Now she knew firsthand how accurate that was—in and out of the bedroom.
When it came to sex, Luka had a domineering personality and liked to be bossy. Meanwhile, I brought a softness and lightheartedness to the bedroom that mellowed the sting of my twin’s aggression.
However, what we’d just shared with Aran hadn’t felt like normal sex.
She was different.
She meant so much more to both of us.
The betrothal jewels sparkled around her neck and wrist. They refracted the warm, muted glow from the fireplace.
I wasn’t sure how the newly forming bond would react, since the devils claimed she was their mate, but it wasn’t unheard of to have different bonds connecting people.
They’d marked her as their slave and still considered her their mate.
The mere thought of the tattoo filled me with rage, and I breathed deeply as I held Aran close.
Around the room, competitors talked, kissed, danced, fucked, as they mingled.
I couldn’t care less about any of them.
I’d stopped caring about anyone else the minute the exquisite creature with curly blue hair and a pipe between his lips had moped about being chosen to be a recruit.
There’d been something about Aran’s dry sarcasm that entranced me.
When Aran had first arrived at the academy, I’d known immediately that I wanted to be his best friend.
It was probably my separation anxiety from my twin; I’d latched onto the first person I’d met whose energy reminded me of his. Dark, but not stifling and arrogant. A unique and hard combination to find.
Most powerful people were all ego.
Finally, I’d found someone who didn’t take themselves too seriously. Someone funny I could hang out with and who could make this academy seem a little brighter.
I’d trusted my gut and befriended Aran immediately.
It was the best choice I’d made. Ever.
If I was being 100 percent honest, I’d gotten hard around Aran a couple of times while we wrestled and played in bed. I’d been embarrassed and worried I was taking advantage of my best friend, so I’d forced my body to calm down by imagining Lothaire naked. Thankfully, Aran never noticed.
However, it had become quickly clear to me I didn’t view him in a brotherly way.
Especially when Sadie had visited and I’d had to listen to them fucking each other in the shower.
I was generally an easygoing guy.
When Sadie had screamed Aran’s name in the shower, I’d wanted to rip out the short woman’s vocal cords.
Aran was mine. My best friend. No one else’s.
To this day, the sight of Sadie filled me with rage. If I had my way, she’d never lay her hands on Aran ever again. Especially now. After Aran had dropped the enchantment that concealed her true identity, everything had changed.
I hadn’t been hard just sometimes; I’d had a permanent boner in her presence. How could I not?
Aran was the funniest person I’d ever met. I was addicted to his sarcasm and violence.
Then she’d revealed her true face.
Aran had the type of beauty that made artistic geniuses travel across time and space just for the opportunity to spend ten seconds in her presence. She was the definition of a muse.
She was ethereal.
She was hilarious.
She was breathtakingly gorgeous.
She was grumpy and violent.
She was going to be my wife.
She was lying in my arms with a content little smile on her face, and that was where I was going to keep her.
A matching smile split Luka’s face, and I fell asleep beside my twin with my arms wrapped around the two best things that had ever happened in my life.
Chapter 51
Aran
WAR IS COMING
Rebirth—Day 65, hour 4
We filed into the war room.
The space was narrow, with no windows.
Strategizing boards covered the dark-blue wall, and thirteen ornate wooden chairs were positioned around an oval lacquered table. The gold insignia of the High Court was carved into the center of the table. It was also painted on the ceiling.
In front of each seat was a thick white binder.
I rubbed at my bleary eyes and leaned my head against John’s shoulder.
Our arms were draped across one another’s shoulders like usual. We might be at the High Court’s headquarters in an undisclosed location, but some things never changed.
Sex had changed nothing between us in the best way.
As we shuffled sleepily into the room, Luka rested his hand on the back of my neck and he massaged his fingers against the bottom of my skull.
The demons and kings entered behind us.
Flames danced along Malum’s arms as he stared at the twins.
Luka’s fingers tightened around the back of my neck in a possessive show of ownership.
I smirked at Malum, and his fingers cracked as he gripped the back of a chair.
Luka pressed a kiss to my forehead.
There was a crackling noise as the expensive-looking wooden chair went up in flames beneath Malum’s hands.
I slumped down into a seat with a heavy sigh.
It was four in the morning—too early to be dealing with Malum’s bullshit.
I rubbed my eyes until I saw stars.
Since the competition had ended and my food had stopped being poisoned, most of the bruises and cuts littering my flesh had healed up and disappeared.
Only one wound on my face had scarred over. It was probably because the cut had been deep and repeatedly reopened.
It was an angry red streak under my left eye.
My jaw dropped when I’d woken up to find the massive ugly mark on my face. Then the emotion set in.
I was ecstatic.
The scar was sexy yet understated; slutty yet slightly horrifying.
It made me feel dangerous.
I leaned back in my chair and tried to seem mysterious.
I winced at the pressure across my spine. Even with my wings tucked away, my back was still overly sensitive. I could feel their heaviness inside me.
I was also still wearing John’s sweatshirt.
I sniffed the fabric and shrugged. Considering I’d worn it for the last three days and slept in it, it smelled pretty good.
Zenith glared at the kings as he pulled out a chair for Vegar next to John and sat down.
I agreed with him. Lately all the kings did was stare at me and mope.
They were a bizarre mix of repentant and angry.
It was so weird.
In the last day and a half since the end of the competition, each of the kings had cornered me and begged for forgiveness while also insulting me.
They were aggressively sorry.
Emphasis on the aggressive part.
Of course, I’d done what any gracious woman would do when they faced a suffering male who was finally taking accountability for his actions.
I pretended I couldn’t hear them speaking.
The method was mostly a success.
However, it was getting harder to pretend the kings didn’t exist, because Malum kept setting things on fire. Yesterday it had been a plant, and the day before that he’d melted a stained-glass window.
He really needed to find a hobby.
“Let’s do this thing, bitches.” Sadie burst into the room with her mates following behind.
I high-fived her as she walked past and took a seat next to the demons.
Jax patted my head. Xerxes and Ascher bumped my fist as they moved around the table and took the open seats. Cobra flipped me off, and I dragged my finger across my neck to mime slitting his throat.
Jinx hobbled in on one leg with a tall boy supporting her.