Page 5 of Slake His Thirst

Chapter Five

Lucius

Blood pounded in his ears as Lucius ran into the glass-domed room. It was alive inside, like something he hadn’t seen in thousands of years. Trees and vines shifted in some unseen wind, and the magic in the space was almost too thick. He burst down the path, hearing the security guards behind him grunt and shout. “The vines are blocking us!”

“Do not cut them!” he ordered, not bothering to glance back. He wasn’t sure what the forest would do if threatened. Nothing poisonous had been planted in the place.

His sister’s voice filtered into his mind telepathically. “This can’t be what I think it is. How did you get through?”

“It is, and I don’t know,” he sent back.

The living woodland hadn’t stopped him. If anything, he felt as if the place was urging him forward. He met Calista in the path, her snakes a writhing mass around her feet. “My sister. She can’t hear me. And the plants won’t let me near her. The barrier won’t move,” she ground out, frantically gesturing to a wall of twisted branches. The woman’s tone was filled with anger, helplessness, and the same fear that was mirrored in her golden eyes.

“I will get to her.” He didn’t spare more words. The healer had been stopped at the door with the other guards.

He sent his mind out, telepathically searching until he felt Sage’s awareness, and a jolt of recognition nearly took him to his knees. He groaned when he felt her mental wards melt away for him.

His. She was his.

A soft feminine gasp slipped inside his head, and the wave of lust that came with it rocked him. “Who are you?”

“Lucius.”

He heard the branches groaning and twisting behind him, while the ones that had barred his route shifted to clear a path to Sage.

“What the hell’s going on?” Calista’s fear registered when she was cut off from him.

He half turned. “Go toward the door. Kaia will explain. Your sister is safe with me.” He rushed through while contacting his own sister. In moments, he wouldn’t care about anything but his mate. He growled. “Get Calista out. Her sister is my mate.”

He felt the shock in Kaia’s mental voice. “You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

He needed to get to her.

“Who are you, Lucius?”

He groaned at the soft, sultry words slipping into his mind.

The final leaves unfolded from the rest of the walkway and unveiled a goddess. It was his first real look at his mate. Raw need tore through him. She was his, and she was in danger. He’d lived thousands of years never imagining he’d find something so rare, and now he would be forced to rush her through every step of their mating or risk her life.

Her eyes glowed a brilliant green as they hungrily trailed over his body. Her full lips parted as she raked her power over his chest and stomach, moving lower until waves of undiluted magic stroked his cock, nearly making him come in his jeans.

He growled low, attempting to get ahold of the need. “I am your mate, Sage. And using your power on me is an invitation, little one. You have no idea what I want to do to you right now. But we need to talk first. Somewhere else. I don’t think you understand what’s happening.” It was taking every ounce of his fading control not to lay her out on the flowers at her feet and bare her for his mouth and aching cock. At the mention of leaving, he heard the groan of the trees, and a vine snaked its way around his foot and tightened.

“What is happening in here? It’s beautiful.” She looked around, and he saw her awe, her love. Falling leaves caressed her cheek.

The forest had no intention of allowing them to leave, and it seemed to care for Sage. He only hoped that wouldn’t destroy her. His shoulders were strung tightly with all the tension he was feeling. He’d wondered at the extent of the power in the space, and he’d been right—the forest had grown sentient. And Sage wasn’t controlling it, even though he was sure she’d raised the magic somehow.

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