Page 73 of Claiming the Dhampir

I got lost in our moment of passion until someone beside me cleared their throat. Lorna moaned against my mouth, then nipped my lip before putting space between us. I smiled at her flushed cheeks and swollen lips.

“You can get a room later,” Elliott groused.

We would definitely be going back to my room after we tested our magic.

“Sorry,” Lorna mumbled, letting her hands trail down my sides.

“I’m not.” I lifted one of her hands and kissed her fingers. “But Elliott’s right. We’re here to test our magic. Are you ready?”

Lorna nodded. “Should we all be touching first? Or do the thing, then touching?”

Kenrid laughed, and Lorna smiled, probably realizing the dual meaning of her questions.

“Let’s see what happens first,” Damon suggested.

Damon, Kenrid, and Elliott were already less than an arm’s length away. It wouldn’t take much to reach out to them when the time came.

“Okay.” Lorna gave me a determined look.

I brought her wrist to my mouth, kept eye contact with her, and bit her. As soon as her blood rolled down my throat, her magic bloomed. My heart threatened to beat out of my chest. My skin felt tight as my body expanded with the power flooding my veins. I briefly wondered if I’d beat Elliott or Damon in a feat of strength. Something that would never happen without Lorna’s magic.

This time I managed to keep from crying out with the influx of power.

I could hear everything: four beating hearts, the rustle of fabric from the men standing next to me. The wind whistled through the stones in the castle’s walls. A lizard or something similar skittered along the window ledge outside. All the animals that ventured out at night serenaded each other across the swamp surrounding the fortress. Cars passed on the highway nearly a mile away.

My sense of smell also heightened, but I wasn’t sure that was a good thing. While everyone currently surrounding me had recently showered, I could smell what they’d eaten for dinner. Elliott must have traveled through the swamp earlier today because the lingering odor of rot and damp earth clung to his shoes.

I wrinkled my nose and turned to Elliott, but I didn’t get a chance to comment. Kenrid reached out and touched Lorna. As soon as his hand wrapped around her arm, his magic radiated around us. Just like the shield he’d created at the warehouse, bands of color swirled like a magical tornado. Kenrid’s eyes glowed, changing from emerald green to shimmering silver.

“I can’t take anymore,” Kenrid said, gritting his teeth. “Not without using a spell to dissipate it.”

“I got it,” Elliott said.

He snagged Lorna’s free hand and yelped. His body immediately started to shift to his wolf. Fur sprouted along his arms, shoulders, and neck. Elliott’s t-shirt ripped in several places before losing the fight with his growing body. I watched with wide-eyed wonder as his face morphed into his wolf, but he stayed upright on two feet. His chest heaved with each breath he pulled into his lungs. His panicked eyes searched Lorna’s face.

I couldn’t imagine how he felt. Only half of his body shifted. He still wore blue jeans and boots, so his bottom half must still be human. His wolf was clearly on the edge of breaking. Elliott’s body tremored, and his shifter magic surged around us.

“Hold on, Elliott,” Damon said.

He embraced his demon form and wrapped all of us in his wingspan. His heavy magic blanketed the room in darkness. Even Kenrid’s blinding light disappeared. Elliott’s breathing and heart rate slowed—not normal but not out of control. The power pulsing through my veins no longer felt like it would burst through my skin. Damon’s glowing scales illuminated our huddle.

Elliott leaned on Damon’s shoulder, no longer a wolf. Kenrid still held Lorna’s arm, but Damon was obviously supporting his weight. At some point, Lorna had laced her fingers with mine and pressed her body flush against my chest. She wasn’t looking at me, though. Her attention jumped between Elliott and Kenrid.

“Are you guys okay?” Her voice quivered, and I squeezed her hand, trying to reassure her.

“Yeah, but I’m not sure I want to try that again,” Elliott replied. “Not today anyway.”

“I agree.” Kenrid stood so he wasn’t leaning back against Damon. “Last time, we redirected all that magic into my shield. With nowhere for it to go, I felt like I’d be torn apart.”

I looked up at Damon, meeting his demon’s intense gaze. His full demon, not the one he normally reserved for us. “Did you absorb all that magic?”

“Yes.” Damon pulled his wings back and tucked them against his shoulders, exposing the room once again. “The runes covering my body are designed to siphon most types of magic. You should know that what you just created was stronger than the fae queens.”

I let the weight of his words settle in. We were stronger than the fae queens.

My thoughts from earlier about the fates having a plan for us resurfaced. While we might be intimidated by our strength now, I suspected we’d need to find a way to make it work for us.

As much as I wanted to believe that the fae would keep their oaths, my gut said they’d find a way around it. Power-hungry individuals didn’t lose interest in gaining more power. They just found a different way to make it happen.

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