Fierce Enchantment (13 page)

“What does it look like?” she asked, trying to look over her shoulder and failing. “Is there anything else off? Do I have horns or something?” She quickly put her hands on the top of her head and sighed when she found only hair. Well, sexed-up hair since Levi had run his hands through it, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Levi snorted. “No horns, but…”

When he trailed off, she turned around quickly, her quick intake of breath matching his at the sight of his naked body. Apparently he liked what he saw as well. She couldn’t help ogling him though, even when she was freaking out. He was all lean lines and muscles. She couldn’t wait to lick every inch of him. Later. Right then, she wanted to know why the hell he’d cut himself off.

“What? What’s wrong with me?”

Levi ran a knuckle over her brow, an odd expression on his face. “Take a look at your skin, darling. Notice anything new?”

“Don’t call me darling,” she mumbled.

“Faith. Look.”

She didn’t want to look. If she looked, then she’d take the next step. She wouldn’t be a human woman who walked alone anymore.

She’d be the new Faith.

The Faith she didn’t quite understand and wasn’t sure anyone would.

“Faith.”

She sighed then looked down at her skin, blinking a few times to make sure she was seeing right. “Am I…glittering?”

Levi let out a snort. “I’d say it’s more of a sparkle.”

Her head came up so fast she knocked into his chin. He cursed, and she rubbed the top of her head. Between falling off the couch and now hitting him, they weren’t doing well at this whole awkward sex thing.

“I am
not
a sparkly vampire, Levi Hughes. Vampires don’t have wings.”

And that was something she never thought she’d ever say in her life.

Levi’s eyes were full of laughter, but he had the common sense to stifle in his mirth. Considering he was naked and his dick was right
there
, he had good reason to be cautious.

“Faith, my mate, there are no such things as vampires. No sparkly ones. No vampires with wings. And especially no sparkly, winged vampires.”

“This is a ridiculous conversation,” she snapped.

“Agreed. Now do you know what you are?”

“No. If I knew that, I wouldn’t have mentioned the whole vampire thing.”

From the look on his face, she had a feeling she might have rather been a vampire than whatever else he was going to say.

“Levi.”

“Faith, darling, you’re a pixie.”

Agony ripped through her back, and she screamed at the pain.

Levi’s eyes widened, and he reached out, wrapping his arm around her waist. “And from the red of your wings, you’re an angry pixie.”

A pixie.

A fucking pixie.

There was no way Faith Sanders, Wicked Bitch of the West according to her friends, was a fucking pixie.

The gods didn’t hate her that much.

Levi winced and looked down at their feet. She followed his gaze and let out a breath. Her toes brushed the ground as she hovered.

Hovered.

Steeling herself, she looked over her shoulder at her fluttering red wings, which were slowly fading to a bright pink.

Wings.

Faith Sanders was a fucking pixie.

There had to be a joke in there somewhere, but Faith couldn’t think of it.

“How the hell did little virgin Nadie end up a succubus and I’m a freaking pixie?” It wasn’t fair. Pixies were sweet and innocent. They were tiny and had pointy ears and fluttered around and giggled.

Faith Sanders did not giggle.

Levi cupped her face and forced her gaze to his. “Pixie girl, fate has an odd sense of humor it seems.”

“Pixie girl? That’s what you’re going with?” For some reason, she warmed at the nickname, and she wanted to throw something.

“Pixie girl, pixie mine, or just plain pixie. Though there’s nothing plain about you.” He looked over her shoulder at her wings and tilted his head. “Your wings turn colors depending on your emotions. It’s been a while since I studied pixie lore and customs, but I’ll help you with anything I know. I think Ambrose and Dante might know more than I do. My friend Tristan might as well.”

Great, more people who could be let in on her shame. She shook her head, her back twitching as her wings fluttered faster. That would take some getting used to.

Levi looked into her eyes and ran a hand over the top of her wing. She shuddered in exquisite pleasure and reached out to grip his shoulders.

“Jesus, Levi. That felt like you sucked on my clit.” She let out a shaky breath. “What if someone else touches the tip of my wings like that? I can’t control that feeling.”

Levi let out a little growl. “Anyone else does that and I gut them.” Her belly did a little summersault at his words.  “It’s just like an angel’s wings or a demon’s horns. They’re very sensitive, and people know not to touch them because of touch privileges. You don’t go around petting Shade’s wings or Balin’s horns, do you?” He raised a brow, and she snorted.

“No. Not in this lifetime.” She met his gaze, all the worries from before they’d made love hitting her like a two-ton anvil. “I…I need time to think about everything, Levi. I’m not ready to promise a future yet, and I’m sure as hell not ready to figure out who I am with wings.”

Levi gave her a small smile then brushed his lips along hers. “I know, pixie mine. One step at a time, remember? We did things backwards, and I know that. We both need to figure out who we are together before we make promises to one another.”

“But the bond…”

“Will always be there. If…” He cleared his throat. “If, after we find out who we are, we also find out that fate got it wrong, we will deal with it then.” Levi narrowed his eyes. “But I’m not letting you—or me—give up because of fear. You understand me?”

She nodded, confused to her very bones. It sounded as if he wanted her but was giving her the time to think things through. In fact, he’d been telling her that since the beginning. What kind of man would wait so long for her?

What if she took too long to get her head on straight and lost it all?

“What about your girls?” she asked, worried for a myriad of other reasons.

“I won’t let you hurt them. Same as I won’t let myself hurt them. They are two of the most important people in my life, and if and when you’re ready to join my life, then we will take that step. Until then, we do as we’ve been doing.” He licked his lips. “Only this time I can lick up every inch of you while we’re figuring that out.”

She rolled her eyes, even as her nipples hardened once again. “So we take this slow? As slow as we can go since we’re mate bonded, having sex, and I’m now a freaking pixie with wings?”

He smiled then and tugged her close. Her wings folded back, allowing him to wrap his arms around her. “As slow as we need to, Faith. I’m here for you. You only need to believe that.”

If only she could.

If only she could believe in herself as well.

Levi growled. Freaking
growled
like a damn werewolf. It had been four days of bliss, sex, and exploration with Faith, mixed in with breathing time with his daughters, and now it was over. Now, he had to deal with older paranormals who wanted the ways of old and purity rather than looking toward a new vision.

A realistic one.

He slammed his hand down on the railing in front of him, but no one paid him any mind. Astoria, the other wizard Conclave member, huffed beside him and flopped on her fainting couch.

Yes, the woman had a fainting couch in their box. Each of the different species had their own opera-style box in the meeting area. They ranged in size and type depending on the supernatural. The wizard one was ordinary looking considering they were of human height and didn’t need a water tank like the mermaid and merman. Astoria had replaced her normal throne-like seat for a fainting couch last year, and it annoyed Levi to no end.

That was probably why she did it.

“Did she just faint?” Tristan asked from his side, and Levi closed his eyes. The fae box was the one right next to the wizard box, hence how Tristan and Levi had become such good friends over the past two years. They’d known each other for much longer, but it had taken trying to circumvent the hostile and treacherous world of Conclave politics for them to truly become the friends they were today.

“Shut up, Tristan,” Levi ground out.

“What? I can’t believe you let her get a fainting couch.”

“He didn’t
let
me get anything,” Astoria huffed. “I’m four hundred years older than Levi, thank you very much. If I want a damn fainting couch, then I’ll get a damn fainting couch. Anything to get through the most banal meeting of the century.”

Levi glanced at his friend, who had the grace not to laugh in his face, then turned toward Astoria. “If you have such a problem being here, why don’t you give up your post to someone who actually wants to be here.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you, puppet?” Astoria sneered. “You know the rules. Once you’re a Conclave member, you’re always a Conclave member. Or is that it? You’re going to kill me so you can get some fresh blood in the ranks and try to rule the world with a limp fist rather than an iron one?”

Levi growled again but didn’t hit the woman. He didn’t hit women unless they fought him on a battlefield, and he was pretty sure the other wizard hadn’t picked up a sword in a century. Astoria was also one of Lynn’s friends and had close ties to his family. There was no way he’d ever shake her.

“Fuck off, Astoria,” he ground out then focused on the others arguing in front of them. They weren’t having an official debate, but people were still spouting their opinions on the matter.

The matter being the humans who knew too much.

And the half-breeds and abominations.

Which would include his mate and any future children he might have with her.

“You might as well give up. They’re never going to let the abominations live.”

He tried to ignore Astoria because all the woman wanted was to fight with him, but he couldn’t. Not when Faith’s future was at stake.

He let out a sigh then touched his throat. “We’re the reason the lightning-struck are here,” he called out, his voice amplifying due to his magic.

The others in the room quieted, either glaring at him or looking at him with their own agenda. He hoped their agendas aligned somewhat with his.

“The Conclave decided to use their collective power to shock the seven women’s DNA and pave the road to this mess.”

“It was only some of the Conclave,” a centaur said, folding his arms over his massive chest. “Not all of us were in on it.”

“I know,” Levi agreed. “I wasn’t even part of the Conclave at the time, but I am a member now. So that means I will not let
our
interference lead to death.”

Because that was what some of the others wanted. It didn’t matter that over half the women were mated to paranormal creatures—including Dante and Levi, who happened to be in the room. The Conclave wanted their
mistake
to be eradicated so they could move on and deal with other more important matters.

Not on Levi’s watch.

And from the way smoke curled out of Dante’s nostrils, the dragon wouldn’t be allowing it, either.

“Even if we allow them to live, we’re creating half-breeds,” a demon said.

Dante let out a ring of fire so carefully controlled that Levi froze. “Call my godsons, daughters, and future children half-breeds again, and I’ll lay waste to you and yours. In fact, there won’t be enough ashes left to collect for the tin on your mantel.”

“No need for threats,” the demon snapped.

“You’re threatening our mates,” Levi snapped right back.

“Our?” the mermaid who had helped him before asked. Her name was Calypso, now that he thought about it. “I didn’t know you were mated to one of them.”

He hadn’t kept it exactly secret, as he’d held Faith’s body and performed magic on the battlefield in front of countless witnesses, but he’d yet to announce it in the presence of the full Conclave. Beside him, Astoria stood up, her attention on him.

“Yes. I am mated to one of them. She is mine. Mine to bond. Mine to protect. We cannot and
will
not kill them because you feel the others made a mistake.”

“You’re too involved in this to think clearly,” the demon spat. “If you weren’t leading with your cock, you’d see we have a problem. Each time one of these bitches finds out what they are, they almost start another war.”

The demon screamed as flames licked around him. However, it wasn’t the flames that made the demon scream. No, Dante was smarter than that. He’d only surrounded the demon with fire. The demon screamed because the mermaid had stabbed into his thigh with her triton.

“Call any of those women a bitch again and I’ll move higher up your thigh, demon.” Calypso grinned, a flash of sharp teeth, then stood back.

“As for war, that is for each realm to decide and react,” Levi said. “Not all realms have a problem with what is going on. If we as a Conclave do not discriminate against those who are different from us, then maybe, just maybe, the realms will take note.”

“And if there is an issue with how our mates are treated, then we will deal with it as we see fit,” Dante added. “As we’ve always done.”

“You have no grounds to kill those you tried to control,” Tristan said, his voice sounding bored. Levi knew the man was anything but that. The fae hated anyone who judged based on the blood in another’s veins, rather than their actions. “You wanted to see what would happen if you changed human DNA, and now you know.”

“But the reason the lighting struck was because of the diluted human DNA,” a siren said, his voice melodic and dangerous. “We all used to procreate amongst the species. That’s how humans sprouted into existence. They are the outcome of mixing too many types together.”

Levi ground his teeth. “That was a long time ago. Much longer than most of you have been alive. Since then, our worlds have expanded one hundred fold. None of us are in a position to lose our world because some of us have the off chance of producing human offspring. We’re not to the point where our DNA is completely diluted. That doesn’t make us any less paranormal.”