Were they the monsters, or were there multiple species down here? I had too many questions and no answers, which infuriated me. I needed to find a way to keep us alive long enough to find an escape.
Before she could answer me, the cave walls around us suddenly roared to life with peach-colored runes that pulsated like a heartbeat. What was this place? Some type of safe zone from the air?
Acting on instinct, I surged to my feet and placed myself in front of the two younger girls, facing the opening of the cave. I had never fought a person in my life, and I definitely didn’t work out unless you considered lifting my wine glass to my lips exercise, but I would defend myself and these girls to the best of my abilities, until I died.
I felt their hands grab onto my arms like a lifeline. Small whimpers came from them, and Madison’s voice trembled as she said, “W-w-what’s going on?”
“We’re about to find out, I’m sure,” I answered, my eyes darting around the dark expanse in front of us, looking for any sign of an attack. Sure enough, I saw dark blots coming closer, and I whispered to the girls, “They’re coming. Back up against the wall so they can’t surround us.”
They did as I ordered, and I shuffled backward with them until we had created about a six-foot gap between us and the mouth of the cave. To my utter shock, the space of the entrance rippled like a forcefield as the shadows entered, confirming my thought that this small cave was somehow a safe zone from the air outside.
The girls trembled behind me, and I heard their soft sniffles as their fear took hold. Taking deep breaths, I fought my racing heart and instinct to cower away from the wraiths. Mishka had been right—there was absolutely no defining body parts to them other than a human-shaped outline.
Four groups of three shadows each blinked into existence and spread out in front of us, making my heart rate spike. There were too many of them.
My eyes caught on the front shadow of each group, each of which seemed to have a crystal hanging around where their neck would be if they were human. This had to be the item Mishka had spoken of that glowed. It seemed like a vital clue as to what was going on here, but my mind was coming up blank.
None of them moved and no one spoke, and I found my temper flaring as I barked out, “Tell me what you want with us! Or are you too cowardly to explain yourselves?”
A deep chuckle floated through the room, but it wasn’t scary or intimidating. At least not to me. The girls shook even more violently behind me, but I…I found myself intrigued. My body felt like it roared to life, shocked by an electrical surge.
The sound of his laugh—and I say his because it was definitely a masculine one—felt like it had wrapped around me in a teasing caress, bringing goosebumps to my skin, and my nipples pebbled painfully against the material of my bra.
What the hell was going on, and why was my traitorous body turned on in a moment like this?
Attempting to clear my brain of this heady feeling, I yelled, “Whatever you are doing to me, I demand that you stop!”
It was clearly magic of some kind forcing my body to react this way.
“Impossible, beauty.”
My pussy throbbed at the second sensual voice that floated through the air like a promise of pleasure. What was going on here?
Before I could snap back, a shrill voice that grated my ears called out, “Enough! Line up and let us test our crystals one by one to see if any of you are our match.”
Instinctively, I knew the owner of this voice was the one I needed to protect us all from. I could tell by the way the hair on my arms stood on end and the chill that ran up my spine at his voice that he was our immediate threat.
I snarled as I pushed the girls against the cave wall with my arms in a defensive move. “Not until you explain what you are doing and if we are in danger.”
“She’s fierce. I believe she will be ours,” a softer voice said, and my heart hammered in my chest at his tone. It was so gentle and soothing. Why did I want that statement to be about me?
Fuck, get it together, Sera. You cannot afford to let their powers or whatever the fuck is in the air here distract you from your goal. Get out of here alive.
The owner of the first laugh spoke—don’t ask me how I knew it was the same one, because I didn’t have the answer for that. “We are each a Trifecta looking for the woman who will be our match and carry our offspring.”
I spluttered, practically choking on my spit. Disgust laced my tone, dripping from each word as I asked, “You bring human women down here to breed?”
“Not just to breed, but to love,” the softer voice answered. It shocked me to my core at how genuine he sounded. That wasn’t true, right? It couldn’t be.
This was fucking ridiculous, and there was no way I would be cooperating. However, I couldn’t deny the fact that butterflies had erupted in my stomach at his proclamation. Was it possible not all of these creatures were vile? That maybe they didn’t kill or consume human sacrifices?
Shit. I couldn’t afford to soften, even a minuscule amount. This could be detrimental and the deciding factor to whether I lived or died.
In seconds, my vision was obscured by shadows before I could fight them off, and suddenly I felt myself tugged to the left. I stumbled before falling onto my hands and knees painfully, small stones digging into the soft flesh of my palms.
A feral growl ripped through the cave at my harsh handling, that had not come from me.
When I could see once more, Mishka was to my right and Madison was to hers, tears streaming down their faces as their bodies trembled. They didn’t dare look up, instead focusing on the ground beneath them.