“Really, Malum.” Arabella rolled her eyes. “Was that necessary?”
The other’s eyes widened. “Our Highness defends us to the kings. She is not only powerful but kind.”
“Um.” Arabella pursed her lips. “Sure?”
“Don’t forget she’s also gorgeous!” Sadie yelled from the table next to ours.
The royal students who were following the unfolding spectacle chuckled.
I hated the red-eyed bitch. Could she not keep her mouth shut for five seconds?
“Of course, Our Highness is the fairest of them all.” The third blue-haired idiot nodded. The fact that they’d clearly dyed their hair to match hers was beyond ridiculous. Who did that?
Arabella covered her face with her hands and sucked aggressively on her pipe.
I scoffed. “She’s covered in bruises and looks like shit.”
It was the truth.
She’d never looked worse.
“She’s strong and beautiful,” the idiot whose lips were still smoking snarled at me.
“It’s not your place to say,” Scorpius sneered. “A pathetic commoner like yourself should shut his fucking mouth and learn his place.”
Both my mates leaned forward like they were going to leap across the table and attack.
“Leave, you’re causing a commotion,” Vegar snapped at the men as black lines expanded under his eyes.
I nodded in agreement.
Lately the demons seemed to be the only rational people.
But of course, the three men ignored him and kept staring at their queen.
I debated the merits of lighting them fully on fire. No one would care if they were gone. I could tell.
“Thanks for—” Arabella waved her hand in the air. “—whatever this was. But you can go back to your seats. I, uh…” She trailed off like she was searching for the right words. “Appreciate your devotion to the crown.”
“Of course, Your Highness.” They dropped into a fresh round of bowing. “We will defend your honor to the school.”
Finally, they walked away and left us.
The rest of the meal was a test of my already frayed patience.
John cracked jokes about Arabella’s honor while she laughed back and made comments about finally getting the recognition she deserved.
When the debacle of a meal was finally over, I nearly screamed with relief.
I’d said earlier that we needed to train, but from the way Orion and Arabella both swayed on their feet, what we needed was more rest.
As we passed the other legion tables on our way out, the angel with heterochromia muttered something under his breath.
Scorpius leaned closer. “He just called her ‘sinful blood.’ Any idea what that means?”
I shook my head and made a mental note to question him.
Did he know something about Arabella, besides the tattoo, that would explain why our mating song was quiet?
“What are we doing now?” Vegar asked me when we were in the hall.
“Rest,” I said.
Arabella sighed. “Thank the sun god.” And John high-fived her.
With every step back to our room, I regretted my decision.
Crack.
Lightning illuminated John and Arabella. Arms thrown over each other’s shoulders, they walked in tandem. Leaned on each other. Whispered in each other’s ear.
Had they always been this insufferably close? I remembered them hanging on to each other during training in the sea, and I knew they’d shared a cot, but I hadn’t realized they’d gotten so close.
It didn’t escape my notice that waiting for us in the room were only three beds because the other mattresses had been ripped into makeshift cots on the floor.
The two of them were going to be cuddling all night.
My ire mounted.
When we got to our door, I put my hands out. “Change of plans.”
Arabella tripped, and the demons looked at me warily.
I smirked. “We’re going to let off some steam.”
The other men relaxed as they realized my meaning, and they grinned back at me. Arabella was the only one who tensed.
“I’m going to the library,” she muttered and pushed past me.
I reached out and grabbed her arm. Tightened my hold so she couldn’t pass. Leaned forward and inhaled.
Her scent was sharper than usual. Colder.
Like breathing in dry ice.
Adrenaline pumped through my veins.
“No. You’re not.” My smile grew as her face registered the horror of her predicament.
The slave brand kept her close.
She turned to my Revered with big eyes and pouted. “Will you come with me to the library?”
Before Orion could fall victim to her manipulation, Scorpius grabbed him by his neck and slammed their lips together.
My Protector owned my Revered.
Consumed him.
They groaned and melted against each other.
To anyone else, it looked like two men consumed with desire for each other, but their sounds weren’t of pleasure.
They were of pain.
Two men who wanted to be together more than they wanted to breathe. Yet they couldn’t be together. Not yet.
The longer they kissed, the more my own frenzied need increased. Flames screamed in my blood for release. A fever boiled my blood.
I imagined someone softer beneath them. Wild, curly hair.
Usually, I could ignore the urge to fuck my mates because I knew it only ended in misery. The need was stronger than it had ever been.
My cock ached. The urge to rut was so overwhelming that my thighs and abs cramped.
“No, he will not.” I snarled and pressed the button on the wall that called for servants.
A man immediately appeared in the door, and I spat at him, “Tell the students the kings are willing to fuck. Only women for us. What do you want, John?”
John’s mouth opened and closed as he glanced down at Arabella quickly.
I jabbed the enchanted button harder. “John will take whoever,” I answered for him.
Arabella gaped at the door as the man hurried off. “We have a servant call button? How did I not know about this?”
No one answered her.
She muttered angrily under her breath and threw herself into her bed as the rest of us showered, put on cologne, and got ready for the night.
The women arrived quickly.
Hours later, I was pistoning my dick into the ass of a buxom royal student as Scorpius took her mouth. It was already the fourth woman we’d taken. He had a knife pressed to her throat, but his eyes were closed like he was imagining someone else.
I grunted as I snapped my hips and slammed the belt across her ass.
I kept going soft and had to stop and imagine pale skin, curly blue hair, and wide blue eyes.
Usually, I barely noticed the women under us.
They were tools that helped keep the fire in my veins from consuming me.
Their obedience was all I wanted.
For the fourth time tonight, annoyance sparked in my chest as the hips moved back against me. The woman was too short, and her boobs and ass were too big. She didn’t have any muscles.
I wanted her to be stronger. Taller. Less endowed. With more muscles. Sassier.
I wanted her to fight me, which was completely irrational because I’d always liked my women soft and pliable.
Meek.
None of the women we’d fucked had felt right. There’d been something wrong with each one of them.
I was losing my mind.