by Cate Corvin
Locke didn’t release me even when I collapsed against him, pearled with sweat and exhausted by the constant waves of euphoria pounding in my veins.
A brawny pair of arms lifted me, and I sighed as the fingers lifting me under my back and legs set off another chain reaction of explosions in my nerve endings.
“I gave her a powerful dose,” Locke muttered.
“You’re coming with us, Locke. You can help us wear it off.” Shane was the one carrying me, his deep voice rumbling through my body with every word.
I barely noticed the dark tunnel or the mansion around us. Shane’s naked body against mine felt too good, and when he laid me in my bed and wrapped around me again, I felt like I was floating.
The twins stretched out on either side and pulled my legs open, pinning my knees down.
“Fuck her, Locke.” Shane’s breath was heavy and quick, his cock already hardening again. “Make her come for us.”
My vampire’s thick cock slid over my aching clit and I moaned, arching my back. The twins sucked my nipples, their tongues flicking over the sensitive flesh, and Locke’s bronze body filled my shimmering field of view as he positioned himself over me.
He surged home, filling me completely, and my wolves kissed and licked me, claiming my tongue and nipples while Locke pounded. His thumb ran over my clit, sending lightning-hot spirals of pleasure through me.
I was already so sensitive, my mating marks tingling, that I hit the clouds again and dissolved under Locke, clamping around him when he came again, and pulled him down close.
He stiffened at first, his lips pressed against my neck, but I wrapped my legs around his waist and held him tight. “Don’t worry,” I said, running my fingers over the soft stubble of his hair. “You won’t hurt me.”
He slowly relaxed, then picked me up and flipped us over so I was laying on him like a very large, very warm mattress. Hands ran over me from all sides as I came down from the euphoria.
Even with most of the sparkles fading out, I still felt the tingling of the marks. They were a little sore, but the vampire venom had healed the wounds, and I touched the shimmering marks on my shoulders.
The bites seemed to twinkle through me, like threads that bound me to each of them in a unique way. Locke’s felt like protection, Shane’s like steadfastness, and Roman’s like passion. I hoped they felt the return of those feelings through the bond, too.
I fell asleep surrounded by warmth, cradled by the ones I loved.
Chapter 20
Lu
Our schedules switched again on Monday. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I checked the parchment pinned to my bedroom door and found that I’d been assigned to Coven History with Professor Gray in the mornings, and back to Herbalism again in the afternoon.
My sigh stopped, lungs frozen. Professor Bloom was listed as the Herbalism professor.
“My ass,” I whispered, just barely preventing myself from crumpling the next quarter’s schedule in my fist. I might actually want to reference it later.
I also skipped combat training, not even bothering to send a note. Demonseed slipped out to the forest for me, and I watched through his eyes as Dominic paced our clearing in frustrated silence.
Demonseed had taken to his new job as my eyes with great enthusiasm, which made it much easier for me to evade Dominic. My familiar stuck to corners and shadows, and every once in a while, I’d pop into his skull and do what I was coming to think of as Dickhead Surveillance. If Dominic was near the cafeteria, I waited to go eat. If he was in the halls, I stayed in my bedroom.
Maybe I was overreacting a little, and possibly being a tiny bit petty instead of just talking to him, but I was so tired of the guys in my life just choosing to screw me over whenever they felt like it.
Granted, only Dominic and Roman had done that, but when you had four boyfriends, that felt like two too many fuck-ups.
Before slipping off to hunt in the forest again, Locke had promised to scout below. Shane had relaxed significantly with the bites placed, and both twins were still racked out in my bed as I got ready for the day, tiptoeing through my bedroom to avoid waking them. I dropped the class schedule on my dresser and went to brush my teeth and hair, still stewing over what to do about Dominic.
I was going to talk to him, by Aradia, and I was going to get a straight answer. I’d been perfectly willing to wait for his Big Dark Secret up until I found out it involved tolerating him making out with Bloom and talking convincing shit about me behind my back.
Another flush of rage and sadness poured through me, and I took a deep, shuddering breath, bracing myself on the porcelain sink.
“What’s wrong, Bambi?” Shane slipped through the cracked door and wrapped his arms around me, enveloping me with warmth.
I leaned my head back against his chest, the half-moons on my shoulders pulsing faintly. “I’m trying to work up the nerve to talk to Dominic.”
His arms tightened infinitesimally. “Want us to talk with him first?”
The flat tone of his voice was more than a little alarming. I wouldn’t put it past the twins to do real damage on my behalf… especially now that they’d marked me. Shane had warned me they might be a little more protective than usual.
I just didn’t want that protection to come at the cost of Dominic remaining in one piece, no matter how pissed I was.
“I’m gonna pull on my big girl panties and do it,” I said gloomily. “Or I would, if I had any left.”
Roman followed his twin in, wrapping around my other side. My heart was practically purring like a motor. “We’re skipping class-”
“Big surprise,” I muttered.
“-but we’ll get you more big girl panties if you want. I’m partial to the lack thereof, myself, but I can understand why you wouldn’t want a breeze in your bits every time you walk down the hall.”
I choked on laughter and Shane shook his head, pressing his lips to the bite he’d placed on me. “We’ll get them for you, Lu, but the offer stands. Locke would agree with us.”
Just the mention of Locke’s name made the two pearly white dots on my inner thigh throb. “I bet he does. You three are a menace to society.” I hoped whatever they brought back was cheap enough to replace on the regular.
“And other things,” Roman growled, lifting me up and perching me on the edge of the sink. His hard cock pushed against me.
Coven History could wait.
I strolled in half an hour late, but luckily Gray said nothing. The only sign of her displeasure was her pursed red lips.
I cracked the history book open, feeling more alone than ever without Holly in there. For a selfish moment I regretted bringing her through the tunnel and hiding her in Waverly, and immediately felt bad about that selfishness.
She’d survived a year in Cimmerian without friends before I came here. I could do the same without whining about it.
The room seemed packed now that the new students were officially attending class. Theo and Leon Cinder hadn’t even opened their books, apparently taking after the Frosts. David Jasper was hanging on Professor Gray’s every word, and Carmen Flora… she was staring at Daphne with an intense, sharp interest that reminded me of a predator.
My nemesis steadfastly ignored her, one leg slung over the other, her Louboutin heel hanging off her toe as her foot jiggled.
Clarimond and Lissa seemed unusually quiet, their gazes darting from Daphne to Carmen.
Petra was just staring into space, much like Beckwith Tatter.
What the hell had I missed while I’d been busy?
The minutes ticked by too fast, counting down to the one class I was dreading more than any other. When the bell rang, I took my time in packing up my notes, wondering if I could swing skipping class with the Frosts.
Your mastery depends on this, woman. Big girl panties on.
I was actually wearing my least-favorite thong now that my wardrobe had been annihilated, but still.
Strangely enough, I found myself le
aving last with Daphne Vega. Clarimond and Lissa had drifted out shortly after Carmen.
My nemesis and I fell into pace, both of us heading to the North Entrance.
“Where’s Holly?” Daphne’s voice was flat.
Why the hell would Daphne care? “She’s been missing for a few days. I was hoping someone could tell me.”
Daphne gave me a narrow look. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
We fell into a stiff silence as we strode out into the sunshine. It felt amazing on my skin, which was still a shade too light. I hoped it would soon regain its natural color after my excursion into Death.
The students milled around the conservatory, admiring the witch’s garden that had sprung up around it. Belladonna, nightshade, henbane, and datura were growing in profusion, with brambles of roses here and there.
“You’re lying,” Daphne said, unsmiling. “If Holly had vanished, you’d be losing your shit right now. You know exactly where she is.”
Her hair was a thick halo of fire around her head, framing her sharp features and narrowed eyes.
For once, I looked at her and didn’t see a bitchy mean girl. I saw someone who was withering away on the inside, and desperately wanted a way out from everything that ate at her.
I remembered Warden Vega’s easy familiarity with violence. What had she grown up around?
“And if I did?”
She gripped my arm, pulling me to a halt out of earshot of the class. “Lucrezia Darke, I might hate your guts,” she said fiercely, “But there is nothing I wouldn’t give to have a fresh start. Nothing I wouldn’t pay.”
Her eyes glittered as she held mine, and a sickly-sweet voice cut through our conversation. I wanted to punch the owner of that voice. “Girls, class is over here!”
Professor Bloom had tied a canvas apron on over her tailored dress and pinned up her caramel hair, somehow turning the schlubby ensemble into haute couture.
Daphne and I grimaced at each other and joined the class.
I barely listened while Bloom talked us through harvesting the plants needed for flying ointment, unable to pull my eyes from her lips. Were they bruised from kissing Dominic?
My anger tasted like ashes in my throat.
Daphne elbowed me. “You’re throwing off heat like a fucking sauna, Darke,” she muttered.
I took a deep breath and gathered my wildfire back in, the embers drifting through my veins returning to that guttering fire in the depths of my soul.
Discipline, the perfect balance between inner peace and external agony. Dominic’s words rang in my mind, entirely unwelcome but still sending a jolt through me when I imagined his clipped smoky accent.
What about external peace and inner agony? Was there a perfect balance there?
Bloom’s dark eyes landed on me and she smiled. It was pure poison, perfect hate.
If looks could kill, I would’ve dropped dead right then.
Daphne and I pulled on gloves and retreated to the furthest bed of belladonna. We worked in silence for several minutes, separating berries, leaves, and roots, and I finally had to break the coldness between us if she was going to be here with me.
“I didn’t mean to steal your boyfriend, Daphne,” I said. I’d been planning on easing into it, but the words just kind of blurted out.
She paused from stripping a branch, staring at me without any real heat. “I don’t care anymore, Darke. Roman was hot, but I’ve got better shit to do than waste my time panting after a guy who doesn’t want me.”
Shame ate at me. Was that what I was doing with Dominic?
“You know why I hated you?” She dropped a few dark berries in a basket. “Because I had to work for respect when I came in. Thanks to my shitty cousin, nobody had the time of day for a Vega. And when you showed up, from a coven no one’s ever fucking heard of, everyone just liked you. Shane did, and I could tell Roman did, too, even if he tried to hide it. You’ve got one of our professors wrapped around your finger. You didn’t have to earn it. It just wasn’t fair.”
She couldn’t even hide the raw hurt in her voice. I bit my lip, refusing to interrupt her to protest my innocence in all this.
“I’m used to clawing my way to the top. It’s what I’m good at. But you know what? Just once I’d like to walk into a room and know that everyone likes me for who I am, not for my coven or what I can do for them.”
I lowered my shears. “I would’ve liked you if you hadn’t tried to kill me.”
“I’m not making excuses,” Daphne said. “I was furious, and I wanted to vent on you. I didn’t mean for it to go as far as it did. And you know what? I’m sorry. It was a shitty thing to do, and I was wrong, no matter how angry I was.”
“Then start over, Vega.” I dropped the branch I was holding, stripped off a glove, and held out my hand. “We’re even now. We’ve both tried and failed to kill each other.”
She stared at my extended hand, and her eyes flicked to Clarimond and Lissa, who worked a few yards away. They watched us with wide eyes, their nightshade forgotten.
Daphne’s lips set, and she peeled off her glove. “This is social suicide,” she muttered, but we clasped hands and shook. The remains of the shiny pink scars on her hands sent a twist of guilt through me.
When our skin touched, a hint of her signature crept through my wards, the icy and wild batter of stormy winds and lightning.
“What does wildfire feel like?” she asked, pulling away slowly. She must’ve felt a hint of my signature too.
“Like something deep inside me is always burning and everything else is ashes. What about witchblades?”
She scoffed and shrugged, yanking her glove back on. “We get someone with witchblades every few generations. It feels like it should be a blessing, but that’s the shit that landed me here. Lose control one time, and boom, your parents have no use for you anymore.”
Clarimond and Lissa’s jaws had dropped when we shook, and they hastily went back to pruning when Daphne cast an evil eye at them. “Suicide,” she said, shaking her head. “Carmen can have them.”
“You got left here because of one accident?”
“One time is all it takes in a Great Coven. Their reputations are more important to them than the individuals. Starlake has a massive community of humans relying on them- I’m talking several major cities- and I was the one who fucked up. I lost control of my witchblades and one hit a human.” Her face tightened. “They survived, no major injuries. But my matriarch knew she could never send me out in the field again after I’d harmed one of our petitioners. I was just deadweight to them at that point. Lyle already brought Serpentine’s overspill here sometimes, and he offered to take me in for her.”
“I’m sorry, Daphne.” I never thought I’d fervently feel sympathy for her after what she’d done, but being left in a prison to rot for one mistake seemed way too harsh, even a relatively comfortable prison like Serpentine.
She shrugged again, but her anger hadn’t left her face. “It’s the price you pay to be considered one of the best. If you fuck up, you’re out. No second chances.”
A loud clap made both of us jump a little.
Professor Bloom stood over Carmen Flora, holding up a naked branch of nightshade. “If you’d all look over here?” She had the too-sweet, cotton candy tones of someone talking to a group of five-year-olds. “As you can see, Miss Flora has demonstrated the proper way to harvest the necessary components for flying ointment-”
“All she did was pick a bunch of berries,” Daphne muttered.
My pulse hammered in my veins as Bloom extolled the virtues of Carmen’s lackluster Herbalism skills. Carmen beamed like she’d just won first prize in a shit-eating competition.
All I could picture was Bloom in Dominic’s house, her pink pearly lipstick smeared all over his lips, and that butterscotch voice telling her just how happy Steelblood would be to have her. How happy he was to have her.
He has a reason, I told myself, but the tongues of wildfire wanted to li
ck higher and scorch me to charcoal from the inside out. The fire didn’t want to listen to reason, didn’t want to trust.
The mating bites on my shoulders tingled and I frowned. Soothing waves washed over me.
Could the twins feel my fury through the bond?
“You okay over there, Darke?”
I opened my eyes. Daphne looked at me like I’d grown a second head. “I’m fine.” I rubbed one of my still-sore shoulders and went back to the nightshade.
We ended up eating lunch together, still awkwardly navigating our conversations. Sometimes a bit of snippiness rose up and we both tamped down, falling back into a silence.
Clarimond and Lissa sat at another table, openly gossiping and looking outright incredulous at this point.
“Fuck ‘em,” Daphne said, dunking her bread in the creamy tomato soup that’d been served. “They didn’t like me until I shoved Clarimond’s head down the toilet after she set all my bras on fire. Nobody needs friends like that. They were La Perla, you know how much they cost?”
I avoided pointing out that our tentative friendship had come about from being sliced with witchblades and scorched with witchfire. It wasn’t too late to undo what she’d become.
My wolves were waiting for me when I got back to my room that night. Demonseed was nesting on Roman’s head.
“Look, it’s a tumor,” he said, pointing at the cat.
Shane was stretched out, his arms crossed behind his head. “You didn’t tell me you made a familiar, Bambi.”
I dropped my satchel by the door and curled into them. “As always, when you spend several days in the woods without checking in, you miss breaking news.”
“Like you and Daphne Vega becoming friends?” Roman asked. Demonseed’s orange eyes slit open and stared at me.
I plucked Roman’s furry tumor off his head and buried my face in his fur. He smelled like dusty kitten and the woods.
“Go on, little friend,” I said, and opened my door. Demonseed slipped into the hall, pleased to have the dark corridors to himself.