Chapter 134 More rituals
“A loophole,” Hale shrugged. “I had heard a rumor about this family in Osaka with considerable knowledge of these matters. It sounded fantastical, and I did not dare to hope until the last minute.”
He turned his body to stare squarely into my eyes. “There’s a way to substitute the fairy with someone else as the new Ascendant.”
“What? That’s not…”
“That's what I thought too. Every Ascendant has to run their course to the end, or they become…” he grimaced, undoubtedly thinking about the skinwalkers. “However, with this substitute, it would still seem as if Lys was running her course.” He leaned closer, his breath fanning my cheek. “She only has to exchange her second skin with someone else, another woman who would be our ascendant.”
“You cannot possibly think that will work.”
“What? We will not be choosing an Ascendant till another ten years. Any of the women on our list would be too happy to take this rare opportunity.”
I frowned. “She will lose Rhea. Do you understand what that means?”
He went quiet now, looked out the window to stare for several long seconds and then turned back to me. “I do. I will lose my mate, but the love we share is much bigger than our wolf bond. Our relationship, chemistry, would be different. No doubt about that. But it would not disappear or turn shallow simply because she is no longer my destined mate.”
Moments like these reminded me of how different Hale and I were. He always chose the right thing, made noble decisions without second thoughts.
“I can only hope Lys would be hoping to give up Rhea,” he added with a pained wince.
“Do you understand how dangerous this is,” I whispered fiercely, as excited as I was scared. “You will be splitting her in two, she could die.”
“She won’t.”
“For all the gods' sake, Hale.” As much as I wanted to jump at this, because it meant I got to keep loving him, that we would never become enemies as I saw in that vision, I still had to be certain. It sounded too good to be true. “You have lived long enough to know these things are not without cons.”
His brows were high with surprise, “You just pointed out the con. She would be losing a huge part of herself, and most likely live out the rest of her life feeling like an amputee.”
“That cannot be the only con for such an extreme ritual.”
“It is.”
“Then your research was poorly done.” I felt deflated, because this would have been perfect.
“You think I would toy with our wife’s life in that manner?” Hale's voice came out calm, but there was hurt layered carefully in his tone.
I reached for him, but he sunk his hand in his pocket instead. “It was not enough to ask questions. I scheduled this trip around my appointment with them so I could watch one of these rituals myself.” His eyes sparked bright. “There’s no reason for things to go wrong in Lys's case, she's not even a hybrid.”
My heart stopped. “What?”
He shrugged. “Yes. The ritual could kill a hybrid. But the Grunders have kept a pure bloodline for generations, besides the witchcraft, of course. So there is no worry there.”
LYS
“You immoral dragon. What the hell did you do to her?”
Hale was studying my skin like a lab scientist, and behind him, Finn was struggling not to turn around as he unpacked the suitcases.
As there was a shortage of accommodation, it had been decided they would remain in the suite with us till other arrangements could be made. And all three of them agreed to stay put in Seoul for my entire trip so they could watch and support my performance even though their flights would have been cleared for take off in two days.
“My wife, my rules.” Mordaine moved to stand behind me.
It was a large closet, but with all three of them, it suddenly felt too tight, too hot.
His chest was naked, muscles taut, and right now he was pressing against me from behind. He lowered his head to kiss the bare skin on my shoulder, while holding my gaze through the mirror in front of me.
“It appears it's my curse to keep reminding you, she is my wife too.” Hale's voice was calm, still looking over my body. He had unbelted my robe when I stepped out of the bathroom, exposing my skin. Even though Finn had been right there, his back turned to us.
I wondered how he would have reacted if he saw these marks before they began fading. If he saw them in all their redness after the fire cupping his husband had attached to my abs, chest, ass, back, any spot that my clothes would cover, especially during my performance, Mordaine had me draw a map on my body for him that afternoon.
“You look impressed,” I whispered, so only Hale would hear, even though Mordaine was still standing behind me.
Mordaine was looking at Finn at the moment. Finn, who had glanced back once to look at us.
“Of course, I am impressed. It is just selfish to have had so much fun without me.” Hale moved a finger to my skin, and began to trace my breast lightly.
My body shivered, bumping back into Mordaine. He chuckled. “You had your fun without me too, non?”
I was watching him through the mirror, so I did not miss the look that passed between all three men. A look I did not understand. Finn, who had glanced back again, went red in the face and turned his back firmly to us this time.
But his hands shook a little as he fixed the clothes on the hangers. I blinked. What was going on?
Mordaine pulled me more into himself and Hale stepped closer till we were sharing the same breath. I was sandwiched between both men.
I was acutely aware of Finn's presence, but not for long. As soon as Hale pressed his lips against mine, picking up where he had left off with the frenzied kisses, I lost myself to him.
Mordaine’s lips were hot against the back of my neck, drawing a slow pattern where a necklace would sit, teasing my naked skin till I was gasping into Hale's lips.
When Mordaine squeezed my ass, I shuddered between them, my nipples hardening as they brushed against Hale's shirt.
Hale pulled back then, biting his lip hard. “We are running late.”
He leaned in and gave me a light peck on the cheek and then turned out of the closet. Mordaine left with him, without a glance back.
Almost like he had already forgotten all about me now that his Husband was back. And here I was, left to face Finn all on my own.
The silence in the closet now was awkward as I belted my robe modestly again. My heart was still racing from that little exercise, and I was unsure what to do or say next.
“Do you need help with your dress?” Finn finally broke the silence. I turned slowly to find those aqua-colored eyes watching me.
I swallowed hard. “I’m sorry that is always happening.”
“Why are you sorry?” He turned away from the racks and started to move towards me. I gasped, running onto a shelf as I stepped back. My eyes darted to the doorway and back to him again.