As Wicked As They Come

by Emma Dean

  She turned to the tallest queen in the back – one she would recognize anywhere even if she didn’t recognize the two shadows that seemed to be an echo of her own as they clung to her. “I’m trying to free the Morrigan from her prison so we can find any others and discover who her enemy truly is.”

  The Morrigan’s hood covered everything but her face and that sharp grin sent a shiver down Mika’s spine. “I say we give her the gifts,” the Morrigan drawled. “If another arises, they can challenge her.”

  The other queens exchanged looks but no one dared argue with the goddess, even in this place.

  “Introduce yourselves,” the Morrigan demanded. “We have much to teach this one.”

  “Aine,” the Morrigan’s daughter stated as she stepped forward.

  Mika eyed her closely and was surprised she hadn’t noticed the resemblance earlier. This was what she would look like if she could ever find her – if she even managed to survive the purges.

  “Aileen.”

  “Theodora.”

  “Minerva.”

  “Agnes.”

  “Evanora.”

  “It appears you’ve already met me, but I am Morgana Le Fay,” the familiar female said.

  Mika felt overwhelmed with all the female blood witches before her. She didn’t know what to say, or how to address them. “We have no current witch queen,” Mika murmured. “Other than what exists in the fox libraries, everything on your history has been purged.”

  The one with red hair, Aileen, narrowed her eyes at Mika. “Are there not witch queens in other parts of the world?”

  “What?”

  Minerva swung her staff in irritation. “Daughters of the goddesses,” she snapped. “We each rule a territory. Hecate’s daughters and I shared all of Europe.”

  The Council of Paranormals was based in the United States. Mika assumed it wasn’t just the U.S. though, or was it? Was there a Council in each country? Of course, that would make sense. Why had she never thought of that?

  She blinked, and wondered if there was a Council that ruled over all councils or if they were all acting independent of each other…

  Mika stared at Minerva and realized her mouth was hanging open, so she closed it. “I’m in the United States of America. I’ve no idea about the witches in other countries.”

  Theodora bared her teeth in annoyance. From the armor she wore she was nearly as old as Aine and a brutal, bloodthirsty warrior. “We tend to rule continents. If you are on a new one, then I wonder if we conceded Europe to Hecate to rule this new place.”

  “I’m not sure,” Morgana said with a frown. “It was all the same for so long.”

  Right. “Well, America won independence in the 1700s,” Mika stated carefully.

  Morgana looked surprised. “The Native American shamans rule?”

  This was awkward. “No.” Mika grimaced. “My clan came to America with Morgana, who is my ancestor. The British and then the Americans took this land…it’s really awful and terrible, but now white human men rule and own America. Though our Council of Paranormals has a few shamans at the table. We also have a representative for each race.”

  Mika paused and thought about that. “Well, the races and classes that they approve of.” There were no banshees at the table, and only the larger shifters were represented. Mika sighed, thinking of the petition in her bag.

  The queens shared a look and it seemed as though they all decided on the same thing at the same time. “For now, we will focus on you,” Agnes told her. “We will allow you the gifts of the Morrigan’s queens so you may protect your territory. The rest…can be decided upon later and my sisters and I will be your consulate.”

  There must be some of their life force in these memories to allow for such change in thinking. A piece of their souls was left here to protect their future sisters.

  Mika bowed her head slightly. “Not to sound ungrateful, but what exactly are these gifts?”

  Evanora circled Mika, eyeing her from head to toe. “A morrigan queen is the protector of her land, its fertility, the plants, the animals, and the people including other paranormals and yes, humans. A morrigan queen is the security against all threats. If you cannot vow to protect those in your territory, no matter how big or small, you should leave. Breaking your oath as witch queen means your death.”

  It was a lot to process, but Mika knew her territory was small. “I will vow to do everything I can,” she murmured. All she had was her clan of two, Ms. Jenkinson, Chuck, and then those she considered hers.

  “It seems for now this includes Morgana’s Island,” Morgana warned. “If you are truly my heir, the land is yours.”

  Fuck.

  “I will do what I can,” she gritted out, glaring at Morgana. “But the dean rules this place and the school here.”

  The Morrigan chuckled and she came out of the shadows. Mika saw the translucent grey forms standing behind her shoulders weren’t the Morrigan, but two females that looked similar to her – the sisters who’d died, the ones the goddess had absorbed – Macha and Badb.

  “Free me from my prison and I will help you fight for your territory.” The Morrigan’s eyes glittered with the prospect of battle and bloodshed.

  “With your gifts and an army of blood beasts there’s nothing that can stop you from taking what’s yours,” Aine promised. “We will help you.”

  Mika managed to keep from stepping back to put some space between her and the goddesses. “What exactly are these gifts?”

  “Strength.”

  “Speed.”

  “The eyes of a raven and the hearing of a banshee.”

  “And shapeshifting,” the Morrigan whispered with a grin. “Only a queen gains that ultimate gift from me – the gift I was known for.”

  Shapeshifting? “Into anything?” she asked, staring at the females before her.

  “Anything,” Morgana confirmed. The smile on her face was conspiratorial, as though she couldn’t wait to share the secret of what it was like to turn into anything at all.

  “You will create an army of blood beasts, and we will make sure to help you learn how to control them, so they obey you and only you,” Theodora promised.

  “What if I’ve inherited some?” Mika asked, running her fingers through her hair as she tried to think what the best course of action would be.

  If she took these gifts, she would be Witch Queen, even if it was just over this island and her home. But…she didn’t have to tell anyone, did she? Mika sighed and let her hand drop to her side. She doubted she could hide something like this forever – just like her blood magic.

  “Then you will have to perform a ritual to transfer ownership, and another for them to memorize those you consider allies.”

  “Can’t have them eating your guests,” Aileen said with a chuckle.

  “Do you remember?” Agnes asked the other queens, smiling viciously in memory.

  “I doubt we’ll ever forget that fiasco,” Minerva snapped.

  “So…is this like the ritual for matriarch?” Mika asked, changing the subject before the argument could get out of hand, despite her curiosity.

  “Normally,” Morgana said slowly. “But if my bones are scattered on this island and there is no other to pass the power…perhaps my ghost can crown you.”

  “Or free the Morrigan,” Aine said. “She will crown you.”

  “And where might I find the blood of the daughter born from her flesh?” Mika asked, narrowing her eyes at Aine. “Where might I find you?”

  13

  Sitting in the waiting area to see Dean De Rosa, Mika stared at the stack of papers on her lap without really seeing anything. All she could think about was what the queens said. Once she freed the Morrigan, she would crown her.

  And then she would have everything that came with that.

  But Mika didn’t want to rule. How was there no choice in the matter? She didn’t need to be queen to change things on the island for the better. She didn’t need the extra strength and
speed to protect those she considered hers.

  What did the queens think would happen? Did they think a third purge would rip through her world once Eleanor’s spell disappeared completely?

  Mika sighed. At least Aine had a few ideas on where her current self might be located. If they could find her, then she could crown Mika and help her free the Morrigan. That the memory of the goddess doubted she was alive at all was stressful. Mika didn’t know what to do if Aine was dead.

  Track down any descendants? If there were any after the purges.

  “Ms. Marshall?” The woman who had helped her when she’d first arrived at Morgana stared over her desk expectantly. “The dean is ready to see you now.”

  Getting this appointment had taken a lie. Mika had sent in a request, stating she was having a difficult time after the last semester and what had happened over the summer – that she was considering dropping out.

  Of course, the dean didn’t want to lose her money, so she’d managed to fit her in on the very first day.

  Mika’s hands were sweaty again. She wiped them on her pants and then stood, holding the petition to her chest. This was it. If she couldn’t get the Dean to do anything with this…well, then she supposed it really would be war.

  Mika wasn’t going to let these old assholes push her around anymore.

  Standing, she walked toward the dean’s office. The path through the winding hallway was unpleasantly familiar. The last time she’d been here it was the middle of the night and completely empty. It had ended with her, Lucien, and Ethan getting chased through the school and nearly dying.

  Hopefully she wasn’t about to repeat that experience.

  Mika paused outside the dean’s door and then took a deep breath before knocking.

  “Come in, Ms. Marshall.”

  The repaired door swung open by itself and Mika shivered. Did some part of it remember? Did the dean know when she stepped in that this wasn’t her first time in this office?

  “Please, take a seat,” De Rosa instructed, waving her hand at the empty, leather armchairs. “What can I help you with?”

  Mika didn’t sit. She didn’t want to feel like she was pleading. “I have a petition.” Without any fanfare or waiting to draw out the suspense, Mika leaned over and placed the thick stack of papers on the Dean’s desk.

  “This is a petition to allow any and all paranormals access into this school, to have classes specializing in various subjects taught by those who have the most expertise, meaning shifters teaching Shifters Studies, teaching out of textbooks written by shifters. It also requests that the school expands the subjects that are taught – not just magic. The Council of Paranormals has also received this petition, including the Head Witch.”

  The dean stared down at the papers for a moment before she started flipping through them.

  Mika waited impatiently, and when De Rosa didn’t say anything, she cleared her throat. “It has been signed by the Matriarch of the Kavanagh clan, the void Kenzie Kavanagh, the Seer Morgan Faye, and the demon witch Jessica James.”

  De Rosa flipped to the list of names at the back and the signatures. Her eyebrows rose significantly when she saw the last name.

  “As well as Lucifer Morningstar, Prince of Hell.” Mika clasped her hands together to hide their shaking and waited.

  “The Prince of Hell has no clout here,” the dean stated, raising one eyebrow at Mika as if to ask what she’d been thinking.

  “Well, I respectfully disagree,” Mika replied carefully. “There is a seal to hell on this island, a portal to his realm. He has claim to a voice.”

  Eisheth had given her that little tidbit when she’d called Jessica asking for her signature those three weeks she’d locked herself away. And Lucifer had been more than happy to sign. She hadn’t asked how he’d managed to get the petition in and out of her house without appearing himself, but he was the prince of hell. He had his ways.

  Dean De Rosa set the petition down on her desk and folded her hands over it, as if Mika hadn’t spent hours poring over every legal document to get this right. She’d asked for everything, hoping to get something.

  “What prompted this, Ms. Marshal?”

  Interesting that she didn’t ask how Mika knew about the seal. The dean no doubt thought Lucifer had told her – or Mika hoped that’s what she thought.

  “I don’t think it’s fair how this place of sanctuary is not what it claims to be,” Mika said carefully. No one could know what Lucien was until he was ready to tell them. “I think there is a lot we have lost because of our attempts to be neutral and I want to reconnect with the rest of the paranormal world – with the witches who are not high society, who are coven-less.”

  “We search out those human-born witches and offer them scholarships like your dorm mate,” the dean said, leaning back in her chair as if she was trying to figure out Mika, instead of the petition itself.

  “It’s not enough,” Mika told her. “Separating witches and shifters only perpetuates the ill-will between us. Why can’t they come here and learn from their own kind? Why can’t we hire shifter professors? Why are only hunters allowed?”

  They stared each other down for a few moments. They both knew it was because hunters served a purpose to witches.

  Mika concentrated on not wiping her sweaty palms on her pants, on breathing evenly. She couldn’t show an ounce of weakness.

  “Well, since you’ve already sent this above me, we will have to wait and hear what the Council has to say,” Dean De Rosa told her, tossing the petition into the top drawer of her desk.

  For some reason Mika felt like this was all very anticlimactic. “Yes, but having the support of the dean would make the chances they approve it higher.”

  De Rosa smiled slightly at Mika, studying her.

  What did she see? The girl who stumbled on all the murder scenes and found the killer? The girl who might somehow be connected to those murders?

  The girl who had killed her sister for more power?

  “It will only change this one branch if I enact this,” De Rosa warned.

  “This island was always meant to be a sanctuary, not just the school,” Mika pushed. She practically had to bite her tongue so she wouldn’t scream.

  This island is mine by right and by blood.

  Strange what a few witch queens could convince her of in such a short time.

  “Yes, I suppose that’s true.” De Rosa stood. “I take it you have no plans on dropping out then?”

  Mika ran her fingers through her hair, hoping it didn’t make her look nervous. “Not at the moment,” she answered truthfully. “I hope others can enjoy what the University of Morgana has to offer as well, or I might.”

  The dean picked up the petition again. “I’ll read through this Mika, because I agree with you. This island was a sanctuary and still is. We can’t truly be neutral if we keep others out, can we?”

  That wasn’t exactly the direction in which Mika had been thinking, but whatever worked. “It would be a great step toward healing the rift between shifters and witches,” Mika said carefully. “Thank you for taking the time to really look at this, Dean De Rosa.”

  Mika left the dean’s office, feeling accomplished. One thing she’d set out to do was done, and finally after more than six months, she’d done exactly what she’d promised Lucien she would do.

  The future was a little more hopeful and Mika knew that no matter what happened, the next generation of witches would be better for it. They didn’t need a witch queen to work with each other.

  Hell, they did it all the time from what she’d been learning. The ravens, the coyotes, and the foxes. The clanless witches and the human-born selling magic to whoever wanted it. Below high society and the stupid politics of their world there was a thriving give and take with all paranormals.

  Mika wanted that to spread until it changed her world and all paranormals at all levels could benefit.

  Maybe there was a way to make the change without having to take that c
rown. She walked back up the hall toward the main part of the university and she felt another tingle. Mika glanced back only once, but there was nothing there – not in the daylight.

  Hopefully the rest of her plans came through as well and she could release the Morrigan on the next full moon. Mika stepped into the busy hall and looked at the black velvet banner with Morgana’s crest embroidered on it in silver – a more elegant version than the one below the ocean.

  Once the Morrigan was free, it would be a different world.

  14

  Ethan had met her after her third class and walked her to her last one thanks to the gap in his schedule. If she didn’t know better, Mika thought he might be trying to graduate early. The walk was too short, but she was just glad to see him again after such a busy first day.

  When Ethan held her cheek and leaned down to kiss her it made the tips of her toes and fingers tingle. The kiss was easy and sweet.

  Mika held onto his shirt and sighed. “You have classes in the conservatory for the rest of the day?” she asked, unwilling to let him go just yet.

  “I do. But I was wondering if you’d like to hang out and watch some tv tonight?” he asked. “At Sage House, or Oleander. Whichever you prefer is fine with me.”

  “Yeah, tv sounds like fun.” Mika tugged on Ethan’s beard. “I’m down for that.”

  “I’ll see you and Lucien at dinner in the conservatory?” Ethan kissed her cheek and then stepped back, still holding onto her hand.

  She understood why he was reluctant to let go. Mika was too. This bond between them was stronger than ever despite the time away from each other, and Mika knew part of that was because he’d given her the time she’d needed.

  Mika knew that no matter what, she could trust him with her feelings.

  Having him back, spending every day with him again after a summer without him and Lucien…Mika would always think fondly of the university for giving her this.