Page 125 of Gemini Hunted
Gasping, I fumble the pouch open and spill the Horn into my desperate hands. The jeweled sigils of the twelvegreat witching houses, interspersed with arcane glyphs for fertility and abundance, spiral around the Horn in a dazzling procession. In the flickering light, the symbols seem to move, twining around and around the curving cylinder in a way that makes me dizzy.
“Cheese on toast,” I whisper, loud in the humming silence. “This is the literal definition of a Hail Mary pass. Too bad I’m a lapsed Catholic, huh?”
Warm and pulsing with life, the artifact settles more deeply into my palms. My fingers curl tight around it. Heat streaks up my arms and down my torso to pool between my legs. The sudden tang of ripe peaches floods the air, cutting the suffocating sweetness of frankincense I’m already breathing in the heavy stillness.
Oh, fuck me. Literally. That ripe fruity tang is my mating scent.
The scent I exude when I’m fertile.
Under the soaked lime lace of my bra, my boobs feel heavy and tender. My nipples tighten and tingle. My chest gets tight and my breath gets quick. Yeah, I’m still wet from my swim, but the sudden hot flood of slick between my thighs is something else.
Instant superheat.
Like, the most intense superheat I’ve ever had.
A quantum superheat.
Whatever you wanna call it, now isnotthe time. But as soon as I save Mordred from the curse and hook up with the rest of my guys, I want all nine cocks (including Mordred’s two) at my immediate service.
Statue, showgirl,I remind myself sternly.Focus on the statue. Not your needy cunt.
Cradling the Horn carefully in my hands, I swing my legs around and hop down from the altar to the floor. The stoneCeres looms over me, hand outstretched in expectation, blind eyes turned down to meet mine. She’s almost close enough for me to touch the hem of her robes or her sandaled feet.
If I dare.
I take a step forward—
From behind the statue, a tall slim girl slips into view, impeccably dressed in a pristine Academy skirt and blazer, hair swept into a sleek merlot twist. Effortlessly glamorous as a runway model on a glossy magazine cover.
“Ciao, bella,”Cleo purrs, eyes wide and guileless behind her supermodel lashes. “Andgrazie.Thank you for bringing to me my artifact.”
Chapter Thirty
Vasili
“Well, darling, we’re certainly fortunate your wolf’s a strong alpha,” I say fondly to Lucius.
Because it’s important to praise your lover when he’s done something useful. And, no, thisisn’tthe first compliment I’ve ever bothered to pay him.
Honestly. What sort of man do you take me for?
Trotting purposefully before us through the catacombs, barely lit by the beam of my flashlight as I bring up the rear, Lucius’ wolf gives a yip as if to say,Don’t answer that.
Slinking along submissively at Lucius’ furry heels, Jae Labête is still flying his freak flag in fully shifted form. His coarse black fur is splattered with blood and his talons are dripping with gore. But most of it isn’t his.
That blood was shed by our enemies.
We spilled their blood on the ground for Zara.
As for myself, I barely bothered using my knives. Instead, I gleefully gave my telekinetic casting hand free rein and ground their bones to rubble.
How dare those little pissants fuck withmyqueen?
Fortunately for all of us, Jae’s non-sentient werewolf seems to accept Lucius as his pack alpha. Together, the threeof us have dealt with that pack of hyena shifters we sniffed out, slinking along at our rear.
Permanently.
Of course, those mangy mammals stalking us through the catacombs were so few, they must have been little more than an insurance policy for Cleo. Dispatched in case Zara sniffed out the ambush undoubtedly waiting for all of us outside the Vault. In case Zara turned back before the Aquarius bitch could spring her trap.
