Page 33 of Vicious Fates and Vast Futures
Badb nods silently, though her face reveals nothing.
The Morrigan suddenly breaks into a smile, her face just as ethereal and gorgeous as her sister’s, though in a very differentway. “Good, child. I’m glad you’ve come to a decision. You must stay the course. Remember, strong and ruthless, Adelaide.”
Badb’s eyes are boring into me. “You, my daughter. Are you willing to die for your mate?”
“Without hesitation,” I answer, solemnly.
“Good. Remember that.”
The Goddesses start to fade where they sit.
“Wait!” Adi yells urgently, voice edging on frantic. “Are you sending Bryn’s visions?”
They both chuckle, and Badb answers, “Nay. That would be our sister.”
And at that, they are gone, disappeared, black mist left swirling where they had sat, but even that is fading quickly. I turn to Adi, awestruck.
“Their sister,” I say flatly.
“Macha. Goddess of Fate and Fertility,” Adi responds in a small voice.
“Fuck.”
WE’RE ALL PILED ONthe bed, naked but not touching with any intent aside from comfort. Neither Bryn nor Ossy can make heads or tails of our little visit from the Goddesses this morning.
“Perhaps the manifestation of my weather magic was Skadi’s touch, which means all the pantheons are on our side?”
Bryn frowns. “I’m more inclined to believe it was the great stress you were under that caused your powers to rise to the surface, but I really don’t know. Your nymph magic manifested around the same time. Perhaps only the gods of our land, not the Norselands, are involved.”
“But whatisour side?” I interject, laying on my belly with my face propped in my hands as Ossy plays with the end of my braid, tracing it back and forth across my shoulders. Eventhough it might not show, I am enjoying his little touches. Our bond hums happily.
“The side of right,” Adi says firmly.
Bryn makes an uncomfortable noise as he drapes an arm over her. “Don’t all leaders think that?”
Adi sighs. “Fuck. I suppose so.”
Ossy’s face is sad, but I don’t know why. Adi notices too and snuggles up to him, whispering softly. I flip over and lay back, staring at the plants hanging from the ceiling, lost in my thoughts of Badb and how to get Barclay to roll over.
Adi clears her throat. “Would either of you mind if I have some one-on-one time with Osmund?”
“Of course not,” Bryn says gently. He’s got a soft spot for Ossy, just as much as he has for Adi. It makes me smile.
“Fine with me,” I say as I roll to kiss Adi. I start to get up but a hand on my upper arm pulls me back down tenderly and I find Ossy’s soft lips upon mine. He opens his mouth under mine and I slip my tongue into his mouth. When he ends the kiss, he leans his forehead against mine and murmurs his silly nickname for me, yet I find myself grinning.
I disentangle myself and stand, grabbing my silk robe, and head out of Adi’s rooms to the kitchen. Bryn enters behind me, gorgeously naked.
“That color is absolutely perfect on you, En,” Bryn says, sliding behind me and touching the plum-colored robe. I tense. Bryn and I have had a bit of time to ourselves and it’s been centered on rather rough sex. Not that it bothers me. I liked getting dicked down properly, though I’ve never rolled over and submitted for a bed-partner like I have for Bryn. I’m still rather unsure how I feel about it. I’m mentally preparing myself for whatever he’s got on his mind, and I’m looking forward to a little pretend-hate-fucking. I certainly don’t love Bryn, but I no longer hate him either.
“Can I challenge you to a game of pool?” he asks, surprising the shit outta me.
“Naked?”
He chuckles. “I think that might give me an unfair advantage. I’ll grab some sweats, if you want to play.”
“Sure. Any stakes?” I raise my eyebrows.
He smiles. “Hmm, I wasn’t thinking so.”
