“You’ve had a busy few days.” Aria chuckled, slipping into his lap with a smile.

  “It sounds like you have too.” He shot back before kissing her deeply.

  The two of them sat on the enormous couch in their wing of the Hightower castle, basking in the first rays of the sun’s morning light. They looked out the window to their private courtyard while silently sipping their coffee, enjoying the feeling of being close after being away from one another for longer than either of them would have liked. The only sounds in the room were the distant snores of some of his other bond mates from the landing up the stairs.

  As they broke the kiss, Eli took a moment to appreciate his elven princess. His light brown eyes locked with her brilliant blue ones, and her red lips parted to reveal a perfect smile. He reached forward and tucked a rare stray strand of blonde hair behind her pointed elven ear before matching her smile.

  “I feel lucky to be marrying you.” He said as he traced her ear with his fingers gently.

  “Me too.” She replied, closing her eyes and leaning back into his touch.

  Slowly, his hand traced a path down her ear. It tickled her neck lightly before reaching her collarbone, running across the spaghetti strap of the blue tank top she wore. His smile turned into more of a lusty grin as he tugged gently at the strap, causing it to slide down one shoulder. The motion revealed more of her generous breasts, causing her to reach down and pull it back up.

  “I wish we had time for that.” She said, kissing him. “Again. Last night was wonderful.”

  After returning from the wild elven realm and being checked over by the family’s healers, Eli spent several hours recounting the events of the cave to his official and prospective bond mates. Aria, Lilly, and Freya were the only ones who could stay at home overnight: once they knew he was safe, Zee and Naz both had to return to their duties investigating the events in Denver while Aratessa, Vespera, Minerva, and Isla returned to Purgatory to continue work on translating the real Royal Blooded book. By the time he finished offering each leaving woman a kiss goodnight and a few soft moments of reassurances that he was okay, it was well into the wee hours of the morning – something that prompted them to ‘sleep’ rather than work on unravelling the newest set of mysteries.

  “You’re sure you don’t want a repeat?” Eli teased. “I could wake up Freya and Lilly to join us again.”

  She furrowed her brow in response, feigning a serious face. “Excuse me, I seem to remember us all agreeing that the foursome was meant to help us get to sleep.”

  Eli scratched his chin. “I seem to recall something about that, yeah.”

  “And it worked too. I passed out after the 4th orgasm, when I was riding your face. I remember you, Freya, and Lilly were still going at it though.”

  “I still don’t hear an objection.” Eli teased.

  “My objection is that it obviously worked – we all fell asleep. Something I can’t repeat if I’m going to meet with the lizardkin and naga delegation today. They’re going to be here in a few hours, and I haven’t even gone through the prep material yet.”

  Eli frowned. “Ugh.”

  She cracked a smile. “Tonight though…”

  “Fine.” Eli said before kissing her. “Tonight. Now tell me: what’s the latest with the snakes and the lizards?”

  She cackled before standing and walking over to the kitchen counter behind them, placing her coffee cup down as she did. “Don’t let them hear you call them that. But to answer your question: they’re using the council’s dissatisfaction with our investigation into the rogue portal to try and pressure us into releasing the hybrid to them. They’re being subtle about it, but they’re finding ways.”

  “So I take it you haven’t had any luck finding who set off that bomb? Or where they came from?”

  “None whatsoever. We’ve thrown every expert we have at it, and we can’t figure it out. The portal didn’t set off any of our sensors, and nobody has seen magic like this before – it’s like it’s from an entirely new school.”

  Eli shook his head. “And the lizardkin and naga are using this as an excuse to put pressure on us?”

  Aria shrugged as she pulled a piece of bread from the fridge and put it in the toaster. “It’s just politics. They have a strong negotiating position and they’re using it to get something they want.”

  “What could they realistically do to us though?” Eli asked. “I mean, it’s not like they’re going to attack.”

  “They threatened to stop sending enchanted amulets to Coldwater – you know the ones that help us appear human?”

  Eli recalled the largest magical city on Earth – one situated on an iceberg floating in the arctic and protected by magical wards. “I don’t get how that helps them achieve their goals?”

  “Coldwater doesn’t import everything from magical worlds, as you already know. They buy some things from human cities – mostly food, but some modern technology too. It’s all done through shell corporations and dummy bank accounts, but more often than not someone needs to go to the mainland and physically pick up the goods – which requires disguises.”

  “Ah.” Eli said, the lightbulb going off as she removed her toast from the toaster and placed it on a plate. “No amulets mean no disguises. No disguises means no food, which is bad.”

  “An oversimplification, but yes.” She replied as she began to butter the toast.

  “So they’re pressuring Coldwater to do…what, exactly?”

  “They told Coldwater that if they want to keep receiving amulets, their representative has to vote strictly in line with how the lizardkin and naga vote. That makes them into a power block. Now, we’ve got a power block of our own – our vote and Aratessa’s, plus Azrak and Azura usually back us because their values line up with ours.”

  Eli did the math. “So that leaves… 3 votes. The dark elves, the dwarves, and the felinekin.”

  “Exactly.” Aria smiled. “The 3 of them are raising hell right now, saying that we’ve done a shitty job protecting Earth from rogue portals, blah, blah, blah…the bottom line is that they’re threatening to impose some pretty crazy ideas, from forcing anyone who knows spatial magic to wear a tracker to starting a war between some human nations so that the news cycle will move on from the explosion in Denver.”

  “That’s…insane.” Eli said finally.

  “Yeah, exactly.” Aria replied before taking another bite of toast. “Normally, we’d just vote the crazy ideas down and that would be it. Now though, if they force Coldwater to vote with them in favor of the crazy, and Zephyra decides to hold a grudge over that business in Shadowhome…” She trailed off as she counted the votes on her fingers exaggeratedly.

  “Then they’d have the majority of votes.” Eli said. “Shit.”

  “We think it’s just sabre-rattling to get what they want for now.” Aria reassured him. “And there’s a good chance all your goodwill-building with Zephyra pays off and she decides to side with us. Still, I have to meet with them to try and put an end to this before the council meets again tomorrow.”

  “How?”

  She took one bite of toast before responding. “By offering something else they might want: gold, magic items, whatever. Ideally something that doesn’t involve letting a Serpentius Rex creation run amok.”

  In that moment, Eli felt a welling of gratitude for his high elven princess. He joined her in the kitchen and swept her up in an embrace, kissing her deeply. She returned the kiss until the two of them heard Lilly and Freya stirring from upstairs. Reluctantly, they broke apart before Eli placed his forehead against Aria’s.

  “I’m glad I have you to deal with this. I’d be lost without you.”

  “Yes, you would.” She said cheekily before giving him one last peck. “And I’ll take payment in the form of sexual favors tonight. But that means you have to let me go get ready.”

  “Did someone say sexual favors?” Lilly said before yawning and stretching at the top of the stairs.

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  Aria giggled before softly murmuring a spell. Her hands glowed gold as she softly floated into the air, through the 2-story open concept living room and kitchen area until she reached the top of the stairs. She landed lightly beside Lilly before hugging the dryad woman.

  Eli took a moment to admire the two women. Where Aria was blonde and voluptuous, Lilly had chestnut hair and a lithe body – one which featured deep green skin. She was currently wearing one of his t-shirts as a dress, leaving her toned legs exposed for him to gaze at. The memory of the feeling of her skin on his bubbled to the forefront of his mind, causing him to start pitching a tent in the sweatpants he wore.

  “Keep my fiancé out of trouble while I work?” Aria said as they broke apart.

  “I make no promises.” She replied with a chuckle and a smirk. “But we’ll do our best.”

  “We’ve got plans for him, don’t worry!” Another voice called from further down the hall.

  Seconds later Freya emerged, wearing nothing but a black lacy bra and a matching pair of booty shorts. If Lilly was on one end of the body-type spectrum and Aria was in the middle, Freya was far on the other end. She was even curvier than Aria, with enormous breasts and an ass to match.

  Three women, each of them incredibly sexy in their own way. Eli mused to himself. And I’m in a loving relationship with all of them, at the same time. How did I get to be so lucky?

  Aria grinned before she hugged Freya too. “As long as those plans involve getting him out of the house, then I’m for it. Because if the 3 of you stay here, you know no work is getting done.”

  With that, Aria turned and blew Eli one more kiss before stepping into her room and closing the door. As the two other women came down the stairs to the kitchen he turned around, pulling 2 more coffee mugs out before pouring them each a steaming hot mug. By the time he was done the two of them were on either side of him, wrapping their arms around his waist.

  “Good morning to you too.” He said, kissing them one by one before handing them their coffees.

  They stood there together for a moment longer before breaking apart, heading back to the couch. Eli slumped onto it and took another swig of coffee as the two women situated themselves around him, forming a chain of cuddles – Freya’s back to Eli’s chest, and Lilly’s back to Freya’s. For a long moment none of them said anything, just basking in the glow of their affection.

  With a final sigh, Eli drained the last of his coffee before putting the mug down. “So, you mentioned plans.”

  “Yes.” Lilly replied simply.

  “Want to share them with me?”

  “We were thinking it makes sense to see Talaedra today.” Lilly started. “After everything that happened, she might have some theories on who this mysterious Hades is.”

  “Then we could work on creating a new spell!” Freya added excitedly. “You’ve been putting it off for awhile now.”

  “She’s right, you know.” Lilly agreed.

  “To be fair, I’ve been a bit busy since Paris.” Eli countered.

  “All the more reason to do it now.” Freya insisted. “You may not have this much down time again for weeks, maybe more.”

  Sensing his hesitation, Lilly turned her body to look at him. “This isn’t about your being busy though, is it? Something else is going on.”

  Eli sighed in response. He was partly embarrassed, partly relieved, and entirely unsurprised at Lilly’s perceptiveness. As a trained psychologist and his personal therapist she knew his emotional state better than anyone, often including himself.

  “I don’t know what kind of spell to make.” He said finally.

  “What do you mean?” Freya asked.

  “The first two custom spells were easy.” He replied. “I was just starting to discover my powers when I made them, and I had some obvious needs in my arsenal to fill.”

  “And you feel like you don’t have that now?” Lilly asked.

  “No, I do.” He said. “It’s just that I’ve got a little more experience now, so I don’t just want to make another spell that fills a need. The first ones were special because they were the first – I want this one to be special because it’s representative of my love for you.”

  Both Freya’s and Lilly’s eyes softened when he said it, and they each leaned in to kiss him. Eli wrapped his arms around them and they stayed like that for a few more long moments. Eventually Freya broke the silence, smiling brightly as she leaned against him.

  “The problem is that you’re overthinking this. If you want something to come from the heart, you need to just let it flow naturally.”

  “I’m not sure that’ll work.” Eli said hesitantly.

  “You’re an accomplished spellcaster.” Lilly insisted. “You’ll figure it out. Now come on – Talaedra hates it when we’re late.”

  Unfortunately for her, they were indeed late.

  Even though Talaedra’s dungeon was only a short walk down the castle hallway, it took them almost a full hour to get there. Extracting themselves from the couch and getting some breakfast took almost half of that time, and getting dressed while fending off the urge to hop back into bed took most of the remainder. When they finally opened the heavy wooden door to the wood elf’s workspace and strode inside, each of them could only offer a sheepish apology.

  “It’s a good thing I’ve come to expect such things from you.” Talaedra said, softening her stern glare. “Come, sit. I made tea.”

  As they walked across the basement laboratory to her desk, Eli took in the familiar scene. The walls, floor, and ceiling were made of thick, enchanted grey stones that he knew from experience would resist most forms of magic – something the Hightower family installed at great expense after one too many of Talaedra’s experiments caused damage to the rest of the castle. The middle of the room was taken up by an open pit of sand which they often used for small-scale combat training – one which currently had a large mysterious wooden crate in the middle. The back of the room featured an enormous desk from which the wood elf often sat while making potions or frantically jotting down notes.

  As he sat at one of the proffered chairs in front of the wood elf, he took her in. She wore a simple green high-cut dress that matched her emerald green eyes, as well as a pair of heavy leather boots. Her unruly white hair stuck out in all directions, and she absentmindedly played with the small diamond attached to her silver necklace as she looked at Eli expectantly.

  Knowing what she wanted, Eli launched into his story. She nodded along throughout, producing a notebook from a drawer in her desk and beginning to make notes. When he reached the part about Hades she began to frantically scribble, her eyes widening and becoming wilder with every word. By the time he was done she looked every part the mad scientist he knew her to be.

  “And that’s everything that happened.” Eli finished lamely. “Once we came back through the portal, Zee and Naz declared that realm off limits to anyone except for their personally chosen guards until they decide what to do about the eldritch…followers? Cultists? I’m not sure what to call them.”

  “Their label is irrelevant.” Talaedra said. “This brings to light an entirely new information about these so-called eldritch beings. The fact that this one shares powers with your Athena figure is fascinating.”

  “That’s what his claim was.” Eli nodded.

  “You don’t believe him?” Lilly asked, hearing the skepticism in his voice.

  “I don’t know what I believe.” Eli clarified. “With the benefit of a few hours of sleep, I can see the problem more clearly now. All I know for certain is that he had some of the same powers as Athena, that he claimed to know her, and that he was clearly insane.”

  “Genius and insanity are often two sides of the same coin.” Lilly said softly. “They’re often mistaken for one another.”

  “Oh!” Talaedra said, standing up suddenly. “Speaking of insanity – a package came for you, delivered by a dwarven blacksmith. He said it was potentially dangerous, so they brought it here. I left it down there, in the arena. What’s in it?”

  Eli stood and grinned. “I think it’d be easier to show you then tell you.”