“I heard Scorpius likes pain,” I stage-whispered, and he lunged for me, but I ducked and blew him a kiss.
Before he could retaliate, Orion led us into a great room with high ceilings and a brick hearth that roared with fire and stood taller than me.
Scarlet leaped alongside blue-and-black flames.
It was no ordinary hearth.
My breath caught.
Deep leather couches were spread around the room.
I grabbed a fluffy white blanket and collapsed onto the leather. My face flushed from the heat, and I curled my toes with delight.
It was dark and cozy.
Toasty.
The room was perfect.
“Wait, you can’t fall asleep yet.” Malum yanked the fuzzy blanket out of my grip.
I inhaled enchanted smoke.
One. Two. Three. Four—nope, counting didn’t work.
I tried to yank the blanket out of his grip. Unfortunately, Malum was built like the side of a barn. Orion grabbed me around the waist and pulled me away just before I could scissor kick his mate—correction, our mate—in the balls.
“If you don’t give me that blanket right now, the miniature horses are going to be living with us inside,” I threatened, as Orion carried me away from the couch.
Malum pursed his lips as if he liked the idea.
I gawked at the man I thought I knew.
Holy sun god, my mind clicked as I realized why he was so weird.
Malum was a horse girl.
Everything made sense.
“We need to show you your surprise.” The horse girl raised his hands in the universal gesture of surrender.
I stopped struggling because receiving gifts was one of my love languages. So were words of affirmation, acts of service, quality time, physical touch, and begging for my forgiveness.
It was called having standards.
Orion gingerly put me down.
“I’m waiting.” I held my hand out for my present. “Also, I’m suffering from medically confirmed energy backlash. Are you sure this can’t wait until after I sleep?”
All the men looked at one another with sheepish expressions.
“You’ll want to see this,” Orion whispered.
The twins looked at each other and John said, “We also have something to show you.”
Everyone was just full of surprises these days.
I gnawed on my lip. “I didn’t get you guys anything. Was I supposed to?”
“No,” Malum snapped. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
John narrowed his eyes like he was thinking about it. “I’d like a gift.”
All the men glared at him.
The flames in the hearth jumped higher, and the temperature of the room increased.
“We need to show you this right now,” Malum said.
Something told me this was not going to be a new purse—which was depressing because I desperately needed one.
“Lead the way,” I said with a sigh.
Malum led us out back to stables, where we all got on horses—I made a small scene about being too tired to ride (the day I stopped being dramatic, I’d be dead)—then we traversed across the hills until we arrived at the edge of a dark forest.
Scorpius led us forward, deeper into the dark.
When we got to our destination, my stomach plummeted.
Heart stopped.
“What the sun god?” I asked with horror as I backed away.
Chapter 62
Aran
DARK SURPRISES
Impediment (noun): a bar or hinderance.
A cloud of smoke released from my lips.
There were bodies in the woods.
Dozens.
Of.
Corpses.
Heart pounding, breath shallow, I blinked furiously and tried to process what I was seeing.
My mind played tricks on me. Infected screaming for mercy, ungodly chasing me down dark corridors, cold everywhere, slaughtering hundreds, blue flames, Mother laughing, fae guards smirking, pleading desperately.
I blinked.
“Aran, the war is over.” John’s face hovered in front of mine. “Breathe with me. In and out.”
The memories drifted away.
The kings argued among one another, and even Luka joined their debate.
“What is wrong with them?” I whispered, as I looked around with horror.
John sighed. “You mated us to the kings. Hate to break it to you, but you brought this on yourself.”
I rolled my eyes and pushed him away.
Breathing deeply, I hardened my resolve and faced the kings. My vision blurred around the edges as I tried not to focus on what was behind them.
“This is your surprise?” I asked them hoarsely.
Malum rubbed the back of his neck and looked chagrined. Orion stared at me with worry. Scorpius had a satisfied expression.
“We thought you would be excited,” Malum said.
I stared at him incredulously.
His cheeks turned pink.
“Recognize anyone?” Scorpius asked proudly.
I grimaced and quickly scanned the dozens of bloody pikes that had emaciated corpses nailed to them. Death by starvation and blood loss.
It was heinous.
“No,” I said.
The kings were beyond unwell.
Oh my sun god, was I mated to serial killers? I was going to be sick.
How had I missed the signs?
“I think she’s had enough,” Luka said. “Let’s go back to the estate.” I took his arm, grateful for the support.
The twins led me out of the horrible forest.
“Come back!” Scorpius shouted as the kings hurried after us. “It ruins the surprise. She just needs to stand a little closer so she can identify them.”
My stomach revolted.
“Just tell her later,” John said with exasperation.
When we made it back to the bucolic rolling hills, I fell to my knees with relief and pressed my face into the fluffy grass. “Sweet paradise,” I moaned.
I stared at a miniature pony and tried to forget the last ten-minutes of my life.
I ignored the kings’ attempts to talk to me. They’d lost that privilege.
What happened to normal gifts? Designer purses, limited-edition perfumes, diamonds, silk sheets, and enchanted super-yachts.
How had we gotten to this place where men brought their lovers into dark woods and showed them crucifixion victims?
What did this say about our society?
It wasn’t good.
When we got back to the estate, I sprinted to the great room and collapsed in front of the hearth.
My nerves were shot, and I was suffering from a dizzy spell.
I felt like one of the fair maidens Sadie was always talking about from her romance books.
The fuzzy blanket was a warm cocoon around my shoulders.
I shivered beneath it.
My fingers stiffened as ice spread across them. I stared down at them in disbelief. The doctors had said it would take me weeks before the ice came back.
How is this possible?
“Arabella, please listen,” Malum begged as he ran into the room with the rest of the men. They relaxed when they saw me.
The fire in the hearth burned brighter. Ice spread off my fingers onto the ornate rug.
A part of me wasn’t surprised that my powers were already back.
I tipped my head back and smoked.
“Why did you bring me to a forest of bodies?” I asked calmly as I lay down on the icy rug and smoked.
Snow fell from the ceiling and kissed my cheeks.
I would have laughed, but I was still traumatized by the kings’ surprise.