7 Deadly Instincts (The Sinfire Chronicles Book 1)

Gray woke to needles in his chest. He’d known pain as an Arena slave but since coming to the Belly of the World, he’d been introduced to a whole new world of suffering. From the long workouts, to the healing needles, to the needles he used to channel mana into his meridians to the brands on his chest and ankles, he’d come to see the physical torment as just one more part of life.

But in his own bed, snuggling with the two women he was bonded to? That seemed unfair. He should be safe in his own bed.

Rynn moved her hand and the pain went away.

The damage was done, though. He was wide awake. Outside, the blizzard winds continued to blow. Winter had come to Old Town.

He slipped out of bed and took a minute to watch his women sleeping—the very dark skinned Ames with her silver white hair and his first bonded, Rynnanatha Sereph, her blond hair getting a little longer every day.

He could feel the connection to both of them so keenly. It made him happier than he could’ve ever have hoped to be. But it did beg the question—if he could bond to two women why not try three?

She would have to be someone special and it would have to make sense. It had taken months for Rynn and Ames to connect to each other and so much had happened between all three of them. It was unlikely that would happen again.

Gray thought of the women in the house—Tomi maintained beds were made for sleeping, Midj thought kissing anyone not a goblin was disgusting, and Settie, Settie had way too much baggage to let down her guard.

Pinch? Pinch was the ice that burned. She’d kissed him, and it had been nice, but no, the last fucking thing in the world he needed was Pamalee Thornpinch in his bedroom. She would turn it into a battlefield for sure.

Gray made his way through the house. Everyone was still sleeping and he was the only one up. Or so he thought.

Settie came up from the basement—from the snow on her hat and coat, it was clear she’d gone to the Pit Market. Another clear sign was the bag of frycake in her hand.

Yellow came trotting into the living room. He’d been outside in Old Town, and he shook himself, flinging snow everywhere.

Settie ignored it. She took off her mask.

She stood there, looking at him, obviously upset about something.

It was always something with Captain Settie Sevanya.

“What is it?” Gray asked.

Settie lifted the bag. “I brought frycake. The cinnamon sugar kind. Yes, maybe I should’ve bought the chocolate ones, but these travel better.”

“Don’t get me wrong. While I love frycake, I know you didn’t go into Pit City for the frycake.”

Settie’s face twisted into a grimace. “Pit City. It should be Wrath City. We should have a fucking tower. Freek wanted that. But Freek is dead. It wasn’t just the fae coming for me…for us…but someone else. Two people were murdered to keep that particularly secret. Fucking Kabe knows, but he won’t say shit. He’s scrambling to be meaningful to the Rabbia family but all that particular brand of orcs are as useless as they are stupid.”

“Is that what has you upset?” Gray asked.

Settie didn’t respond. She flung her hat and mask away, let her cane clatter to the floor, and shrugged off her coat, letting it lie in a heap. She marched into the kitchen without another word.

Yellow came over to sniff it. He then gave Gray a confused look.

“I don’t know either.”

He went into the kitchen and found her starting a fire. She flung the kettle at him. “Go and make yourself useful. We need that filled for charbrew.”

“First, tell me what’s wrong.”

Settie exploded. “Who is in charge here? Who? Not you. I am. I am fucking Captain Settie Sevanya, and I sponsor your squad.”

Gray laughed. “And here I thought you were Little Dani Witherhand. You’re going to have to make stories for Tomi. It would kill her to know you were lying.”

The dragon woman looked at him for a long time without saying anything. Then she smiled. “It’s a nice fiction, Little Dani Witherhand. A foolish slave girl who brought down an empire by accident. I could forgive her for that. For what happened after? She knew better. I’m sorry for my outburst. We’re in this endeavor together. My leadership is in question but maybe it should be. I’m old and frightened because I understand the stakes. I’m not just doing this so you all can find employment with the Watchfire families.”

“Why are you sponsoring us?” he asked.

“Dreams,” she said. “Dreams of a better world. I have news, Grayson Fade, but you won’t like it. I’m afraid of how you’ll react.

“And that is you changing the subject.”

Settie laughed—it was a strange sound. She did it so infrequently. “Yes, this is me changing the subject. Let’s change it more, shall we? You are adding to your harem.”

“Now there is an old, old word. It’s not a harem.”

“Why not?” Settie’s voice turned bitter. “You, Ames, and Rynn, all snuggled together in your love. We all felt the lust mana last night. Or at least I did. I would imagine Pinch did too. If you think I’m in a foul mood, I’ll be downright pleasant when our newest recruit wakes up.”

“She’s trying to be nice.”

Settie grunted. “She should try harder. Do you think your bond with both Ames and Rynn will hold? Are any of you worried about the damage it could cause to your cores.”

Gray gave her withering look. He didn’t need to say a word.

Settie laughed again. “Of course not. Because Grayson Fade has a core the world hasn’t seen in generations. He just might be the fourth avatar.”

“Not without a demon king to fight.” He regretted saying it.

It hurt Settie. He could see it.

“Don’t ask for such things, my precious Gray. Don’t even think to wish it.”

Now he wanted to change the subject. “What’s the news I won’t like?”

Settie took a step toward him and shifted her body just so. It was subtle, but he noticed where her weight was balanced. It was a defensive position.

What in the name of the gods of sea and sky was she going to say?

“Princess Lilian Everheart is coming here. You didn’t respond to her letter. She has mana. She is going to be joining our squad as our seventh member.”

Gray attacked her. He didn’t mean to but as she spoke each word his vision narrowed until he couldn’t see. Rage had literally blinded him and all that anger was channeled right into her core.

He grabbed her arm and Settie shrieked—in agony.

Yellow came scurrying into the kitchen, nails clacking on the floorboards. The poor puppy was barking and snarling his heart out. If it had been anyone else in that kitchen, Yellow would’ve chewed them to pieces.

Settie flung him back. “Get a hold of yourself!”

But Gray couldn’t. He’d been knocked into the doorway that led out into the valley. Yellow yelped and ran for the living room.

It was too much to bear. After her letter, he never wanted to see her again. Not only was she coming to the Belly but Settie wanted her on the squad. How was that even possible?

Just the idea made him explode.

Before he knew it, he was screaming…and all the wrath erupted out of him. The table to his right was shattered, the door was blown off its hinges, and several of the stones cracked around him. Settie was blown onto her back where she twisted in pain.

Gray dropped to his knees. He couldn’t move…he barely had any mana left inside of him. What had he done?

Snow and cold blew in through the ruined doorway. In the other room, Yellow had started to howl.

Gray squeezed his eyes shut. Then he started laughing, laughing and laughing.

Settie checked the big iron stove, which luckily hadn’t been knocked away from the chimney pipe or the room would’ve been filled with smoke. The rest of the kitchen, though, looked like a warzone.

“What was that?” It was a Pinch’s voice, cutting through the early morning, and it must’ve been her footsteps on the stair. A second later, Yellow snarled and snapped.

“Fucking dog! He bit me! He fucking bit me!”

Rynn’s voice followed. “Hurt that dog, and I will kill you!”

Ames wailed, “No one is killing anyone!”

Oddly enough, it was Midj that appeared in the doorway, in her nightgown, blinking. “What did you do to my kitchen?”

Gray was worried about the kitchen, Settie, Pinch’s relationship with the dog—but honestly, if she couldn’t get along with Yellow, there was no way she could be a part of Squad 23.

Settie stood. “It’s my kitchen.”

From the other room, Rynn was asking, “Why is Settie’s stuff hereon the floor? And why is it so cold?”

Gray glanced up. Behind Midj was Pinch, holding her arm, which was bleeding pretty badly. She had it wrapped up in a length of cloth she’d torn from her own nightgown. Gray could see one of her long, slender thighs and the top of her hip.

The lust brought mana, and he was so grateful.

Then he started laughing again.

Settie grabbed him and threw up against the stones. “What is the meaning of this outburst?”

Gray kept his voice steady even though he felt like giggling. “Get your hands off me. I don’t want to do it again.”

“Do what?”

“Hurt you. I can cause pain…like Ames. Rynn can too. She woke me up. I vented my core, which is a trick Ames has used to help us win time and time again.”

“What can I do?” Rynn called from the doorway. “What are we even talking about?”

Ames raised her hand and made a fist. Around it swirled her blue mana. “I can hurl my hurt into the world. I can strike and do terrible things to terrible people. Father would be so proud and so disappointed. Love did for me what pain could never.”

Pinch didn’t cre about any of that. She thrust her arm up into the Quelling girl’s face. “Heal me. Now.”

Ames smiled. “Make me.”

Pinch grunted. “This manor is cursed and you are all insane.”

Tomi finally joined them. “You wanted to be friends with us, Pinchy. If you can’t handle the crazy, stay out of the kitchen.” She pushed her way through the crowd. “What did I miss?”

“Everything!” Settie let out a cry of pure happiness and took Gray in her arms, hugging him close. He found his face buried in the comfort of her perfumed bosom.

“We can do it, precious Gray,” she whispered.

He leaned back. “Do what?”

“Change the world,” she said and held him even tighter.

THE END

AUTHOR NOTE:

Well, folks, that's a wrap for book two as far as the main story goes. I will be posting an appendix that goes over the history of Midmere on Friday. If you wanna support me, I have a patreon and I also have a website that has all my books -- aaroncrash.com.

I've been working on book three, and I'll start posting that next week.

Thanks!