by Logan Jacobs
“Patience,” Vanessa purred under her breath as she turned the meat over and started to roast the bellies. “You’ll be eating soon enough. I know you’re eager to take a bite.”
When I looked at all the animals, I noticed Alexander was nowhere to be seen, but I figured he was exercising his wings and possibly hunting for his own meal.
“How did you sleep, Professor?” I tried not to smirk as I took a seat by the fire and warmed my hands.
“Not well,” she muttered without meeting my eyes, “but it doesn’t matter. If you could please rouse the others awake, we can eat and get a move on. We have a long journey ahead of us still, you know.”
“Will do,” I said as I stood up.
I turned and made my way toward the tents, and I couldn’t help but remember the way Vanessa’s eyes lingered on my body last night as I fucked Morgana senseless. I knew by the way the professor’s blue eyes glittered with a wild longing that she wanted to feel the same way Morgana felt. She wanted me to fill her fertile womb with my seed, and she was yearning for a taste of my cock, and now, given the circumstances, I knew it was driving her crazier and crazier. Especially when we were deep in the woods, and all our natural instincts were set into overdrive. I knew, deep down, Vanessa was as feral as her wolf familiar, and she was just trying to put on a reserved facade.
But it also meant it would only be a matter of time before she was begging me to fuck her.
The idea nearly made me hard, and it caused a wide grin to spread across my face as I stepped back inside my tent. The women were already sitting up and rubbing the exhaustion from her eyes, and when they saw me fully dressed, each one turned to look at the others with wide eyes and open mouths.
“Satan, what time is it?” Morgana gasped as she pushed back her knotted brown hair. “Is Professor Vanessa already awake? Did she notice we weren’t in our tents? Oh, Satan, she must have looked inside already!”
“Oh, fuck,” Akira chuckled, right before she stifled a yawn. “Do you think she heard us?”
“Well, we were pretty loud…” Faye blushed. “I’m pretty sure everyone heard us.”
“Oh, goodie,” Akira snickered as her shoulders shook.
“I don’t know if I feel mortified,” Vesta giggled, “or… slightly aroused by the idea. If the rest of our coven heard us, it doesn’t make me feel any kind of way, but Vanessa? Can you imagine her face?”
“It’s not like she doesn’t know what we do.” I smirked with a cocked eyebrow. “For instance… how many times has she burst into the bedroom after we’ve had a long night of fucking? How many times has she pretended like she knew I’d be alone?”
“More times than I can count,” Akira snorted. “It’s like she wants you, master, but she’s playing impossible to get.”
“Precisely,” I said. “So, there’s nothing to worry about.”
“I suppose,” Morgana said as she began to search for her underwear. “Let’s pick up the pace, though. I don’t want to make her wait any longer than she has to. We’re already testing her patience.”
“I second that,” I said as I looked around the tent. “Now, get dressed, and we’ll eat the strange breakfast Vanessa’s preparing. Meanwhile, I’m going to wake the others up.”
“Yes, master,” the women answered, but then I saw Beatrix, Nyx, Circe, Penelope, and Marina already seated by the campfire when I stepped out of the tent. They all had their hair tied up and were garbed in their wrinkled peasant dresses, and they dug into whatever mystery meat Vanessa had caught.
“Where are the others?” Vanessa snapped when she looked in my direction. “I thought I told you to wake them? Satan, it wasn’t that difficult of a task.”
“Don’t worry,” I said with my hands raised in the air. “They’re coming.”
Good morning, Cole! Alexander’s voice rang through my head as he perched his heavy, wolverine-like body on my shoulder, and when I turned to look at him, he had a small, bloody carcass in his mouth. I found breakfast today. You’re going to love it.
“You caught whatever it is that Vanessa’s cooking?” I asked as I pointed to the fire. “Seriously? All of that?”
Yep! he responded in a prideful tone. They’re called macrabras, and they are fan-fucking-tastic. Just wait until you take a bite.
“But what the hell are macrabras?” I questioned. “I’ve never heard of them before.”
“A mix between an oversized rat and a raccoon,” Faye’s voice answered, and when I turned around, she and the others were dressed and heading in our direction. “Is that what we’re having for breakfast? Smells delicious.”
“Yes,” Vanessa replied in a brisk voice. “Alexander was thoughtful enough to bring us plenty to eat, and I don’t want to hear a word of complaint. If you don’t like it, you can starve for the rest of the journey. I’m not your mother, so I can’t force you to be practical.”
“We wouldn’t dream of it, Professor,” Morgana said without meeting Vanessa’s eyes. “In fact, I think it smells absolutely amazing. I can’t wait to take a bite.”
“Kiss, ugh, ass!” Akira coughed in a giggling voice until the professor shot the short-haired witch a cold, blood-stopping glare, and she instantly looked away, like she had no idea why Vanessa was angry.
“Err, Morgana’s right,” Vesta added quickly as she tucked a long strand of green hair behind her pointed ear. “We’re just grateful to have something to eat.”
“And you’d better swallow every bite of it,” Vanessa said before she snapped her fingers, and wooden plates and utensils appeared at our laps. “We’re going to be walking all day, and who knows when we’ll be able to stop and hunt.”
“Yes, Professor,” the women all answered as Vanessa carefully placed a full-sized portion onto everyone’s plates.
I took a moment to stare down at my meal. I could see the creature’s beady, black eyes were still glassy with fear, and its mouth was slightly parted open to reveal a set of long, bucked teeth. Its whiskers were long, and so were its claws, and I had no intention of eating the head or limbs, so I swiftly cut into its belly. There was moist pink meat underneath the smoky black skin, and juices flowed on my plate as I plunged my knife deeper into its flesh. When I took a small bite, the taste of spiced, rubbery meat tingled all my taste buds, and my stomach instantly growled for more.
So? Alexander asked. What do you think?
“Not bad,” I remarked before I cut another piece off and popped it into my mouth. “It’s actually pretty tasty.”
“No one asked you, Cole,” Vanessa muttered as she stared at me with poisonous eyes.
“Actually, Alex did.” I shrugged. “I was simply trying my best not to be rude. One of us has to.”
Oh, shiiiiiiit, Alexander snickered. Nice one, Cole. Don’t take her shit.
I licked my lips and stared at Vanessa as she glared long and hard at me, but before she could lose all control and explode into a fit of anger, Akira sharply cut in, no doubt to try and relieve the thick tension hovering over us like a dark cloud.
“Well, I for one love the taste of meat in my mouth,” Akira groaned as she chewed on a large chunk of the head.
“Yes, we know,” Vanessa grumbled under her breath.
As soon as the words left the professor’s mouth, Penelope nearly choked on her mouthful. She coughed and quickly cleared her throat, and when she recovered, she did her best to hide the mischievous grin spreading across her face.
Meanwhile, Akira simply blinked in surprise and slowly chewed on her food.
“Err, so how long do you think it will take for us to find the river, Faye?” Morgana asked, and the brunette was clearly desperate to change the subject. “More importantly, are you confident you will be able to find it?”
“Well, obviously we need to keep moving north,” Faye commented as her golden-green eyes scanned the forest, “and as I said, the greener the leaves, the closer we are to the river. As you can see, the leaves around us are mostly auburn and yellow… and o
nly several are a tint of green. So, to answer your question, it could take all day. In fact, we’ll be lucky if we reach the frozen river by nightfall.”
“Which means we need to hurry the hell up,” Vanessa remarked before she shoved the last bite of meat into her mouth. “Eat up, grab your wands and weapons, and let’s go.”
“Yes, Professor,” we answered as Vanessa dusted off her hands and went back into her tent, no doubt to retrieve the cross.
“So, I suppose that little comment confirms what we were all wondering,” Akira grunted under her breath. “She definitely heard us last night.”
“Probably,” Beatrix said with a deep blush. “I mean, Marina and I heard everything, and her tent was right next to ours, so…”
“Oh, yeah?” I smirked. “Did we keep you up all night? Next time, you’re more than welcome to join us.”
Both women turned deep shades of pink, but before either of them could say another word, Vanessa emerged from the tent with the wrapped-up cross in her hands. Her pale-blue eyes quickly scanned the campfire, and after she shoved the relic into her dress pocket, she snapped her fingers, and all the plates and food disappeared.
“Time’s up,” the dark-haired professor growled as Isobel padded by her side. “I don’t care if you finished or not. Let’s get a move on.”
Akira moaned under her breath but didn’t dare argue with Vanessa, and as we stood up, the other familiars all approached their masters and waited for their next commands.
“You can ride on my neck, darling,” Vesta cooed as her silver snake wrapped around her slim, lavender throat. “I know… these woods are absolutely filthy. I wouldn’t want to crawl, either.”
“And I can shrink you down so you can chill in my pocket,” Akira said as her Komodo dragon nuzzled her chin. “Just don’t take a shit in there, or I’ll be pissed, Damien.”
“And you can join Alexander in the skies,” Nyx said as her fiery red falcon perched himself on her shoulder. “Just don’t fly too high, okay, Trixie?”
“Are you crazy?” Morgana gasped as Silvia nudged her ankles. “I can’t carry you! You’re twice my weight. No, I’m not calling you fat!”
“Yeah, you can forget it, too, Naomi,” Penelope chuckled as she stared at her orange-haired panda.
Damn, I’d carry Silvia if I could, Alexander sighed in a dreamlike voice. She’s so fucking sexy.
“Alright, calm down,” I chuckled as I looked at the wolverine-bat-like creature. “Now, you heard what Penelope said, don’t fly too far or high, alright?”
Understood, Alexander responded. We’ll keep a lookout for the river, too.
“Excellent,” I said as I watched Faye’s snow-white ferret pounce on her neck and wrap around her like a fur scarf.
When the familiars and the rest of the women were ready, Faye joined Vanessa and me at the front of the line as we ventured deeper into the woods. The sounds of birds and other critters filled the air as we headed farther up north, and the air grew colder and thicker as we trekked through the thicket. I had no doubt in my mind Faye was leading us in the right direction, and as I stared at the redhead, I felt a deep sense of pride flooding through me. If it weren’t for her, we’d never know about certain wild species or how to navigate through a foreign woodland without magic.
“Just how far north are we?” Marina asked as we marched past thorny thickets and the leaf-covered forest floor. “I feel like it’s getting colder.”
“Oh, it is,” Vanessa answered without turning back. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it starts to snow.”
“I love snow!” Circe gasped as we began to climb up a steep hill. “I think it makes everything look so much paler and darker.”
“I loathe it,” Marina muttered in a disdainful voice, “but only because it was the only thing I knew, besides water, that is.”
“Do you even remember which realm you originally came from?” Morgana asked softly, but then she blushed and bit her lip. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
I wondered the same thing, from time to time, even though Marina had integrated herself so well with us that sometimes, I forgot she used to come from a completely different world.
“It’s alright,” Marina replied as we walked even higher up the hill. “I came from a sweetly warm realm, filled with palm trees and crystal-clear lagoons. Yellow sand, as bright as the sun, covered the entire city, and each morning, I woke up to the scent of exotic spices and perfume drifting through my open window.”
“Sand, huh?” Akira grunted as we reached the small peak and began to weave through a cluster of black-barked trees, and I noticed the leaves were slowly shifting from vibrant shades of yellow and gold to a muted emerald green. “Like a desert or a beach?”
“A desert,” the former siren responded. “With sandy hills as far as the eye could see.”
“Then why did you die on a ship?” Circe asked in a blunt voice. “If you were from a desert, then why were you on the sea?”
“Because I was supposed to marry a man I cared nothing for,” Marina said as we ventured onward. “So, I ran away with the one I did love… and, well, you know the rest. He drowned, and I was turned into a siren. I barely remember his face now. It was so many years ago.”
“Do you still care for him?” Penelope asked with her head tilted to the side.
“No,” Marina answered quickly before she turned to me, “but I do long to feel another connection as deep as the ocean.”
“Ugh,” Vanessa groaned as her wolf padded beside her. “This conversation is making me nauseous.”
“What would you prefer to talk about, Professor?” I asked as I took a few quick steps to join her and Faye since both of them were leading us onward.
“Absolutely anything else,” the dark-haired professor responded without missing a beat.
“Well, what was your favorite class?” Circe questioned in a high-pitched voice. “I think mine is shadow, mostly because of Luna. She’s so odd.”
“Well, obviously, it must be blood magic,” Akira replied before Vanessa could give the curious blonde Wicca an answer. “Or hexes and curses, right? I mean, you teach both...”
“Actually,” Vanessa said in a faint voice, “it’s premonition.”
“What?” we all gasped at the same time.
“Really?” I urged, and at that moment, I felt a deeper pull toward her.
“Why is that so hard to believe?” the dark-haired professor shot back. “Who do you think is going to take over the class when the Headmistress is no longer able to teach?”
“That’s a good point,” I said as I bit my lip. “I suppose it’s hard for us to imagine Scholomance without the Headmistress as a professor.”
“Why is it your favorite class?” Penelope asked, and her chocolate-brown eyes glittered with fascination.
“I like the idea of controlling elements, minds, and people,” Vanessa remarked after a long moment.
“You love the notion of control in general,” I chuckled, and when she turned to look at me, there was a twinkle in her pale blue eyes. “I think that’s kind of sexy.”
“And I think that’s kind of inappropriate to say,” Vanessa snapped, but I caught a glimpse of a blush deepening across her skin.
Before I could say another word, I thought I saw something glittering underneath the pale sunlight just a few acres in front of us, but it was hidden in between the trees.
“Look!” I gasped. “Over there, I think I see something.”
You do, indeed, Alexander’s voice echoed inside my head. It’s the frozen fucking river! The hot redhead was right all along!
“We found it!” I chuckled as I pointed ahead. “Right down there.”
“And now, all we have to do is follow it,” Penelope said as she clapped her hands. “I have a good feeling about this… that bitch Samara is finally going to get what she deserves.”
“One step at a time,” Vanessa reminded the eager, orange-haired Wicca. “We still ne
ed to find the first artifact… not to mention the other two as well.”
“Still,” Nyx drawled with a lazy grin. “It’s a start!”
“True,” Vanessa huffed as we pushed the thicket out of the way, and there, right in front of us, was a glittering, snake-like river.
The water was completely frozen over, but we could see multicolored fish swimming beneath the thick layer of ice. They were the size of kittens and fat over-fed rats, but their scales were the most beautiful shades of red and gold I’d ever seen.
“Nani-fins,” Faye whispered in awe. “These are one of the rarest fish in all the realms. They thrive under frozen water, so no land predator can catch them.”
“That’s all well and fascinating,” Vanessa sighed, “but we should move it… the sun may still be bright, but in hours, it will set. The farther north we are, the quicker sunset arrives and nightfall begins, you know.”
“Yes, Professor,” we answered in unison.
We followed the gorgeous river for hours, and the sun quickly began to set and burned a bright-orange all around the trees. The wind started to howl, and the air grew chillier, but amidst the piercing draft, I thought I heard the sound of deep, cruel laughter. It was growing louder and louder, and it sent all my senses into overdrive as I glanced all around me.
“Do you hear something?” I asked as I stopped in my tracks. “I swear I can hear laughter and humming.”
“Yes,” Vanessa replied in a faint voice. “Isobel… says she smells something, too.”
“Fuck,” Akira added as Damien crawled out from her dress pocket and climbed up to her shoulder. “Damien feels something coming.”
“And Silvia says she can sense the ground trembling,” Morgana gasped as she looked down at her feet. “I can’t feel it, but I trust her.”