waiting flesh.
“That’s it, love.” Cas gazed at the ceiling as he healed his mate, solidifying their connection again. “Drink.”
As Mirceo sucked, his body began to fill out, his injuries mending.
“I’m strong for us,” Cas assured him. “Take as much as you need.”
Mirceo’s reedy heartbeat slowed and deepened. Soon it had synced with Caspion’s, one loud drum in their ears.
“You feel that, Mirceo?” He groaned in response, and together they basked in the connection. “You need someone to take care of you. Let me be that mate.”
Mirceo’s arms wrapped around Cas’s chest, and he moaned his assent.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t have faith in you,” Cas said. “Or in my ability to keep you. I’ll never doubt either of us again.”
When Mirceo released his bite with a last lick, Cas’s gaze roamed over his face. “There he is. There’s my mate.”
Mirceo’s eyes had cleared, his gray irises brightening. Color tinged his cheeks, his lips reddening. “I can’t believe you came back to Dacia for me. How did you get here?”
“Trehan traced me.”
“Did you two fight?”
“I was desperate to get to you, couldn’t spare the time. So I asked him very, very nicely to take me to my mate.”
Mirceo raised his brows. “You must love the hell out of me.”
“Trehan’s thoughts exactly.” Cas clamped his nape. “You’re under my skin, Mirceo. When we parted, you took my heart with you. Go easy with it, okay?”
“I’ll protect it forever, just as you’ll protect mine.”
“You saying you love me?”
“Madly. I already knew it the morning after, which is why I was so confounded by my panic.” He gazed up at Cas, staring into his eyes. “We really are going to find Mina?”
“We’ll storm hell if we have to.” He took Mirceo’s hand in his. We fit. “I will not let you down.”
“What if Harea finds her?”
“Then he had better hope she can’t lay hands on a sword. Somehow, someway, this family will best him a second time.”
Mirceo gave a decisive nod. His expression grew focused and intent. “Then let’s get started, old man.”
Cas gazed down at the mate he loved. “You stay on me like my godsdamned shadow, vampire.”
Mirceo’s lips curved. “Eternally, demon.”
Sneak Peek of WICKED ABYSS
Next up in the electrifying Immortals After Dark series.
Coming April 25, 2017
This fairy tale doesn’t end with a kiss . . .
Turn the page for an exclusive bonus preview.
A spellbinding Immortals After Dark tale from #1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole!
The terrifying king of hell . . .
As a boy, Abyssian “Sian” Infernas had his heart shattered by a treacherous fey beauty who died before he could exact vengeance. Millennia later, a curse has transformed him into a demonic monster—just as she’s been reincarnated. Sian captures the delicate but bold female, forcing her back to hell.
Meets his match.
Princess Calliope “Lila” Barbot’s people have hated and feared Abyssian and his alliance of monsters for eons. When the beastly demon imprisons her in his mystical castle, vowing revenge for betrayals she can’t remember, Lila makes her own vow: to bring down the wicked beast for good.
Can two adversaries share one happily-ever-after?
As Lila turns hell inside out, the all-powerful Sian finds himself defenseless against his feelings for her. In turn, Lila reluctantly responds to the beast’s cleverness and gruff vulnerability. But when truths from a far distant past are revealed, can their tenuous bond withstand ages of deceit, a curse, and a looming supernatural war?
PROLOGUE
“Listen well to the storyteller, and you’ll hear such a tale,” N?x the Ever-Knowing said to her sister Regin as they sat before the fire in their temporary abode. “Once upon a time, two females entered an enchanted forest on opposite ends of the woods. One was a lovely and truehearted fairy princess, born an old soul, with perhaps a bit of a temper. The other was a temptress called the dame of fire, known to be sensual and devious, with perhaps a lack of mercy.
“The princess was fleeing a baneblood archer who’d vowed to wipe out the entire fey royal line. The princess wanted only to live.
“The dame was pursuing a cowardly ruler who’d jeopardized all of his people. The dame wanted only to kill.
“During the princess’s journey, she met a mysterious, gorgeous, shifty soothsaying Valkyrie who betrayed her. Next the princess met two sorceresses. They sent her on the adventure of a lifetime, down the rabbit hole to a strange new world, because they knew that not all bad is bad.
“Lastly the princess met a king of beasts with two faces. He could