Page 15 of Fool's Bargain

We’d become sustenance for a future goddess inside that lab, though we hadn’t known it at the time. Our blood had sustained the tiny, helpless creature that would turn into Deva Rainsong, and we were still linked to her, but she wasn’t fated to be ours. She belonged to our brother Thiasoi soldier Llyr now—or, rather, he belonged to her. Her nature didn’t allow for more than one satyr mate, so if we ever wanted to free ourselves of our draw to her, and of our tainted souls, we had to find substitutes. Since our bond to Deva was a blood bond, the only way to sever that tie was to create a new blood bond with someone else.

If the Diviner couldn’t help us, what the hell were we supposed to do? I was out of answers. “I can’t do this anymore.”

“We’ve had enough offers to mate any number of nymphs,” Dorian said, though his lack of enthusiasm for the idea was palpable.

“We can do our duty to them without mating. It’s an unspoken rule that we never mate for convenience. The state of my dick is enough of a clue that I need more than a willing partner,” I grumbled down at the flaccid length between my thighs. It only seemed to rouse with effort anymore, unless I was making love with the other two. Kyril and Dorian both grunted in agreement. Our tie to Deva tugged at us but we’d pledged between ourselves to never get in the way of Llyr’s relationship with her. We’d also pledged to take over his responsibilities to the portion of the fertile nymphaea in the Haven who wished to breed.

As the last three unmated satyrs in the world, we were in demand to sire other male nymphaea. The nymphs could couple with human men too, but those unions only ever produced female offspring.

After eons with zero female interaction, we’d been more than happy to dive right in upon our return to the Haven. A mate bond wasn’t required for us to procreate. An element of love was all that was needed, and for satyrs and nymphs, we simplylovedto fuck. There were now several hundred male nymphaea infants already in residence and more on the way.

They hadn’t all been sired by the three of us. We had stamina, but we also had limits. Thanks to an arrangement with the ursa, many of the nymphs had opted to mate with ursa males, which had let us off the hook on that count. I also suspected that the stains left by Meri on our souls made us less desirable to any of the nymphs seeking mates. All it took was a kiss and any nymphaea partner could see the torment we’d endured. It wasn’t exactly a turn-on to learn your partner was damaged goods, and it would take the dedication of a new lover or three to help fix us.

“You would think the fact that we’d just fucked in front of the waterfall would do it. She was always keen on that kind of thing. Should we do it again?” Dorian offered.

I lifted an eyebrow at him.

“I don’t know about Theo, but I’m too wound up for another go,” Kyril said. “It feels really fucking weird to admit that though. It still feels good, but the more I do it, the less it means anything except when it’s just us. The last ten nymphs I bedded haven’t conceived, so as risky as it is, Neph and Nyx gave them permission to visit the dragon glade and the turul enclaves to find mates. We should take Neph up on his offer to let us go too.”

“I don’t like to leave it to chance,” I grumbled. “And the fact that you two areherenow suggests we’re of the same mind. How long have you been coming up here, anyway? Why didn’t you tell me? I’d have joined you both.”

They exchanged a look. “I’ve been coming since just after Beltane,” Dorian said. “But this is the first day I’ve wound up here at the same time as either of you.”

“Same here,” Kyril said with a frown. “How the hell did we not sync up before today?”

“I normally come early,” I said. “But Ione wanted to move up her blade training time, so I put off my visit until after lunch.”

“And I come late,” Dorian said, “but Ione changed her hand-to-hand training time until after dinner. Do you think she’s all right?”

Kyril slowly shook his head. “My normal meditation session with Ione happened on schedule at dawn. She seemed distracted afterward though. Not her usual brooding self, so I didn’t know what to make of it. I’m worried the other trainees have been hazing her about missing her chance with the Diviner, since she joined the class late.”

“Is that what she told you?” I asked. “Her combat skills are on point. She’s the best trainee in her class, even with the late start. The only thing the Diviner really did for us as trainees was unlock our connection to the River, and there are other ways to do that. Otherwise the induction ritual is just a formality.”

“I’m not surprised if she feels like she’s missing out,” Kyril said. “But she usually lets it roll off her back. She wasn’t on her game today and I’d like to know why.”

Ione had seemed distracted with me too, and so I’d pushed her harder, hoping that throwing her off-balance a few times in a fight would jar her into focusing. At the end we’d caught our breath on the beach with our feet in the wet sand, letting the small waves wash over our toes.

Her dark hair had been loose during our session—one huge signal of her failing attention—and flying around her while we fought, wet and clinging to her cheeks thanks to sweat and sea spray. A quickly healing cut on her forearm had sent the tang of her blood to my nose. She’d licked the wound clean and reached for my dagger to clean her blood off that blade as well. As a rule, we didn’t leave remnants of our blood lying around. Higher-races blood was too volatile, especially nymphaea blood, and despite the recent peace we’d enjoyed after the destruction of our enemy, we were still too shell-shocked by ages of conflict. All because the wrong nymph had had a taste of the wrong dragon’s blood.

Ione had run her tongue along the blood-coated metal of my blade, guileless and businesslike, yet I’d felt a stir of something deeper. Not lust, though it was impossible for a nymph to do such a thing andnothave it be at least a little sexual. Instead, it was a warm affection I rarely felt for anyone but my brother Thiasoi, along with a pang of something akin to precognition but without an accompanying vision. We’d worked exclusively with Ione for nearly two years because none of the female instructors were willing to take on a nymph with such a problematic past, but Kyril, Dorian, and I knew a little bit about the kind of darkness Ione kept locked inside.

She handed the knife back to me with a funny look and asked, “Have you ever felt an urge to leave the Haven? Not just a vague interest, but an actual, physical compulsion? Like a tugging sensation here?” She reached out and touched the center of my torso, just beneath my sternum. Her fingertips were soft and warm and I resisted the urge to clasp her hand and hold it.

“Not the way you describe,” I said. “But I’m not in any hurry to leave again anytime soon.”

She shook her head and let out one of her trademark husky laughs, which were music to my ears for their rarity. “Dude, I think if anyone needs to take a break from the Haven, it’s you three. If you go, just take me with you.”

I laughed and promised her I would, though I sensed a deep melancholy in her wish to leave. I nudged her bare thigh. “You’re allowed to have a life. You have nothing to atone for.”

She’d retreated inward with a sigh that had signaled the end of our conversation, but now that I was sharing notes with Kyril and Dorian, it came back and I couldn’t let it go. The way she’d described her urge sounded suspiciously like a call from Fate, and it hit me why she might have been so conflicted about it.

Ione had been mated to a Thiasoi maiden named Pithys, who’d been brutalized and killed in the war. Joining the Thiasoi order had been her way of honoring her dead lover. If Fate had found her another mate, it might not be so easy for her to answer the call, despite the fact that it meant finally finding happiness.

“If she’s been called by Fate, then our meeting here might not be a coincidence,” I said. “I can’t see Deva’s hounds, but we all know how they work. Random chance is never as random as it seems.”

Dorian cursed. “It isn’t one of us, is it? Do either of you feel a pull to her?”

Kyril and I both shook our heads.

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