Page 145 of Amethyst and Iron
“Yeah.” I frowned as his words settled. “What happened? Is he okay?”
He shut the door and we walked into the main living area together headed for Cassius’ room.
“Kind of. He wanted to map out an entire plan about our visit toSanctum Sands Beachonce all this is over and open it up to include you and Sylas. I think, though, it’s his way of sublimating and trying to deal with being kept out of all of this when the stakes are so high. And when his massive power could really fucking help. He even told me that the reason the Guardian Movement didn’t show up tonight during the attack at Sylas’ place was because he protected the entire area at Cassius’ request. He protectedus, Velra. If they’d shown too early, Sorin would be with them now, we wouldn’t have gotten a load of intelfrom Victor’s ramblings, or seen that Light Fae shithead who seemed to be leadingPuritas.”
“I agree that it’s hard for him, but it’s also shielding him to keep him from the actual thick of it. He’s been used for his power in the past. He was created as the ultimate weapon, remember? To wield him like that again after everything—”
“No one would bewieldinghim, love. He’d been a part of our team. It would be his choice, his will.”
“His power being unleashed, especially in a combat situation… it’s also dangerous because of perception.”
“Anyone, even the dumbest fucking shithead can see that Ketheron is so far from a damned destroyer. He has a heart of gold. He wants to help, not hurt.”
“We can see it because we know him. But as the very existence ofPuritasproves, assumptions and stereotypes are created. And a lot of those exist about him as well. Fearful perceptions. And when people are afraid, they often lash out. That’s the last thing we want for him.”
“I know, but I really think a better balance needs to be struck. Really fucking soon.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “You know what? Like Sylas said earlier, let’s take a beat. Enjoy the four of us being back together after too long apart. We’ll get into it later tomorrow.” He wrapped his arm around me as we walked, then lowered his voice. “By the way, Sylas isn’t gonna be able to handle any fucking tonight. I took it out of him earlier, before that battle even started, and I even fed off him, and he didn’t want me to heal him.” His eyes lit briefly as he said, “He wanted to keep my bite marks on him.” It faded as he added, “Although they healed involuntarily anyway when he erected that shield over us earlier. I guess his magic called to him, helped him, without the use of an actual command.”
“It would have likely been the radiating energy of it,” I explained.
He nodded, getting it. “You know how he is. He’ll try to put on a steadfast front, but he really needs to rest, Velra. In the morning we can ravage each other, but he needs to sleep several hours first.”
“Of course. No problem.”
“No problem? I thought you would have been all over us, especially after all that heaviness earlier. You clocked his exhaustion then, already shut yourself down?”
“I clocked it, yeah. Honestly, I’m just glad we’ll all be together tonight. Sex can wait, you know? I kind of just want to fall asleep with the three of you all over me.”
He smiled and kissed my hair. “You’re too cute. You know that?”
“Come on, we all know you’re the cute one.”
He slapped his free hand to his heart. “Graverun King here, love. You wound me.”
I burst out laughing, then I turned in his arms as we reached Cassius’ bedroom door. “Holy crap, I’ve really missed you. So much.”
I went to lean in to kiss him, but I only managed a brief brush across his lips, before his deeply erotic groan had me needing to pull away to ensure I was able to stick to the no-sex-tonight agreement.
I called my magic briefly. “Sleeping naked isn’t going to be conducive to keeping things chill tonight.” In the next moment, I changed into my pajamas with a spark of my magic. I knew Sylas had said that he was fine with Cassius and I using magic in front of him, but I still didn’t like doing it while he was bound.
“Shit. Yeah. So fucking cute,” Lazriel said, taking in my off-shoulder black tee emblazoned with a crescent moon and the matching purple shorts that were dotted with silver specks like starlight.
“Shut up,” I said, slapping his shoulder, before I turned and opened the door, and we stepped inside.
As I heard Lazriel close it behind us, I took in the sight of Cassius positioning more pillows on the bed to make it comfortable for all four of us to sleep there tonight. I swallowed hard at the sight of all that broad Celestial muscle of his on display with him shirtless and just wearing a pair of white silk pajama pants.
Sylas emerged from the bathroom in a pair of crimson sweats that hung low on his hips, his cut chest bared as well.
Okay, this was gonna be harder than I thought.
Fingers snapped in my face and I adverted my eyes to see Lazriel had blurred in front of me. “All right there?” he asked in a teasing tone.
“Fine,” I breathed. “Just going to… I mean… I’m going to lie down, get some sleep.”
His lips quirked. “Sounds good.”
“Here, my darling,” Cassius said, gesturing to the center of the bed where three overstuffed pillows were propped up. “I made this for you. I’ve come to learn recently that you enjoy many pillows.” His eyes sparkled. “Extra coziness,as you refer to it.”
Aww.“Thank you.”
