The Hellhound’s Legion

A Kit Davenport Novella

Tate James

Contents

Author’s Note

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Untitled

Author’s Note

This epilogue-novella is set some years after the conclusion of the Kit Davenport series. It’s strongly recommended that you read the full series, including bonus scene in the box set, for context.

Happy reading!

1

Gritting my teeth, I tried to swallow down my irritation. The new security measures on portal travel were annoying, to say the least, but considering I'd recently been appointed the leader of the supernatural world, I really had no one to blame but myself.

Well. Myself and the twins.

"I thought you said this would be seamless," I snapped under my breath as my foot tapped out a staccato beat on the marble-tiled floor. We'd probably only been waiting ten or fifteen minutes, but I was already anxious enough as it was about taking a vacation without witnessing this mess.

Caleb puffed out a sigh and slung his arm around my shoulders. "It will be, but there were always going to be teething pains. Just like in any new system of regulation, right, Kitty Kat?" He tipped his head down giving me a pointed look. I grumbled under my breath.

The three years since our showdown with Bridget had been... challenging. With so many newly minted supernaturals trying to find their way in the world, we had been forced to take action—creating laws, building a police force that could handle magical beings, and implementing regulations. Most of them had been successful, after a while, but some had taken a bit more tweaking than others.

What Caleb alluded to, though, was my own fantastic idea of pairing opposing supernatural races into counseling groups—to teach tolerance—that had completely imploded and left hundreds of supernaturals on the verge of a Shakespearean style feud.

"Well, regulating portal travel seemed like a much simpler idea," I argued, scowling toward the freshly uniformed officials who were fumbling with keys behind their desk where they thought I couldn't see them.

The concept seemed a sound one, when Caleb and Austin had proposed it, and it had been necessary. With more and more supernaturals coming out of the woodwork every day, portaling had gotten... messy. It hadn't taken long for humans and other supers to protest, demanding regulation to prevent ill-mannered mages or demons from popping into their living rooms—or robbing banks.

This new system used a web of my guys’ magic that prevented anyone portalling from anywhere other than designated portal depots. Like airports, but more magical.

Frustratingly, though, we couldn't exempt ourselves from the magic, and so here we were. Waiting for the newly appointed "customs officers" to work out how to open the portal chamber doors so that the seven of us could go on a fucking vacation!

"This was a bad idea," Austin muttered, just as pessimistic as I.

Caleb cuffed him around the head before I could agree, and Cole whacked him in the arm, causing him to stumble a little.

River turned to glare at us from where he stood beside the officer’s desk, and I bit back a smile. As much as I really did think this vacation was a bad idea—given how much damn work I had piling up on my desk, not to mention the death threats we'd been getting lately—I kind of was looking forward to a Valentine’s Day getaway with my boys.

"Really sorry about that, ma'am," the red-faced officer apologized, coming out from behind his desk and bobbing his head to me respectfully. "Just a mix up with the keys. Should all be sorted now."

I gave him a tight smile but was too damn tired to exchange pleasantries. I'd been awake for almost twenty-two hours straight, and River had cut me off from coffee after my eighth or ninth cup some six hours ago.

Fucking sadist.

We followed the officer to the portal chamber and waited while he used the spelled key to unlock them. Despite the fact that the doors appeared glass, they were actually a concentrated mesh of pure magic, which made up part of the webbing that contained portal magic. Supers could only use portals inside one of these chambers, coming or going.

"Sorry again, ma'am," the officer gushed as the guys filed into the chamber and stood on the decorative rune circle. "Have a safe trip to"—he glanced down at the travel papers in his hand—"to Australia! Nice. Well, enjoy. Watch out for those, uh, kangaroos."

He blushed a hot red, clearly realizing he was rambling, so I patted him awkwardly on the shoulder and gave a weak smile. "You're fine. Grab a coffee, and this day will get a whole lot better."

He nodded his agreement, and I let the "glass" doors close behind me as I stepped in. Vali was grinning at me, so I narrowed my eyes at him in a glare.

"What?" I snapped, a little sharper than intended, but hey, that was what they got for taking my coffee away.

His grin widened, and he snorted a laugh. "Everyone is so intimidated by you, draga. It's such a turn on."

I rolled my eyes but couldn't fight the smile in response. Cranky as I was, I still wouldn't say no to a quickie in the portal chamber if the situation presented itself...

"Come on, let's go," Wesley spoke up, grabbing my hand and tugging me onto the decorative runes with the rest of them. Not that the runes did anything, but Caleb had thought they looked cool, so every portal chamber had them. "The resort was expecting us an hour ago, and we still need to get there from the nearest portal chamber."

"Whose smartass idea was it to restrict portaling again?" Cole murmured, and Austin returned his punch in the arm.

"Enough," River warned us with a note of steel in his voice. "Cal, if you please?"

"Yes, sir," Caleb saluted with only a touch of sarcasm, then flicked a drop of his blood to the floor. We immediately relocated from Seattle, Washington all the way over to Ballina, Australia in the blink of an eye.

"Good morning, Madam Fox," the Australian official greeted us as the doors opened again. "Welcome to Australia."

"Dammit," Caleb whispered, fishing a hundred dollar bill out of his wallet and slapping it into a smug looking River's open palm. The other guys snickered as we left the portal center and made our way to the waiting limo.

"What was the bet?" I asked them as we climbed in and got comfortable. I ended up sandwiched between the twins. Some would call it a regular twin sandwich.

Damn. Was it possible to get turned on and hungry at the same time?

"Caleb was adamant that all Australians greet you with g'day mate," River explained with a small chuckle. "He's been watching too much TV."

Caleb heaved a sigh and stretched his arm along the seatback behind me. "Whatever. I still want to stop at a gas station for one of those legendary pies."

Wesley looked up from the Lonely Planet guide he was reading and frowned. "I believe they're called serve-ohs. No idea why."

"Yeah, that." Caleb pressed the little intercom and requested the driver stop at the next "serve-oh" for a pie.

I grinned at his enthusiasm for foreign cultures, then yawned heavily.

Austin reached up and smoothed some of my messy red hair behind my ear. "Have a nap, Princess. It's at least a half-hour drive to the resort from here." I blinked at him, realizing suddenly how crazy-tired I was. "I promise I'll wake you up to witness Cal's pie."

He cupped my cheek and pressed a quick kiss to my lips, withdrawing before it got a chance to become too heated. Damn. I could have definitely gone for a hot, limo orgy.

* * *

It seemed like I'd barely closed my eyes when Austin gently shook me awake again, so I was still half asleep when I dragged my ass into the brightly lit gas station.

Caleb was chatting animatedly with a handsome, tattoo-covered guy beside the food counter. From the sounds of things, this guy was American too. Somewhere south, I'd guess.

"Here, Kitty Kat." Caleb beamed at me and offered me a circular pastry creation. "I got you one too. Four’n’Twenty is the brand. They're good!"

Stifling another yawn, I took the hot pastry and brought it up to my mouth to take a bite.

"Woah, woah!" a woman yelled, sticking her hand in front of my mouth and blocking the food from entering. "Babe, I can see you're tired and shit, but damn, you almost killed your taste buds for the next four days!"

I frowned at her in sleep-addled confusion. She was cute as shit, with bouncy, blond curls and moss-green eyes. "What the fuck are you talking about?" I pleaded. Now that I'd smelled the food, my stomach was rumbling loud enough to raise the dead, and this woman was the only thing standing in my way.

She gave me a stern look, propping her hands on her slim hips and popping a hip. "That pie has been in the warmer for hours, it's possibly thermo-nuclear by now." Like her description explained everything. I squinted at her a bit more, and she sighed dramatically. "Blow on the pie before you eat it. Honestly, it's like I'm saving the world, one clueless American at a time."

I gave her a tight smile, then did as she suggested—blowing on my pie before I took a huge bite and groaned. It was filled with delicious and seriously hot meat and gravy, and the pastry was buttery goodness. Yum.

"Thanks," I mumbled around my next huge bite.

The blonde gave me a smirk. "No dramas. I'm Ari, by the way. This sexy thing is Shane." Instead of just indicating to the tattooed man, she slapped him on the ass and squeezed.

"Kit," I introduced myself, swallowing my mouthful and smiling.

She rolled her eyes and laughed. "Uh yeah. No shit. You've only been all over the news for, like, three years. Madam Fox, supreme leader of the supernatural race."

I cringed. The title still wasn't sitting well with me, but my opponent in the election had been a total misogynistic asshole, so I hadn't had much choice to decline the role.

"Your hubby was telling us you're coming to stay at the Mystics of Byron for a V-Day getaway, so we might see you around! I'm there with my six for a holiday, too." She looked up at the tattooed man—Shane—and batted her lashes. "Speaking of the others, we should be getting back. Did you get everything, honey bunny?"

He nodded, giving her a smitten smile back. "Sure did." He held up a plastic shopping bag, which clearly held several bottles of wine and a large tube of lube.

"Sweet!" Ari enthused. "Catch you around, Madam Kit! Oh, that makes you sound like a dominatrix." She narrowed her eyes at me in thought and cocked her head. "Yeah, you look like you'd be a freak in the sheets."

With a wink and a hip bump, the blonde swaggered out of the gas station with her man and left me gaping after them in stunned surprise.

Caleb grinned at me. “Good pie, right?”

Mumbling my agreement, I took another huge bite and made my way back out to the limo. If all went according to plan, these next two weeks should be nothing but relaxing by the pool, learning how to surf, and sex on the beach, literal and alcoholic.

But knowing my luck, I was prepared for the worst.

2

The resort Vali’d booked for us, Mystics of Byron, had recently been rated as one of the top supernatural-owned retreats in the world. It had earned six stars in the human world too, so it was no surprise that the whole place dripped luxury.

It was also no surprise that trouble had followed us halfway across the world.

Yet another threatening note had been left under the door to our suite for us to find when we walked in. It was written on the same monogrammed stationery as the last four we’d received, so clearly the same whack job had followed us to Australia to threaten “dire consequences” and “impending doom” should we “continue on this path.”

None of it made any sense, and as yet, our supernatural PD hadn’t managed to trace who was sending the damn things. Vic—my head of security and newly rediscovered Dad—had told me to simply ignore them. Just a nutjob with too much time on his hands, apparently.

The fact that he’d followed us to Australia made me second-guess Vic’s assessment.

“Anything new?” I asked Wes as he inspected the note with a magnifying glass.

He shook his head, then shrugged. “Same as the rest. Cryptic warning that bad things will befall us if we don’t change. Nowhere near as outwardly threatening as that email you got last week, but concerning for the sender’s tenacity.”

The email he referred to had been from a human-supremacist and had detailed exactly how many pieces the sender wanted to slice me up into before burying me in the woods. Thankfully, Vic was pretty damn good at his job and had located the sender before they could attempt to act on their threat.

“All right,” I announced, parking my hands on my hips and glaring at all six of them. “Who do I have to blow to get a damn coffee?”

Caleb's hand shot up in the air so fast I barely even saw him move as he yelled, “I volunteer as tribute!”

A sharp look from River had him slowly retracting his hand and scowling, though. Fucking Alpha. “Kitten, we cut you off yesterday because you looked like you were about to have a seizure. One day coffee-free won't kill you. Besides, your superior healing powers will counteract the caffeine withdrawal. Isn’t that lucky?”

I rolled my eyes like a petulant child. "I was not about to seize, drama queen. I'm pretty sure by this point my body can handle six or seven cups of coffee just fine."

Vali snorted a laugh, then covered it with a cough when both River and I shot a glare in his direction. Wise man.

"You were on number fourteen when I cut you off, love," River informed me. "And let's not even try to pretend that bucket you drink from is a cup of coffee."

Yeah okay, he has a point there. Damn, fourteen? That's more than usual...

"It's been a stressful month," I muttered in my own defense.

Cole grunted a noise and cocked an eyebrow at me. "That's an understatement."

"Exactly why you needed this vacation," Wesley added, and it dawned on me that I was on my own here. Six against one. Even my offer of a blow job hadn't swayed Caleb over to my side, as he was now leaning against the wall with his arms folded and a stubborn look on his face.

Dammit.

"Fine," I gritted out. "If I can't have coffee, I may as well sleep. What time is it anyway?"

Wesley opened his mouth to tell me, but River got there first.

"It doesn't matter what time it is, Kitten. We're on vacation, remember? Nowhere to be, no schedules to keep. You're tired, so you need to sleep, regardless of the time. Understood?" He speared me with a no-nonsense look, but I was in the mood to test my luck, so I just tightened my lips and glared back at him. "I said"—he spoke again in a don't-fuck-with-me tone—"am I understood?"

A grin twitched at my stubborn glare, and I gave him a heated look. "Understood, sir."

He narrowed his eyes back at me, then nodded. "Good. Go."

Sighing, I grabbed my bag from where it was stacked neatly near the door and dragged my tired ass into the master suite. As much as I loved to push River's buttons, most of the time he was only doing what was best for me.

Apparently today, that was sleep and no coffee... or sex, it seemed.

Damn. Maybe when I woke up, things would be more amorous. Valentine's Day was all about rose petals, champagne, and dirty group sex, right?

3

To my delight, I woke to find more than two well-muscled arms wrapped around me and hard evidence of the romantic holiday pressed against both my back and front.

Hell. Freaking. Yes.

Someone brushed the hair away from my neck and sleepily kissed the skin there, so I gave a little wiggle and sigh to show I was awake.

"Good morning, Kitty Kat," Caleb whispered in my ear with a sexy, sleep-thickened voice. "Happy Valentine’s Day."

"Shhh," Austin mumbled from in front of me, not bothering to open his eyes or really even wake up. "Sleeping."

Biting my lip to keep from laughing, I wriggled around until I was facing half-awake Caleb and had mostly asleep Austin rearranged to spoon me from behind.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Cal," I whispered back, sneaking a hand up to his face to pull him close enough to kiss. His soft lips met mine with a gentle caress. Slow, languid kisses quickly turned into something more heated as my mouth opened and our tongues met.

Caleb's hands skimmed down my sides then pushed up Cole's black T-shirt, which I'd been sleeping in, and stroking the skin of my waist. His fingertips brushed across the ticklish patch of skin between my hip and pelvic bone, making me shiver and groan as my skin contracted.

"Guys," Austin mumbled, his face buried in my hair and his breath huffing on the back of my neck. "It's not even daylight out. Can we sleep a bit longer?"

Caleb and I both chuckled an evil sort of sound.

"You can," his twin suggested. "We’ll be quiet."

Caleb's fingers trailed lower, stroking across the thin cotton of my underwear.

"Speak for yourself," I corrected him as my hips pressed forward to meet his hand. "Quiet isn't really in my skillset."

Caleb snickered, then kissed me again—hard enough to leave me gasping—while he rubbed circles over my clit through my underwear. "Okay, I stand corrected. We won't be quiet, but you can still sleep if you want, bro." His green-eyed gaze left mine to wink at his brother, who'd raised his head slightly from my hair.

Austin made a growling sound—not totally unlike his tiger familiar—and grabbed my shoulder to roll me flat on my back. "Fuck that," he muttered before claiming my lips in an even more bruising kiss than Caleb had just delivered.

Heat and desire poured through me, and I spread my legs apart to drag Austin closer. His hard length crushed against my already aching pussy as his kiss possessed me, and my legs hitched up, locking around his waist.

A warm hand slid across my belly, between Austin and I, delving beneath my sleep shirt to cup one naked breast. There was something maddeningly addictive about having both twins in bed with me at the same time. Three years in and I still hadn't gotten sick of it. Thank the gods of coffee we had eternity together.

"Hey," Caleb gave his brother a sharp push in the shoulder. "Sharing is caring, bro."

With the space created, Caleb grabbed me by the waist and extracted me from under Austin until I lay sprawled across his chest.

Not pausing even a second, his lips returned to mine, pausing only for a brief second as he stripped my shirt over my head and tossed it across the room.

"I guess there are worse ways to wake up," Austin murmured, smoothing his palm down my tattooed back and hooking his fingers in the waistband of my panties. "Although I'm starting to think Cole has a point."

This made me laugh against Caleb's lips and pull back to glare at Austin. "I'm not going to abandon underwear in its entirety just because he's too lazy to actually remove them without ripping them. Do you have any idea how uncomfortable it is to sit in a meeting with President Stunich when I can feel the breeze on my cunt?" I arched a brow at Austin, and he grinned back wickedly. Both twins did.

I knew that feeling firsthand, thanks to an impromptu limo fuck with Cole, Austin, and Wes on my way to a meeting at the White House. Of course, Cole had destroyed my panties, and of course, I still hadn't learned to pack spares in my handbag.

Fuckers.

Austin shifted on the bed, kissing one of the circular rune tattoos on my spine before sliding my underwear down my legs. "Maybe just when there are no official meetings on?" he suggested, and I rolled my eyes.

Knowing my six husbands and how persistent they were—not to mention my own magically enhanced sex drive—they'd win me over eventually.

"Or even just while we're on vacation?" Caleb suggested, lying back on the pillows while his fingers toyed with my pert nipples.

I sucked in a deep breath, enjoying the sensation of my breasts being fondled, while he reached one hand down and freed his erection from his boxer shorts.

"Maybe," I conceded, eyeing his cock with hunger.

Caleb grinned, and Austin's teeth nipped at my shoulder. "That's not a no," Austin commented.

"I'll accept it," Caleb agreed, shifting his hands to my hips and moving me slightly until I straddled his hips. "I bet we can get a yes by the time we're finished here."

My whole body was flushed with arousal, and I happily let Caleb take control as he lined up his cock with my slick opening and smoothly sheathed himself entirely within me.

A low groan escaped my throat as I braced my hands on his chest and let him thrust up into my aching cunt. Damn twins always knew the best time to ask me anything—I would have agreed to a whole lot more in the slightly sleepy, euphoric state they'd pushed me into.

I dropped my head back, my hair brushing my lower back as Caleb moved within me, and the distinctive click of a bottle cap opening caught my attention.

"Definitely one of my favorite ways to wake up," Austin commented as he slicked lube over my asshole and sank his thumb inside. My tight hole tensed around him, then relaxed as he pushed in a bit deeper, smoothing lube inside me and making me pant desperate noises of encouragement.

Austin moved on the bed, positioning himself on his knees behind me and nudging my legs wider before replacing his thumb with something significantly larger and pierced.

"Yes," I moaned, even as Caleb slowed. The twins had this thing down. It was almost second nature to us all now; we knew each other’s bodies and rhythms so intimately that there was no fumbling required.

Austin's strong grip on my ass held me still as he pushed his sizable length inside me, filling up what little space remained, given the fact that his twin was already fully encased inside my pussy.

"Shit," Austin grunted as his hips met my backside, and he paused a moment. "That's insanely good."

"Shut up and start moving, asshole," Caleb growled at him. "You're killing me down here."

I let out a low, sex-fueled laugh but let my body turn to putty between the two of them. They knew what to do, how I liked it, and how to make me come hard enough to see stars... over and over.

The twins moved within me, and I curled my fingers in the sheets on either side of Caleb as I leaned forward. The delicious drag of Austin's cock piercing rubbed inside my ass while Caleb did this incredible circling thing that seemed to make me feel even more full, if that were even possible.

"Damn it," I moaned. "I'm going to come."

"Finally," Cole rumbled from the doorway, and I gasped in fright.

"Fuck," both twins swore on a groan in unison, and I realized that my shock had tensed my whole body. My whole body.

Austin's fingers tightened on my hips, and he pumped harder, echoing Caleb's motions as my pussy and ass held them tighter than a Chinese finger trap. As for me, I turned my head slightly to catch Cole's gaze over my shoulder—holding it as I climaxed with shuddering moans and heavy breathing.

He narrowed his granite gaze back at me, and a tiny smile lifted the corner of his mouth.

"I'll be in the shower," he informed me, cupping the bulge in his sweatpants before wandering past our panting, collapsed bodies to the attached en suite.

Grinning, I lay there between my King twins for a while as my vision returned to normal and the ringing faded from my ears. The sound of the shower running called to me, though, like a goddamn siren song.

"Go," Caleb muttered, almost back to sleep again.

Not needing any further encouragement, I scrambled out of the pile of sweaty man-limbs and slipped into the steamy bathroom.

"Vixen," Cole said with a slight growl. His gray eyes met mine through the fog, and I grinned wickedly. "Did you come to help me wash my hair?"

I snickered a laugh, opening the glass screen door and slipping inside. Cole had just given himself a haircut before we came away, so he barely had any hair left to speak of, just a black fuzz that made him look even more badass than ever. Not that he needed help in that department.

Stepping under the warm water, I took the bar of fancy hotel soap from the ledge and rubbed it between my palms.

"I just thought maybe I could lend you a hand," I offered, wrapping a soapy hand around his thick erection and stroking down, then back up, then down again.

Cole groaned but didn’t protest as I worked him over with my hand, then sank to my knees under the shower spray.

Tilting my head back to let the water soak my hair, I parted my lips and slid his hot, hard cock into my mouth.

“Yeah,” he murmured in a low moan. “This is the perfect Valentine’s Day so far.”

I hummed a laugh but didn’t release him from my mouth. He was close, I could feel it.

Flicking my tongue around the silken head, I pumped my slick hand up and down, then sucked him deep into my throat.

“Fuck,” he swore, gathering my hair in his fist and bucking his hips a little as he held me prisoner.

A knock on the bathroom door came right as Cole did. My gaze flickered over to meet Wesley's blue gaze while Cole finished in my mouth, then released my wet hair so I could stand back up.

"Dammit," Wes cursed. "I missed all the fun."

"What's up, Crow?" Cole asked with a small, post-orgasmic chuckle. He turned me around to face Wesley and started soaping up my hair with honey-scented hotel shampoo.

Wes let his gaze travel over my wet, naked body for a moment before responding. "Oh, uh, I wanted to see if you guys wanted to check out the Hellmouth with me. It's supposed to be some awesome natural rock formation on one of the beaches near here."

I arched a brow at him before Cole tipped my head back to rinse out the shampoo. "Kind of an ominous name for a rock formation," I commented. Lucy's revelation on our wedding night that Hell had issued a warrant for River's arrest had not slipped my mind—despite the months on months of dead silence on that front.

"Humans." Wes shrugged. "So dramatic."

I laughed and leaned back into Cole's fingers massaging conditioner into my hair. "I'm game. Give me five minutes to rinse."

"I'll come too," Cole added, and Wesley narrowed his eyes with a smirk.

"Again?" Wes teased. "That's a bit unfair."

Even Cole snorted a laugh at that one and flipped Wes his middle finger. "We'll be out shortly. Grab Vixen some coffee if you value your life."

Wesley gave a small, sarcastic salute. "You got it, lizard breath."

He ducked back out of the bathroom before Cole could retaliate, and I closed my eyes to enjoy the rest of my scalp massage.

4

As it turned out, the Hellmouth was a series of interconnected caves, accessed via a crazy-beautiful, white-sand beach. According to a local we'd stopped to chat with—named Bazza, which Wes informed me was short for Barry—the caves had earned their name as the Hell-Mouth a long time ago when someone noticed the smell of sulfur wafting from them.

While the smell was later proven to be from an underground mineral hot spring, the name had stuck.

"Okay," Caleb groaned, wiping sweat from his brow with the hem of his ridiculous, flamingo-printed shirt. "I'm ready to head back for cocktails by the pool."

I licked my lips, eyeing Vali, who had removed his shirt entirely and slung it over his shoulder. Sweat ran down his chiselled torso, and I badly wanted to lick it off. "Yeah, I could go for some cock by the pool," I muttered, then coughed when I heard myself. "Uh, I mean, cocktails. Cocktails by the pool."

We'd been exploring the caves for a couple of hours already, and the combined heat of Byron Bay in February and the mineral hot springs in close confines had us all cooking.

"Sure you did," Vali replied with a knowing smirk. "Where's Alpha gone?"

I looked around and frowned. Where had River gone?

"River?" I called out, and my own voice echoed back at me. There was a short, anxious pause before his voice came back.

"Kitten?" he called back. "Where are you going?"

I frowned slightly at the other guys before replying. "Uh, we're heading back to the hotel. Where are you?"

"Right here!" his voice seemed almost farther away this time, and it worried me. "Wait up, love."

Something didn't feel right. "Guys wait here," I murmured, "I just want to check..." With cautious footsteps, I headed back down the tunnel we'd all just emerged from. It had sounded like River's voice was coming from this direction...

"Kitten!" he said, popping out of the shadows directly in front of me and making me scream a little in fright.

"Fucking coffee beans, River. You scared me!" I whacked him with the back of my hand, and he grinned at me.

Back the way I'd come, I heard the shuffling of feet before Cole called out, "Everything okay, Vixen?"

"Yes!" I yelled back. "Go on ahead; I need to give River a lecture about how it's not nice to scare his wife."

The other guys all chuckled, but their footsteps grew fainter as River stepped closer to me, boxing me against the wall of the dark tunnel.

"A lecture, huh?" he asked me, his hands coming to my waist as his body pressed against mine. "I can think of a better use for our time alone." His lips dropped to my neck, and I moaned my agreement.

It had been so hot when we'd left the resort I'd just thrown on a loose sundress that was little more than a pretty, oversized shirt. When River's hand slid up my thigh, there was no hiding the fact that I was going commando.

What could I say? The twins had held me to that agreement.

"Sorry," I whispered to River as his fingers danced teasingly across my sensitive flesh. "No panties today."

He grunted, still kissing my neck as his hand went to the fly of his pants. "Good. Never did care for them anyway."

His words made me freeze, but he didn't seem to notice as he moved back a step, releasing his erection and stroking it a couple of times in his hand. A chill raced through me, pooling in my stomach and turning my insides to ice.

"River?" I murmured, as casually as I could. "When we get back, do you think I could take your new Ferrari for a drive?"

"Huh?" He frowned at me. "Yeah sure, whatever."

He stepped closer, cock in hand, and I slammed him with a stun spell.

Okay, in hindsight, I probably pushed a little bit too much power into it because instead of just freezing him to the spot, it sent him flying across the tunnel and slamming into the rock wall with an audible crack.

"Holy shit," Cole exclaimed, running down the tunnel. "What the hell did you do that for?"

I shook my head, warily backing away as he came closer to me. "I thought you left?"

His dark brows pulled down in a frown. "I came back to grab the room key. You and River were the only ones carrying them, remember?"

My eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Answer me something, Cole—if that's really who you are. I'm not wearing any panties today. Why?"

Confusion lay thick on his face as he shook his head at me. "I don't know. Probably so I would stop ripping them?"

I breathed a long sigh of relief and stepped closer to him, reaching out for his hand. "Well, this person"—I kicked the unconscious man on the ground—"told me he didn't much care for panties." Cole sucked in a sharp breath. "Yeah, I know. And then when I asked if I could take his new Ferrari for a drive, he said 'Yeah sure, whatever.'"

Cole shook his head and gathered me into a tight hug. He knew exactly what I knew.

This wasn't River.

The real River harbored a borderline fetish for stealing my panties, was an Aston Martin loyalist, was scathing about Ferraris... and never, ever let me drive his cars. Not willingly, anyway.

"Let's get him back to the room," Cole suggested. "We need answers."

"More than that," I murmured, my voice thick with fear, "we need to know where the real River is."

Cole muttered another curse under his breath, then hauled fake-River up and slung him over his shoulder. If anyone could extract the answers we needed in a timely manner, it was Cole.

* * *

As it turned out, none of the Omega Group's fancy interrogation techniques were needed. After returning to our resort, we'd tied the fake-River to a chair and—after explaining to the rest of the guys how I’d known it wasn't River—thrown a bucket of ice water on him to wake him up.

Yes, there were easier, magical ways to reverse the stun spell. But why should this imposter get an easy way?

Anyway, the second that fake-River realized he'd been made, he started singing like a nightingale.

"So, let me get this straight," I repeated, scowling down at the rose-red-skinned demon tied to the chair in front of me. He'd dropped his River-appearance really quickly when he figured out that it was just making us more enraged. "You're a demon—"

"Rose demon," the creature interjected with the correction.

I rolled my eyes. "You're a rose demon, which means that you're able to take on the appearance of anyone that your target loves? Have I got that right?"

The demon bobbed its head. "Yes, ma'am. We rose demons are mimics, and damn good ones too. You were my assigned target, and because you feel deep, emotional love for this River person, I was able to replicate him. It's usually flawless." The demon seemed most upset that I'd seen through his disguise.

I shuddered, wondering how many times these demons used their magic to get laid with unsuspecting partners. Typical goddamn demons.

"Who assigned Kit as your target?" Vali asked, looking all kinds of intimidating in his tight, gray T-shirt over bulging muscles.

The demon swallowed visibly. "Boss lady." He bobbed his head a few times. "Lahash."

At this, both twins dissolved into cursing, and Cole punched a hole in the wall. Even Vali spat something in Romanian. Wes and I were the only ones who held any composure, but even so, I could feel my guts rolling and twisting with dread.

On our wedding night, Lucy had come to tell us about how River's hellhound side was wanted by the courts of Hell for escaping eternal punishment at the hands of the demoness Lahash. While Hell had no jurisdiction in the human realm, Lucy had been pretty clear we should steer well clear of the demon realm.

Apparently, Lahash had decided to take matters into her own hands.

"You weren't alone, were you?" Wesley asked the rose demon, who shook his ugly, horned head.

"No, sir. My partner was assigned to lure your friend into Hell using this one as a disguise." He nodded to me, and I groaned.

Of course. The other rose demon had taken on my appearance and somehow tricked River into...

"How would she have taken him to Hell?" I frowned. "Can you portal between realms?"

"No ma'am," the demon replied, shaking his head. "But we are at our strongest magic on Valentine’s Day. It was a holiday created by my people, you know?" He looked proud, and I just glared back at him. "Well, anyway, on Valentine's Day we are granted the ability to cross realms at natural crossover points. We usually just lure in loved-up travelers, but this year Lahash chose us for this important task." His chest puffed with pride, then just as quickly deflated. "Which I've failed."

"Natural crossover points," Caleb echoed. "You mean..."

"The Hellmouth," the demon finished for him. "Yes. You didn't actually believe the story about sulfuric hot springs, did you?"

I scowled at the laughing demon and stomped toward the master suite.

"Vixen," Cole barked after me, "where are you going?"

"To put on underwear!" I snapped back. "Because this asshole is taking us to Hell, and I would rather do it with my lady bits tucked safely away."

5

"Fire and torture and Brimstone, oh my!" Caleb murmured in my ear as our rose demon escort led us through the lower city of Hellensburgh, which was apparently the full name for Hell's capital city. "How very cliched."

I bit back a smile, then shuddered as a tortured soul let out a wailing scream somewhere nearby.

"Boss lady won't like this," our indentured demon helper muttered for what seemed like the seventy-eight millionth time. "No, she won't like this at all. Are you sure you can't just kill me?" He spun around to implore me, but Vali gave him a rough shove to get him moving again.

"Just get us to the high court, and you're free to go," I repeated. Again. But it was of no use. The demon started mumbling under his breath again in a way that so strongly resembled Schmegal that I questioned whether Tolkien himself had met a rose demon.

The closer we got to the high point of the city, which was crowned with an opulent palace with bonfires burning in every turret, the denser the crowds became. Surprisingly, it wasn't all demons, either. Lots of the townsfolk looked like regular humans, despite the fact that I could sense their magics.

"We're not all punishment and torture, you know?" The rose demon commented when I stared a little too long at a mother cradling her baby. She was fair skinned and blond. The only hint that she was more than human was the barbed tail swishing back and forth behind her.

"You're not?" I repeated with scepticism. We had literally just walked down a street called Nightmare Alley, and it had been filled with so many screams I worried for my hearing.

The demon rolled his goat-like eyes. "Okay, yes. A lot of our realm does rely on torture and punishment as our main commodity. But someone has to do it, and those stuffy, bird-brained angels pay good money. Little demons still got to eat."

This perspective made me pause. In reality, I knew very little about this realm. I'd just been relying on what I thought I knew from human pop culture. Surely the existence of, well, me should have been enough to teach me the error of my ways.

"Hey." Our demon escort tapped an elderly, winged creature on the shoulder. "What's all the fuss?"

"Didn't you hear?" the creature replied in a voice like breaking concrete. "Big court case going on. Even got a couple of them fancy princes in attendance."

Our escort paled and swallowed nervously, but this news gave me hope.

"Don't get too excited," Austin said quietly to me as we continued through the upper streets of Hellensburgh. "There are five princes and only one of them owes us any favors."

I gave him a tight smile. "One in five is better than none in unknown." But I still crossed my fingers and prayed to whatever higher power maybe owed me one that one of those princes attending the trial would be Lachlan—my mother's ex-husband.

* * *

The court room looked surprisingly like an old fashioned courtroom in the human world, except, obviously, for the facts that the judge wore his white, rolled wig perched between two massive horns and his enormous, clawed hands made the gavel look like a toy hammer.

"River!" I gasped out as we entered the viewing area. My British lover was bound with what seemed to be pure lightning, and he stood in a box labeled "accused" beside the judge’s bench. His head jerked up at my gasp, and he opened his mouth to speak.

"Silence!" the huge, horned judge boomed, banging his tiny gavel so hard it snapped in half. Clearly this was a common occurrence, as a small half-woman, half goat scurried out and handed him a new one before disappearing with the broken one. "Court is in session! If you cannot abide by my rules, then I'll see you flayed!" The judge narrowed his entirely black eyes at me and grinned with fangs. "Oh, it's you. Well, isn't this quite the honor, Madam Fox."

A gasp went up throughout the courtroom with hundreds of spectators clamoring to get a look at me. Madam Fox. Ruler of the supernatural side of the human realm. Fucking fantastic.

"I apologize for showing up unannounced." I spoke clearly, attempting to use a little of the diplomacy that Vali and River had been teaching me. "But you seem to have something that belongs to me."

The judge continued to stare at me while stroking his curled goatee with a clawed hand. Eventually, he shifted his gaze to River and then back to me. "So I do. This case just got a whole lot more interesting."

"My lord," a primly dressed woman announced from the prosecution table, "she was not invited, nor did she gain the correct permissions to travel within our realm. You should have her arrested and charged for this total disregard for our laws."

The woman turned slightly toward me and gave a smug, bitchy smile as she patted her perfect french twist. At first glance she seemed to be dressed in a smartly tailored, corporate dress, but on closer inspection, it seemed to be... was her dress blinking at me?

"It's made of eyes." The rose demon murmured to me. "Her dress. It's made of the eyes of anyone who crosses her."

I swallowed down some bile. "Lahash, I presume?"

The rose demon nodded, then ducked back out of sight before Lahash spotted him near me.

"My lord," the demoness started again when the judge said nothing.

"Do not presume to rule my courtroom, Lahash," the judge snapped at her, and small flames shot from his flared nostrils as he spoke. "You hold no authority here, except as prosecution."

The demoness tightened her mouth and glared daggers back at the judge but was, unfortunately, smart enough to keep her mouth shut.

The judge turned his black gaze back to me. "You arrived just in time for me to pass sentencing on the convicted, escaped prisoner, Fenrir." I bit my lip to stop myself from arguing that this was River. Not Fenrir. "The fact that you have prior claim to this prisoner complicates matters, though. It's a fact that was not brought to my attention in the proceedings." Again, he glared at Lahash, and I got the feeling they were not on good terms.

There was a long pause, but when I opened my mouth to speak, the dirty, gray-winged demon at the defense table gave me a panicked headshake.

Finally the judge spoke again. "I have no interest in sparking a war with the human realm, as we in Hellensburgh are not unaware of the strengths you've amassed." He pursed his lips and tapped his chin. "I will consult with higher council on the matter. Court will reconvene in three moons." With that he smacked his gavel back down, then pushed up from his bench and lumbered out of the courtroom.

"Three moons?" I exclaimed as the whole courtroom started speaking at once. People were moving everywhere, and I just barely caught a glimpse as River was escorted out by several enormous demon guards.

"It's not as long as you think," the gray-winged lawyer told me as he approached, a beaten-up old briefcase tucked under his arm. "It's, uh, it's nice to meet you, Madam Fox. I'm Trent, Fenrir's defense attorney. Or, I mean, I was. I just lost, so I apologize for that. I'm not very good at my job, see. That's why they assigned me in the first place." He was rambling but gave me an embarrassed, apologetic smile.

"He's not Fenrir," I snapped, gritting my teeth with anger. Wesley grabbed my hand in his, uncurling my fist and weaving our fingers together. The act was soothing, and I let him take the edge off my anger. "What do you mean that it's not as long as we think?"

"Oh, uh…" Trent mumbled something, bobbing his head up and down as he led us back outside the courtroom and pointed up. "See, the skies work differently here. Or, from what I gathered in human-realm studies. We have a series of moons which travel across our sky in a continuous pattern. Three moons is the equivalent of, uh"—he wrinkled his nose while he thought—"maybe one hour? Or is it one week? Sorry, human-realm studies was centuries ago, and my memory isn't what it used to be."

I shook my head in disbelief and rubbed at the bridge of my nose. Vali laid a reassuring hand on the small of my back, but it was going to take a whole lot more than physical touch to calm me down.

"So now what?" I demanded of Trent, the crappy lawyer.

He shrugged, and little fuzzy bits of feather poofed off his wings. "We wait until court is back in session." He sat down on one of the courthouse steps and flipped open his beaten-up old briefcase. "Coffee?" he offered, withdrawing a thermos and pouring black liquid into one of the screw-off cups.

"I guess," I murmured, accepting the cup from him and taking a gulp—before spraying it all over Vali's expensive Italian shoes. "What the hell? That's awful!"

Trent looked up at me, confused. "Well, yes. Exactly. This is Hell... We don't have good coffee here. The angels claimed that a long time ago. They always take anything worth having." He sighed heavily, and his wings drooped.

Suddenly I found myself reassessing my views on angels and demons, and it was weirding me out.

Awkwardly, I handed the cup back and sat beside him on the step.

"So how long have you been a defense attorney in Hell, Trent?" I asked, starting some polite conversation. Better than sitting there in silence for either an hour or a week.

6

We'd been making uncomfortable small talk with Trent for maybe half an hour or so when a shadow fell across me, and I looked up to find Lachlan—prince of Hell and my mother's ex-husband—looming over us.

"Kit, good to see you," he greeted me, then gave a nod to my guys. "The judge wants to speak with you in his chambers."

My brows shot up, and I tilted my head with curiosity. "Lead the way." I stuck my hand out for him to help me up, then dusted off the back of my shorts.

"Uh, no." Lachlan shook his head and held up his hand when the guys made to follow. "Just Kit."

Austin and Cole both started to protest at the same time, and Lachlan glared literal fire at them both. "I said, just Kit. Save your testosterone-fueled bullshit for another day, boys. You know full well she can handle herself without you hovering."

My guys all grumbled, and I bit back a smile. It was true, though.

"Come on," Lachlan said to me, leading the way back into the courthouse with a swish of his long leather jacket. "I'm actually impressed with your restraint so far."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, jogging a little so I could walk beside him, not behind him.

He arched a brow at me and scratched the stubble on his cheek. "When I heard Lahash had abducted River and was trying him in the court of Hell, I half expected you to turn up guns blazing and declare war on the demon realm."

I gave a short, humorless laugh. "The day isn't over yet. I'll wait and see what this judge has to say before I start blowing shit up, though."

Lachlan rolled his eyes. "My home thanks you," he muttered in a dry voice. "Through here. Remember, I still owe you a debt. Whatever I suggest, trust that it is in your best interest."

I gave him a small frown of confusion, but there was no time to question him further as the door swung open to the judge's chamber and Lachlan ushered me inside.

"Madam Fox, thank you for joining us," the demonic judge boomed and gave me a toothy grin. He was seated behind his huge desk—which seemed to be made of bones—and River stood in the corner with those living electrical bonds still around his wrists.

"My pleasure," I murmured with insincerity as I eyed the rest of the room’s inhabitants. Perched in one of the chairs like she had a rod up her ass was Lahash, of course, and off to the side was another handsome man whom I vaguely recognized as another of the princes of Hell, but his name escaped me. "What can I do for you, Judge..." I squinted at the nameplate on his bone desk. "Judge Soul-Eater?" I shuddered a little at the name, then quickly told myself it was probably just one of those unfortunate surnames, like that kid at school whose surname was Hunt and his parents named him Mike.

"I wanted to discuss the terms of this criminal’s sentencing," the judge informed me, clearing his throat. Lahash was glaring death at me, and her dress seemed to be weeping, if the puddle beneath her was any indication. Or I hoped it was her dress crying and not her getting off on River's punishment.

Again, I shuddered.

"Shouldn't his attorney be present?" I asked, darting a confused look at Lachlan.

Judge Soul-Eater leveled a stare at me with his all-black eyes. "Do you think Trent should be present?"

I grimaced. "Yeah, good point. So, what is there to discuss? Obviously, I won't be leaving here without my husband."

"But you have plenty of other ones," the demoness hissed at me, her mouth twisting in disgust. "You'll barely even notice this one is gone."

I glared back at her, channelling a little of Cole’s and Vali's dragon fire into my gaze and getting the satisfaction of seeing her squirm a bit.

"Like I said," I reiterated, turning back to the judge. "I won't be leaving this realm without River."

"Yes, I suspected as much," the judge murmured. "See this is where it gets tricky. Your River still contains the remnant soul of Fenrir, who has been convicted in the courts of Hell. There is nothing I can do to change that."

I clenched my teeth to keep from losing my temper. "What does that mean, exactly?"

"It means that Fenrir can't leave this realm," Lachlan explained. "Not physically."

I raised my brows at him in a what-the-fuck-are-you-playing-at sort of way, and he just gave me a tiny, frustrated headshake.

"Is this the part where I need to start blowing shit up?" I asked in a quiet, calm voice while my mental guards lowered and my body filled with so much raw magic that my hair started to float.

The judge huffed out smoke and shook his horned head. "That won't be necessary, Madam Fox. The princes have kindly offered their assistance in a compromise."

Suspicious, I turned my power-filled stare to Lachlan and his buddy.

"Fenrir can't leave this realm," the other prince stated in a smooth, almost musical voice. "But your River has done nothing that can be punished under demon laws. We think the only solution here is to separate them."

I sucked in a short gasp, then choked on a stray droplet of saliva. Damn it. So smooth.

"Sorry?" I croaked, trying to swallow down the coughing. "Separate them how? They're one and the same."

Lachlan tilted his head and pursed his lips. "Yes and no. The semantics are fiddly, but suffice to say that this is the only way you're leaving here with River."

I narrowed my eyes. "Not the only way."

My mother's ex sighed like I was being petulant. "The only way that won't cause a cross-realm war, which will result in thousands, if not millions of deaths. Are you really prepared to be the catalyst for so much death again so soon?"

His pointed remark reminded me of the blood-soaked salt flats of Bolivia, where my mother had brought a full-scale battle to me and I'd won. Just. It was a low blow, and Lachlan damn well knew it.

"What does this entail?" I demanded, my voice quivering with barely contained anger and frustration. Lachlan was treading on thin ice with me now.

"It's a fairly simple thing," the other prince responded to my question, sounding a bit bored. "Between myself and Lachlan, we will be able to enter the prisoner's soul and"—he whipped out a long, polished obsidian blade from his belt—"just carve off whatever remains of Fenrir. Then that bit stays here for Lahash to play revenge with, and the rest goes home with you."

I darted a look to River, but he seemed incapable of speaking. His lips were clenched tightly together, and his jaw was set in a way that I knew meant he was desperate to say something.

"Why can't he speak?" I asked the judge, and he just flapped a hand dismissively.

"Demon rules. Lots of our kind can cast spells using their words, so the magic binding holds their tongues just as effectively as their limbs." Judge Soul-Eater nodded to the blue electricity zapping and searing across River's skin.

I nodded slightly, understanding the precaution but not particularly liking it.

My gaze met River's, and I struggled to make out what he was trying to tell me. Unfortunately for me, I'd relied far too heavily on our guardian link to know what he was thinking in the past few years. Suddenly faced with a block in our bond, I was just guessing.

"That process sounds painful," I commented, turning my attention back to the princes. "Are there any lasting effects?"

Lachlan gave a small nod. "His hellhound aspect will be gone, of course. He'd just be left with what he was always intended to be."

"A white alpha wolf," I murmured softly, looking back over at River. Maybe this would be a good thing? "Anything else?"

Lachlan sucked in a breath and pursed his lips, so the other prince responded. "There might be some minor brain damage."

My gaze shot back to the second prince, and I frowned. "How minor? In my opinion, all brain damage would be major."

The demon prince shrugged. "That's your opinion. But cutting chunks of someone's soul away is not easy business. How badly damaged it leaves him, well that's yet to be seen. What condition your River comes out in simply depends how deeply integrated the two souls."

"What he means," Lachlan interjected, "is that we won't know until it's done. If Fenrir is woven tightly into River's soul, then it's entirely possible he will be left rather... shredded." Lachlan grimaced at this and gave River a small, apologetic glance.

I took a couple of measured breaths to keep from freaking right the Hell out. After everything that had happened in the past few years—discovering my powers, bonding my dianoch, leading an army... ruling an entire race of supernatural beings—I'd come a long damn way on my impulse control. Had someone presented me with this choice before all of that, I probably would have opted to blow the whole damn realm up.

But things were different now.

"What would you do?" I asked Lachlan directly, meeting his eyes without blinking. "If Lucy was in River's shoes right now? What would you do?"

Lachlan cringed and dropped his gaze from mine. He'd made a stupid decision involving my bestie recently, and while it hadn't ended well, I could tell he’d lost his heart in the process.

"This is the best way, Kit," he reiterated. "I believe that your Ban Dia bond will preserve River's mental capacities enough that he can heal... in time."

I stared at Lachlan a long time, weighing the sincerity of his words. This must have been what he'd meant when he'd reminded me of the debt he owed. He was trying to tell me to accept the deal, as it wasn't going to get any better than this.

My attention shifted back to River, and he gave me a short nod. Not so much of a "yes, let's do this!" nod, more of an "I trust you; do whatever you think is best," sort of nod.

Holding his gaze steadily, I sucked in a deep breath, then released it heavily.

"Fine, let's do it. But I require those bonds be removed from him."

"Why?" Lahash sneered. "So he can shift and fight his way out of here? I don't think so."

Judge Soul-Eater groaned and rolled his black eyes. Or... I think that's what he did. It was hard to tell when there was no clearly defined iris. "Lahash, shut up. If Madam Fox wanted to take that approach, I hardly think binding cuffs would make a goblin's dick of difference." He waved a clawed hand at River, and the blue lightning faded from sight, leaving River rubbing his raw skin.

"Are you okay with this?" I asked him carefully, worried that I'd made the wrong choice on his behalf. The small smile I got in response alleviated my fears, though, and a palpable wash of relief ran through me.

He stepped closer to me, with just a brief glance at the judge to check that it was okay, before clasping my hands in his. "I trust you, Kitten. If anyone can keep my soul intact, it's you."

I glowered up at him. "No pressure or anything."

The corner of his mouth turned up in a half smile, and my heart fluttered. Damn him.

"I'm going to need the rest of my dianoch in here," I announced to whoever was in charge. Judge Soul-Eater, Lachlan, his buddy... certainly not Lahash—raging bitch that she was. "Non-negotiable."

"Go get them," the judge nodded to a tiny, wrinkled creature that I hadn't even noticed crouching in the corner of the room like a statue. The thing bobbed its head and scurried away to grab the rest of my guys.

In reality, I probably didn't need them in the same room. Our bond was strong enough I could draw from them anywhere and in any realm. But it made me feel better if I could physically see them.

For the couple of moments it took for them to arrive, no one spoke. The only sound was of Lachlan's demon-prince friend sharpening his blade with an expensive-looking carved stone.

Fucking psychopath.

Just as I was about to yell at him to quit it, the door opened again and my dianoch all poured in, surrounding River and I in a loose semicircle.

"All right, gang's all here. Let's begin." The knife-wielding prince stepped forward eagerly, and Lachlan grabbed him by the arm.

"Hold up," he snapped, then cast a quick portal spell, which opened a glowing, black hole beside the judge’s desk. "The second we separate Fenrir from River, you get your asses into that portal, understood? He will instinctively try to re-join with his former host, and no one would survive this removal proceedure twice. Are we clear?"

I gave him a firm nod, and he released his colleague's arm.

As quickly as I could, I dropped all mental barriers between me and my guardians and strengthened the bond between us. From there, I threw together an intricate web of our combined magic and wrapped it around and around River's golden, glowing core.

"Let's do this," River muttered, sucking in a deep breath right before that obsidian blade sunk into his aura.

7

River

Sunlight beat down on my closed eyelids, filling my world with orange light and dragging me out of my deep slumber. I couldn't remember what I'd been dreaming—I never had been able to, but something told me I didn't want to remember this one.

Blinking into the light, I groaned. Hot flares of pain zapped through my skull, and I squeezed my eyes tightly shut again.

What the fuck had happened to me? Had I drank too much?

"River," Cole's deep voice rumbled somewhere nearby. "Can you hear me?"

Confusion rattled through me. Why would he be concerned I couldn't hear him?

"Cole?" I mumbled, and my voice came out weak and croaky. My whole throat was as dry as the Sahara, and my tongue was like a giant furry caterpillar. "What happened?"

Had there been a car accident? Or...

"What's the last thing you remember?" Wesley's voice asked, and I raised my hand with the intention of scrubbing my eyes to try and clear my vision.

"Ow," I muttered, feeling something pinch the back of my hand. Squinting down at it, I saw an IV line connected to a canula. "Why am I..." I blinked a few more times, looking around the room. I was at home. Our home. The one we’d bought for Kitten... "Kitten!" I gasped, struggling to sit upright in bed. "Where is she? Is she okay? What happened?"

Wesley and Cole both exchanged a look, then Wes turned back to me. He had a little flashlight that he flicked across my eyes—probably checking for pupil dilation—before he clicked it off and tucked it in his pocket.

"You seem okay," Wes murmured as he swiftly detached me from the IV lines and unstrapped the blood pressure cuff from my arm. "I guess only time will tell..."

"Wesley Reed," I growled in anger, "Where is Kitten?"

Cole gave me a crooked smile. It was a huge sign that something bad had happened. "Come on, Alpha. I'll take you to her." He paused and cocked a scarred eyebrow at me. "Unless you need to be carried?"

Glaring at my best mate, I pushed the blankets off my legs and climbed unsteadily out of the bed. "It'd be a cold day in Hell that I let you carry me, you bastard."

I'd meant it as a figure of speech, but the look passing between Cole and Wes suggested there was something more going on.

"Just show me where Kitten is," I demanded, then added, "Please."

Cole gave a half shrug. "Follow me. I just saw her asleep on the couch."

Eagerly, and as fast as my weak, trembling legs would carry me, I followed Cole downstairs to the den, where I immediately spotted a shock of copper hair cascading over the arm of the sofa.

"Kitten," I breathed out a sigh of relief, rounding the sofa then freezing in shock.

She lay there, sound asleep on the dove-gray couch... with a soft, knitted blanket draped over her huge, swollen belly.

"What—" I gasped, barely making a sound for fear of waking her. My eyes darted to Wes and Cole, desperate for answers. They looked blankly back at me, then down at Kit, and they smiled. The bastards smiled.

"How is this even possible?" I demanded in a harsh whisper. "How long was I unconscious for?"

"Only—" Wes started to say, but Cole cut him off.

"Based on the evidence before you, it's safe to say about three hundred years." The big, scaly bastard clapped me on the shoulder. "Congrats Alpha, we're going to be daddies."

I could feel the blood drain from my face, and the room started spinning a bit.

"Oh my crows," Wesley muttered. "Sit down before you pass out, River." He guided me over to the empty armchair and pushed me down. "What Cole means is—"

Wesley got cut off again by Kit stirring on the couch. All I had eyes for was her, as she yawned and stretched her arms above her head.

"River?" she gasped, spotting me, and her eyes rounded in shock. "You're out of bed! I'm so..." She trailed off as tears seemed to fill her eyes, and she looked like she might get up from the couch.

"No, stop," I blurted. "Don't get up. You look so comfortable..." I eyed the blanket-covered bulge at her mid-section with a pointed look. She glanced down, following my line of sight, and snorted a laugh.

"Oh. This." She narrowed her eyes at Cole, who looked like he might be on the verge of laughter, of all damn things. "Come over and say hello to our baby."

I sucked in a sharp breath and held it as I pushed up from the chair and staggered across to her. When I reached the couch, my legs collapsed, and I fell to my knees beside her. Gently, almost reverently, she lifted the blanket to reveal...

"A puppy?" I exclaimed in shock. "I thought—" I glared up at Cole. "You said—"

Now he really was laughing, and I glowered at him.

“Ah sorry, Alpha. The opportunity was too good to pass up. It’s only been a month since our trip to Hell—in case you were wondering.” The dragon bastard continued shaking with silent laughter and my eyes narrowed even further.

"Very fucking funny," I snapped, then turned my attention back to the sleeping animal on Kit's belly. "Why do we have a puppy?"

She grinned back at me, her eyes alight with mischief. "This is no normal puppy," she confessed. "But it's a story for another day." She shifted the jet-black animal off her and nestled it in the blankets of the couch. "Come on. You look like you need coffee."

The love of my life took my hand in hers, leading me through to the kitchen, but something made me glance back. The puppy remained asleep on the couch, but for a brief flash, I could have sworn it opened its eyes to show me pure fire and brimstone.

The End.

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