Chapter Eighty-Nine: Ashes to Ash

I was used to nightmares. Until a few months ago, I hardly knew what it meant to wake peacefully from a dream. This was different. There wasn’t the jarring experience of being ejected from whatever horror my mind could conjure up. It wasn’t waking in the throes of whatever awful emotion I’d been trapped in by my subconscious. Waking from this particular dream felt like I was having to claw my way back into my own mind.

My first reaction was panic. In my half-asleep delirium, I thought I was being burned alive. I was hot, sweaty, and couldn’t move a muscle. Once I started to wake further, I realized all of those could be attributed to the giant, adorable, softly snoring Half-dragon who’d managed to wrap her arms around both me and Rhallani and curl around us.

The room was just beginning to lighten with the first rays of sunlight peeking over the horizon, which meant it was still dark enough for my [Dark Sense] to be mostly active. I took a moment to listen to the various breathing and snoring happening around me, cataloging who all was laying around me. Each heartbeat I identified made me feel a little better. A little safer. Considerably more sane.

Safina was curled around me and Rhallani while Noelle and someone I was reasonably certain to be Alice were both laying in a tangle of limbs pressed to her back. Just past them Valith was wrapped tightly in blankets with her back to the rest of us and her front facing towards the door. Tiana and Serena were in front of me, right where I’d left them after ensuring they were fully sated last night, laying close enough that they could reach out and touch but not actually touching anyone. A bundle that must have been Nariko was curled up into a ball in the crooks of Serena’s knees. At my feet were the twins, both curled up in a pile of the softest blankets they’d been able to get their hands last night, riding out the last vestiges of their heat.

They were all safe and, if their breathing was anything to go by, happy at best and content at worst. Even still, there was a part of me that was extremely bothered by those that were missing. Jack. Stella. Karina. I even had a nearly irrational urge to go make sure Jayme was alright. I felt like ants were crawling under my skin, and I needed to get up and move before I had a full on freak out. Even closing my eyes and focusing on the Links between Jack, Stella and I only did so much. That feeling of loss, of complete and utter loneliness, still filled me. Drowned me.

It required the use of a few tendrils of shadow, but I somehow managed to extract myself from the bed without waking any of the others. Well, anyone but Valith, who had turned to look towards me the second I started moving. I felt a pang of uncertainty through the Link, which meant I was broadcasting at least a little of what I was feeling right now. I was probably lucky she was the only one awake right now.

“It’s fine,” I said softly, just loud enough for her to hear. “Just bad dreams. You can get some real sleep now, I can keep an eye on things.”

She huffed, then burrowed back into her blanket. By the time I reached the Jailer’s Blade, leaning against one of the posts that held up the curtains over the bed, her breathing had evened out. After the life she’d been forced to live, I could understand her need to always be alert. I could only hope she would reach the point where the manor felt safe enough to let her guard down, but I knew better than anyone that the kind of paranoia she’d been forced to develop wasn’t something that could be cured by anything other than time.

Doing my best to pretend my fingers weren’t trembling, I ducked out of the big room and headed straight for my personal room, which had so far gone unused. I took a seat on the bed (still large enough to fit three comfortably) and laid the blade across my thighs. After all, it wasn’t exactly difficult to deduce where the dream/memory had come from. After last night my Essence pool was nice and filled to the brim, so I undid the latch and slid the blade a few inches out of the scabbard. Just enough for crimson tinged smoke to leak out and wrap around my wrist like a caress.

I could feel the uncertainty through the Link, but Ash’s emotions were intensified the moment the smoke wrapped around me. Fear. Uncertainty. Guilt. Most of all, that crushing loneliness that nearly had me running back to the big room to bury myself in as many of the women I’d come to love as possible.

Closing my eyes, I focused on them. On how I felt when I was around them. The warmth I felt when I spent time with them. Not only how much I loved each and every one of them, but what it felt like to be loved by them. The constant support. The way it felt when I made even one of them smile. How lucky I was to get to fall asleep next to any of them, much less all of them. They weren’t just my allies or my lovers, they were my family.

I imagined bottling all of that up and pushing it through the Link. Trying to give Ash even a fraction of how my girls made me feel. Showing her she wasn’t alone in the only way I could think of. Something more powerful than any words I could offer.

The Link surged between us as she pushed back. Gratitude slammed into me so hard tears collected in the corners of my eyes. Not only for what I’d just given her, but for something else, too. Everything else. For a moment, I felt what she’d felt in the past. That crushing loneliness that stretched on for eternity after eternity, surrounded in nothing but suffocating darkness. A darkness only broken by the scraps of souls torn away from those who wielded the sword.

Scraps that, until me, had been scattered, broken, and twisted. Wielders driven to insanity by the blade, left soulless husks that committed horrific atrocities. Glimpses into a world that sometimes seemed worse than the nothingness that had become her existence. And then…

Me.

Defiance. A soul that, though broken, refused to shatter. I knew pain, sure, but I also knew what it was to care for others. No matter how hard he tried, Karn could never fully kill my empathy. Could never stop me from forming attachments to the others. From taking enough strength in those attachments to defy him at every turn. To eventually kill him.

Scrap after scrap of my soul filtered into the blade until Ash was surrounded by them. Until she was able to slowly, piece by piece, build a wall between her and the darkness, constructed by the glued-together pieces of my will. More pieces of me made it to her than anyone before me. Than everyone before me. Even after the world had taken so much, I’d still had pieces to give. Even after losing everything again and again, I’d still had the hope to move forward. To try and make the world a better place, even when I didn’t really believe it was possible.

The pieces of me became a window. Something that turned her from a mindless source of power into something…more. Something that, for the first time in a very, very long time, had hope. She showed me how she’d felt the night I took on the Valax queen. Her elation at finally coming face to face with me as I was drawn into the blade tempered by the guttural fear that I was going to die.

I felt what she’d felt when she’d made the decision to save me. She’d sacrificed every scrap of soul I’d ever given her, every piece of me that had slowly returned her to some semblance of sanity, and she’d done it without hesitation or regret. If the choice was between my death and her returning to the darkness, then it wasn’t even a choice. I didn’t realize it then, but she’d given me everything she had to give with the full expectation that the psyche she’d been slowly building wouldn’t survive.

But it had. More than that, when she’d given me all of the pieces I’d given her, she’d unintentionally included a little extra. A piece of her she hadn’t even known existed. It left behind a bond between us. Something one-sided. A connection between my soul and her psyche that, even now, held the darkness at bay. And then, when I’d fought the Rathum, I’d unintentionally completed it. I’d put my trust in her, bared my soul to her, and turned that connection into something solid. Permanent. A Link.

The window that had once felt like shattered stained glass, letting her see but distorting the image, was now clear. With every day she felt more and more like someone real and less like the mindless pit of power she’d spent so long trapped as.

When I opened my eyes, it was to a notification. One that made my brows rise.

Error? What the fuck? Was my skill malfunctioning? Was that something that could happen? I guess it wasn’t the strangest thing ever to happen to me, but it was certainly worrying. Was the Link damaged? Or was it simply a non-standard Link because Ash was far from a normal soul? I had a thousand questions, but I figured Ash would have about as many answers as I did.

When she finally receded from the Link, I could still feel her. Like the warmth left behind by a hand pressed to my cheek, echoes of her lingered. This time, when she spoke, it was like a whisper in the back of my mind.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her voice trembling.

“Please,” I said, my own voice rough, “after everything you’ve done for me I feel like I should be the one thanking you.”

“You changed something again, didn’t you? Things are clearer. You’re clearer.”

“Seems to be the case,” I admitted. “Think it has something to do with the dream last night?”

There was a loaded pause. “You dreamed about the world of ashes as well?”

“I did. Is that a common occurrence for you?”

Uncertainty radiated through the Link. “I’ve never had a dream before, I’ve only ever seen bits of yours. But that dream was a memory, wasn’t it? One of mine?”

I frowned. “It’s certainly not one of mine. You don’t know?”

She shrugged mentally. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. It’s familiar, though.”

“Well that’s disconcerting. Maybe you’ll remember more as our Link strengthens.”

There was another pause. “What if I don’t want to remember?”

“I wish I could tell you. Unfortunately, we’re pretty firmly in uncharted territory here. Something tells me there aren’t any books in the library that could tell us what’s happening between us.”

“I’m sorry.”

I ran my thumb across the hilt absentmindedly. “Don’t be. I’d rather know than not know, and any information about what’s going on is worth it. Plus, more memories might help me understand exactly what you are. Unless, of course, you’ve got some new insights to share.”

Conflicting emotions rolled around in her. “What d’you mean? I’m me, aren’t I?”

I chuckled. “You certainly are, but knowing more about how you got trapped in the sword and who you were before that happened could help me understand why you, and the blade, seem to be connected to our enemy’s plans.”

“Oh. What if I was someone horrible before? This stupid prison is called the Jailer’s Blade, after all, so what if I deserve to be here?” Her unasked question radiated through the Link. If that were the case, would I abandon her to the loneliness?

“Then I’d say you’ve atoned for it. More than that, I’m not even sure you’re the same person you were before, but I’ll need to run that theory by Rhallani, see if she’s figured out anything else about that book we found.”

She trilled thoughtfully. “That all sounds way too complicated for me. I think I’ll just keep killing the things you need killed and let you figure out all that hard stuff.”

I laughed. “Sounds like a plan. Something tells me I’ll have more need for you very soon.”

Satisfaction and excitement. “Yes! I’ll kill stuff so freakin’ good, you just wait!” Something in me eased at hearing her old, chipper self starting to return.

We chatted a little longer, but before long I started to get the feeling she was growing tired. Her responses started to get sluggish and unclear, and I swore she even yawned at one point. Before too long, I returned the blade to its scabbard and closed the latch. I felt her withdraw from the Link, but not completely. Like Serena, I was aware of her in a way I hadn’t been before.

That in of itself got me thinking. Ash, my sword, was the second one to evolve her Link. What did that say about the other Links I had? What were the conditions under which those Links leveled? With Serena, the growth had been triggered by a sort of mutual understanding and trust. Not only her confession that she loved me, but me accepting that I was loved. Did that mean my other relationships were being held back? And if they were, how likely was it that I was the culprit?

Knowing my issues with trust, I had an inkling I knew which was the case.

I leaned the sword against the bed and ran my hands through my hair, then pulled up my list of Links. I had twelve currently. Serena, Noelle, Rhallani, Ash, Tiana, Tsuki, Valith, Jack, Safina, Stella, Nell, and now Seven. Of those twelve, five were Links between me and those with shimmers. Rhallani, Tiana, Tsuki, Jack, and Stella.

My gut told me that it was no coincidence the only two Links that had leveled were those without shimmers. Of the non-shimmers that remained, it made sense that none had yet grown. Nell and Seven were both fresh (and I questioned whether it was even possible for the Link between me and a soul trapped in a golem to even evolve). Safina and Valith were both relatively new to the household, and with the lives they’d lived I could understand that they’d be slow to truly trust anyone, especially a human like me. Noelle doubly so. That she’d come so far was a miracle in of itself.

The shimmers were the biggest mystery staring me in the face. I didn’t think it was the shimmers themselves hampering the Link, but rather what I feared they meant. If they had been manipulated in some way by Allura’s machinations, then did that mean there was something artificial about our connections? Or, and this was the more likely outcome in my opinion, was my own guilt that they’d been manipulated on my behalf holding me back from truly connecting with them?

So many questions, so few answers. I needed to find Allura, but there were so many other important things on my to do list that figuring out where to start that search would have to wait. I needed to get this brothel situation taken care of, otherwise Stella being trapped in the lion’s den was going to drive me insane. Not only that, but I had to keep holding up my end of Allura’s deal and keep building up my assets in the city. We were getting close to really getting things rolling, which meant it was about to become dangerous just to be a part of my household. I needed to prepare, and I needed to make sure my guard didn’t slip in the slightest.Fuck I was tired. And not the kind of tired that could be solved with a nap.

A soft knock on the door jarred me from my thoughts. I instinctively checked my bonds, but whoever was on the other side wasn’t Linked to me. When I opened it, I was surprised to see a bashful Alice with dark cheeks waiting on the other side.

“Alice,” I said, “is something wrong?”

She shook her head, not meeting my eyes. “Not at all, I just… um…” She swallowed hard, her throat bobbing.

“You’re thirsty?” I guessed.

She ducked her head. “I can wait, if this isn’t a good time. It’s not a need just yet, but I figured it was better to… take care of it while it was still a want, y’know?”

I stepped back, pulling the door with me, and invited her inside. “Now is fine. I’d prefer if you didn’t force yourself to wait until you’re parched before coming to me. It’s been a while since you last fed, hasn’t it?”She picked at her nails. “I’ve been, um, snacking here and there. All consensual, of course,” she added quickly, barely concealed fear just barely perceptible in her voice.

“That’s perfectly fine. Will this just be a feeding, or…?”

Her throat bobbed again and her cheeks darkened. She shifted from foot to foot, rubbing her thighs together. “Well, i-if you’re willing, then I’d like to, um, satisfy those other urges. I’ve been good since last time, promise. I haven’t orgasmed while feeding once since that day with you and Noelle, but I’ve been feeling a little…” she let the thought trail off.

I’d met a few Vampires in my day. Even fed a few of them, some willingly, some not so much. All of them had been predators though, down to the bone. Lethal and powerful. Everything about them screamed danger.Alice? Not so much.

Frankly, the whole hesitant persona was adorable. And, if her words were to be believed, she was trying very hard to do as I’d asked of her. I stepped close enough to lift her face with a single finger under her chin. The second my skin touched hers, she inhaled deeply and her eyelids fluttered.

“In that case, it sounds like you deserve a reward.” Her pupils dilated and she took a step towards me, her eyes locked on the pulse point at my neck. “Though, with just the two of us, we’re a little limited in our options. Assuming you want my neck again and not one of the other prime feeding spots in my arms or thighs.”

Her nostrils flared, and she swallowed heavily again. Seemed she was very interested in the idea of the arteries in my legs, but for now her attention was still locked onto my throat. With scrabbling fingers, she lifted the hem of her shirt while pushing her pants down. “I, um, I got Rhallani to give me this.” She leaned back enough to show me the contraception crest just barely visible below her navel. “And I talked to the others to make sure they were okay with it. Um, if you wanted to.”

I touched my fingers to the crest and her chest heaved, but she didn’t move otherwise. I slid them lower and she whimpered, pulling her waistband lower and giving me easier access. I ran two fingers down her slit and they came away drenched. “I’ve got no problem with that, and it seems you don’t either.”

“I have a really good sense of smell,” she panted, her hands trembling where they held her clothes, “and Noelle always smells like you. And sleeping in the bed last night… the way it all smelled… then when you left earlier, I just followed the scent here, and…”

I nodded, then pulled my shirt over my head. “I understand. You don’t have to worry, I’m not upset.” I’d barely undone my trousers before she’d ripped off her outer clothes, revealing nothing underneath. She launched herself at me, her legs locking around my waist and her mouth slamming into mine. I grabbed two handfuls of her ass, then captured her lower lip between my teeth, biting down not quite hard enough to break skin, and she moaned into my mouth.

I backed up until I hit the bed and fell back, bringing her with me. We’d barely even bounced once before she impaled herself on me, slamming her hips into mine and taking my entire length in a single go. She arched away from me, crying out, gyrating her hips. I groaned, surprised to be so quickly enveloped in her tight heat. She was so slick with arousal that I slid right in until there was no more of me left to take. I immediately used my grip on her ass to lift her up and down on my cock, sliding in and out of her folds with ease.

“Don’t let me bite you,” she moaned, her face turned to the ceiling while she mauled her breasts. “Not till I’ve cum. Please,” she gasped.

I sat up and dragged my teeth along her neck, keeping her chin pushed towards the ceiling while I thrust up into her. “I can do that,” I said, peppering kisses along her throat, “any reason why?”

“I wasn’t—ah—wasn’t allowed to cum till I was feeding,” she said, gripping my shoulder with one hand and the back of my head with the other. I nibbled at her own pulse point and she let out a low whine. “I want—I want—fuck! I want to be with you, then to feed. Not to be with you to feed.”

I pulled back to look into her eyes while she rode me. They were still a dark violet, but tinged with red on the edges in her lust. “I can do that.”

I captured her lips again, then I lifted her off me. She whimpered, trying to use her Vampire strength to maneuver me back inside her, but it had been too long since she’d fed properly. I flipped us so she was face down on the bed and plunged back inside her. She moaned, low and guttural, fisting the sheets and slamming her hips against mine with all the energy she had. I grabbed her hips, angling each thrust and searching out her weak points.

She buried her face in the bed to muffle her cries while her other hand snaked between her legs. It wasn’t long at all before I felt her clench down, her muffled cries turning into a scream followed by a tearing sound as her fangs ripped through the bedding underneath her. I slid an arm underneath her and lifted so that her back was pressed to my chest and grabbed a handful of her perky chest. It was on the smaller side compare to some of my other girls, but they were just big enough to fill my palm perfectly.

“No need to rush it,” I said in her ear, replacing her fingers frantically attacking her clit with my own, rubbing it in slower, more controlled circles that had her writhing in my arms. “I won’t deny you, Alice. I’ll make you feel good, so just enjoy it.”

She made another whimpering sound that sounded like agreement and I started thrusting again. At this angle, my cock slammed right into a spot that drove her crazy. She let her head fall back on my shoulder while I drove her slowly but surely towards her second climax, scissoring her nipple between two of my fingers while I massaged her breast and rubbing slow but firm circles on her clit. I nibbled her neck again and she pressed her face to mine, whimpering as I picked up the pace, reaching back and wrapping her arm around my head to pull me closer. I moved my fingers faster as her walls started to flutter around my cock.

She turned my head enough to press her lips to mine as she came and I swallowed her cries. Her first orgasm had been quick and violent, but this one I helped her ride out. I lasted as long as I could, but feeling her clenching around me while her body writhed and spasmed in my arms was too much. I slammed into her one last time, loosing rope after rope of cum as deep inside her as I could manage.

I sat back on my heels while still inside her while we both caught our breath, then she was twisting in my lap. I slipped out of her only long enough for her to straddle me, then I was sliding back in, the slickness of both our releases making it easy. I laid back on the bed and she sank her teeth into my neck. A flare of pain turned into a wave of pleasure as my cock returned to full hardness.

She groaned, her eyes rolling back into her head, and took several long pulls while her hips rocked and twisted, trying to get me deeper inside her. I sank one hand into her hair, pressing her into my throat, while I massaged her ass with the other. I coated two fingers in the slickness coating her thighs and started to gently massage her asshole, which quickly led to her shuddering with another release while she drank her fill.

She bit deeper and the pleasure intensified, rocking her hips back into my hand while riding me. My finger slid past the rim of her rear entrance and she moaned loudly in approval, and it wasn’t long before my release was approaching again. Right when I started to feel light headed, she pulled her fangs from my neck and started layering the bite with long, slow licks. I slid a second finger into her ass and she clenched around me with a whimper, slamming her hips down on me just as I came a second time.

“Fuck,” she breathed, laying tense on my chest. “That was… fuck.”

I chuckled, stroking my fingers down her spine. With each pass, she relaxed into me a little more. Once she was relaxed enough, I lifted her off my sensitive cock and nestled her into my side. “Glad you enjoyed it.”Alice scoffed. “Enjoyed it? I’m already wondering when we can do that again.” She licked her lips, nestling into my chest. “Is this okay? That I’m, y’know, still here?”

I dragged my nails down her back again, all the way from her nape to the top of her ass, and she shivered. “The last thing I want is for you to feel used, so yes. This is more than okay.”

She hummed, letting her eyes close halfway and melting into me. “Good. I never… well, you probably know. This is good. Very good.” The more she relaxed, the more her words started to slur. “Mmm, I feel so full. In more ways than one.”

I didn’t respond, since I was pretty sure she was asleep. I just laid there, gently stroking her back, while she dozed. Thinking. Until, that is, I heard a voice in my head.

“That was fun to watch.”

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard Ash in my mind. She’d never been able to speak with the blade sheathed before. I opened my mouth, but I’d managed to avoid waking Alice so far. Instead I tried to focus on saying the words in my mind. You saw that whole thing?

Amusement filtered through the Link, but muted. “I did. Hard not to now that I can see things even clearer than before. I like her. Though, I guess I like all your girls. Especially Noelle. Don’t tell anyone, but she’s my favorite.”

I ran the hand not trapped under Alice over my face. I guess that makes sense. You did give her a new class, after all.

“No I didn’t. I just gave her the class she should have had before those fate thieves got ahold of her.”

Once again, I had to fight the urge to react physically. Fate thieves? Are you using that as an insult or a title?

“Both? Neither? I dunno, it just feels right. Those bastards better hope I never find them since I fully plan to burst their magic channels an inch at a time until they’re begging for a death I will refuse to grant them. Ever flayed anyone? I’d do it, but I don’t really have hands.”

Alright, so my sword was a little more bloodthirsty than I thought. After everything that Noelle had been through, though, it was difficult to argue. I didn’t bother answering, since Ash had retreated to apparently start running through a list of torture options she was capable of without opposable thumbs. How I knew that I wasn’t entirely sure, but it was as amusing as it was disconcerting.

I laid there until Alice started to stir some time later. The first thing she did was shift towards my neck, giving it a long lick that made my cock twitch, then she hummed. “You taste like Noelle. Your blood, I mean.”

She nuzzled into me a bit longer, then her eyes shot open as she realized what she said. I just arched a brow at her. “And why exactly do you know what Noelle tastes like?” I prompted, more amused than anything else. I’d seen how close the two had become since Noelle had claimed her, so I doubted it was anything bad.

Her face flushed. “W-well, I might have challenged her dominance once or twice. There was a bit of wrestling involved. A bit of fighting. She always pinned me in the end.”

“You challenged Noelle’s dominance?” I asked, frowning. I’d gathered that there was some kind of pack hierarchy that came from their demi-human natures, but Alice didn’t seem the type to want to be head of the pack.

Alice, apparently understanding my confusion, scoffed. “I didn’t do it to win, obviously.” She hunkered down, her face now completely scarlet. “I’m not going to just ask her to pin me down and chew on me, that’s no fun. Besides, she enjoys it just as much. She’s always extra cuddly after,” she added with a small smile.

“See? I knew I liked her,” Ash commented. “She’s good to our Noelle.”

I didn’t miss the casual claiming of the Malachai, both on my behalf and Ash’s, but that was something to unpack later. After I’d dealt with the minor bomb the naked Vampire in my arms had just dropped. “Alright, and what exactly did you mean I taste like her?”

“Well, you remember that exotic taste I mentioned? Noelle tastes like that, except… more.”

“More how?”

She wrinkled her nose, then turned until she was on her back staring at the ceiling, her head resting on my shoulder. “It’s like… like the difference between eating a dish that’s got fire pepper flakes in it versus taking a bite straight out of the pepper. Drinking from you is like the perfect amount of spice, and you’ve got enough other flavors to balance it out. Drinking from Noelle is a rush. It leaves me all light headed and dizzy, but in the best way, though I can only handle a little bit at a time from her. But it’s definitely the same flavor, and not one I’ve ever encountered before you.”

“Well, that’s…” I once again ran my hand through my hair. At this rate, I was going to start balding. “Another question on the pile, I guess.”

“I definitely don’t envy you, Z-man. You gotta deal with all the hard stuff like answering questions and solving mysteries. I’ll stick with my ‘killing things’ job. Waaaay more fun.”

I ignored Ash’s oh-so-helpful input. Especially when my stomach chose that moment to shout out its displeasure at being empty. Alice tried to hide her regretful look as she moved away, but I pulled her back. “You don’t have to wait until you’re dying of thirst next time,” I said, pressing my cheek to her temple. “Noelle likes you, and I like you. I know the others have no problem with you, so we don’t have to do this behind closed doors all the time. You’re always welcome in the big bed.”

She twisted to look up at me with wide eyes. They were once again a bright, vivid violet without a trace of red. “Really? I wouldn’t want to drink you dry.”

I just smirked. “Who says it has to be so you can feed?”

Her blush returned, but so did her smile. “Oh. Okay.” She leaned into me, burying her face in my chest to hide the grin I felt. After she got her expression under control, she pulled back. “If it’s alright with you, though, I think I’d like to go lay down for a bit.” She yawned. “I’m already feeling my post-feed coma coming on.”

I kissed her temple, then popped her on the ass. She hopped up and stretched with a grin that showed off her fangs, then frowned as she went hunting for the clothes she’d practically ripped off. When she held up torn pants, she just shrugged and scooped my shirt up off the ground, striding away wearing nothing but that and a wide smile.

I shook my head and pulled my own pants on, then strapped the Jailer’s blade to my bare back. At this rate, I really was going to run out of shirts. Figuring I probably shouldn’t show up to breakfast shirtless, though something told me there weren’t many who would complain, I headed back towards the big room. While this might be my own personal room, I hadn’t really filled it with anything of mine.

But my quest to replace my stolen shirt hit a snag when I found two girls waiting outside my room. Jayme sat on one of the chaises that lined the hall with a bemused expression, watching Karina pace back and forth while chewing on a thumbnail.

I froze, not quite sure what to do, but Jayme spotted me before I could even think about retreating. She barked out a laugh, startling Karina. “See Kari? Told you he was be fine.”

Karina whirled. “There you are! What are you—” She froze, her eyes growing wide, fixed on my chest. “Oh, wow.”

It took Jayme a second to realize what she was seeing, then she let out a low whistle. “Damn, you know the edge is the part of the knife you’re supposed to avoid, right?”

I rolled my eyes. “Figured that out, thanks. Is something wrong?”

Karina’s pink cheeks darkened. “N-no!”

Jayme just laughed, pushing herself to her feet and throwing an arm over Karina’s shoulders. “Kari was worried about you. We saw the little Vamp practically skip past wearing your shirt, and she was already worried after hearing what you got up to last night.”

“I was not!” Karina said, trying and failing to dislodge Jayme’s arm. “I was merely concerned about the health of our Patron in a purely professional manner! He’s far too young to have heirs, and until he showed up it was accepted that there wasn’t anyone left of House Nocht to begin with. I was only worried about what might happen to me if he got killed or arrested.”

I grinned and crossed my arms, not missing how her eyes flicked to my upper arms for a second. “It’s alright, your concern is adorable. And you don’t have to worry about Alice.”

She huffed. “That’s the Vampire, right? She looked… happy.” Her eyes flicked to my throat where I was sure the still-healing bite was very visible. “She fed from you?”

I nodded. “Her thirst was bothering her, now it isn’t.”

Jayme shot me a lopsided grin. “Pretty sure simple feeding sessions don’t leave gals looking like they’re walking on air.”

Now it was my turn to blush a little. “It was a very productive feeding session.” When I saw Karina’s lips thin, I felt the need to add, “one that was fully discussed and agreed upon by both of us long before it happens, and one that was discussed by all members of my harem. At length, I’m assuming.”

That only seemed to make her more flustered. “She’s a part of your harem now, then?”

I winced. “It’ll be discussed before any decisions are made. Why the interest?”

“N-no reason! No reason whatsoever!”

It was tough to bite back my laughter, but I managed it. “I see. Then I suppose you wouldn’t care either way that Safina is a member of the harem now?” I vaguely remembered that being discussed last night.Karina blanched, but Jayme just laughed. “Shit, you really know how to pick ‘em. That Half-dragon is amazing, isn’t she Kari?” she asked, ribbing her friend.

Karina’s mouth just gaped until she managed to close it, then swallowed. “You’ve got more non-human members than humans at this point,” she said, then her eyes widened as if she hadn’t meant to say that aloud.I just shrugged. “Hardly an issue. And by the time I’m done with the Accords, it won’t be an issue at all.”Karina wrapped her arms around herself. “I heard you put your life on the line for another demi-human last night. Valith, right?”

I clocked the topic change, but I was feeling generous enough to allow it. “I did. She got in trouble, but she’s fine now.”

That didn’t seem to clear up whatever was bothering her in the slightest. Finally, she just shook her head.

“Well, whatever the case, I’m glad you returned okay.” Then her cheeks darkened again. “F-for my own sake, of course! I don’t know if the king would reclaim me if you went and got yourself killed.”

This time when Jayme put her hand on her friend’s shoulder, it was more for reassurance than teasing. I nodded. “Rest assured, I’ve put measures in place so that if something happens to me then all the demi-humans in my household are taken care of.”

I noticed she didn’t relax all that much when I said that, but Jayme’s grin only widened. “Hear that? Sounds like you’re gonna have to find a new excuse to fuss over him now.”

Karina shoved her friend indignantly. “Jayme! I’m not fussing!”

She was definitely fussing, and that made whatever part of me that was drawn to her very happy.

“Forget it,” Karina huffed. She drew herself up, straightening her clothes. “Cynthia gave me my rather generous stipend, and I just wanted to thank you for your generosity. I also wanted to ask if I might be allowed to visit the market to buy clothes and other essentials now that I have the funds to do so.”

There was something immensely entertaining about her adopting the prim and proper facade to hide whatever she was feeling currently. “Of course. You’re not a prisoner, Karina. I would ask that you take a member of my household in case any of the town guards try to cause any issues, but I won’t force you to.”

She seemed surprised, as if she was expecting me to deny her. Then she opened her mouth to say something, only to decide against it. “Very well, I shall take your request into consideration. We won’t head out until after breakfast, at least. Good day, sir Nocht.”

She drew herself up again and started to walk past me, pausing when we were only a few feet apart to look closer at my scarred torso, then she shook herself and continued on. Jayme followed, her bemused expression back, and clapped me on the arm. “Cut her some slack, you’re just very different than what she’d been expecting.” Then her eyes raked over my body. “Starting to guess where you might have picked up those moves you showed off the other day. Think you’d be willing to show me one or two?”

“Sure,” I answered easily. While I was reasonably sure that where Jayme went, Karina would follow, I found the idea of spending time with her just as intriguing. “Things might be hectic for a few days, but I’m happy to set some time aside when you have the chance.”

She grinned. “Heck yeah.” She clapped my arm again and followed after Karina.

I watched them until they were out of sight, my chest puffing only slightly when Karina glanced at me over her shoulder before ducking around the corner. When I entered my room, most of the girls were already up and about. Safina, somehow wrapped around Noelle, Alice, and the twins, remained in bed, but the others were in varying states of dress.

Rhallani was the first to skip past me. She paused long enough to pull me into a kiss, then said, “Stop by the Library in a bit, will you? I’ve got some supplies I need you to run to Stella, and I’d like you to fuck me in the ass for a bit so I can start cracking on this book we found.”

That she could ask that so casually still blew my mind.

“It’s a date,” I said with a smile.

She beamed, then leaned in close. “And Alice? Fucking nice! Or should I say nice fucking? Girl was glowing when she skipped in. She must reek of you, because those four—” she jerked her thumb at Safina, Noelle, and the twins, “—practically jumped her as soon as she made it to the bed. Almost makes me wish the celestial races had instincts like that. It’s so fucking cute.”

“Please,” I said, popping her on the ass, “You’re enough of a handful already.”

“And don’t you forget it,” she said with a wink. She pulled me down for another kiss, then sped out of the room.

An exasperated looking Serena came next, pulling me in for a slightly deeper kiss than Rhallani’s had been. “I told Safina I’d keep an eye on Rhallani so she’d get some more sleep, so I better not let her get too far away.”

I kissed her again. “Careful, she’s a crafty little shit.”

Serena’s eyes twinkled. “Oh, trust me, I know. It’s why I’m holding several of her new toys hostage. Trust me, I can handle our little pervert.”

She gave my hand a squeeze, then she was gone as well. I walked over to where Tiana was dressing at a much more leisurely pace. When I wrapped my arms around her, she sank into me. “Morning, love,” she said, giving me a slow, languid kiss. “Don’t suppose you’ve got a job for me? I’m feeling a little useless.”

“You? Useless? Never.” I gave her a squeeze and she sighed softly. Then I had an idea. “Actually, there is something you could do for me.”

Her turquoise eyes locked on mine eagerly. “Do tell.”

I opened my mouth, then paused. Would what I was about to ask make her upset? But I’d already committed, so I figured I’d see it out. “Karina and Jayme want to hit up the town. We know one of the other nobles has his sights on her, so I’d feel a lot better if you went with them.”

I shouldn’t have been worried. Her eyes twinkled and her smile widened. “I can definitely do that.” She gave me a quick peck, then pulled away to start donning her clothes with a new purpose. “And I’ll see what I can do about befriending her, too. Help her get more comfortable.” She winked at me. “See where she stands on you.”

Before this morning, I would have said I knew that answer already. Now I wasn’t so sure. “I appreciate it. I’ve gotten used to having you all Linked, not knowing if she’s in danger or not has my nerves a little frayed.”

She grabbed my face in both of her hands and pulled me close to kiss me even deeper than Serena or Rhallani had. “You don’t have to justify yourself to me, Zaren. You look at her the way you look at any of us. It’s pretty clear how you feel.”

I wrapped my arms around her. “In that case, mind explaining it to me? I’m still a little lost here.”

She laughed brightly, and the spark I saw in her eyes made me want to throw her over my shoulder and toss her back into the pit for an hour or two. “And what would be the fun in that?” She pressed a kiss to my nose. “I’ve got them, so you can worry about other stuff for now.”

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. “Thanks. Fuck knows I’ve got quite the list.”

Tiana hummed. “One thing at a time, Zaren. Sometimes, that’s all we can do, right?”

It felt like she’d lifted some of the weight off my shoulders with just those words alone. She was right, of course. And I knew I could trust her to watch over Jayme and Karina. In fact, Tiana’s skill set would synergize incredibly well with Jayme’s more defensive style. The more I thought about it, the less worried I became.

Now, if only I could find such easy answers to all the other weights on my head.