One night in the old jail turned into two nights.
Then three nights.
On the fourth day, we were all a sight for sore eyes.
Though we had learned blood bags could be tossed into the room.
By females. Not males.
No men could enter the cavern who shouldn’t be here right now.
We weren’t thirsty anymore, but we were damn grumpy.
Thank goodness for the tiny shower in the bathroom.
Or we would have stunk too.
Lord Xenon rubbed at his chest and stared at the cauldron. “This is getting absurd.”
“It’s getting absurd?” Lord Otto growled. “It passed absurd two days ago. We’ve entered What the Fuck Land.”
I choked on a laugh.
I hadn’t known he had a sense of humor.
Cato prowled from one end of the room to the other. For hours straight. He rubbed the back of his neck fiercely, muttering, “It feels like there’s a whole damn legion of druids coming.”
Instantly, I sobered. All mirth was gone. “What do you mean?” Asshole.
Lord Belshazzar was doing a backbend, stretching his muscles…then he started walking on his hands and feet across the room, still in his backbend. Bored silly. It was the oddest thing to watch. He grumbled, “The power that’s holding the spell. It’s our magic. We feel it being pulled.”
Adelie cocked her head, eyeing him. “You know, Lord Belshazzar, you’re very limber.”
He snorted. Winked from his upside down position. “You have no idea.”
I waved my hands in the air, now playing the part that he had originally. “No one should be flirting right now.”
Because, damn, I was even starting to eye Lord Belshazzar’s ass. My hormones were going into overdrive the longer I waited to get laid after my Rest. Two hundred years and my pussy hadn’t seen any action. I needed to have a cock rammed so far up my—
“Hey, do you guys feel that?” Adelie interrupted my daydream. She stood to her feet and gradually walked to the glass barrier. Her small hands pressed against the glass as she leaned forward. “It feels like…”
“Like a small earthquake.” Lord Xenon stepped up beside her. “I guess Lord Cato was correct. It is a legion of druids descending on our home.”
In a rush, we all plastered ourselves to the glass.
And waited.
I despised druids with a burning passion, but I was ready to get out of here.
As soon as they all came, we could leave this place.
The entire lot of us jolted on our feet when the door to the cavern jarred hard against its bolts.
“I’m thinking we don’t pick the idiot who doesn’t know how to turn a doorknob,” I muttered under my breath. “I mean, what kind of moron doesn’t understand how to work a door?”
Lord Pippin’s head tilted. “I don’t think that’s what is happening out there. Those vibrations aren’t typical for an earthquake. Perhaps a fight…”
I blinked. “You guys did call the stronghold and tell them we were going to have company, right?”
“They know,” he answered calmly. “They’re staying away from this section of the mountain.”
Suddenly, the black wooden door bowed in on its hinges.
Boom.
All of our eyes followed the door as it flew across the cavern, slamming into the bottom of the stage and scattering a chair in its wake.
“That’s one way to open a door,” Lord Xenon rumbled. “Can anyone see them yet?”
“Nope.” I shook my head. “That was definitely druid power, though.”
The ground of rock beneath our feet rumbled, and we steadied our legs.
“I wonder if we’ll be able to fit them all in here,” Lord Cato muttered in amusement. “They’ll all need to enter so they’ll stop fighting each other.”
I cleared my throat. “Please tell me the spell does disappear for them. I’m not going to have some aroused druid nipping at my heels for all of the Challenges, am I?”
Lord Otto snorted. “No, it’ll disappear as soon as we break the spell.”
“Maybe you should break the spell when they enter,” Adelie suggested. “Because that’s going to be a lot of testosterone aimed at my girl here.”
Lord Pippin hummed deep in his throat. “I actually think that is a good idea.”
“Agreed,” Lord Belshazzar stated. “We’ll end their need as soon as they enter.”
All air escaped my lungs in a mad rush as a man threw his body inside the door. His legs were still outside though, and two men each had ahold of one of his feet. All three were a bloody mess, their clothes in tatters. The man on the ground clawed at the stone, sparks of red and blue glistening on his fingers.
And I knew him. I knew all three of them.
But I especially knew the one inside.
A man who had broken my heart…
When I was much, much younger.
My first crush and it had been him.
All of our jaws dropped at the sight before us.
Because he was Master Niallan. The Original druid.
The man who had stolen the Original vampire’s power. And killed him.
“Oh fuck,” Adelie gasped.
Lord Xenon grunted.
The rest of us stayed mute.
Master Niallan kicked and bellowed, his features contorting in rage. His normal gem green eyes had morphed into gold. He twisted to the side and threw his palm in his buddies’—and they were his closest friends—direction. A shot of flame erupted from his hand, hitting its target.
His friends howled their frustration, patting their clothes in a rush.
Letting loose the Original druid’s feet.
In one swift move, he jumped up.
The man bared his teeth at his friends.
Devin’s and Ysander’s eyes glowed golden, and they marched straight toward him. They also had the power of a vampire, gifted to them by their best friend.
But their heads smacked back suddenly as if they had hit a brick wall.
“Oh my God,” I mumbled in utter shock.
My eyes landed on the Original druid. The only one who could enter.
It wasn’t a legion of druids that had come.
It was the druid.
Cato snapped out of his shock, and hissed, “We need to shut his need down. Now.”
The overlords rushed to the cauldron, their heads bent close together.
Adelie and I watched as Devin and Ysander continued to try to enter. The floor continued to shake with each of their blasts for entry. They shouted at their friend, urging him to come out.
But the Original held his ground, pacing in front of them.
As if he were protecting the doorway like it was his lair.
I knew when the spell started to dissipate.
His steps faltered.
Once. Twice. More and more frequently.
He shook his head of long, curly blond hair like an animal, and pounded on his forehead with the heel of his palm, shaking off the effects. His six-foot-two-inch muscled frame tensed with each step he took. The black Celtic tattoos on his dark complexion bunched on his biceps, his hands turning into two fists. When he next looked up, the gold was erased from his eyes, his gaze now a stunning green.
His blond brows puckered on his rugged features.
He stopped directly in front of his friends.
Lord Xenon rushed to the window, followed by the rest of the overlords.
“Done,” Lord Otto hissed. “No more sex-crazed Original.”
“Yes, he’s no longer lusting after me, but he’s going to be pissed,” I whispered.
Master Niallan took a step toward his friends, who had stopped trying to enter.
He crashed into the invisible barrier.
My eyes widened. “You didn’t take the entire spell off?”
Lord Pippin grinned, utterly pleased with the situation. “Of course not. We can’t have him running off, now can we?”
“Yes!” I shrieked, turning in their direction. I pointed a finger at the man below. “Let him loose! You can’t possibly think he would be a good King Novitiate.”
“Actually…,” Lord Belshazzar purred, “…he would be perfect for our needs.”
“Fuck. That.” I placed my hands on my hips. “That druid would be the death of us.”
Adelie elbowed me in the side, but I ignored her.
I wasn’t done yet.
I growled, “I don’t want him as my king. Remember? I get the final say.”
“Technically, you don’t,” Lord Xenon answered evenly. “In the case that there’s only one possible candidate for king, the decision goes to the overlords.”
My fangs descended. “Try the fucking spell again. Let’s see who else we can get.”
More elbow prodding, more ignoring.
Cato’s lips trembled, and he shook his head. “You don’t understand. He is the only man who could possibly be a match for you, my sugar plum.”
I really wanted to punch the bastard. “Quit with the damn name—”
“Gwen!” Adelie shook my shoulders, yanking me around to face her. “You should shut up now.”
My eyes widened in confusion. “Why the hell would I do that?”
Her voice was so quiet I had to lean forward to hear her. “Because the Original is staring right at you. I think he can hear us.”
My eyes snaked in his direction, and I practically swallowed my tongue.
The druid was just as beautiful as I remembered.
And just as arrogant.
He lifted one blond brow, his head cocked slightly. The druid leaned back against the black rock wall next to the entry, his friends still outside glaring in. The man’s startling green eyes ran over me from head to toe in slow motion, his forehead wrinkling ever so slightly. He dipped his head down and pinched the bridge of his nose, apparently deep in thought since vampires and druids didn’t get headaches.
Oh, my fuck.
Please don’t remember me.
Please don’t remember me.
I had only known him for one day.
And I wasn’t that little lovesick child anymore—barely seventeen years old then. I hadn’t known any better and had thrown myself at him when he’d visited my grandfather’s house. I had thought he was the best-looking man in the entire world. Kind and sweet to my grandfather too.
But he had turned me away from his bedroom on my grandfather’s estate.
With a chuckle and a pat on my back.
It had been mortifying.
Master Niallan’s brows lifted during his thoughts, and then his head tipped back up. The Original avoided looking at me, his attention wholly on the overlords. In a casual tone, he murmured, “How about you come down here with me? This is a little rude. Especially after I worked so hard to get here.”
Devin and Ysander cast him a glare.
His lips twitched, peering at them outside. “You guys can go. I’m in full control of myself now.”
Devin lifted a hand and tapped a finger on the invisible barrier. “Really?”
The Original shooed his hands at them. “Fine. Go down to the village and fuck your frustrations out or something. Drink beer. I don’t give a damn. I’ll call and let you know if I need you.”
After a few more words, his friends did leave.
Then he peered back up to us. “Coming down or not? Apparently, we have something to discuss.” A glance in my direction, then back to them. “Because I am interested in the position of King Novitiate to the vampires. I already rule one race, so what’s another, right?”