It’s something you can’t see with the naked eye, but with my magic moving through them, I can.
Mates.
They are mine. I am theirs.
Echoing groans sound around us, and when my eyes open, I see Nero, Grim, and Krug have fallen to their knees with ecstasy on their faces, their eyes closed as they come from the force of my magic alone.
Eventually, the magic pulls back, releasing us all, and I slump.
Zee and Bracken carefully pull from my clinging body. I wince when I feel the slight pain, but I don’t protest as I feel their combined cum sliding down my thighs. I’m gathered in warm arms and led back inside, where whoever is holding me slides to their back on the floor. He holds me tight, and then there are more arms, legs, and hands thrown over me.
All of my mates are gathered on the floor, just embracing me.
“We aren’t giving you up, ever,parum angius,” Nero whispers. “I’m sorry it came out like that though.”
“He’s right,” Grim rumbles, tugging me closer. “You’re ours. I’m sorry for being pig-headed.” Just like he promised, he doesn’t apologize for trying to kill Razcorr.
“And I’m yours, all of yours. We have to be in this together,” I murmur.
“We are,” they say in unison. “We are yours. Even if you are his mate, you are still ours.”
We all feel the moment Razcorr enters, lingering hesitantly near where we are piled on the floor.
He looksdown at us all sprawled together, their hands clutching me. “I never expected her to give you up,” he says suddenly. “My people mate for life, that is true, but times have changed. I see what you mean to Cora. I would never hurt her, and losing you would hurt her. I simply ask this—give me the chance to love her the way you all do.”
They don’t reply, but I feel them relaxing around me. Their eyes go to me, letting me decide.
If I say no, they would make him leave. If I say yes, they will accept him.
I am in control.
It is my choice, my fate, my life.
I lift my hand and offer it to him.
I decide to give him a chance, not because of magic or destiny, but because I like Razcorr, and something about that lonely man who turned to stone to escape the years calls to the girl who lay in bed at night wishing for a happy life.
The relief that pours across his face lets me know I chose right, and he drops to his knees before us, then slides into a spot we didn’t even know we had, filling it.
Uniting us.
My magic pulses in happiness and settles in a way I didn’t know it could.
We are complete.
ChapterThirty-Nine
“It took us weeks to reach the castle,” I point out, running a hand through my hair. “Are we doomed to trek all the way back the way we came?”
“It’s too risky,” Grim argues. “You’re more powerful now, and the magic calls to every monster in the area. We would be overrun just by stepping outside of the castle, never mind traipsing through the Dead Lands.”
“Regardless, we still must travel it,” Zee retorts. “We have the plan. We need to reach the Gilded Lands in order to enact it.”
“Which brings up another problem,” Nero interjects. “We don’t exactly blend in.” As if to prove his point, he gestures to his coils twining around the room. I have to agree. Nero might be one of the more difficult ones to hide, but Razcorr has a sizable pair of wings as well, not to mention Krug and Grim. Shadows, even Zee is tall enough to draw attention. Bracken, if left in shadow, could blend in, but the moment he opened his mouth, we’d be made.
Razcorr stands slightly off to the side, listening to our conversation, and he only speaks up after we start trying to figure out the best route through the Dead Lands in order to reach the wall.
“I may have another way,” he says suddenly, his eyes darting to me and then away, as if still a little shy. It’s endearing. When I raise my brows at him, encouraging him to continue, he clears his throat. “Kulmak wanted a way to visit Emelyn when she had duties in the Gilded Lands, but he didn’t want his travels known, nor did he want it to take the same length of time, and Emelyn, her power called to many of the monsters, so he didn’t want to risk her life.”
