Page 46 of Fool's Bargain

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Zarya

“What the fuck do you meanFatehas them?” I asked in a shrill voice that betrayed the panic rising in me. I wanted an explanation that actually made fucking sense.

“I mean exactly what I said.” Theo stared down at me with a grim expression. “The marks the Diviner gave us that led us to you were not sanctioned by Fate. To say that Fate is pissed would be putting it mildly. Dorian and Kyril aren’t going anywhere. The only reason it let me go was because we’re blood melded. Evidently it refuses to sever that bond because it knows it would kill you and it’s promised Deva that it won’t harm members of the bloodline.”

“Doesn’t it know that keeping Kyril and Dorian constitutes harm to me too?” I protested. “How do we get them back?”

Theo shook his head and gave me a helpless, desperate look that I felt in my bones. “We don’t. You can’t fight Fate, Zar. It’s a fact of life for us.”

“Then get me back in there totalkto it. We can try to reason with it, can’t we?”

“As much as I hate to give in, please don’t try to fight this. Fate will find them mates who will love them. This was never meant to be. I mean, think about it—we were the last unmated satyrs on earth. The strongest remaining males to carry on our power. There was no way Fate didn’t have a plan for us. We just didn’t fucking know it yet.”

“But they aremymates!” I yelled, staring up at the sky as if Fate were somewhere up there in the heavens, though I had no clue where the hell it lived. “We’re already mated by the Haven’s laws. You all told me as much! Deva’s houndsbroughtyou to me! How is that not binding? And why just you and not Ione? Why is my bond to them not as binding as my bond to her?”

“I asked as much. It recognizes your bond to Ione as the true bond Deva’s hounds intended. But not your bond to us because the Diviner’s marks are all over us, clear evidence that we were tampered with. If you hadn’t blood melded me, I would still be trapped in its office.”

I clenched my eyes shut and pressed my fingers to the bridge of my nose. The utter absurdity of this was giving me a migraine. “There has to be a way for me to get in there. You can drift us in, can’t you? I won’t accept this without a fucking fight, Theo.”

Theo sighed and shook his head. “Drifting into the realm of the gods is one thing, but straight into Fate’s office? Not without enough power. Far more than either of us have.”

“We have enough.”

Both of us jerked around to stare at Ione. She looked between us, her jaw set.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean, between the three of us, wehave enough. At least I think we do. I’m still a Thiasoi maiden, after all. If I can use this to defend the Haven, I can use it to get us to Fate.” She pressed both hands over her lower belly, sliding it down the silken robe to her groin and cupping herself. Beneath the pale silk, the pattern etched into her lower abdomen glowed.

“Ione, no,” Theo said, his jaw clenching. “You know what that would mean.”

“It would mean all four of us finding happiness andkeeping it,” she shot back. “You don’t think I know what I’d lose by doing this? Being a Thiasoi was only a means to an end. A way for me to honor Pithys’ memory. If I can’t use my power to fight for my own happiness. For yours and Zarya’s happiness. Then what the fuck is it good for?”

I held up both hands. “Hold on a second here. I think you two need to translate what the fucking issue is because I’m not following.”

“He’s worried I’d be sacrificing my dream by helping you keep yours. Ever since Pithys died, all I cared about was proving myself as a soldier. Becoming a Thiasoi was the thing I lived and breathed. If I sacrifice this power, then I have to give that up. Only females with their virginity intact get to remain active members.”

I shot her an indignant look, too mad to even form words.

“Zarya, it isn’t the way you think. Virginity is not just a construct to us and it has nothing to do with purity. It’s about power, pure and simple. And right now Ihavepower I can use to help us, but the only way for me to accessallof it is by giving up something I would gladly lose if it meant making you happy.”

“But do you even want to? Fuck a man, I mean.”

Theo grunted in amusement and Ione raised a brow, glancing between him and me. “You haven’t been around us long enough. We enjoy fucking, full stop. And trust me, what you’ve witnessed from us so far has been tame compared to what we get up to when we’re feeling less sentimental because we’ve found our true mate.” She closed the distance between us and took my hands, threading her fingers between mine and pressing our palms together. “You haven’t had the pleasure of watching one of your satyrs fuck someone else purely for pleasure. Trust me, it is a sight to behold.”

She drew us close until our chests met, then slid her hands up the sides of my face, pulling me close and kissing me. When we parted I turned to look at Theo where he stood watching us in silence. She followed my gaze.

“You’re in control here, beautiful,” she murmured. “He will do what you wish. If that means giving up and letting Fate have the last word, neither of us will argue. But if you want to accept my offer, just say the word. There is nothing I won’t love if you’re the one who asked it of me.”

My gaze tracked down Theo’s big, naked body and back up, but the look in his eyes had become more wary than lustful. He shook his head and took a step toward us, looking at Ione. “You’ve left out the most important detail, Ione. I hope you didn’t mean to trick her into it.”

I returned my gaze to Ione’s with a frown. “Don’t lie to me. Is there a risk to you?”

“No. But if you want us all badly enough to risk pissing off Fate to have us, I didn’t think you’d object. My power is only part of what will get us there. We need to poolallour power. And if we all want to make the trip, we’ll need to blood meld to do it.”

My brows lifted and I laughed. “Oh yeah? Jesus Christ, you guys.” I tilted my face to the sky and let out an exasperated sigh before looking at them both again. “It’s Christmas morning. After sharing my blood with Theo, I knew there was onlyonegift I could give you that could convey what you guys mean to me. I want this. So fucking much.” Tears sprang to my eyes and I grabbed Ione’s head, planting a hard kiss against her lips, then pulling away and staring deep into her eyes. “You have me, baby. My blood is yours if it means getting to keep all four of you.”

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