“My brother’s mind has been infected with the same essence that attempted to overcome Claire in the death fields. That’s why she reacted. And from what I can see, she fought back when it tried to grab on to her again.” The evidence lurked in the bubbling texture—they appeared to be wounds of a sort, similar to the ones marking Sol’s aura. Only, unlike Sol’s, these weren’t scarring. “I think she damaged it permanently”—which impressed me a great deal—“but she also hurt Exos.”
“Can you blame her?” Vox demanded, sounding defensive.
“Not at all.” I unwove myself from Exos’s essence and opened my eyes. “And he won’t, either.” The harm to the foreign presence might be irreparable, but Exos would be fine. Once I helped him remove that entity, anyway. I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. “I need to take Exos home to deal with this. We can’t risk that infection spreading to Claire.”
“Infection?” Sol repeated, his skin losing color. “Like the plague?”
I’d not really considered the similarities, but I supposed they were there.
Unknown essence.
Element devouring energy, rendering the body useless.
But it worked slower, didn’t deteriorate the shell so much as the soul within.
“Not quite,” I said slowly, still considering. “But I see what you’re saying.” I really needed Exos back up and running to bounce some ideas off of. He was the one who tended to see through puzzles; I merely dictated how to unravel them. “It’s not the same, because I can remove it,” I added. “But I need to do that away from Claire.”
Because I didn’t want to risk it seeking her out again.
Wait…
“It’s attracted to Claire,” I continued, rubbing the back of my neck. “That thing in the death fields only attacked her, not me. And it just did it again through Exos’s mind. So no, it’s not the plague but seems to be something designed just to hurt her.” Which sounded insane, but the facts were right there before us. “It’s not even hurting Exos, just appears to be muddling his memories.”
“So get it out of his head and report back with whoever did this to him.” Titus—the man of profound reason—repeating what I essentially already stated.
“That’s the idea,” I replied. “But I can’t guarantee it won’t seek Claire out again as soon as Exos wakes up. I mean, it didn’t before, but now that they’ve enhanced their connection, it’s possible it will go straight for her.” Which—of course—was why Exos had closed himself off for so long. To protect Claire from that foreign essence. He must have thought it was gone, thereby reaching out to her.
“Do you need him awake to remove it?” Vox wondered, still holding Claire tightly to his chest.
“Yes.” Whatever black magic put that thing in my brother’s mind was going to take a lot of elemental fae power to remove. “But if you keep Claire occupied with her other elements, then it won’t be able to access her as easily.”
Titus folded his arms. “Occupied?”
“Distracted,” I tried again. When all three males stared at me for more, I muttered a curse under my breath and tried for the third time. “Ground her in air, earth, and fire, guys. Fuck her. Spar with her. Make her use magic. I don’t care how you do it, just consume her in her non-spirit elements so she’s too busy to reach out to Exos. Got it?”
Sol’s jaw was on the ground.
Vox appeared as brittle as a glass vase.
And Titus merely smirked. “Yeah, that I can do.”
Well, at least one of them had the confidence to satisfy her appetite for the elements. “When she wakes, comfort her and tell her Exos is fine. Explain what we’re doing. Then initiate whatever distraction you want, but make it good.” I met Titus’s gaze on that one. “I’m going to need time. You feel me?”
“We can exhaust her,” Titus promised, a wicked gleam in his emerald gaze. “You weren’t the first to taste her, Fae King. I’m very familiar with her appetites.”
If he meant to bother me, he didn’t. My mother had two mates. My father had re-mated after my mother died, but not after several potential bonds crossed his path first. I was not shy when it came to sex or sharing a woman. And I went into this fully aware that Claire needed five mates.
So all I could do was smile. “Good. See that it’s done. And help these guys, would you? They’re still gaping at me like fish out of water.”
Sol growled. “I know how to handle a female.”
“Excellent,” I replied, bending to pick up Exos and tossing him over my shoulder before meeting the big guy’s gaze. “Then handle Claire. She’s quite fond of oral sex. Start there.”
Of course those were the words she chose to stir on.
I shook my head with a laugh. “See? Even the comment causes her to wake.” I started walking, needing to get my brother away from her before she reached full consciousness. “Have fun, boys.”
Claire