Rivers of blood and sand

For several long moments, I stared at him in complete shock, my brain slow to process his words. For the first time, his face was open, showing all the emotions he usually kept hidden and the ones he just revealed. He didn’t shift around or look worried when I didn’t respond right away, giving me the chance to process everything.

Without giving him any warning, I all but pounced on him. He was ready for me, catching me as I landed on him, a soft chuckle leaving his lips as I kissed him. I straddled him, deepening this kiss as I rubbed against his hard cock. Yet another first for us. His hands grabbed my ass while I continued grinding against him. It was thrilling to be the one in control, and I took advantage of it while I could.

Ander sat up and trailed his hands from my ass to my hips as I situated myself over him. Once lined up, I sank down onto his cock, slower than we’d previously done. The angle allowed him to go deeper than before and had me gasping as I dropped my head to his shoulder.

His fingers flexed on my hips as we sat still for a few moments, letting me adjust to his size and the new angle. I had started moving around, testing what worked and what felt the best, when we were interrupted.

“Okay you two, it’s time for you to get your asses downstairs, and tell us what the fuck is going on.” Ari’s voice came through the door, breaking up our moment. I let out a strangled laugh as I stared at Ander in disbelief. I couldn’t believe they hadn’t been exaggerating. “If you two don’t come out within the next couple of minutes, I’m coming in.”

Ander sighed, dropping his forehead to mine. “See, I told you, impeccable timing.”

“She’s not bluffing, is she?”

“Ari never bluffs. Reed can attest to that,” he said, grabbing my hips, reluctance shadowing his face. Exhaling a long sigh, he helped lift me off of him, and like before, it was like my body was reluctant to let him go.

I was about to climb off the bed when Ander flipped me onto my back and spread my thighs apart. Moving faster than I expected, his face was between my legs. His lips closed over my clit, sucking it into his mouth, wringing a gasp and moan from me.

“Ander, what are you doing?” I asked when I was finally able to speak as he continued flicking his tongue against me.

He glanced up at me from under his lashes. “I will never let my mate leave the bedroom feeling unsatisfied.”

My body heated as he continued flicking his tongue against my clit and at how he called me his mate.

“But Ari said she’d be back in a few minutes.” I don’t know why I was protesting, my body was practically singing with pleasure and desire as he kept building up the coiling tension in my core.

“All I need is a minute.” His words and tone were cocky, but he proved himself right when I was screaming his name as I unraveled beneath him not even a minute later. He peered up at me from between my legs with a smug smirk before climbing out of bed, giving me an unimpeded view of his glorious naked body.

My legs shook as I stood and tracked down my clothes. I’d need to retrieve the bag I left in the guest bedroom since it had a change of clothes, but that would have to come later. This conversation with the others was long overdue.

Ander placed his hand on the small of my back as we left his room and headed downstairs. The heat from his hand seeped through the thin material of my shirt and had me acutely aware of how close he was to me. Energy crackled between us where we made contact as warmth filled my chest from the cord of the fates. It was stronger than before, having a more tangible feeling to it. We still had a ways to go until it was complete, but it was leaps and bounds better than it had been earlier.

Everyone was already waiting for us in the living room. Reed and Koa were sitting in the armchairs, with Jade sitting on the arm of Koa’s chair, her legs draped over his lap. “I was getting ready go up there and see what was taking you fuckers so long,” Ari said from where she lounged on the sofa, her feet resting on the coffee table.

Parker was also here, having shown up at some point. Rowan was lying beside him on the sofa, allowing him to stroke his fingers through her fur. Alora sat between him and Harmony, and based on what I saw from their past interactions, it was probably for the best.

“You’re the worst,” Ander said in resignation, taking a seat in the remaining armchair. I went to move around him to take a seat on the oversized sofa, when he grabbed my hips and pulled me onto his lap, making me let out a small squeak in surprise. “Where do you think you’re going?”

I opened my mouth but no words came out. His casual touches and holding me so publicly were new to me. The past day we’d been so isolated from everyone, and I hadn’t known how things would be when we were around the others.

“Hey now, I waited an hour before I interrupted.”

Had it really been an hour? It hadn’t felt that long, but then again, Ander had been the center of my focus.

“Star, what the hell is going on?” Koa asked and based on the rumble in his voice, his patience was long gone.

Ander’s arms were wrapped around my stomach, holding me against his chest as he gently traced shapes on my stomach. We took turns sharing details, starting with what we discovered in the Wilds. I also included the strange place with a multi-hued sky and three suns where I talked to the royals. Parker never heard of anyone being able to do that and didn’t recognize the symbol—but he did say it reminded him of some of the symbols he’d seen in deity artwork. I’d been hoping since his aunt was Empress of the Blue Moon Court, that he’d heard of it, but apparently not.

To no one’s surprise, Jade Interrupted multiple times, asking several questions about Liv. She pointed out how suspicious it was that she knew so much about this. When Koa chuckled and accused her of being suspicious because Liv hooked up with her brother, Jade gasped like that was the most ridiculous thing in the world.

“All I’m saying is that she reminds me of Emmy,” Jade finally said, crossing her arms.

“That’s funny, I must’ve missed the part when she stabbed them, and stole from them,” Koa shot back, chuckling when she tried kicking him. He easily pinned down her feet, tsking as he did so.

Before they could continue their back and forth, I continued on with the story. Alora had gone completely still when I mentioned how Roman called a couple of them death mages. She’d already been on edge the entire time I described the warped blood mage’s powers and how the summoner could shift into multiple animals—and was a bitch to kill. But her entire demeanor shifted when I spoke of the death mages and I knew something was up. Her already pale skin that put mine to shame, seemed to pale even more, something I hadn’t thought possible.

“You’ve heard of them before, haven’t you?” Reed asked in a soft voice.

Alora looked around at all of us, her eyebrows furrowed, and she pursed her lips as she saw something that didn’t make sense. “You’ve never heard of them before? Their powers don’t sound familiar to any of you?”

“I mean, the blood mage displayed powerful blood magic,” I said, but that wasn’t what Alora wanted to hear.

“What are you talking about Lor?” Reed asked, resting his forearms on his knees as he watched Alora.

“Mythics were made in the deity’s image with a few caveats, but not us necromancers. There aren’t any necromancer deities.” She held up a hand so she wouldn’t be interrupted. “The death race of the deities were death mages, but when they created Mythics, they wanted beings that could extend life and bring the dead back to life. Death mages get their powers from pain and death, so they decided to try and create their opposite. To find a way to cheat death.

“These beings’ powers remind me of the deities, for the most part. Their summoners could shift into their spirit animals—albeit they could only shift into one animal and weren’t so difficult to kill. Blood mages could consume a small amount of blood and when they did, the blood would become integrated with theirs for a short amount of time. They were able to isolate the blood they consumed from theirs and cast against whomever the blood belonged to. All it would take is just one drop, and for the next few hours, they were a serious threat to you.”

“Both of them drank my blood, a lot of it,” I whispered in shocked horror.

“Did the deities have to draw sigils to cast?” Jade asked, tracing Koa’s hand where it rested on her legs.

Alora rubbed her forehead, as if she was trying to smooth the creases from her frown. “I think for some small spells they could cast without sigils, but for the most part, they still had to draw them, especially on the more difficult spells. Doing so enhanced their powers.”

We’d all learned about the deities growing up, but Alora’s knowledge seemed more in-depth. There was a good chance this information was wrong, and their leader Kain had just told them a bunch of lies. But from what I’ve heard, there seemed to be some overlap between our information.

Maybe Kain actually told the truth every once in a while. Go figure.

The deities had been a big part of the necromancer’s culture, with statues of the entire ruling class throughout their region. Kain claimed he spoke to them and carried out their will. I guess I just assumed Alora hadn’t known too much about them since Reed said she struggled to remember their names.

“So, you’re saying they were once deities before they became these warped and twisted parasites?” Parker was lounging back against the cushions, his arms draped over the back of the sofa in a relaxed pose.

I doubted he was as relaxed as he appeared, but other than a few encounters, I didn’t know him too well. The only time I spent around him was in large groups. But even so, I knew we could trust him, remembering back to when he saved Koa’s life several months ago.

Ari stood from the sofa, pulling her long hair from her face. “We should probably prepare for when this rift will appear. And don’t even try to stop us from joining.” Ari pointed at Ander and me, just in case either of us was thinking of disagreeing.

Releasing a long sigh, I ran my hands over my hair, making a mental note to find a hair tie. “Roman said we’d need Koa’s fire.” My admission was enough for Ari and she left the room, heading for the hallway.

“Another fucking rift,” Jade grumbled and I couldn’t disagree with her sentiments.