“Bellamy, oh Bellamy. I’m going to come,” he said, voice raspy and low.
His entire body tensed, and then his cock pulsed in my mouth, which filled with his seed. I swallowed every last bit and slowly released him from my mouth.
He lay back, arm over his forehead. I cuddled into him, laying my head on his chest while he trailed his fingers up and down my back.
He spoke finally, his voice quiet. “You make me feel like I’m not alone. No one has ever done that for me. Everyone has always feared me. I was death to mortals before your time. They didn’t even know my name. When I appeared, all they saw were my shadows, my beast.” He turned his head. “I don’t know how you looked past all that. I don’t know how you didn’t cower or run. But you never did. You never have. You saw through all of that. You saw me.”
“I like what I see,”I signed.“Beast and all.”
He kissed me, already going hard again, and this time, when I reached down to wrap my hand around him, he slipped his fingers between my legs, his hands working the same magic his shadows had the day before.
We didn’t leave the room for the rest of the day.
Chapter Fifty-Three
BELLAMY
Isat in the garden, harvesting more of the nettle weed that Kairoth had planted. I never did ask him where he found it, but I was grateful nonetheless.
It had been weeks since his revelation to me, weeks where I’d been knitting as fast as I could, visiting my brothers nightly, looking for any signs of further deterioration of their minds. I had five full sweaters knitted now, thanks to the salve Leoni and Driscoll had figured out how to make. Without poison threading through my blood, I was able to knit faster than before, and my hands remained in better shape.
The wounds were still painful, the process still arduous, but at least I had a way to keep the poison from killing me.
Driscoll and Leoni sat on a nearby bench, both of them with piles of books from the library next to them. Their shadows stretched out across the garden. Kairoth had given them back, much to Leoni’s and Driscoll’s surprise—and happiness. A show of faith, he’d said. So they trusted we were all on the same side. They were starting to come around on their opinion of him.
Especially after I told them everything Kairoth had revealed to me. They’d begun researching more about the weapons, but it was futile. So far, they hadn’t found a single thing that might help us.
Kairoth had been busy, and I hadn’t seen him as often as I would have liked. Shortly after our night—and day—together, he’d left again, telling me it was urgent, that he’d explain everything once he returned. I’d tried to use my star magic to find him but couldn’t. I didn’t know if he’d closed his mind off to me or if it just had to do with the fact that he was a god and could remain invisible to the stars if he wanted to.
He’d left two weeks ago, and he was still gone. I’d promised him Leoni, Driscoll, and I would do everything we could to help, but so much of my energy was focused on getting these sweaters knitted. If I could only free my brothers, break this curse, then I’d have more time. I wished I didn’t have to choose. The possible end of the world or the end of my brothers. But my brothers were fading too quickly.
I’d visited Ryder last night, and he barely spoke, just sat huddled in his dream, not making eye contact. I was worried about them.
“This is so boring.” Driscoll slammed the book he was reading down on the bench. “That’s all we do here. Read, read, read. I miss adventure. I miss danger.”
Leoni shot him a look over the top of her book. “Really? Because last night a shadow popped out in front of you, and you squealed and jumped into my arms.”
He scowled at her. “It surprised me.”
“Uh-huh,” Leoni said. “You want to know what I think?”
I grabbed a stalk, cutting it loose and plopping it in my basket.
“Not really, no,” Driscoll said.
“I think,” Leoni said, ignoring him, “that you’re going to complain no matter where we are or what we’re doing.”
Driscoll scoffed. “Not true.”
I gave him a look as I grabbed another stalk, and he threw up his hands. “I’m just going stir crazy. Aren’t you two? We’ve been stuck here for nearly two months now, and nothing is happening.”
Leoni flipped a page of her book, finishing whatever she was reading before setting it facedown next to her. “Bellamy is trying to break a curse trapping her brothers as swans. Kairoth is trying to acquire seven powerful weapons to keep the gods from being freed and killing us all. And we’re helping him. And that’s boring to you?”
He made a face at her. “Well, when you put it like that...”
She grabbed another thick book and thwacked it into his chest. He begrudgingly took it and flipped it open, muttering something that sounded like “pain in my ass” under his breath.
My basket was now full, and I needed a break from the harvesting.
