A Token's Worth (Spawn of Darkness Book 1) Read online

  I jerk myself out of Dusk’s grip, right into the middle of the circle. “I refuse to be a part of your harems!” I speak with conviction, my head held high and shoulders back, because posture is important, especially when you’re at least two feet shorter than the four gods boxing you in.

  “What the fuck is she talking about?”

  Shut up, Dusk. I’m trying to have an internal conversation with myself.

  Fists clenching, they take small steps towards me. My palms feel sweaty and I don’t know where to look. I’m used to attention, but this … this is something else entirely.

  I need to get out of here.

  Seeing a gap between Dusk and Day’s legs, I go for it, feeling super badass even though I only make it two feet before I’m pinned to the ground by one of them, the jarring action causing me to hiss in pain. At least the grass is soft. Well, I think it’s grass. It smells like grass, but grass isn’t usually made from bright little rainbows …

  A pair of hands grab my wrists and holds them firmly above my head. I kick my legs in a floundering attempt to escape, gain a small amount of traction before they, too, are pulled out from beneath me and pinned in place.

  “Let me the fuck go!” I yell, exercising my newfound liberties.

  “She thinks we’re taking her …”

  Was that Dawn? Why did he sound so concerned? And yeah, I’m not stupid, I know what this is. My vagina’s excited, even from over there in the sin bin, but I’m a fucking wreck.

  “Let me go, or I’ll punch you fuckers in the dicks!” I scream, inhaling a mouthful of shiny, rainbow grass and gagging, though it’s nowhere near as bad as choking on a penis.

  Someone pulls at my corset from behind, swiftly unlacing it. I squirm, putting everything I have into fighting these four bastards off. Fuck this. There’s no way I’m getting gang banged for the second time today. No vagina, I didn’t ask for your opinion.

  “Let me go!” My body jerks around in a very unladylike manner, likely causing more internal damage, but fuck it. Hands press onto me, stilling me in place, and now I’m growling like a feral beast.

  Fuck men, fuck them all.

  Another hand moves deftly across my back, down to a particularly tender spot. I wince and arch my back, difficult given my current position.

  “What’s all this from?” Day asks, followed by a few muffled hissing sounds.

  Savages.

  “None of your goddamn business,” I growl.

  “What did she say?”

  “No idea.”

  Next thing I know my skirt’s being hiked up from my ankles. I try to squirm away, unsuccessfully. Arseholes.

  I can’t do this. I can’t fucking do this again.

  “Somebody needs to do something, she’s losing it.”

  “Not unless it’s necessary,” Day snaps, running his fingers over the scars around my neck. “It’ll just confuse her more, and we can’t waste the power.”

  Cryptic bastards.

  The other hands don’t stop until my skirt’s bunched up around my waist and my vagina’s drooling. I want to slap her silly for it. There are a few harsh intakes of breath followed by some crude yelling in a foreign tongue. It’s about now I’m ready to throw myself off that cliff again.

  My skirt is rolled back down without any unsanctioned prodding. Strange. Maybe they were scared away by the scent of my earlier gang bang. Ha! Small wins.

  I’m rolled over and suddenly Day is all up in my face. At least he’s not inspecting my abdomen. I like to keep that scar hidden when possible.

  “Who did this to you?”

  He’s practically snarling, which is strange considering he’s likely done worse to women before. Hell, they probably asked for it too, and moaned in orgasmic harmony the entire time. He seems the type.

  “Who?”

  I ignore the question, exercising my free will by folding my now released arms over my chest and closing my eyes. “Bossy Fae bastard.”

  “Fucking hell. I can’t.” I hear him rise and stalk off a few steps.

  “Why don’t you just fucking compel her?” Dusk yells.

  That piques my interest enough for me to crack my left eye open.

  Day folds his arms over his chest, making the muscles on his biceps bulge. “I’m not compelling her. Night?”

  Yeah right, call upon the seductive one.

  Night closes in on me just as I open my other eye. I glare at him. If I’m going to survive this, if I’m going to convince them to let me go, I need to stand my ground. If they think I’m going to be too much trouble they’ll lose interest in keeping me and my vagina as a pet.

  Night tugs me slowly into a sitting position then runs a hand up my spine. My corset knots back together, shoving my breasts up high. Hey there, ladies.

  “What’s your name, pet?”

  “Krystal,” I say, silently praying that I’m not going to burst into flames for giving the four Sun Gods a fake name. “And if you call me ‘pet’ again, I’ll castrate you then shove your balls up your arse.”

  I’m nobody’s fucking pet.

  “Lie.” Dawn deadpans.

  What the? I give him my evil death stare, but he just grins back at me. Guess Dawn knows when I’m lying. I steal a glimpse at Day, whose frown has somehow managed to deepen. If he’s not careful he’s going to get wrinkles on his immortal face.

  Night pinches my chin, forcing my gaze back on him. “Name, and the right one this time.”

  I chew the inside of my lip as I try to think of a way out of this, coming up blank. “Dell.” They can have the abbreviated version, hopefully they can’t voodoo me with it, and at least I’m preserving some of my deteriorating dignity.

  Night flicks Dawn a look, who nods at him before Night shifts his gaze back to me. He doesn’t look all that sinister right now …

  I remind myself he’s a predator, if the stories are true. Not some chew toy for my inner bitch to gnaw on.

  “Dell, who did this to you?” He motions towards my body in general, because apparently the whole thing’s a wreck.

  I’m not surprised, I don’t need to peek under the thick folds of skirt to see the damage I know is everywhere. A lot is new, some is old, but I heal quicker than the others. No real idea why, it’s always been a curse. Kroe was quick to notice and ‘permission to beat’ might as well be stamped on my motherfucking forehead.

  I smooth my features, straighten my clothes, lift my chin and look him square in the eye. “Everybody.”

  Because it’s true.

  The countless lashes that mottle the skin on my back are from the women I stood up for, the ones who never repaid the favour. The bruises are from the beatings I took from my owner, for taking too long with a client or not long enough, for pleasing them too much or too little. Never on my face though—he likes to keep our faces pristine.

  Or perhaps they’re talking about the evidence of today’s attack? That’s simply a product of my life, a life I was prepped for since Kroe found me walking the streets, alone, when I was four years old.

  My scars, the ones that really matter, aren’t visible on the outside.

  They frown, as if my answer displeases them. I don’t care. I have nothing to prove to these men, nothing I want from them. I certainly have no interest in becoming their pet. Shut your labia, vagina. Nobody asked you.

  Night continues to study me at close range, as if I’m interesting, even though I’m equivalent to a piece of shit on his shoe. An interesting piece of shit, apparently. He lets out a deep breath, glancing over my shoulder at Dusk behind me, before turning back to face Dawn and Day. “I get her first.”

  “Nobody fucking gets me! Psychos!” Because I have a death wish, though they all ignore me like the shoe shit I am.

  Dusk growls like a dog and Day’s hiss slices the air.

  I flinch. They’re intimidating, definitely control freaks. I need to steer clear, and put a chastity belt on my wayward vagina while I’m at it, because she likes a bit of bullyi
ng and I wouldn’t put it past her to lead herself straight onto their abusive godly cocks.

  “That’s not how this works, Kal.” Day moves forward so swiftly that his body’s a blur, and now he’s standing chest to chest with Night, whose name is apparently Kal. Hmm. Honestly wouldn’t have picked him for a Kal. I would have thought him more a Lorenzo, or a Dario. Perhaps even a Raphael. Strange. Now I’m looking at him funny.

  Kal doesn’t cower, even though Day’s taller than him. “Don’t test me on this, Sol, you’re not what she needs right now.”

  Sol? That’s not a name I’d have picked for Day, either. Sol is too soft, makes him sound friendly. I think I’ll just call him Day—at least that way I can continue to picture him as a sadistic, soul-eating prick with anger issues. What were their parents thinking? Oh, right … the sun made them. That explains it.

  “And what do you think she needs, Kal?” Day challenges his darker equal.

  “To be set free into the wilds with a handful of gold and enough food to feed a small army?” I say, though they fucking ignore me again.

  If I wished for all that, would it take up all my three remaining wishes? I do a quick mental calculation. Yup. Then they’d follow me around until I ‘repaid them’, whatever that means, and I’d be shit out of ammunition. Ugh.

  “Rest. Rehabilitation. Something all three of you suck at. At least with me she can heal.”

  Well, knock me over with a feather. Where did that come from? Kal isn’t sounding so bad now …

  “So, you’re saying you don’t intend to add her to your harem and fuck her into oblivion?” Dusk asks with a quirked brow.

  Ignoring my vagina, who’s relishing the prospect of having her own cheer squad, I eye the back of Kal’s head, willing him not to let me down.

  He shrugs, the movement smooth yet heavy, because there’s a lot of shoulder to shrug. “I’m not saying the thought hasn’t crossed my mind. She looks like she needs a bit of enjoyment …”

  Aaaand, there we go. Fucker. I had high hopes for Kal, too.

  I step back into Dusks chest, who’s controlling and likes to fuck’s a lot. Shit, yeah, I really can’t trust any of them. I shuffle forward again, exasperated with this inner tug of war I’m experiencing. If only they’d all just piss off. Although, then I’d be stuck in this strange, bright, colourful little world I’m in.

  “How do I get home?” I ask, though, you guessed it, I’m fucking ignored again.

  “I think you frightened her.” Dawn—Captain Obvious over there. It must be written all over my face. Makes sense, I feel like I’m going to hurl my meagre guts up.

  Kal looks over his shoulder at me and frowns, before turning back to face the other two. “You know I wouldn’t do that unless she agreed to it, for fuck’s sake.” He sounds offended.

  Day’s stare cuts to me and my vagina does a curtsy. Behave, bitch.

  Yup, he’s still frowning. His poor skin, working so hard to hold up his immortal expectations despite the harsh conditions it’s faced with. “Perhaps you are what she needs right now.” He shifts his attention back to Kal. “But if she goes with you to the Kingdom of the Night then we’re all coming with you. We stupidly invested in her too, so we all have the authority to make sure she doesn’t throw herself off another cliff and land us all with a loss that none of us can afford right now.”

  Hmm, I wonder what that means?

  “Don’t I get a say in this?” I ask.

  “No,” they answer in unison.

  I roll my eyes and mutter something about dominant Fae bastards, even though they all finally answered me, before Night wraps his hand around my arm and I’m whisked off in a wave of white fucking light again.

  This is getting real old, real quick.

  Chapter Four

  We land amongst a sea of women—surprise, surprise. My vagina may be excited about meeting her cheer squad, but I’m fucking not.

  The first thing I notice is they’re all stunning. Of course. All draped with sheer material in a fashion that shows a lot of flesh … nipples standing to attention left, right and centre. No uncomfortable corsets for them, pushing their breasts through the roof. And from what I can see, no scars. No missing limbs. No haunted eyes.

  “I don’t fit in here,” I mumble, side-stepping a jumble of porcelain limbs and trying to ignore the moaning.

  My sensitive nostrils itch from the thick scent of arousal, and I sneeze nose jizz all over my palm. Lovely. I surreptitiously wipe it on my skirt and hope nobody notices. Highly likely given the plethora of juices spurting here, there and everywhere.

  The marble hall is furnished with day beds and plush lounging pillows—surfaces galore for draping bodies along and fucking them senseless.

  Making our way towards the exit, we pass two women pleasuring each other on a day bed, and a cluster of female limbs doing some tantric shit on the pile of pillows on the floor.

  They look like they’re having a great time, going by the sounds and the looks on their faces. I can’t speak for their vaginas, though, that would be presumptuous of me. All I know is mine’s got a mind of her own. Down girl!

  Some women are even smiling, and not losing an eye for it. Not that it makes me feel any better about being lassoed into a fucking harem. I’m no prude, don’t get me wrong, I’m just done with being owned.

  A few of the ladies swarm Kal, tripping over each other in the process and looking far too eager to be boned by the God of fucking Night. I shuffle backwards to avoid being knocked out by a wayward boob.

  Kal flicks a hand as if he’s batting away a fly. “Not today, girls.”

  They pout. Like, actual pouting. It looks ridiculous on grown women. I never realised until now.

  “Pfft.” I can’t help myself, though I instantly regret it when one of the girls gives me a disdainful stare. I remind myself that this is their normal, and I’d better not outcast myself because I’m probably expected to spend a lot of time with these women, and not all of it chatting about the weather. The last thing I need is a pissed off courtesan sinking her canines into my clit. If the shrinking of my labia is anything to go by, my vagina agrees.

  Kal’s leading our group through the sea of slippery vaginas, his shoulders tense, stride heavy.

  “Were not staying here, then?” I ask, stepping over something that looks suspiciously like a castrated, petrified penis. I bet the girls have fun with that. My vagina’s practically reaching down and grabbing it all on her own. She needs to learn to keep her labia to herself.

  “No,” says Kal, not looking back at me.

  I roll my eyes and give a sad little wave to the penis toy. I’m sure it could fit in my pocket … who needs a real one when you can have a fake one which does what you fucking ask it to?

  “You’re not exactly a friendly host. Do you treat all your guests this way?”

  We close the doors on the orgasm party, entering a large courtyard caped in the night sky. I sigh. This is what I needed. Cool air and the cover of darkness, somewhere to fade into oblivion. Visually, at least. Maybe this isn’t so bad after all …

  I don’t realise I’ve stopped until someone picks me up, and this time, I don’t fight. Because hell, I’m sleepy. Like, wow, incredibly fucking sleepy. I don’t think I can keep my eyes open.

  I mumble something incoherent and, despite myself, nuzzle into him, stroking the glitzy god wear like I’m petting a puppy.

  “Three, two, one …” Kal’s voice. So, it’s Kal holding me …

  Lights out.

  Chapter Five

  I wake feeling rested, wrapped in smooth sheets and nestled on a bed of clouds … or what I imagine a bed of clouds would feel like. I run my hands along the smooth material and almost spontaneously orgasm. So fucking soft.

  Damn, I feel good. I think I could take on the world right now. Except I’m a courtesan, trapped in an endless cycle of commissioned sexual favours.

  Groaning, I roll over, stuffing my face into this heavenly pillow I have some
how acquired, and wonder where and how I managed to fall asleep on the job … a goddamn plush job at that! And why the hell haven’t I been skinned alive for it? This pillow smells like jasmine and verbena. One breath, two breaths … FUCK.

  Realisation hits me like a twelve-inch schlong to the face. I toss the hair from my eyes only to be assaulted by the sight of Kal, shirtless and splayed out on a black velvet couch near my excessively large fuck-ten-people-at-once bed with his hands behind his head, watching me.

  “What the shit?” It’s the first thing I come up with.

  His bedroom eyes suggest he’s been there for a while, watching me sleep like he’s some sort of psychopath. “I’d like to ask you the same thing.”

  I glance down and see I’m dressed in a pair of shimmering, black pyjamas. Thank fuck I’m clothed. Though, how I ended up out of my skirt and corset remains unanswered. At least my tits and vagina are covered. From memory, having those parts out on display is a prerequisite for Kal’s ladies, and I guess that’s exactly what I am now. Sigh.

  Out of the pot and into the harem.

  My change of attire also suggests someone’s seen me naked. I guess everyone’s seen me naked … stripped, whipped and banged, that’s me. But the thought of someone undressing me while I’m lights out … slowly, deliberately peering at the story of me … that’s different. Perhaps they magically whisked up an outfit change and didn’t even get a peek in? Yeah … I’ll go with that.

  Kneading my palms into my eyes, I feel the scrape of my scar across my right lid. I clamp my fist shut, drop my hands and return Kal’s heavy glare.

  “Don’t try and hide it, I’ve already seen it. We all have.”

  Frowning, I glance down at my closed palm, then back up as he slowly rises from the couch, those spectacular abdominal muscles that could only belong to someone so otherworldly on show for my eyes only. I may or may not picture myself running my tongue over them, before reining in my wayward vagina. I swallow and try to focus on what’s important here. They’ve all seen my scar, Kroe’s mark on my palm … they know what I am. Who I belong to. Maybe.