian’s smile was once again radiant on his face. He changed personalities
quicker than I changed knives.
“Ahh...I’m pretty sure that isn’t a good idea,” I mumbled thinking of what
a man like Bash would do for fun, just as Tessa said, “Whatever. It’s not like
I actually wanted to get stuck with a retard like you.”
Time stopped. The world stopped. Everything tilted sideways, balancing
precariously on an axis. My vision was obscured by a red sheen.
How. Dare. She?
I lunged forward, she squealed, and Killian grabbed my arm.
“Are you kidding me?” I asked, spinning towards him. Why wouldn’t he
let me stab the bitch?
“She’s a high-ranking noble,” Killian hurriedly said, confirming what I
already suspected. “If you harm her, you’ll be thrown in prison for the rest of
your life, if not killed.”
“She insulted you,” I hissed. My reaction was irrational, but it consumed
me. Red. Red everywhere. Red like rivulets of blood.
Killian placed his hands on my shoulders, lowering his head until his
forehead touched mine. His breath caressed my face, and I trembled in his
embrace.
“It’s okay. I’m okay. Her words don’t matter. Only you matter. Only
you.”
His words didn’t make sense in my incoherent mind, yet they calmed me
instantly. In the little cocoon of our own making, only we existed. Only us.
“Holy shit!” Tessa’s voice brought me out of my daze. “The crowned
prince and a human? Holy fucking shit.”
Prince? Killian?
And why was Tessa so shocked?
Killian’s face was positively livid as he leveled a glare in her direction.
She blanched under the intensity of his scrutiny.
“Not a word to anyone. You got that? If anyone gets word of this, I will
know it was you who had told. And you will not like the consequences. Do
you understand me?” When Tessa didn’t answer straight away, he took a
threatening step forward. “Do you understand?�
�
She nodded. I was almost afraid her head was going to fall off.
I gaped at Killian wordlessly. The change from a shy, timid boy to a
prowling tiger was shocking. And sexy, if I was being honest with myself.
There was something immensely appealing about Killian threatening her.
Without another word, she turned on her heel and strutted towards where
this Bash person apparently was. I wasn’t even aware that “strutting” was an
actual thing, but that was the only word I could use to describe her long
strides and the subtle shake to her hips. I glanced towards Killian, suddenly
afraid that he would be staring after her very large butt on display, but he was
looking at me. His lips curled up into a gentle smile.
“Ready?” he asked, offering me his arm. I hesitantly linked mine with his.
“Who’s Bash?” I questioned as we walked down a long, unfamiliar
hallway. There were numerous paintings adorning the wall, each one
representing the seven deadly sins. I stumbled over my feet at the painting
depicting Greed. In it, a purple Genie floated out of a lamp, a reminisce of the
old movies. Gold was everywhere - on the walls, the floor, even in the form
of intricately crafted jewelry for the Genie. Still, the Genie had a scowl on his
face as he stared at his possessions. Always wanting more. Never happy with
what he had.
I scoffed as I thought of Lin, of Devlin.
All Genies were the same apparently.
Before I could study the painting further, Killian began to speak.
“Bash is my best friend. My brother. We grew up together.”
I wondered what creature Bash was, but I didn’t want to come across as
rude by asking. Was asking what species he was taboo? Killian, however,
must’ve seen the question on my face, for he said,
“He’s a Mage.”
Ah. A lazy son of a bitch.
The name Bash sounded familiar, but I quickly shook my head to keep
my brain from making the connection it wanted to. What were the odds that I
would meet another prince? The Mage prince? I didn’t believe in
coincidences. If Bash proved to be a prince, I would stand to believe that it
was fate.
To do what, however, remained unclear. To kill them all, perhaps? That
didn’t seem right, especially after meeting Dair and Killian and coming to the
realization that Lin was a prince as well.
Tessa stopped in front of a heavy, wooden door. Turning around to glare
at us haughtily, she pushed it open, and we all stumbled inside.
The sight I saw...there were no words.
It was a tangle of limbs and bodies and hairs and holes. In front of me,
two girls were making out while a man screwed one from behind. Her breasts
bounced as he pounded into her. Another couple was a mesh of limbs and
breasts and penises. I saw one man giving another a blowjob. Two guys were
pleasuring the same girl, one in each hole. And two girls were grinding
against each other, sucking on one another’s breasts. I had to give them
credit: that took considerable flexibility.
“So many holes,” Killian whispered, stunned. “What do you even do with
that many holes?” Face flaming, he spun towards the doorway.
I watched a naked Tessa strut - again with the damn strutting - towards a
handsome man sitting on a leather chair. He looked like a king on a throne,
overlooking his filthy peasants.
He was a beautiful man. Finely sculpted cheekbones, arresting gray eyes,
a mop of blond hair. His body was lightly muscled with a scatter of blond
hair leading down to his dick. His limp dick. Despite having one woman
sucking on his neck and the other fondling his balls, the appendage continued
to hang there in all its glory. He was glaring at his dick, as if it had personally
offended him.
He finally turned fully towards me, and his eyes captured mine. I was
held in his gaze, one tortured soul calling to the next.
Mine.
The thought came to me with an almost blistering speed. Pinpricks of
desire ghosted over my skin.
He pushed both girls away and scrambled to his feet. His once flaccid
dick was now rock-hard and twitching. I licked my lips as I stared at the
throbbing vein. What I wouldn’t give to lick and suck-
No! I mentally berated myself for my lust-filled thoughts.
“Everyone out.” Though his voice was quiet, it seemed to innately
demand attention. Every person stopped in mid-activity. Tessa actually had
the nerve to pout. “Everyone out now!”
The blast of power that accompanied that statement sent goosebumps
down my arms. Despite how terrifying the amount of power he wielded was,
I felt safe in his presence. I knew that he would never harm me. I knew that
as surely as I knew my name.
As surely as I knew that he was made to be mine, along with-
Nope. It’s just the lust speaking, Z. Snap out of it.
“What the hell Bash?” Killian asked, aghast.
“What are you doing here?” The man, Bash, I assumed, yelled, his gaze
flickering from Killian’s back to my face. I tried really hard to focus on his
words. I honestly did.
But his thing was nearly poking my stomach from how close he was, long
and proud.
“Ahh…”
“What were you even doing, Bash?” Killian continued, finally turning
around. He kept his eyes carefully averted and put his arm around my
shoulders to pull me closer against his side. Bash’s eyes locked on that
movement and narrowed.
“No need to be a dick about it,” I quipped. “I know this is a hard
situation. We really should’ve orgy-nized our schedules better.”
Killian, beside me, began to chuckle. Bash’s eyes narrowed further, as if
they could physically penetrate my skin. Or my clothes.
“And you?” He spun towards Killian, jabbing an accusatory finger into
the Incubus’s chest. “Why would you bring her here? How did you even
know who she was?”
Killian brows furrowed in confusion.
“We talked about this.” He glanced shyly at me and then lowered his
voice to a whisper. “The whole dick issue.”
“Don’t fucking talk about my dick,” Bash hissed.
“Your dick?”
“I’ll have you know-”
“Look,” I cut Bash off. “You apparently were balls deep in something
when we arrived. We wouldn’t have cum if we knew you were busy. We’ll
just be heading in the opposite erection.”
Bash glared down at me.
“Don’t expect flowers or shit like that. Don’t expect me to actually care
about you and your fucking tight ass.”
Um...okay?
Bash began shaking his head erratically, simultaneously backing out of
the room. He didn’t seem to care that he was still as hard as a rock, nor that
he was going out into public butt naked.
“Nope. That is a whole lot of nopes. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope.”
He was still chanting “nope” as the door slammed shut on his face.
TWENTY
Z
W e didn’t speak as Killian led me out a backdoor, down a steep,
stone st
aircase, and underneath the drooping canopy of the
nearest cluster of trees. Back at home, the forests had been
leafless, their branches mere skeletons. The beauty at the Capital was
unparalleled to the despondency of my hometown. There was no comparison.
Everything was extravagant, from the polished windows to the white pillars
to the various arcades. There was an opulence here that a town like mine, a
town that lived in poverty, couldn’t recreate no matter how hard they tried.
It was disgusting that these Nightmares lived in such wealth while the rest
of us struggled to make ends meet. Even the gardens looked as if they were
plucked straight from a storybook. I was in awe as I surveyed row after row
of perfectly planted tulips mixed in with roses. Bushes lined the siding of the
building, each one sprouting a flower I couldn’t quite identify. I couldn’t
deny how beautiful the garden was nor how safe I felt beneath the shield of
leaves.
Killian sat beneath the boughs. Evidently, the initial plan to leave the
Capital was no longer in play. He patted the spot of grass beside him, now
dry from the morning dew. I sat crossed-legged beside him and leaned my
back against the rough bark of the nearest tree.
“I’m sorry about...him,” Killian said at last. His long fingers absently
pulled at the grass, one green strand after another. The movement was oddly
mesmerizing as he placed the slate of grass between his thumb and pointer
finger. His attention was focused on his leg, the grass, the trees. Anywhere
besides my questioning eyes. “I don’t know why he was behaving like that.
Bash has always been an asshole, but he has never been so…” he trailed off,
unable to find a word that adequately described the blond-haired Mage.
“It’s fine. It actually was sort of entertaining. I mean, my first orgy, and I
wasn’t even participating in it.” I had tried to make light of the situation, tried
to make a joke out of what we had seen, but the blush coloring Killian’s
cheeks clued me in that I may not have said the correct thing. Apparently, the
sexy Incubus was embarrassed when it came to talk of sex. Changing the
subject, I rubbed my stomach and asked, “What’s for lunch? I’m starving.”
Smiling gratefully, Killian waved his hand. A young human servant
bustled towards us.
“Yes, Your Highness?” The servant asked, reverence evident in his voice.