Air rushes out of my mouth and I sit up in a darkened room. My hands instinctively shoot out in front of me. “Devin,” I cry. “Where are you?”

“I am here, Red. I am here.”

I hear his voice, but there is nothing but darkness. “Why can’t I see you?” I ask, grabbing blindly in front of me. My hands land on a firm chest. Strong arms wrap around me, pulling me close.

“Give her a minute, her sight will return,” another voice says in the dark. It is Nostra.

A moment later, I feel warm hands touch the bare skin of my shoulders, and my skin zings under the touch. This isn’t Devin, these hands belong to another.

My body is already reacting to the sensation before my brain can catch up.

“Cia…”

I twist my head around to face Rhain, and feel the firm crush of lips against my own. Despite not being able to see him, I open my mouth and welcome him in. The familiar pull draws me to him, to the desire I feel, the love that undulates under his touch.

“Rhain, a moment,” comes a deeper voice. It is my husband, Ezra. Rhain shifts sideways to accommodate him.

“Accacia, I thought I’d lost you forever.” He brushes his lips against mine. A thrill runs through me at his touch. I remember him suspended in the air above Queen Adrielle and the tremor of his body as he fought against the magic, trying to reach me.

“I’m here now, it’s okay, Ezra,” I say in reassurance.

“You understand what has happened. What you are now?” Ezra asks gently.

“Yes. I chose to return, to come back to you all. I know what I am, I understand the price.”

Red. Devin reaches out to me, I feel his presence within my thoughts. His concern.

“Cia.” Rhain rests a reassuring hand on my arm.

“Accacia, you are the bravest woman I know.” Ezra kisses me, his hand snaking in my hair. When he releases me from his embrace, a kaleidoscope of colour splinters across my vision. I press my fingers against my eyes, shutting them against the sensory overload.

“Cia, are you okay?” Rhain asks. His voice is so loud I have to cover my ears. But it’s not enough, the beat of their hearts is as loud as drums.

Thump-thump, thump, thump-thump, thump.

Then I smell them… their individual scent lingers in the air. I breathe in deeply as their faces come into focus. I can smell their blood; the dark chocolate of Ezra’s, the crisp champagne and fresh oysters that is Rhain’s, and finally the warm honey and citrus of Devin’s.

Devin’s blood, the only blood of my three men that I am yet to taste, calls to me. I am drawn to it like a firefly to the light. The thought of drinking his blood takes over, and I hone in on his smell, the individual thump of his heart, the beat of his pulse. Pain shoots through my gums and I raise my hand to my mouth. My incisor teeth have elongated, the points sharp, reminding me of what I am now, what I have become. My eyes snap open, and without thinking I sink my teeth into Devin’s neck, drawing on his blood. He lets out a gasp as I twist in his lap, straddling him. His reaction to my bite is immediate. The hard length of his desire presses against me. I push myself against him, feeling the exquisite friction, and I remember our lovemaking in that place in between. It had felt real…

It was, Red, it was as real to me as this moment now.

It was beautiful, I respond. I want you that way again. Here, now.

“Damn it, Red,” Devin groans out loud. I can hear Ezra’s low chuckle.

“I think this is a taste of your own medicine, brother.” He is referring, of course, to what happened in Queen Adrielle’s castle, but there is mirth in his voice, not malice. This is not the same, I do not wish to drain Devin of all his blood, just a little. Well, perhaps more than a little.

“Right, well, I see you’re going to need a moment,” Nostra says awkwardly. I forgot he was in the room. I will thank Nostra for bringing me back. Just not now, not yet.

I hear a door opening then closing once again and the low murmur of voices on the other side of the door. I relax further in Devin’s arms, content for the moment for this time alone with him, with Ezra and Rhain. A low moan rises from Devin’s throat, it matches my own.

Red, my love.

I draw on his blood. It floods through me, filling me up. The taste is exquisite, unique, just like Ezra’s and Rhain’s.

I pull my teeth out gently, lapping my tongue over the punctured skin. I kiss the tender flesh of his neck before sitting up. Devin leans back on his hands, considering me. A slow smile pulls up his lips.

“So now you’ve tasted me there is only Rhain’s blood left for you to savour?” Devin asks.

“No, brother. Cia has already had my blood.”

“Is that so? I have missed a great deal, it would seem.”

“Brother, there is much we need to fill you in on, but right now I have other things on my mind,” Rhain says. I see the black of his pupil enlarge with desire. The points of his teeth lower from his gums. Behind me, Ezra shifts closer. I have made love to all three men separately. I have shared a bed with both Ezra and Rhain, but only to sleep. I look between them, my own desire ratcheting up a thousand-fold at the thought of being with them all. It seems right, natural, to share my love with them. I grip hold of Rhain and Ezra’s tops and pull them closer…

The door crashes open. It is not to be. Nostra stands before us.

“I am sorry, my friends, there is no time for that. Adrielle has found us. We must leave, now.”

Pulling away from my men, I get off the bed. Through the window I can see the darkened sky. Night has fallen, another day has passed. It has taken Queen Adrielle a whole day to find us. Nostra’s magic is strong, but clearly not strong enough.

“Queen Adrielle is breaking through your magic,” Ether shouts from the other room. “You have a plan I take it?” he asks as we all hurry into the kitchen. Lissandra rushes towards me. Behind her Blake nods in my direction. He looks likes death, but he is alive.

“Accacia, thank the Goddess,” she says, throwing her arms around me.

“Lissa, we need to leave. You can catch up later.” Nostra grabs her hand, and pulls her towards the front door. Ether heads out first, followed by his brothers-in-arms. I am momentarily stunned by the black feathered wings folded across each of their backs.

They have wings? I ask as we follow them out.

Indeed, they do, Devin answers. The three of them flew Ezra, Rhain and Lissandra right out of the Queen’s castle. Ether took Lissandra, Gabe, the dark haired one, flew Ezra to safety, and Mihr took Rhain. You can imagine her surprise and her rage that her Angels of Death had betrayed her.

I am prevented from responding as a loud thundercrack sounds overhead. The ground beneath us shudders, even Nostra’s cottage shakes in its foundations.

“Run!” Ezra shouts.

We don’t need to be told twice. We all run round to the back of Nostra’s cottage.

“Nostra, what are we to do?” Lissandra asks, pushing against Blake’s chest. He has her pinned against the wall. A muscle ticks in Nostra’s jaw but he doesn’t say anything about the close contact. He’s too busy firing his own purple magic up into the sky in an attempt to reinforce the magic Queen Adrielle is trying to tear down.

“Adrielle’s magic is breaking through. I need to get the portal open, then we all go through.”

“Where will it take us?” I ask.

“Back to Earth. It is the only place Queen Adrielle is unable to follow.”

“I cannot return to Earth,” Blake speaks up. “Dani is somewhere here in Ever Vale. Finch and Seb are tracking her too. Edrin has her. He brought her back here. I followed his trail to the flatlands where the common folk reside. It was a trap. He knew the Queen would order my death. Now I am free I must join my brothers and rescue her.”

Nostra grips hold of Blake’s shoulder. “Then you leave now, whilst the Queen is distracted.”

“Wait!” I say, grabbing hold of Blake’s arm. He looks down at me; the man’s a giant, a beast. I swallow, pulling my hand away. “Isn’t Edrin the rogue wolf-shifter, the one who turned all those humans into halflings?” I say quickly. “He has the missing daughter of your Clan?”

“Yes, and the moment we find Danika and she is safe, I plan on ripping that bastard’s head from his body. No one takes my woman and lives to tell the tale.”

“Danika?”

“Yes, you know her?”

“Clover mentioned a friend called Danika, a woman who works with horses…” It couldn’t be a coincidence, given my relationship with Clover.

No, not a coincidence. You remember what Nostra said before about you and Clover, the fact you are friends? Fate bringing you together, Devin says through our connection.

“Dani is good with all animals,” Blake says, running his fingers over a scar that runs across his abdomen. “She saved me, and now I will save her.”

Another booming crash of thunder sounds as more black lightning cracks across the sky. I can see the edge of Queen Adrielle’s dark power leaking through Nostra’s magic. “There is no time. You must go, friend,” Ezra says. “Get out of here. Find your brothers, claim your woman and take her to a safe place.”

Blake nods his head and in an instant shifts into his wolf-form. It takes no longer than me blinking. His change is as easy and as painless as it was the first time I witnessed it. He turns, his enormous wolf body rendering me speechless for just a moment. The zing of magic ruffles his long fur. He is beautiful, and entirely deadly.

“If you ever need help with Edrin, call upon Clover in the Forbidden forest. She will help you.”

The wolf drops his head in acknowledgement, then sprints off into the line of trees beyond the boundary of the hamlet. He is gone in an instant.

“The Forbidden forest is still dangerous, Cia. I am not sure it was wise to tell him about Clover,” Rhain says.

“Yes, it is dangerous. But you don’t know Clover like I do. I have faith that she will overcome the fae king. When she came to me in my sleep, she had changed. She was powerful.”

“Nostra, the portal,” one of the Angels of Death says. He has the same piercing blue eyes as Ether, but his hair is a dark blonde where Ether’s is snow white.

“Give him a moment. If you haven’t already noticed, he’s trying to secure the wards around the hamlet,” Lissandra snaps, stepping beside Nostra. She places a hand on his arm. “Nostra, is there anything I can do?”

He gazes at her. It is brief, the look he gives, but anyone watching would see the love in his eyes. I’m pretty sure Lissandra can see it too.

“Stand back,” Nostra says, raising his hands.

Rhain pulls me backwards and instinctively Devin and Ezra step in front of me. “Hey, I am not a fragile human anymore. Have you forgotten so soon what I’ve become? I am one of you now,” I say, stepping out from behind them. They make room for me and I stand alongside my men, my equals now in all ways.

Mihr and Ether step back slightly as an intense purple light sweeps out of Nostra’s hands. I can feel the power of it as it snaps and zings in the air about us before honing in on a spot at the edge of the forest. It’s like standing near a large bonfire; the heat coming from his magic is intense, I can feel it crackling over my skin.

Gabe, the dark-haired angel, is staring at me. A huge smile sweeps across his face just as his raven-black wings spread out behind him. My first thought is of a male peacock displaying its feathers in some kind of mating ritual.

“Gabe, put them away, you might poke someone’s eye out,” Ezra says. It is enough to make me laugh out loud. I can’t seem to help it. My laughter ripples up my throat and is entirely inappropriate for such as serious situation.

I died. The air constricts with magic.

I died.

Gabe wiggles his wings, and his eyebrows dance up and down to match. Laughter bursts from my throat and I shove my hand over my mouth. He winks at me.

I’m a vampire, I must drink blood to survive.

Nostra has fallen to his knees as magic fires out of his hands. Lissandra looks over her shoulder at me. Her grey eyes are wide with worry as she looks from me to the sky above. Suddenly it’s hard to breathe. This is costing everyone too much.

Red, are you okay? Devin rests his hand on my back.

I’m fine, just feeling a little… hysterical. I draw in a lungful of air, and blow out slowly.

Gabe grins at me. He is certainly beautiful, if not deadly. Well, except not to me, not anymore.

“What’s so damn funny, angel?” Rhain snarls.

Gabe is a show-off, and an arrogant bastard. I am surprised he is one of the chosen three, Devin says, noticing my gaze. He looks pissed. I frown at Devin’s reaction, at Rhain and Ezra’s.

You guys have history, I take it?

You could say that. Just put it this way, Gabe isn’t as angelic as he seems.

Well, he is an Angel of Darkness, they do take life. I kind of figured as much.

That’s not what I mean.

Gabe takes a bow.

“I’m going to wipe the smile off his face in a minute,” Rhain says, looking at Gabe in disgust.

“Let’s just concentrate on getting out of here safely before we decide just how much of a prick Gabe is,” Ezra grinds out.

“Gabe saved your damn life, be grateful. Isn’t it about time you put the past behind you?”

“Don’t lecture us, angel…” Rhain says.

What’s this all about?

Another time, Red.

“Nostra…” Ezra starts, ignoring the angels.

“I know, I know,” Nostra shouts, his arms shaking from the effort of producing such intense magic. “Just one more moment.”

His magic is carving a door from thin air, I can see a gap appear. I watch as it gets wider still.

Overhead another loud thundercrack sounds. This time, it’s as though an atomic bomb has gone off and we are all blown off our feet. A moment later the sky begins to fall inwards.