Page 22 of Cimmerian

“I’m yours,” I whispered, and I cried out as Jasper drove himself deeper and my body orgasmed around him.

“Fuck,” Jasper cursed again, and his thrusts were no longer timed and precise. They were wild, animalistic, as he pushed himself to release, roaring out my name.

I wrapped my arms around his neck as we both came down from our high. I loved him so much. So much more than I thought was ever possible. I just had no idea how to put such a feeling into words. Jasper smiled against my neck. “I love you too.”

A lone howl broke through our moment. “Shit,” Jasper muttered, getting to his feet and digging through his duffel bag of clothes. “That’s Duke. He must have come with Adrian.”

“Are you really going to bother getting dressed if you’re just going to shift anyways?” I asked, pulling my own clothes and blades back on. “And what is Duke doing here?”

Jasper tugged on a loose pair of athletic shorts. “It’s for Mollie’s benefit. And as for Duke… he’s here for revenge.”

* * *

Revenge. How ominous. I knew Jasper didn’t mean revenge on us, even though Duke’s angry wolf glare was enough to make me think otherwise. No, Duke was here for revenge on the demon possessing his mate, and the one who had brought the demon here in the first place -- Monica.

We stood in a circle around the pentagram Mollie had outlined with salt. The list of things Jasper had been asked to grab was oddly simple. Salt. Candles. A knife. Paper. Things Jasper would’ve had on hand if we hadn’t hurriedly moved in like we had done. We could’ve been having a romantic dinner, or a double date. But instead we were summoning a demon, and a woman who owed them a debt.

I looked between the wolves standing around me -- my friends. My family. We could handle this. Right? Next to me was Jasper, already shifted, the shorts he had pulled on for modesty shredded next to him. Beau was on his left, Adrian’s lean wolf next to him at the next point of the star. On my right was Duke, his tension and anxiety palpable even through the distance between us. I wanted to reassure him and tell him that Lucy would be okay. But there was no time for that. So instead I listened to him breathe, growling low. Jasper’s voice was in my head, telling me to be prepared for whatever came next.

In the middle of the pentagram stood Mollie and a still human Merrick, who was helping the small blonde to light a series of black candles. “So I’ll finish lighting these candles, and then Merrick is going to swap places with you, Ava.”

Merrick growled, sounding displeased with this fact. “Oh, stop it. You’ll be like five feet away from me. And I need Ava’s blood for this to work.”

This time it was Jasper’s turn to growl, and Mollie rolled her eyes. “Paranoid wolves are going to be the death of me,” she muttered, meeting my eyes with a wry smile.

I smiled back, something loosening in my chest. “Tell me about it.”

“Maybe that’s not something you should say surrounded by a pack of wolves,” Merrick chimed in, but Mollie just shrugged, unbothered.

Mollie handed Merrick the last candle, carefully encased in a glass jar. “This one goes there.” She pointed to the tip of the star near Duke, and Merrick obligingly placed the candle gently down. All five candles now sat at the tips of a star, the small flames flicking in the moonlight. Mollie began to tick things off on her fingers, speaking under her breath. “Okay. I think we’re ready. Ava, come stand near me. Merrick, shift and take her place.”

Bones cracked, and skin split as Merrick quickly shifted into his light grey wolf, trotting to take my place. I caught Jasper’s eyes, and he nodded at me. “Be safe. Be strong. Don’t back down.” His warning thrummed along the bond with love and concern.

“Always, Jasp.” My knives were strapped tight against my back, digging into my ribs as I made my way next to Mollie. “What now?”

She was scribbling on the pieces of paper with the chalk, scrawling something I couldn’t read. “Now, we summon them. There’s going to be a small gap of time in between the two summonses, so we need to decide who is less of a liability.”

I thought for a moment. Neither was a good situation, but I’d much rather not see Monica’s face as she ran away from me again. “Demon first.”

Mollie nodded, crumpling up one of the sheets of paper into a ball. “Give me your hand.”

When I hesitated she grabbed my hand, flipping it upside down and efficiently slicing into it with the small blade. “You’re connected to both the possessed, and the one who owes a debt,” Mollie explained, pressing my now bleeding palm to the ball of paper. “Your blood will have the strongest connection.”

“Lucky me,” I muttered, snatching my hand away.

“Don’t go far,” Mollie warned. “I still need you for Monica. Okay, are we all ready? I don’t know how long it will take for the demon to arrive, but with this many supernaturals in one area and Ava’s blood, it shouldn’t take long.” Around the circle, all the wolves growled their agreement. Mollie looked at me as she flicked the small lighter she held back and forth. The only thing I could see in her eyes was determination.

I grabbed her arm, squeezing lightly. Like it or not, we were in this together now. “Let’s do this.”

Mollie lit the piece of paper on fire, the ball blazing brightly in her hands -- she didn’t seem to be affected by the heat. She was chanting under her breath, whispering words that meant nothing to me. I hoped she knew what she was doing.

When there was nothing more than a pile of ash in her hands, she stopped. It was silent, not even an owl calling its mate. “Jasp.” I pulled at him through the bond.

“I’m here.

The silence was making me uncomfortable. Surely it hadn’t been this quiet only a moment ago? I turned to Mollie. “Where are they?”

She shrugged. “It takes time. We should use the time to summon Monica. This one should be a little easier. Monica is tied to us by blood, and it’s hard for her to not obey the summons.”

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