Page 302 of Kingdoms of Night

She’d been surrounded by lovers back in Camelot with both her cousins getting married and then her best dude bro tying the knot. Geraint had taken a brief leave of absence from quests while he and Enid got it on in Morgan’s labs to make a little flower child. Loren couldn’t wait to be a flower auntie. It could happen any minute now with Geraint and Enid. Or Morgan and Arthur. Or Lance and Gwin.

The three couples were getting it on so much that it left little girl time for the Galahad girls. Or bros’ night out with her guys.

Loren was a perpetual stag these days. Too bad she was between relationships. And by between, she meant that there were two relationships staring her down on either side, and she couldn’t make a decision about which way to turn. Left or right? Demigod or immortal? King or billionaire? So, of course, she took a step back and went out to Girls’ Night.

“We’re so lucky we bumped into you,” said the woman beside Loren. Her bestie Nia, the host of the night out, came up on the other side of the guy, taking his arm and pressing her breasts into his side.

Loren cocked her head at her own boobs. She had a good two cup sizes on Nia, so she wasn’t threatened. She was confused as to why her BFF was breast-blocking her mark.

Loren had been the one dancing with him on the floor while Nia chatted up the bartender about the viticulture of Argentinian wine. Loren was the one he’d told about the little artifact he had in his office, which she then repeated back to Nia when they went to the bathroom together. Nia’s eyes had lit with the first sign of interest of the night, and she’d rushed out to find Loren’s Latin dance partner.

Nia had twirled his current partner away with a yank at her hair extensions and then presented herself, B-cups first, to the Latin Lover. Turned out the reason the guy was such a good dancer was because he’d grown up in this club. His daddy owned it. His daddy was a US diplomat, which made sense when he told them more about the little secret he had hidden upstairs.

“You said you have a real live chacmol in your office?” Nia’s voice was breathy, as if she had hair extensions pulling at her brain. But nope. All those dark tresses were hers.

“That I do,” he said. “They say when you make love near one, you have an out-of-body experience.”

Nia sighed and simpered. Loren tossed her drink to the side. What was in her belly nearly came up at the thought of his idea of a good time.

A chacmol was an ancient sculpture, which was why her level-headed, scholarly, relic hunter of a bestie was putting on her best Marilyn Monroe right now. But more than a statue, a chacmol had been used to sacrifice virgins in ancient Mayan and Aztec rituals. Necrophiliac much?

Sure, fucking on one was sacrilege, and just plain gross. But having one—that was the crime this guy was about to pay for. Loren’s problem was he’d been in her jurisdiction when he’d confessed. So this should be her bust.

Nia was so totally poaching. Loren gave her bestie a tug of her bra strap and let go. Nia let go of the mark and turned to glare at her.

“I’ve got this,” Loren hissed.

“You let him go after he told you what he had.”

“I had to pee.”

Nia rolled her eyes in the way Loren’s mother used to when she threw a tantrum. “You don’t leave a mark when you’ve got him on the hook.”

“Are you trying to tell me how to heroine? Because I’ve saved the world, like, two times already.”

“Oh, I know you did, babe.” Nia rubbed at Loren’s shoulder, then turned to catch up with the guy. “This decade.”

Loren’s molars ground as she went to catch up with her. Her bestie could be such a bitch sometimes.

Nia was a couple thousand years old. For a while, she hadn’t been able to remember most of her life. It was hard to stuff all of those years into a human-sized brain, especially when she was only half human. Since going to visit her other half, Nia had regained nearly all of her memories. But it seemed the last year had slipped her mind—the part where Loren had saved her ass and then the whole world.

The guy led them down a hall. At the end of the hall was a group of guys. They wore expensive suits, but Loren could see the bulge. Not in the crotch. At the side, which indicated that they had holsters.

What else was Daddy up to besides stealing artifacts?

The men stood at the women’s approach. They were a wall of muscles that had no intention of letting them pass. They wouldn’t be a problem for a knighted witch and an immortal being. But Nia and Loren were both wearing designer shoes.

“These girls wanted a little fun on the altar,” said the guy.

The men’s gazes did not relax one bit.

“There’s no altar,” said the biggest.

“Come on.” The guy bristled. “There’s two of them. I bet they’d share.”

Beside her, Nia blanched. Dr. Nia Rivers might let her boobs lead from time to time. But the idea of actually using her body seductively to win a fight was anathema to her. A real heroine did what was necessary.

Luckily, Loren was here to save the day. She sauntered up to the big guy, snaking her hand around his big bicep. He looked down at her with pure disdain. That was strange. Big guys always dug little women with big boobs. Maybe he was in the closet.

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