The feeling of having to teach half the population of S’Kir was overwhelming.

My magic, I doubted.

My sword work, I didn’t. Not even a bit.

While my parents had indulged me when I was younger, excusing me from all kinds of magical and physical activities, they wanted me to know how to defend myself.

Since my father was a prize-winning fencer, he picked the sword for me.

I loved my sword.

Lunella chased me backward, the metal of her sword scraping along the blade of mine. The sound was horrible, but that was the idea.

At the last minute, as I saw her cringing from the noise, I twisted my blade, and she instantly became the attacked instead of the attacker.

I swept the sword up and around, dragging her blade with mine and slamming it into the wooden practice floor, disabling her.

Her spell slammed into the middle of my stomach, winding me, and throwing me backward through the room.

“When are you going to remember to use your magic to block?!”

I groaned at the ceiling, and sat up, staring at Mistress Neves watching our practice. She had a look of frustration that curled her lips downward.

“She will never learn,” Master Dorian said.

Lunella yanked her sword out of the floor and whirled on Master Dorian, pointing the weapon at him. “For your information, it was only when I was disengaged from her that I had any hope of actually getting in a spell to knock her back.”

Mistress Sona pursed her lips and nodded to the slice I had given her on the shoulder. “She’s right. Mistress Kimber is formidable with the sword.”

“It doesn’t mean a thing if the girl can’t wield her magic with it,” Master Dorian snapped as he walked out of the room.

Standing from a corner he, unknown to us, occupied, Vitas strode into the center of the room. “Ignore the damn old buzzard. He’s the oldest and the crankiest of all of us.”

I tried not to crack a smile, but I couldn’t help it.

“Mistress Neves, you know my magic is—”

“This is why we are here,” she snapped. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask Master Argo to challenge you on the sword. Until we have someone who can keep up with you, there’s no hope of you learning how to use your magic with the sword.”

My shoulders drooped. I was not on Master Argo’s good side.

Elex appeared standing over me and offered me a hand. “Kimber, you do realize that it’s a compliment that they have to bring Master Argo here.”

I grabbed the offered hand, and Elex hauled me off my ass.

“Master Argo and I don’t see eye to eye, Elex.”

He kissed my forehead and smiled. “I realize that. He doesn’t approve of us here at all, and I know that. But if he’s the only one who can teach you how to use the magic and the sword at the same time, then—”

“Ugh! Stop making sense,” I grumbled.

There was a bang on the door, and it slammed open.

One of the university fellows stood there, looking worse for wear. Elex took a step toward him before he even opened his mouth.

“Professor Everettson, sir. I was sent to fetch you. There has been a breakthrough at the laboratory.” The messenger was panting. “Please. Come quickly.”

Mistress Ophelia nodded, dismissing him.

Elex touched my cheek and ran for the messenger as they both disappeared down the hall. I looked after him a long moment, watching and enjoying the view of his retreating backside.

Lunella leaned into my view. “You really need to learn to control your libido, my dear. It’s important that we exercise restraint in such things.”

“But, his butt…” I stammered, sounding like an ass.

“Yes, I know. It is nice. I can see why you picked him. But we must appear in control of ourselves at all time.”

With a deep sigh, I turned back to the room—

—as the ground heaved below us.

A startled, permeating silence followed the heave.

When the ground rocked again, this time side to side in a great shaking buckle, it seemed everyone in S’Kir started screaming at the same time. The screams ran through the walls of the dorm and panic rained down on the group of us in the practice room.

The shaking didn’t stop. Glass cracked and tinkled as it broke, the beams of the building screamed, some buckling.

Grabbing one arm each, Mistresses Neves and Ophelia dragged me out from the middle of the room toward the doorways that were at the end.

The screaming grew louder in the doorway. It was all from the floors above.

And still, the shaking did not stop.

“The mountain is trying to fall,” Neves whispered over the din.

I snapped my head around. “It’s not time.”

“I agree. We are not ready. It’s not time for the Spine to break.”

Fear lanced through me. “What do we do?”

Mistress Ophelia cocked her head. “Stop it.”

I gasped. “Stop it?”

Her voice was clear over the sound of the very earth below us shaking. “You’re the Breaker of the Spine. You command the magic in the mountain.”

“How do you know—”

Mistress Neves cut me off. “Feel it, child! You have got to learn your magic. Those walls you built with Vitas are meant to be merely a stopper, not an unbreachable fortress!”

“Stop the tremor, Kimber,” Mistress Ophelia snapped. “You saw the Triium. Now figure out your own magic!”

I dropped to the floor, slapping my hand on the cold tile of the entrance, and dropped all the magical walls I had put up.

The world burst into strings and clouds colored by the magic that was everything.

I could see angry red strings, pulling and twisting the ground. My magic was being drawn to the mountains at the edge of the city, and it was chaos.

It was also the Spine.

The mountain was angry, tense.

Pulsing.

This wasn’t the way the Spine should break.

My own magic, a soft cloud, assured me it should be broken in peace and tranquility.

What it presented now was not that—and if it were to fall, the druid world would not survive.

We would be angry. Hateful. Vengeful.

Lashing my magic to a string that was particularly violent, I let it rip my consciousness back to the mountain in a flash.

The anger here was overwhelming—I could feel my own anger rise. That was bad; I needed to be in control.

Stop!

It felt like I was yelling at the sky, and the words were sucked into nothing between the stars.

I gathered my magic around my consciousness like a thick, roiling fog in the heart of the spine, in the heart of the rock and the magic in the mountain.

Pulling it close to me, tight into me, I took a deep breath—or what I imagined was a deep breath—and screamed out the command again.

STOP!

The fog of magic burst like a firework outward. As fast as it could, it shoved the command into every rock and crevasse that stood in the Spine.

The shaking stopped.

There was no tapering off, no little tremors.

It just stopped.

“Breathe, dammit!”

Someone hit my chest and yelled at me to breathe again. I sucked in as much air as I could and grabbed their hand.

Snapping my eyes open, I found Mistress Neves hovering above me with a look of complete relief on her face. She sank to the ground next to me.

Mistress Ophelia had a hand on her chest. “That was a lot of power.” 

Blinking a few times, I realized I was still looking at everyone and everything drenched in magic. I put the walls back up as fast as I could and started hyperventilating in the next instant.

“No, breathe, damn it,” Mistress Neves yelled at me. “Breathe through that. Come on, Kimber. Control!”

I let myself just suck in the air a few times, and then grabbed control of my breathing on the next inhale. It took me nearly two minutes to get myself back in charge, but I did it.

I flopped backward and stared up at the ceiling again.

“Ouch.”

A trickle of a laugh escaped Mistress Ophelia, and I heard Mistress Neves join her a moment later. The two of them were rolling in laughter in just a moment.

It was part relief and part hysterical mania.

“All right, all right,” I said, finally calming my own laughter. “We have to get up and see what happened to everyone else. There are going to be people who need help.”

With a sage nod, Mistress Ophelia stood from where she had been leaning and giggling. “You’re absolutely right. Let’s go. There’s going to be plenty of rescues to be done.”

Mistress Neves laid a hand on my arm. “Well done, child. You need more practice with subtle control, but you’ve got it in you. Sona and I will work with you on the minutiae.”

I bowed my head, grateful.

We headed up the stairs. It was going to be a long day.

 

*  *  *

 

My apartments were empty when I finally returned home nearly six hours later.

I had hoped Elex would be back. Whatever was happening at the university had to be serious if he’d been gone all that time.

The temple masters—myself included in that, despite how awkward it felt—spent the day helping the civil forces search and rescue people who had been caught in any collapses.

There weren’t many, thankfully. Even though I felt it had taken me entirely too long to stop the mountain…deal with the weirdness of that in a bit. The damage to S’Kir was minimal. A few collapsed warehouses, a few of the more significant buildings had leaned. It was a huge relief to find out there was no loss of life.

Still wracked with guilt, I should have been able to stop the tremors sooner.

That was my reason for existing, wasn’t it?

While I respected and was even coming to like both Mistresses Ophelia and Neves, I needed someone who was stronger than both of them to really teach me how to use my magic.

Lighting a candle, even stopping a sword, took a certain amount of skill.

Stopping the mountain from tumbling to the ground before it was time was a different set of skills entirely. I needed someone who was confident—no, cocky enough to handle that kind of power.

There was only one temple master who could do that.

The ancient bastard.

Master Dorian.

I stared down at the courtyard and could feel the phantom hit from his spell on my face, leaving my nose tingling a bit.

Letting out a puff of breath, I knew I had to ask him for help.

The full moon wasn’t high in the sky yet, which meant it was still early in the night. Most of the masters wouldn’t have retired for the evening, though it would be close.

If I didn’t do this now, I wasn’t going to be able.

I would completely chicken out in short order.

Still wearing the dusty, grimy clothes, I marched back out of my apartments—hoping just a little that Elex would appear on my walk and stop me—and headed down the hall to the stairway.

Master Dorian was in the other wing and down two floors. He was the only master on the floor, and the door was at the end of the hall.

He had picked this on purpose. The hallway was intimidating. Shoes echoed as they hit the marble, and the doors at the end loomed over the visitors, seeming to grow larger as I approached.

My stomach turned to butterflies. I did my best to ignore them. Swallowing, both the horrible taste of bile and my pride, I knocked on the door.

It was a dull thud through the thick wood, but I had to hope it was enough to catch his attention.

Nothing happened. I heard shuffling, but that was it.

After two full minutes, I lifted my hand to knock again.

“Come!”

It was shouted from a distance behind the door.

Rude, really. I didn’t want to be there either.

The door pushed open easily, and I entered the parlor to Master Dorian’s apartments. It looked exactly like I had expected—too many curtains, too many pillows, uncomfortable looking chaise lounges, no tables, too few lamps and no open windows.

Stuffy. Overdone.

Like him.

Master Dorian, though, wasn’t in the room. He didn’t come striding in pissed at me, either.

I stood in the room for a moment and figured that since the invitation had come from so far into the apartments, I was going to have to search him out.

Careful to keep my steps quiet, I crossed the parlor to the doorway on the other side.

There were more noises, louder now, but I couldn’t make out what they were. It sounded vaguely like wrestling, or maybe boxing, but neither was quite right.

Clearing the doorway, I stepped into the living area.

And regretted every decision I’d ever made in my entire life that brought me there at that moment.

Kneeling in front of the impressively naked master was an incredibly good-looking, ripped back and taut ass, topped with brown-blond hair that bobbed up and down.

Giving him head.

Master Dorian was seated on the lap of another man. His hips were thrusting forward and back.

Driving his cock into the kneeling man’s mouth.

His hips’ undulations were sensual and erotic, and even while he rocked, he also drove up and down on the other man’s lap.

Driving the cock in his ass deeper. 

My brain fried. I lost all ability to move, or think.

I tried to leave, but I tripped over my own tunic and landed on my ass, desperately still trying to crawl backward out of the room.

I tried stammering an apology, but even that came out more like a whimper.

Bodies stopped mid-motion.

Three gazes tore through me as I could feel the panic rising in my gullet.

The next moment, it registered who the other two were with Master Dorian.

Masters Roran and Rilen.

“Oh gods, oh shit.” The words spilled out of me uncontrolled, and still, I desperately tried to crawl out of the room.

“Stop.”

It was Master Dorian’s command, and I instantly obeyed. I felt nailed to the floor at that moment.

Master Roran, the one who had been sucking—kneeling on the floor, moved to the side and allowed Master Dorian to stand.

There was no missing the pleasure that rolled through Master Dorian’s face as he stood and Master Rilen withdrew from his passage.

There was no missing Master Dorian.

Naked.

Erect.

Hot.

“What in the hell are you doing here.” His voice level, but the seething anger was simmering just below his calm.

“I knocked and…”

He growled. “You didn’t knock.”

“No, Master, I did.” I didn’t care that I appeared to be groveling. “I did. I waited at the door, and I heard someone yell ‘come’ and—”

Holy shit.

I had heard someone give a sexual command.

Not permission to enter the apartment.

My hands covered my face, and I wanted to die.

Master Rilen, seated on the couch, started laughing hard. His twin joined him a moment later from the floor.

Master Dorian did not.

He loomed over me, still naked, still very erect, staring down. It was abundantly clear he wanted to punish me somehow for this transgression, but I didn’t think there was a thing he could do that would be more humiliating than walking in on a master of the temple in a compromising position with two other men.

“Dorian.”

There was another set of feet next to his, and I dared to look up. Master Roran—naked but flaccid—had his hand on his fellow master’s elbow. “It was an honest mistake, Dorian. You know this little one doesn’t seek you out unless she is desperate.”

“Don’t frighten her any more than she already is.” The other twin had appeared on Master Dorian’s other side—also naked and impressively not flaccid.

I knew who the sexual command had been given to.

I put a fist on either of my temples and averted my eyes.

Sweet savior of S’Kir, their cocks were huge.

Worse, they were turning me on with all these erections.

Putting my hands on either side of me, I rolled over to my hands and knees and tried to stand so I could leave.

Someone behind me groaned.

I tripped over my tunic again.

Belly-flopping to the floor, I wept. I tried not to make a sound, but I knew I was trembling.

“I am so sorry, Masters.” The words squeaked out of me. “I’ll leave. This is no place for me right now.”

I pushed to my feet, but a hand came around my waist to keep me from falling. I glanced over and found Master Roran supporting me.

“You will have to forgive our mate, child. He’s a bit of an insufferable prick.”

“Please,” Master Rilen was on my other side. “You like to suffer on his prick.”

“Oh, gods.” I didn’t need sexual banter.

“Take her back to her room.” Master Dorian’s voice sliced through the air.

Master Roran turned and faced him. “No. We traumatized this poor girl, and she needs a moment. I’m going to make her tea. And if you object, you can sleep alone for the next month.”

Master Rilen nodded silently and took my elbow. I noticed he donned pants at some point, and I was grateful. There had been entirely too much tempting maleness hanging out.

Leading me to the kitchen, Master Rilen sat me at the table while Master Roran started a pot of tea on the stove.

“Are you all right?” Master Rilen asked, tipping my chin up.

I started to nod yes but changed it to a no after a moment. “I’m not. I’m exhausted and overwhelmed, and I swear to you, I had no idea you were in here…uh… occupied.”

Master Roran chuckled from where he was retrieving mugs for tea.

Naked.

Master Rilen shook his head. “Child—”

I held up a hand. “May I ask you both to please stop calling me that? I meant to ask Mistress Neves and Mistress Ophelia earlier. I may not be as old as you, masters, but I am still nearing my first century.”

Master Rilen nodded. “It’s probably best if we did. There’s no reason to call a temple master child.”

Roran pulled a sugar bowl out of the cabinet. “We never did with Vitas.”

“And we shouldn’t with the young…” Master Rilen halted and tapped his nose. “With Mistress Kimber.”

“There’s a condition, though.” Master Roran continued.

“That you put pants on?” Master Rilen snapped.

Master Roran offered him a rude gesture and turned back to me. “That you stop addressing us formally in private like this.” He leaned forward and put his chin on his fist. “After all, I’m sitting here buck naked after being caught fellating my mate.”

Master Dorian roared from the doorway.

Still naked.

“You are all treating her like she’s our equal!”

Roran pulled the milk out of the icebox. “Isn’t she?”

“She wears the robes of a master,” Rilen said.

They were doing the twin thing, talking nearly on top of each other’s words, as if it was just one thought between them.

“She walked into my apartments, unannounced. Unwelcome.”

Chuckling, Roran pulled the tin of tea out. “Come does mean come, in whatever context.”

I groaned. “Oh, gods.”

Rilen leaned in. “No mystery that command was for me.”

“No! Oh, gods!” Embarrassment pinked my cheeks.

“Look!” Master Dorian gestured to me. “Look at how put-out she is by sex!”

“It’s not the sex! It’s the number of swinging dicks flopping in the breeze! I would have left peacefully!” I reddened even further at my own outburst. I was just waiting for death by embarrassment at this point.

“Nothing in that room was swinging or flopping.” Master Dorian grinned cruelly. “It was all just hard and thrusting.”

I slumped in the seat. “I’m going to go die now.”

Master Dorian chuckled. “Next time, use your magic, girl. Reach out and find out if I’m busy riding a cock.” He turned to leave the room but paused. “Keep your eyes off my ass if you can.”

He said it so naturally that I had to look. I whimpered—both from being so gullible and because of the firm, round backside he sported as he walked away. “Shit.”

“I have never heard you swear so much as I have in the past five minutes,” Rilen said.

I put my head in my hands. “Because I’ve never been this close to death from embarrassment.”

Roran walked over and proffered a mug of tea. I reached for it absently, but it wouldn’t budge. I pulled harder and watched Rilen roll his eyes.

“Oh no.” I finally paid full attention to what Roran was handing me.

His balls were tucked neatly inside the rim of the cup.

I snapped my eyes up to his, and he was laughing, hard. “Teabag,” he managed to squeak out in his laughter.

“Sweet Savior, Roran.” Rilen shoved him away from me. “The girl was just traumatized by you sucking away on Dorian. Do you really think that it’s necessary to prank her with your balls in her tea?”

“Yes.” He cackled, taking the mug back to the wash basin. He returned a moment later with a new mug.

“Nutless tea, my dear.”

I was sorely tempted to ask for a shot of whiskey, but I was also afraid of what body part Roran would put in that.