Page 55 of Hell on Wheels
I roll my eyes. “None of you are particularly intelligent when pissed off. Glass houses, dickwads.”
Rogue clears her throat and socks me in the stomach lightly. “How about focusing on me for a minute, tough guy? I asked you a question and you still haven’t answered it.”
My attention turns back to the girl I’ve been ass over for heels most of my life. Her colorful hair is blowing around her face with the light breeze and her rainbow eyes are fearful. I know it took a lot for her to ask again and I never want to hurt her. In fact, I’ve spent my life ensuring no one else hurt her, even our adoptive parents. I can’t make her suffer anymore—not now that I know.
“Getting used to this… being open when I’ve been closed off for so long? It will take some time, Kiera. But I’m in, even if I don’t knowhowto be in yet.” I raise my hand and cup her cheek, hoping she understands what I mean. We’ve always had a wordless understanding because of the Guardian bond and I’m counting on it to help me make her get what I’m saying.
Her lips curve up into a wicked grin. “I want you to remember you’re the one holding back when you get jealous, Rebel Kelly. You can have all the time you need, but I don’t want to hear a single complaint when the others get shit you’re not getting.”
I frown as she pulls back, walking away from me backwards. As if by magic, the twins are out of their seats and flanking her like mirror images on either side. My eyes damn near pop out of my head when their wings and horns pop free, then their tails wrap around her legs possessively. Theyneverreveal this much of themselves outside of court; it’s forbidden.
“You’ll have to get used to watching, asshole,” Angelo says as he smirks at me. His head dips and I watch him flick his tongue over a mark on Rogue’s shoulder I couldn't see before.
Do all these fuckers have marks she was hiding from me? Son of a bitch.
“But it is a damn good show,” Damon adds before his tail creeps up to flutter over her stomach. Another mark on the opposite side appears and my jaw drops as I watch Rogue’s aura fill with black and red strands that must represent their bonds.
“Not to be a dick, but…” Archie rolls to his feet and joins them, standing behind my stepsister with a hungry expression. His arms snake around her from behind and he rubs his cheek on the top of her head. I watch a third tail wrap around her and a streak of bright yellow sunshine flows into her aura as the big lion bite mark reveals itself.
My eyes cut to Javier, swallowing hard when he stands, then drops to his knees in front of Rogue with his wings pinned back in submission. Flames jump from him to her, invading the rainbow of her essence with his phoenix without hesitation. His face presses into the same place all the tails meet and I watch as the fire expands to surround all of them without hurting anyone.
“Magic is cool, huh?” Rogue gives me a soft smile, looking like a reigning queen as my friends touch and kiss her from their positions. “I didn’t believe any of this was even possible until a few days ago. But now… I know it is, and I’m not afraid of it. Magic did that—it made me let them in.”
“It can’t be that simple,” I mutter.
“It is, and it isn’t, Reb.” She runs her hand over Javi’s hair as our eyes lock. “It didn’t create something from nothing. The mate bond unlocked doors I’d kept sealed and desires I hid. I had feelings for all of you well before the power pushed through my defenses. Maybe I always did; it feels like it.”
Swallowing hard, I get up and walk closer, unable to resist the pull of the bond. The closer I get, the more intense it is, and I can see why they’re all gathering around her like moths to a flame. Every cell in my body is screaming for me to join them; my wings are itching to pop free and flutter around her. Once I reach them, I reach my hand out to take hers.
The jolt of energy that hits me damn near knocks me over.
Oh, this is not what I planned.
The burst of power that smacked me engulfs all of us. Even Rogue sucks in a breath of surprise when magic shimmers in the air heavily enough to be visible. I watch as the sparkling strands I saw in her aura spiral upwards and twine together with the bright green of my own. Once they twist into an intricate braid, my sister’s dark purple essence joins them, coiling around the thick bundle protectively.
I’ve neverheardof anything like this, much lessseenit.
“What in the fuck is happening?” Rogue says softly.
Shrugging, I shake my head. “No idea, little sis. This one is outside of even my knowledge. Anyone else?”
Damon runs his fingertip over Rogue’s arm, murmuring low. “You haven’t mated with her yet, so it’s not the family bond.”
“Nope,” I agree as I look back up at the entwined power in the air. “But it’s something, and it’s big. I have no idea if it’ll get stronger when I… when we…”
Archie rolls his eyes and sighs. “Fucking hell, Rebel. You can’t evensayit.”
“When we mate.”
My gaze goes back to Rogue, and she gives me a crooked grin. “One of us has to be an adult; that’s our usual agreement. Apparently, this time it’s me.”
“What do we do? I’m worried if we move, it will set something off.” Javi’s wings flex, joining the twins’ in blocking the girl who has all of us tied together in knots.
“If we don’t move, no one’s getting naked and that would be a crime.” Angelo winks at me and I growl under my breath.
That motherfucker is determined to teach me a lesson, and he’s not going to let weird magic stand in his way.
“I think maybe Rogue has to take control of it.” I look at her, trying to get her to understand that she needs to be very careful. We don’t know what or why this is happening. Fae magic is very tricky even for those who are familiar with it and this is some shifter/fae hybrid shit we don’t even have a basis for interpreting.