Chapter Nineteen

I didn't let go of Kali's hand until Hades insisted he needed to run some tests.

To ensure her health and safety, he said. He didn't seem to be lying, and he hadn't lied about anything so far, and yet it took all of my strength to let Kali's fingers slip out of mine. She gave me a nervous, but somehow firm nod to reassure me.

I watched her follow Hades down the hallway with Ryk leaving the lounge to follow them. I watched them go, chewing at my bottom lip nervously as I watched Kali's ponytail swing, her head moving up and down as she spoke to Hades in a tone I couldn't hear. Whatever she said, he seemed calm about, so at least she wasn't pissing him off just by breathing.

Relieved she seemed safe, I turned back to the lounge where everyone had piled in.

Except Polly.

When we arrived at the palace, Polly's fever was dangerously high. They'd taken her without another word to the medical wing and I had wanted to follow, but Ryk had told me it wasn't safe until they could get Polly stable. My heart hammered in my chest as I remembered Ryk holding her tiny body in his arms, her breath coming in helpless gasps for air. I could do nothing, but watch as she was taken away.

Elias wouldn't look at me, or anyone else.

He sat curled up on one of the sofas in the lounge, wrapped in a blanket, staring straight ahead at the floor. Five had offered him food and water, but he didn't even look at her. He just stared and refused to respond to anyone.

My heart sank further.

I had a feeling leaving the compound so abruptly, so violently, would have an impact on him.

"He'll need to eat and drink something soon," Three told me as he approached, chewing on a cookie he'd gotten from the packages opened on the counter. I glanced at him to see him frowning at Elias thoughtfully.

"Has he never experienced, you know, violence?" He asked me. I shook my head.

"Not outside of mother's usual bullshit," I muttered. Three frowned, looking over at Elias, who looked like he was starting to fall asleep. Three looked at me now, like he was waiting for me to make the next move.

I walked over to where Elias was sitting. He immediately shut his eyes and put his head down, like he didn't want to see me.

I swallowed down the lump in my throat and knelt down so I wasn't towering over him.

"Elias," I murmured, but he just squeezed his eyes shut tighter, "You have to eat something, or at least drink some water. Remember what happened before when you didn't get that stuff?" Elias shook his head hard, not because he didn't remember, but because he didn't want to listen to me.

His refusal was both frustrating and heartbreaking. I tried to tell myself he just wasn't used to life outside the compound, but at the end of the day, the truth of the matter was that Elias was scared of me now. He'd seen my Beast. He'd been attacked. He'd been in danger and it was very scary to constantly be in danger. I understood his frustration, his fear, his anxiety.

Some days, it was better to just hide under a blanket and pretend the world wasn't falling apart around you.

But eventually, the world was gonna smash you if you didn't get up.

And I wasn't going to let the world smash Elias before he had a chance to get up.

"Five," I said, rising to my feet and she immediately perked up from where she was sitting at the counter on her phone, "Can you do me a favor and grab me a couple water bottles?" Five nodded and grabbed a couple of bottles from the mini-fridge. I went to place one by Elias's knee, but he purposely bumped his leg forward and knocked it on the floor.

Without a word, I stooped and picked it up again and set it in his lap this time. Now he just straight up threw it on the floor and turned his head away from me, still keeping his eyes shut.

I sighed quietly and just went to pick it up so I could set it near him again.

Elias's eyes flashed open and he glared at me now.

"Go away!" He snapped. Out the corner of my eye, I saw Three take a step forward, like he was getting fed up with Elias's temper tantrum, but thankfully Five was there to pull him away, shaking her head and probably giving him a little lecture about how to handle kids. He didn't seem convinced as he just looked at Elias impatiently.

Elias glared up at me.

"You killed her." His statement was spoken harshly, with a crack to his voice. I closed my eyes for a moment to cope with the fact that Elias was pissed about April. Of course, he had no idea the extent of April's abuse of Kali, and no doubt April had kept things to a minimum on purpose so Elias wouldn't see her as dangerous.

"Yes, I did," I replied after a moment. Elias's eyes welled up with tears.

"She didn't deserve to die."

"Maybe. But I can't let anyone hurt you guys," I said and Elias blinked, looking at me in tearful confusion, "Anyone who tries to hurt you is going to die, Elias, that's just the way it is." Elias's tears overfilled his eyes, pouring down his face like a faucet, his sobs so wrenching that he started to hiccup.

"She-She didn't hurt me—"

"It was only a matter of time before she did, just like she hurt Kali."

"She didn't hurt Kali!"

"Not where you could see, Elias—"

"No! That doesn't make any sense; April loved Kali! They were married!"

"Marriage isn't always happy."

"Kali said April would never hurt her," Elias was sobbing now, pulling the blanket up to his nose like he was trying to hide, "I don't understand! Why does everyone have to keep dying?" I swallowed thickly, trying to keep my own tears of frustration and hurt at bay. Elias didn't understand and it wasn't his fault, so I couldn't be mad, at least not at him.

I was mad at April. Mad at her for who she was, who she became, what she did to Kali, and to Elias. Mad that she had turned the idea of something that was supposed to be romantic and loving into something brutal and abusive. My heart bled for Kali, who had held out all these years in hopes that April would become what Milo had become for me.

And I was mad at mother for having created this whole waking nightmare to begin with.

"Please drink some water," I told Elias softly, but he shook his head furiously, "Elias, you have to drink some water, at least some water. When was the last time you ate? The last time you drank?" Elias just sobbed inconsolably.

I clenched my teeth, unable to stand that sound anymore. It was making my ears hurt and Darling was starting to crawl under my skin, agitated by the wails, agitated by the situation, and agitated because Wren wasn't beside us.

I pretended not to think about the fact that he was probably getting plenty of love and care from the folks at The Winged Serpent. Maybe it would be enough to sway his feelings towards me.

A dumb stupid part of me screamed in defiance over it all.

I wanted to storm that place, grab Wren, and take him somewhere else where it could just be the two of us. I wanted to be the one to feed him, the one to care for him, the one to replenish his energy, soothe his heats. I wanted to hold his adorable face in my hands, stare into those dark eyes that seemed to know everything about me.

But how?

We never figured out why he had Milo's ring, Milo's memories. He'd suggested reincarnation, but was that really it? Wren had already been young and alive when Milo was older and dying. There was no way it made sense time wise, so how could it be possible?

I clenched my teeth and ended up quitting the room, but not before I walked past Three, grabbing him by the arm and hauling him out into the hallway with me as he sputtered. I took Three a ways away from the lounge for some privacy and he scowled at me when I let go.

"What's your damage, man—"

"How does reincarnation work?" I demanded. Three stared at me for a moment, then raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you think I know jackshit about reincarnation?" He asked. I turned to look at him, arms folded over my chest.

"You were never good at hiding how you feel," I said, making Three flush a little, "You seemed to be very attentive to Stanton. Something tells me you really like learning from him. Don't tell me Stanton hasn't talked to you about reincarnation before. That's right up his alley, isn't it?" Three shifted a little uncomfortably.

I think he was mostly awkward about being caught admiring someone else.

Three was very independent, contrary to his relationship with Six. While he depended on Six to give him attention and love, which no shit, he didn't depend on him for other things. Three liked to do things on his own without help. He also took his job as a healer quite seriously, which was probably why he had no problem with Hades telling him what to do when it came to medical stuff.

Three hadn't been able to hide the goo-goo eyes he had for Stanton, or Hades for that matter, which was funny considering he relentlessly teased Wren about his daddy and granddaddy attachments. Guess it made sense to mock someone who had the same insecurities, so nobody would notice yours.

"I don't know that much," Three said at last, making me raise an eyebrow and I folded my arms over my chest to show him I wasn't going to leave him alone until I got some kind of answer and he sighed in frustration, "Reincarnation is fucking complicated, man. It's not, like, a specific process you go through like applying for a visa or an apartment. It's not linear the way people think it is, cuz you know, time isn't linear like we thought." I stared at him and he stared back for a moment and when I arched my brow expectantly, he made this sour-puss whiny ass face like a toddler about to throw a tantrum.

Thankfully, Three had the semblance of intelligence to just continue with his half-assed explanation.

"Look," Three continued, clearly distressed by the topic, which made me think he knew more than he was letting on, but it was hard to focus on his voice both inside his head and coming out of his mouth, "Wren is definitely reincarnated, if that's what you want to know. Stanton already told me that, which is why I think it had something to do with why he had Milo's ring. But at the end of the day, who fucking gives a shit? He's still Wren first and foremost, and that Wren is the one that is head over heels for you."

His comment made Darling purr. The great scary Beast that was supposed to be mother's weapon of mass destruction just purred and trembled at the thought of Wren being in love with me. It actually made my heart skip a beat, and for the briefest of moments, I had a fantasy of what it was like to be in love again. My mouth watered at the anticipation, not just for the physical affection that came with being in love, but Darling and I were attention starved.

It was so stupid to admit, but it was nice to be seen. I spent most of my life hiding in the background, watching from afar. It was why it had been so hard to interact with the artificials properly. While I knew enough about them that it was like I already knew them, there was still that hesitation that came with social anxiety. The thought of what if I fuck up.

With Milo, I had never been afraid of putting my foot in my mouth. I said whatever was on my mind and Milo accepted it. Sometimes it made him angry, sometimes it made him sad, sometimes it made him laugh and that was my favorite reaction. I loved watching Milo's pretty pink lips split into a grin, those fangs peeking out from beneath, his dark eyes sparkling as he stared up at me.

"I don't see what that should mean to me," I answered Three at last. The deadpan stare Three gave me was downright comical as he put his fists on his hips slowly, clearly ready to ream me. I turned to face him, amused.

"Don't give me that cool guy bullshit," Three said, pointing a finger at me, "You were all over Wren the moment you saw him. And you can lie all you want, but Wren already told Niko you guys were practically an item." I pretended that didn't give me butterflies and wondered when the fuck I became a prepubescent girl after watching a vampire movie.

I clenched my fists, settling for folding my arms over my chest, creating a wall that clearly offended Three, judging from the flash of his dark eyes.

"There's no way that's true. Wren would never tell you that," I said dryly. I couldn't imagine Wren telling Three anything so intimate.

Three snorted.

"He didn't. I overheard him talking to Niko when he was asking about you," he said, making me frown and glance at him and he raised an eyebrow to challenge my questioning stare, "Yeah, Wren went to talk to Niko about you because he wanted to know how to approach you without scaring you away. Now why the fuck would someone want to know more about someone, unless there was a personal reason?"

"Because I'm the enemy," I deadpanned. Three wiped his hands down his face, then actually brought them together in prayer under his chin as he stared up at the ceiling.

"I can't do this," he said, making me raise an eyebrow, "I don't know how Donny Jon on Elysium's Meet Your Pair can handle matching people up. This is so frustrating."

"Nobody asked you to."

"I know, but Jesus Christ, man! If someone liked me enough to risk their life for me, I'd at least be a little curious about them," Three exclaimed and I glared.

"Not when I have more important things to worry about," I replied. Three rolled his eyes.

"Your happiness isn't important?"

"My happiness will begin when mother dies," I stated, making Three sigh and rub his temples.

"I mean, yeah no shit, but we can't just suffer until then."

"Which is exactly why I'm getting all of the artificials out before I do what I need to do."

"There you go again trying to be all cryptic," Three said accusingly, then shook his head, "And no, we don't suffer until then. We gather every force on the planet to go against mother, and in order to do that, we need to understand just what the fuck she's playing with." I glanced at him as he folded his arms over his chest, looking at me.

I took a peek into his head and was immediately hit with a migraine that spiked so hard I cursed, throwing my hands up to clutch the sides of my head.

"Yeah, about that," Three drawled, cocking his head to look up into my face as I glared at him, "Ever wonder why it was so hard for you to get into Wren's head? As soon as Ryk told us you were psychic, we kinda got an upgrade, thanks to Hades." I blinked, then looked up.

"An upgrade?" I asked. Three frowned.

"Apparently. I don't know all the details because I'm still a student," he said dryly, making me raise an eyebrow, "But we'll see what I can learn. Anything I can use against the mother, the better. That's why we need to stick together if we're going to face her. You can't be the only one to go after her, Jasper. Besides, she's got a fucking list of people salivating for a piece."

"How," I muttered and when Three gave me a curious stare, I rolled my eyes, "How are you stopping me?" Three gave me a droll stare.

"Yup, I'm gonna tell you, so you can just get into my head anytime you want. Well, guess what? Fuck you," he said, then pointed at me one more time, "Pervert." I curled my lip, thoroughly annoyed with him, not that I had much of a chance to say anything more, or even give him a whack over the head.

We both sensed someone coming down the hall before we saw them.

We turned to see Stanton moving hard and fast down the hallway. I tensed, because he looked pissed. Beside me, Three took a step forward as if he were ready to defend me if need be, which surprised me given his total man crush on Stanton.

"Move," Stanton ordered as he approached and Three tensed, but Stanton turned to me, getting right up into my business, "You, come with me."

"And if I say no?" I asked dryly. Stanton snorted.

"I'm sorry, did I say you had an option?" He returned.

"What's going on," Three demanded, moving to get between us and Stanton finally took a step back, "I thought you were taking Wren to The Winged Serpent." Stanton glared at me past Three, clenching and unclenching his fists.

"Yeah, that was the intention, except when I tried to teleport there, Wren wouldn't let me," he snapped, making Three scowl, "He said he wanted to go back to the palace to sleep it off."

"Okay, and," Three scoffed, "Why are you up on Jasper's—"

"He's imprinted on you, you stupid fuck," Stanton snarled abruptly and I blinked, caught off guard by something I didn't expect to hear. Stanton glared a hole through me and it totally made sense now, and I could feel my stomach sinking at that news. Even though Darling, who couldn't read a room to save his life, was doing goddamn backflips in my chest.

I had forgotten Wren was more than just his curse.

He was an American incubus. They imprinted on a single person for the rest of their lives, and if anyone else tried to touch them, they would have adverse reactions.

"No," I said immediately and Stanton's dark eyes flashed wrathfully at that and he reached for me past Three, who immediately bumped him out of the way, "No, that's impossible, we never even had sex, all I did was suck—"

"Oh my god, Jasper." Three couldn't do much at this point, and I didn't really care. Stanton easily pushed Three to the side, grabbed me by the front of my shirt, and landed his fist straight to my nose before shaking his hand out with a curse as he turned away.

Pain cracked through my skull, intensifying the pain from my migraine earlier. I ducked my head as blood filled my mouth from my nose and I spit it out between my teeth. My nose was definitely broken, but it would heal in a matter of minutes.

I looked up as Stanton turned to face me again, breathing hard as he glared.

"Clean your face up," he ordered, making me scowl as I straightened, ignoring the way Three just gave us space, folding his hands behind his head and muttering curses to the gods, "Don't give me that stupid look, get your ass to my son's room and fucking feed him, or I'll just gift wrap you myself and drop you off. And you better hope you go sprinting, cuz if I have to do the second option, I won't be nice about it."

I looked at him in disbelief.

Who the fuck did this guy think he was?

Death, certainly, but...

I wiped the blood away from my nose, grimacing when I realized my upper lip had actually gotten split in the attack as well. Darling seemed disgruntled, but he wasn't particularly angry and I think it had something to do with my constant anxiety around Wren.

I sighed, straightening now as I felt my broken nose slowly crack back into place.

"Fine, where is he?" I asked. The last few times I had dealt with Wren were easy. I'd suck him off, maybe make him see stars for a second, then take that as my opportunity to get back to my apartment to free D'Angelo.

Stanton just made a gesture for me to walk in front of him. I rolled my eyes and glanced at Three, who stared at me with both of his eyebrows up now, his arms growing tense behind his head.

"Should I, like, call someone?" Three called to us. Stanton scowled over his shoulder.

"You don't go around telling everyone who's banging in the house, Three."

"Well, no, but—"

"So shut up and go keep an eye on the other kid."

"He has a name," I said testily.

"Sorry," Stanton answered, and the sincerity behind that actually shut me up, "Elias." Three didn't say anything more as we departed from the hallway and Stanton gave me directions right to Wren's room.

I felt a strange sensation whirling in my gut the closer we got to the room. It had to be anxiety, anxiety at what I was about to do to Wren. It was kinda shitty to just get him off, then take off.

Now who's dining and dashing?

When we got to the room, Stanton didn't tell me or give me a heads up. He just opened a door abruptly, grabbed me by the back of my uniform, then threw me in the room like a sack of potatoes. I was so caught off guard because I was very unused to someone literally picking me up and throwing me, given I was the one usually doing the throwing.

I hit the ground with a curse, then shot up to say something, but the door was already slamming shut in my face. I scowled, shoving myself to my feet.

"Your dad's kind of an asshole, isn't he," I asked aloud. I waited for Wren to respond, except he didn't. I frowned, cocking my head because there was that odd sensation in my gut again. It was warm and seemed to almost spread through my system.

It wasn't anxiety.

My chest didn't exactly feel like it was about to implode.

But holy fucking shit, my dick.

The abrupt arousal was actually painful and I sucked in a sharp breath, trying to catch my balance to keep from going down to my knees. The sudden waft of Wren's scent rose into my head and I groaned as I felt his arms slip up underneath mine, his body hugging against me from behind.

"Jasper." His voice was shot, so raw and hungry, a sultry moan against my back. Even through my uniform I could feel the heat of him, feel his rock hard cock in the cleft of my ass.

His hands were wandering my chest now, desperately seeking an entry into my uniform, his face pressing against my back. I growled as Darling's magic shot through me, rushing to feed Wren, and my body quivered under the weight of that loss, under the assault of Wren groping me everywhere.

"Wren," I managed, trying to find his hands and stop them, but for some reason, when I finally found his hands, I couldn't take them off of me. He laced his fingers with mine and I groaned as he ground his cock up against me.

"You taste so good," Wren moaned, rubbing his face against the back of my uniform and I hissed as he finally found the zipper on the back of my uniform. All he had to do was give it a little tug and the fucker shot down on its own accord, splitting open and baring me to Wren's wandering hands. I cursed under my breath as his arms slid through the uniform, creeping over my hips and moving down to my thighs.

"More." His breathy moan was more like a command, a spell. My uniform was slowly peeling off and in a second, I felt Wren's naked body pressed against my naked backside. Instead of taking those fucking hands off me, throwing him on the bed and making a run for it, all I could do was grip his arms as his hands finally got between my legs.

My breath left me in a hoarse gasp and I threw my arm out to keep myself from toppling over, but we ended up falling anyway.

Thankfully, ironically, and maybe fucking placed there by the universe at this point, we landed on the bed.

I rolled over to situate us, but Wren was having none of it. He grabbed me and whipped me around onto my back, sitting on my waist. I hissed as he pressed his ass back against my cock, not piercing himself, but teasing me. I grabbed his thighs, mostly with the intention to get him off me.

It wasn't that I didn't want this— I wasn't completely fucking insane.

But Wren seemed awfully aggressive. Exactly how hungry was he? How long had he been putting off getting an actual meal? Or was it just the combination of his genetics and the Lust curse?

It was getting harder and harder to concentrate on the logic of the situation, because Wren was trying to kiss me now.

He dipped his head down, leading with his tongue until he could capture my lips. I opened my lips, because the scent of him was driving me insane. The way he rubbed his ass back against my cock, teasing me. The way his wet hot tongue left a trail of drool breaking between us, his kisses were nothing more than sloppy desperate suckles for more magic that I could feel flowing through me like a well had been tapped.

"Hungry," Wren moaned against my lips, tonguing my fangs. I gasped, thrusting my hand over my head to find something to grab onto and all I could find was the sheets. I balled them up and my hips jerked up off the bed, my cock spilling against Wren's asscrack.

He moaned.

"Jasper, you taste so good," he purred and the praise reached down into my bones. I groaned, clenching my fist in the sheet as I peered up at him breathlessly, watching his dark eyes sparkle with life. From here, I could see some color returning to his cheeks, making his freckles stand out more, and he seemed to almost glow.

"Wren... Wren, give me a second—"

His lips collided with mine, forcing them open so he could suckle on my tongue. I moaned, finding his shoulders with the intention to push him back so I could catch my breath for a second. He took my hands and thrust them over my head, holding them there so they were out of the way. I could've broken free, but I didn't and that seemed to delight him.

He scraped the sides of my tongue with his fangs as he sucked it, his hips dipping down so that his cock was between us. He started gently rolling his hips so he was creating friction between us and I hissed as his dripping wet cock slid against my stomach.

He wasn't giving me an opportunity to speak, and even when I did have a chance, all I could utter was his name in a husky moan that didn't even sound like mine. He was moving so painfully slow, but for him, that seemed to be enough. In a few seconds, I felt him squirt across my stomach and I groaned, arching my back into it, squeezing the last bit out of his cock between us.

Wren panted, looking down at me with those glazed over dark eyes of his. There was such a softness there, a tenderness I almost didn't feel I deserved.

At that moment, I was suddenly too hungry to care.

It wasn't physical hunger or magical hunger.

I just wanted to be held.

I pulled my hands away from Wren's, grabbing his hips as I shot into a sitting position. He gasped, almost sliding off, but I held him around the waist in my lap. I pressed my chest against his, watched him gasp and tilt his head back to stare up at me. I slid two fingers down through the small of his back and into his crack, feeling him slick with my fluids.

I growled at the wave of possessiveness that invoked, heard Darling growl with me so the sound was overlapping, but instead of scaring Wren, it seemed to only delight him. His eyelids fluttered and he opened his mouth for a desperate kiss that I was more than willing to provide.

Our mouths connected, I let my fingers delve deeper until I felt the heat of him, pressing my middle finger against him. He moaned against my kisses, sweeping his arms up under mine so he could scale my back with his hands.

"More." Wren's command was the only thing I lived for in that moment. I obeyed and pushed my finger inside him, watching him arch his away for a moment, his dark eyes briefly startled by the intrusion. I gave him a second, and that was all he needed as he settled back down. I hissed as he swallowed my finger up to the knuckle.

"You're so soft and hot inside," I murmured against Wren's cheek as he tilted his head to the side so he could get some air. The dirty talk succeeded in making him moan and I tried not to laugh with triumph. I clamped my lips down around his neck instead, suckling and nipping his skin with my fangs.

Wren cried out, drawing one hand up through my hair so he could fist it as he came, hips bucking up against me. At the same time, I added my second finger and curled up, watching Wren's eyes flicker before sliding shut. His wanton expression was fucking sexy, as he bucked and came, humping at my stomach while riding my fingers.

"You're so cute, Wrenny," I muttered and he whimpered, reaching between us to take his cock in his hand to tug at it desperately, but I curled my fingers around his, holding his hand still around his cock and he whined, "No, I want you to cum because I made you cum. I want you to cum just thinking about me being inside you."

"I already have," Wren gasped and I laughed quietly against his cheek at his confession.

"Are you telling me you fingered yourself thinking about me?" I asked, then stretched my fingers apart to remind him where I was. He gave a helpless moan, wrapping his arms around me and tightening his fist in my hair.

"Stop teasing me, feed me," Wren pleaded, forcing me to look at him and I almost swallowed my tongue at his hungry dewy expression, "Fill me up."

My sense of control was a wire worn thin over time.

Frayed, but holding well against all odds.

All it took was that simple command, spoken by lips so sweet, soft, dark eyes like molten chocolate, warm and rich and delicate all at the same time.

"Again," I breathed, moving my fingers around inside him to stretch him. Wren moaned, arching against me, lifting his hips to give me a better angle at his insides.

"Fuck me, Jasper."

One second Wren was in my lap, sitting on my fingers, spilling cum like a busted pipe, and in the next, I had him down on the bed, my body positioned between his legs. He stared up at me breathlessly, his blonde hair disheveled, his dark eyes wide with anticipation, body flushed from head to toe, his cock already standing at attention again.

In fact, I'm pretty sure it hadn't gone down, even after all those lengthy orgasms.

"Do you remember what to say," I panted as I held myself between his ass cheeks, ready to finally sink myself into pleasure, "Do you remember what to say to me when you want me to stop?" Wren blinked a few times, like he was confused.

"W-What, y-yes, yes—"

"Good."

I didn't give Wren time to adjust to me inch by long painful inch, not that I needed to. His body had produced enough of that fluid to make the entry wet, quick, and complete. He made a noise that was a cross between a cry and a sob, his arms flying around my shoulders and his fingernails sinking into my skin.

Pleasure coursed through every fiber of my being and Darling was alive inside me. His magic flowed through every ounce of me until I felt like a living, breathing battery.

Below me, Wren was a delicious display of trembling spread open legs, his lips swollen from our intense kissing, his cock just dribbling uncontrollably as he stared up at me with dewy eyes. I watched as red seeped into the edges of my vision and Wren seemed to pause for a second, staring with wide eyes before he seemed to melt in my arms suddenly.

"Oooh," Wren moaned softly, tilting his head against me so our cheeks were touching, "Jasper, so good. You feel so good. So big." Darling growled at the praise, the sound rumbling in my chest and Wren purred in response, tilting his head to kiss me now and our lips crashed together as I drew my hips back and drove them forward.

The bed actually fucking scraped on the floor and Wren cried out, hanging onto me. I picked him up by the hips and got to work before the bed fucking broke.

It was the best workout of my life.

I watched Wren sprawl out on the bed, legs spread as if he couldn't get enough of me inside him, leaving everything on display from his leaky cock to the redness of his sphincter around my cock. I held myself propped up on the bed now, just rocking my hips against Wren.

Anything to keep the pleasure going, because it felt as if for the first time in such a very long time, I felt... good. Not just sexually elated, but magically. Despite Wren feeding off my energy, I still felt electrified with magic. It was almost like Wren was the one feeding me. Even Darling was utterly euphoric. I couldn't even remember the last time Darling had felt so good, when the both of us felt so in sync.

The best part was that heightening pleasure. Just when we thought we'd had enough, just when the pleasure of just doing it was everything, it seemed like the world around us suddenly got a whole lot brighter.

It was stupid to say an orgasm changed my life.

But that fucking orgasm changed my life.

The peak hit me like a truck. The magic, the ecstasy, the joy, the pleasure, all of it was wrapped in a tidal wave that washed over me. I was delirious with pleasure, remembering only the fuzzy details of hungrily making out with Wren, of feeling tears burn my cheeks, Wren's dark eyes glittery with his own tears, his lips parted. His cry of pleasure was muted by a strange soft humming in my ears.

I vaguely remembered that sound.

Somewhere in a distant memory, that soft humming, the bright colors...

I lost track of time somewhere.

I had disappeared from a world that was tired and cruel and overrun with misery and depravity. The world I ran to no longer held mother and her people, no longer held responsibilities or fears or dangers, nothing. The world was nothing more than a pleasure pool of softness, of tenderness, of emotional safety.

It was the most surreal experience, and I had watched almost all of the artificials come into being, something I had originally held at the top in regards to mind blowing experiences.

I had expected to feel a little off when I zoned back in, maybe weak and tired.

And I certainly was tired, and sore because of all the back bending we'd done, but I felt strangely at peace as I began to come back to the real world.

Darling was extremely satisfied. For once, he was silent, as if he'd finally, finally gone to sleep.

I breathed out a long sigh as I blinked a few times, rousing myself from what appeared to actually be sleep. I was a little confused, because I didn't remember falling asleep, or ever feeling as well rested as I did at that moment.

Even more confusing, I didn't wake up in my apartment, or a hospital bed, or some hotel.

I woke up beside Wren.

No, I woke up with him in my arms, as a matter of fact. As I blinked into focus, I realized Wren was snuggled up against my chest, fast asleep. He looked completely at peace, aside from the hickeys and bite marks all over his neck. I brushed my finger over one that reminded me of something, but I couldn't quite place it.

I stroked his neck and an image of Rowan's face flashed across my mind, a second later, an image of his hand going to his neck to the place where his mating mark was.

I froze, my fingers hovering over the mark just under Wren's jaw on the side of his neck. It was a little blurry because of the bruising and the blood, but the more I rubbed my finger on it, the clearer it got.

My stomach slid down.

Yiuwa's lineage was known for mating marks, and while American incubi could imprint, they didn't leave marks. That meant the mark on Wren's neck came from me, and now that I thought about it, I had felt Wren's fangs nick me a few times too.

I felt around my neck, watching Wren to try and figure out a way to extricate myself from his embrace so I could look in the mirror. I couldn't feel much, but it did feel swollen. Anxious, I reached around to try and peel Wren's arm off me.

"If you move, I'll crush your balls." I went still when I felt Wren's knee against my groin.

I looked down to see him still laying there with his eyes closed, but his brow was furrowed into a faint frown.

"I... need to pee," I said after a moment. Wren peeked an eye open to look at me, then closed it and just wiggled his shoulders a little in a half-shrug, half-trying-to-look-comfortable jig.

"Piss the bed."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You'll just have to piss the bed, because I'm not letting go. Unless you're willing to carry me, but might be kind of hard to pee while you're holding me," Wren replied, tightening his arms around my torso. I frowned, glancing at him, because I think we both knew he was being entirely unreasonable.

He tightened his grip, his jaw clenching.

"Wren."

"No."

"I'm not... leaving, I'm just—"

"Do you think I'm stupid," Wren muttered, opening his eyes and tilting his head to glare up at me, "You're probably thinking of running off to do fuck knows what to get back at Hera. I think that's stupid. You can't do it alone." I clenched my teeth. I was getting tired of people telling me that, but it wasn't that I was cocky and felt I could do it all alone.

I was just tired of risking everyone's lives over this stupid bitch.

All of the artificials, Hades and his family, his people.

None of them deserved to suffer any longer.

I have nothing left, I thought for a split moment, only to go still as my eyes landed on the mark on Wren's neck. I swallowed thickly as he glared at me curiously now.

"Jasper?"

"Wren, I... I want you," I said at last and Wren blinked at that, looking a little surprised that I actually not only answered his question, but answered honestly, "I want you more than you could possibly know, and it has been a very, very long time since I've wanted something."

"But," Wren bit off. I smiled, brushing the hair out of his face and he reached up quickly to hold my hand to his cheek. I swallowed at that show of tenderness.

"But how am I supposed to go into a fight ready to fight to the death if I'm not ready to die?" I asked. Wren clenched his teeth, pressing my hand to his cheek and he looked up at me.

"Don't fight to the death," he said, making me frown, "Stop fighting to the death. Everyone just needs to stop fighting until everyone is dead. Why can't we start fighting to live? Why can't you fight Hera and live?"

"Because if she did something to you, if she took you away too—"

"If she takes you away from me," Wren said, surprising me when he reached up to grip my chin, making me look at him, "I will kill her myself. You're not the only one who has people at stake here. I'm willing to fight Hera and I am willing to fight for you."

I didn't know what to say.

For once, I was at a loss for words.

I wanted to argue, wanted to tell him he simply didn't understand, but the thing was that he did understand, because he was right; he had shit at stake here too. Hera wasn't just threatening me and the artificials; she was threatening everyone who stood against her.

I wanted to do this alone, I did. That had been the original plan, because it kept casualties to a minimum as the only major one would be me and that wasn't much of a loss... at first.

I wasn't some ditzy idiot whose depression was healed by the power of the dick.

The sex just happened to coincide with the realization that Wren was a lot more important to me than I wanted to admit.

I wasn't sure what it was. Maybe it was the reincarnation at play here or perhaps it was something more. All I knew was that I needed Wren by my side. For the first time in many, many years, I woke up refreshed. I woke up hungry. I woke up ready.

Jesus fucking christ, I woke up.

It felt like I had been trapped in a hazy, murky nightmare, and while I had to admit that not all of that was over with, it felt like there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

"Jasper?" I blinked to see Wren staring at me intently, waiting for me to answer him.

"Wren... Thank you."

"For what?"

"For helping me wake the fuck up."

Wren stared at me for a moment, then seemed to smile faintly as he settled back down on the bed, keeping his arms around me as he stared up at me.

"About time," he murmured as his eyes flickered with an abrupt reel of colors before returning to dark brown, and I swore as he nestled into the blankets, he added very softly, "We've been waiting."