Blood of Two Crowns (Hallowed Fates #2)

Chapter 57

Chapter

Fifty-Seven

MALEKAI

T he temperature of the sea was that of a warm bath. Whatever those flowers were that Lathrimos had brought me had created a mind-bending experience that started with me being catapulted through the realms, cradled in the universal arms of Akash herself and tickled by cherubs.

This took place before the veil between physical reality and the eternal lifted, and I was forced to bear witness to the connection between all things through Akash. To experience the gravitas of each of us being a micro-cosmic aspect of herself, to spiralling down the tether that linked me from Mareina to Nakoa to Ataraxus, to then purging the weight of a lifetime of slaughter and all the consequences and effects that spiderwebbed from that and into the lives of others.

If you had told me all of this occurred in the span of 150 years, I’d have believed you, but when I returned to my senses on a beach, with no recollection of travelling to, only to see the sun just barely beginning to rise… I realized only a few hours had passed.

Holy fuck.

I felt like I’d been reborn a different male. As did the drakonati within me. At some point, I couldn’t recall, I’d shifted back, and the distinct sensation that I was still very much dead was something with which I hadn’t yet come to terms.

Or the fact that I was now bound to Avernus.

Stranded.

Naked.

And not a clue as to how the fuck I could find my way home. To my female.

Our female.

Before I’d died, I had already been growing used to the idea that I’d have to share Mareina with Nakoa, but now a soul-deep satisfaction had blossomed in my chest at the idea of being bound to Nakoa, and even Ataraxus who Akash had revealed to me in full.

The fact that I would be sharing Mareina with them infused me with a sense of rightness and relief that she would be protected by two other formidable males who would protect her with their lives— travel to hell and back just to save her.

The tether between my two male counterparts endowed me with a sense of brotherness. Like I could trust these males with my life and that I would protect them with mine. Not that I had any idea as to how much of a life I actually had.

My soul reached out towards Mareina and then Nakoa to see if I could somehow summon them as I walked the shore naked and turned in a circle, eventually settling on the mountainous horizon.

The beat of my heart leapt into my throat when they appeared in front of me. A strangled cry tore from Mareina’s throat when her eyes landed on me, and she launched herself at me, tackling me to the ground.

Laughter bubbled up, though it was cut short when I recognized the shaking of her shoulders as she sobbed against my chest.

“Oh, tessari mú.”

My heart ached for her, for how she must have mourned me.

Nakoa stepped forward, staring down at me. His scarred face and black eyes tense as he held his wings aloft to avoid the sand, tail swaying restlessly in the air behind him in vaguely feline way. The visceral force of his magic pressed upon me as though I could feel it in my chest before I realized I was also feeling a phantom of his emotion.

I clutched onto Mareina though I seemed unable to tear my gaze away from his. The scar on his upper lip pulled one side a little tighter than the other as a tense smile tilted his mouth. The glistening in his eyes had my heart cracking in two, and my hand reached toward him.

He stepped forward and knelt in the sand beside us, draping his long, thick arms over mine and Mareina’s shoulders. My heart swelled to bursting.

Family.

This is what family feels like.

I’d nearly forgotten.

Mareina was the only person I was close enough with to consider family for over half a century since my mother was killed.

What a bizarre and incredible place the physical worlds could be. How fate could alter things in such a beautiful way, no matter how unforgiving.

This felt like a second chance. Even if I didn’t deserve one.

Now that Mareina was in my arms again, a fucking bath was at the top of my to-do list. I couldn’t help but wonder if I looked that filthy, smelled that filthy, or if Nakoa was just that intuitive, but the moment we folded back, he strode into the bathroom to run the shower.

Still carrying Mareina, I followed him inside and set her down. He turned to leave, and I felt the pinch of Mareina’s longing in my chest as if it were my own. Perhaps it was my own…

My stomach gave a nervous leap as the word caught him at the threshold of the bathroom door. “Stay.”

Mareina’s breath stilled as Nakoa stopped, looking at us over his shoulder. Despite the unreadable mask shielding his expression, I could feel the pang of vulnerability bleed through the bond between us. His eyes met mine before dipping to Mareina.

“You wish me to stay, lohane thili?’”

Mareina gave him a watery grin, nodding. “Please.”

Mareina willed away the paper-thin, white shift dress she was wearing and stepped beneath the shower. The sight of her nudity had my cock thickening, and by the time my eyes landed on the peaks of her breasts, pebbled beneath the hot water, my cock was already aching and jutting out like an extra extremity in front of me.

And I could see Nakoa, who had willed a blood-crusted pair of fighting leathers away, was having the same issue.

Shit’s about to get weird.

For all the debauchery I had partaken in, in all my 250 years of life… I’d never shared a female with another male. Much less the female who possessed me mind, body, and soul.

Mareina’s eyes lifted to mine as I stepped beneath the shower, sliding one hand up my abdomen to my chest. Nakoa returned to the shower, and she reached behind her to pull him against her.

Mareina’s nervousness was palpable, and I failed to stifle a grin. With teeth and fang, she tugged on her bottom lip to hide her own smile as her eyes dropped to the ground but incidentally landed on my cock instead. I took her chin between my thumb and forefinger to return her gaze to mine. “Tessari mú.”

Her lip began to quiver with her emotion like it was begging for the tenderness of my affection.

“You’re different now…”

I nodded, caressing my thumb against her jaw.

“You won’t be able to leave here… Not unless you reincarnate,” she added pitifully.

“So long as you’re with me, I don’t care where I am.”

She frowned. “I’ll have to spend time in Atratus… And I don’t want you stuck here. I want you to be free.”

My eyes lifted to the male standing behind her like a giant sentinel.

“Which is one reason why I’m so grateful that you have two more soulbound to protect you when I can’t physically be beside you.”

Lament tracked her cheeks. I dipped my head to capture her lips with my own, and she instantly sighed, sinking against me. I stepped forward, crowding her against Nakoa so I could step further beneath the water because while I wanted desperately to be buried deep inside her—I wanted to do it clean.

Nakoa’s arms curled around Mareina from behind as he pinned her against his chest, making her back arch and her full breasts strain forward. His head dipped to the corner of her neck, licking a stripe along its column at the same time his tattooed fingers teased her nipples. I caught the brief flash of his fangs lengthening before he sank his teeth into her. On a soft, needy gasp, her hips began to work against his. Her heavy-lidded gaze met mine and…

Oh, fuck… What was I supposed to be doing?

Bathing. Right.

I made quick work of scrubbing myself clean; all the while, Mareina’s eyes remained locked onto mine as Nakoa fed from her. His free hand dipped between her thighs and began to gently stroke her clit.

I couldn’t help but be taken aback by how not jealous I was. Before this, the idea of Mareina being touched by any male other than me, including her soulbound , made me murderous.

Instead, I felt nothing but love, lust, and rightness. Though there was some strange sensation lingering in the back of my mind. It took me a moment to realize that it was because someone was missing.

Ataraxus.

Not that his absence would cause me to falter.

Nervousness wound through me as I willed the three of us dry the moment I shut the water off.

Nakoa lifted his head from Mareina’s neck and his eyes met mine, giving me a slight nod of encouragement before he swept her off her feet and threw her over his shoulder. A cry of both shock and pleasure left her as his hand landed on the globe of a thick, ripe ass cheek. Her head lifted to meet my gaze, and there was a fucking smile on her face. The rare sight stole my breath away, just as it always had. Her hand reached for mine, and it stirred me from my stupor to follow behind them.

Nakoa gently set her on the bed as though she were made of glass, and I grunted my approval. Mareina’s cheeks flushed, looking nothing short of awe-struck as she took in the sight of us towering over her at the foot of the bed.