“Brother…”
Felix sucked in a quick, startled breath and held it. A Bringer’s voice, a velvet warmth in the darkness. Her pulse thudded. She had to ignore the sway of her body towards the monster. Had to.
A shape moved in the darkness. And another. At least two had broken through her wards. Mael had been right. The Bringer’s recognised something in him, something in his soul, and thought him one of their own.
The demon stepped out into the grey light. Carved into the Bringer’s cheek were his clan mark, Thorunn and the name-rune, Uruz. Two single strikes marked him as the second in their quad. Now their leader since she’d killed the Bringer marked as Feoh.
“A nice little catch.”
Felix fought the tug of his smooth voice. Heated, sure, easing under her skin—
Mael’s fingers tightened against her palm, the pressure of his fingertips hard into her bones. It broke the sensuous edge of the demon’s voice. The raw quality that had grated against her nerves pricked at her now and she let out a slow breath.
“Will you share her, brother?”
The Bringer with the Uruz rune drifted closer, every movement etched in grace. Felix wanted to close her eyes, but that would be a fatal mistake. One sense denied and the others would be overwhelmed by the Bringer’s presence.
“I don’t see why I should. She’s mine.”
Mael’s voice was smooth, a hint of humour lining his words. And she tried not to think about the undercurrent of possession he’d revealed. It was a game, nothing more.
A deeper voice came out of the darkness. “Then we will take her.”
Mael growled. “Since when do the Brethren fight over food?”
“Since she killed our First.” The third voice had a quiet and deadly edge to it. Felix held down a shiver.
Mael tilted his head. He shifted back one step, taking her with him. Felix’s belly turned over. They couldn’t escape three Bringers. Not without injury. Or, more likely, ending up dead.
“Then what can you offer me? I will not give up my prize for an empty hand.”
The second Bringer to speak moved into the sparse light. The rune Purisaz and three strikes marked him as the third in their quad. A low snarl escaped him, his bone-white face shifting, tightening in anger. “You are without clan. You dishonour our fallen.”
“I am still a Harbinger.”
“Easy, brother.” Uruz placed a long-fingered hand on Purisaz’s bony shoulder. “Where is the magus?”
Felix hissed in a tight breath. With her magic contained, bound by thinning crystals, the Bringers were confused. They thought her human. That error would buy them time. As much time as her crystals held.
“The magus was sweet. Succulent.” Mael huffed laughter and the coldness of it skittered down Felix’s spine. Playing at being a demon seemed to come too easily to him. “Wrapped around her.” His sigh was…unnerving. “She was blissfully pure.”
The final Bringer, with the name-rune Ansuz carved into his temple, barked a laugh. “I said,” his darkly hollow eyes fixed on Uruz, “you denied my senses. I said the magus was a virgin.”
Purisaz snorted. “Proof yet that the standards are falling at the Institute. All in our favour.”
Mael chuckled and Felix held back a frown. The Bringer she’d killed had seemed obsessed with her status. Untouched. Why was that so bloody important to a Bringer? It was true her year mates shagged like creatures wrapped in carnelian…but that had not been her option. Her binding promise was too well known. Who would dare covet, or even approach, a woman almost-betrothed to a man like Zacharias Mael?
“This one too is…unspoilt.” Ansuz’s brow bones folded in, forming a narrowed frown. His rich voice thrummed against her breastbone and she fought to deny his effect.
Mael’s nails dug into her palm and her sudden and dangerous desire to stumble into the Bringer’s embrace eased back. “What are these flesh about? If they continue to deny their needs, our bellies will be empty.”
“But the feast before…” There was almost a sigh to Ansuz’s voice. “An array of fresh, untouched flesh. The power of it.” His wings rippled and ran a shiver over Felix’s skin. Her belly soured. Feeding and sex were synonymous for a Bringer.
“Enough,” Purisaz muttered. “You wish to bargain for this flesh.” There was a dark edge to his voice. Uruz might be scored as second in their quad, but this demon was pushing for his own power. “I say that our offer is that you give her to us.”
Mael lifted his shoulders. The shadows within him thickened, his demon form coalescing into a more solid form. “Can you speak for your brother?” He paused. “For your leader?”
“Our leader is gone.”
“Yours stands to your right wing.”
Purisaz growled. “I—”
“We require a fourth. You are alone within the Brethren. Would you accept our mark? Be bound by the Thorunn Clan?” Uruz’s smooth, sombre voice cut through Purisaz. “Then under our protection, what is ours is yours.” The unending blackness of his hollowed eyes seemed to glisten. “And yours, ours.”
Mael tilted his head. “It is a generous offer.” He pulled Felix in front of him, her spine to his chest. One hand gripped her hip, his other arm wrapped beneath her breasts. “But she’s so sweet.”
“A taste…brother?”
Purisaz’s darkened eyes gleamed within their sockets and a fist clenched around Felix’s heart. Mael couldn’t. He couldn’t…
Mael’s wingtips edged close, the soft brush of feathers stroking over her hands. Her heart pounded and she almost groaned at the bite of magic consuming yet more of her protecting jasper. Her cover was thinning. Fuck.
But her betrothed was touching her. And as a Bringer. It twisted something within her. Something she couldn’t explain. He groaned, and the rumble of it vibrated against her spine. Her hands balled into fists, straining with sharp, distracting pain. Damn him. What was he planning? Did he want her to lose control?
“You are untouched.” Mael’s mouth moved against her ear, his words little more than liquid sin. “A tempting morsel.” Feather-tips tasted the back of her clenched hand, slipping between her whitened knuckles. “Open up for us, sweetling.”
As if by his command, she arched against him, the fierce fire in her belly flickering, chasing away the hollow aches in her flesh. Filling the lack of crystal, that emptiness with him.
And her magic. Gods above and below, what was he doing with her magic?
Crystal stung her wrists, her bound power scraping against the jasper and digging sharp into her bones. Soon the shards sealing her magic would shatter and the power Mael demanded she leash at any cost would be free. Exposing them. Sentencing them to death.
Was his demon-half controlling him? She’d had so little time with him, she hardly knew this changed Mael. Had his devouring changed him completely? No. No, she trusted him. He was strong and honourable. The finest of all the magi.
Felix shoved down her fear. She trusted him.
“Delectable.” He whispered the word over the shell of her ear, his warm lips and the barest hint of his hot tongue tasting her skin. Her eyes fluttered shut and demon laughter caressed her body, rich and deep. Mael smirked. “What do you want, little girl?”