Page 157 of Gemini Queen
So what’s your big plan, Ceph? What comes next for you and me?
“Oh, largely the same course of action I intended for Cybelle,” he murmurs, prowling around the great room to study my immobilized form from all angles. “If you don’t accept me willingly, I’ll destroy Lucius and his sterling reputation and his academic career. Then I’ll ruin your precious Neo and that political career he and his father in the Arcane Senate are dreaming of, because I’ve plenty of political dirt on the Mercurys. It will require very little fodder from me for the Romanovs to disinherit their queer son once and for all, and I’ve something very special indeed planned for Ronin and the Pendragons that will make what happened to his sister Gwendolyn look like a school picnic.”
My mind’s racing a mile a minute, but I keep hauling and dragging at my bond with the guys. The problem is, my barrier’s up to keep Zerxes out, so I can’t tell if it’s working.
Once I get out of this mess, I’m going to need alotmore training on how to use my witchcraft.
How exactly is this whole thing supposed to work?I open a porthole in my barricade just wide enough to fire another barrage of questions at the jerk.You just join my harem, but we keep it all secret?
He slashes a hand in negation. “I make it a point of pride to learn from my mistakes. No more covert alliances carried out beneath the Dean’s hooked nose. Instead, you’ll withdraw from this Academy and marry me tomorrow in a public and entirely legal ceremony on the mainland. Ours is a marriage we’ll consummate promptly… and quite frequently.”
Oh, right. Likethat’shappening. This guy must be certifiable if he thinks I’ll go for that.
But apparently he does think it, because the crazy keeps right on coming.
“I’ve a cornucopia of spells and potions to encourage your fertility… and your docility. Once you bear the requisite heir and a spare of my lineage, I’ll allow you to build your harem, but this timeI’llchoose your mates. I intend you to have an abundant harem, my queen, but anyone who fucks you will accept me in your bed as well. They’ll require my permission, which is how I’ll keep them all in line.”
All of them, huh?My throat is so dry I can barely swallow, and my gut is heaving.Out of curiosity, just how many guys feature in this X-rated harem fantasy of yours?
“I’ve selected more than a dozen,” he murmurs, “all powerful warlocks from my cohort at Villa Tiberius, past and present. They’re hoping for heirs of their own, of course, but they’ll require my consent for that honor, and only the most loyal will receive it. Malcolm the great white shifter is eager to be among the first, but I think we’ll start with Bjorn here.”
The nutcase pivots to face the bear, who’s now sitting up and looking groggy. “That’s what I promised to entice him here tonight—an early opportunity to sample the wares, as it were. He has a lamentable fetish for fucking in his shifted form, which I assured him a dutiful queen like yourself will be prepared to indulge.”
At this point, I’m beyond disgust. Spells or no spells, potions or no potions, he can’t keep me immobilized forever. As soon as he lets up, I’m going to go Thor son of Odin on his telekinetic ass. I’m going to summing my lightning and hammer him into the next century.
So what happens now, Ceph? You and Bjorn here planning to tag-team me on the great room floor?
“Oh, hardly. Bjorn will have to wait his turn, and even I must be patient a little longer. The skies are now clear, and I’ve ensured your so-called mates will sleep until dawn. We’ll depart for the airfield now, I’ll deactivate the island wards, and we’ll be well aloft by the time they wake.”
I’m curious to see how he thinks he’s going to move me, because I’m definitely not going willingly. But he goes for the straightforward approach, scoops my immobilized body into his arms, and strides swiftly for the front door. Maybe he thinks it’s romantic, carrying me across the threshold and all.
We’ll see how romantic he finds it when I summon the fucking lightning.
The bear rolls to his feet with a chuffing snort and heads straight for us. I don’t think Mr. Bear’s on board with the whole “wait his turn” program, since this freak show apparently promised him pussy now. My head’s hanging over the top of Zerxes’ psychotic arm, which is awkward as hell, but it gives me a good view of the bear attack I’m about to experience. At least it’ll distract this whack job, and then—
The bear’s six feet away and closing in a rush when a torrent of golden fire streams between us. It slams into the bear’s furry chest and the big guy lets loose a roar loud enough to knock pictures off the wall. Zerxes falters, and for one blessed second the cement-like vise around my body loosens.
My fist shoots up with the full force of my rage behind it and slams into the warlock’s jaw. His head flies back, silver hair swirling around him.
Then he drops me.
I hit the floor hard, already rolling away, bracing myself with my arms while my leg sweeps around. It’s critical to keep the psycho preoccupied, or he’ll have me immobilized again before I can blink.
Startled as he is, Zerxes manages to leap back and avoid the takedown. While he’s doing it, he evades a fresh torrent of fire that sears across the space between us, dropping fiery gobbets of magma on the floor. It’s sloppy fire, poorly aimed, and it totally misses him. I keep rolling right to my feet and sprint out of the kill zone.
The bear’s writhing on the ground to smother the flames singeing his furry chest. Zerxes has small fires smoldering in his robes from those flying gobbets of magma that he extinguishes with a hissed word.
Because it’s psi fire, of course, it’s Ronin’s psi fire. And that’s a gift Zerxes shares. I race for the stairs which Ronin’s trying to race down.
But Ronin isn’t his usual feral self. The best fighter at Icarus is shaky and staggering, literally reeling down the stairs, barefoot with pants sliding down around his hips like he’s shit-faced drunk. But what he really is?
He’s three-quarters asleep.
He’s fighting that sleep spell to ride to my rescue. But his legs slide out from under him, and he tumbles hard all the way to the bottom.
I’m too far away to catch him or do anything but yell for help as I race toward him.
But Ceph Zerxes gets there first. He scoops up my beautiful fallen mate, who’s lying limp and boneless with long hair draped over his face, and drags Ronin up against his body. From somewhere in his robes, he produces a hunting knife and presses it hard to Ronin’s exposed throat.
