Spirited: A Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance (The Academy of Spirits and Shadows Book 1)

by C. M. Stunich

  “Flub off, Jas,” Brynn said, the edge of her lip quirking into a smile as she took out her knife and carved a more obvious arrow into the sign. Standing back up, she examined her handiwork and tucked the blade into her belt, letting me take her elbow again as she passed.

  Hooking a smile, I took a deep breath—which was really for sanity's sake and not because I could actually breathe—and stretched my wings out behind me. If I bumped Brynn's, that wasn't entirely accidental.

  I should be careful though: dead I might be, but if Brynn stabbed me with Haversey steel, she could send me to the Otherside whether I wanted to pass over or not.

  And with the information I'd learned at Grandberg Manor, I most certainly did not.

  No, with what I'd discovered, I might not ever have to.

  We arrived at the city on griffin-back.

  Unfortunately, Elijah had to ride with me because no self-respecting griffin would willingly let a ghost hitch a ride on their muscular back; I had to sneak him on. I shouldn't have cared so much about having Elijah's long fingered hands resting against my belly, but I did. He was warm when he shouldn't have been, and I kept feeling his breath tease the shell of my ear.

  Oh, I wish I wasn't so cheap! I should've just flubbing sprung for an extra griffin and pretended I wanted them to carry my luggage.

  Then maybe my stomach wouldn't be twisted in knots, my skin turned to gooseflesh from the hot heat of a ghost's palm pressed to my belly. It came in bursts, that warmth, like Elijah was low on energy but so desperate to tease me, he wanted to use whatever he had whenever he had it.

  Bast—

  I stopped myself before the insult could slip from my mind; I was so not losing feathers over the ridiculous perfection that was Elijah of Haversey. Okay, the physical perfection. He clearly had a lot of room for improvement in the manners and etiquette department. When it came to me, anyway. And since nobody else could see him, I didn't have much to go on otherwise.

  “It was a pleasure, being pressed up against you for the entire ride,” he whispered, making me bristle as the griffin spread his white and brown wings wide and swooped low, skimming the green blanket of a pine-scented forest and heading for the outer walls of New Akyumen, Amerin's capital city.

  We landed outside the gates, a good fifty feet from the actual stone walls. If we flew in any closer, we'd get riddled with flaming crossbow bolts. That wasn't exactly an experience I was ever interested in entertaining.

  Gritting my teeth, I ignored Elijah's comment and waited for the griffin to sink his paws into the flat expanse of grass between the forest and the city walls, claws digging in as we came to a surprisingly graceful stop. Most of the griffin mounts I'd had recently—like the ones Jasinda and I had taken when we left the city—came down so hard that my teeth rattled in my skull like marbles. But this one? Not only was he almost twice the size of some of the others, but his thick muscles slid beneath his golden coat with slick, predatory movements that gave him a kind of feline grace I found lacking in some of the others.

  The only downside of this particular mount was how big his damn back was; my inner thighs were sore from being spread so wide, but I wasn't about to say anything about it. If Jasinda didn't make a joke (she would) then Elijah of Haversey seemed to have a pervy little streak of his own.

  My wings were tucked in tight but spread apart so Elijah could hang on during the flight. I could feel him brushing against them the entire time, and even if he was an … I will not say ass, I won't even say arse … a firm, muscular bottom, he— Wait, did I just say firm muscular bottom?! As an insult? This ghost was getting to me in a way I didn't like. Not one bit. Falling for ghosts and spirits was like, a death knell for a spirit whisperer. It was a guaranteed unhappy ending for everyone involved.

  And like, I wasn't even falling for the guy—I just thought he was hot. While some spirit whisperers did the naughty with ghosts, I was not one of them. It was just too weird. Sex was all about bodies and hands and heat until it … until it wasn't. And I wasn't going to do the dirty deed with some guy who was nothing but a soul, not unless I loved him. And I wouldn't let myself fall in love with a ghost. Ever. Which brought us back to rule number one …

  Sighing, I spread my wings wide and waited for Elijah to slide off the griffin's back, groaning and stretching my arms above my head.

  All around us, other griffins landed or took off, shared food at one of a few campfires, or exchanged gems—Amerin's official currency—with customers. This was the unofficial landing spot for griffin mounts so we had plenty of company. Most of them were pretty entrepreneurial and ran their own routes, dealt with their own customers, although a few wore the livery of certain merchants.

  Personally, I could've flown the distance between Grandberg Manor and New Akyumen by myself, but I couldn't have carried Jas and I wouldn't have been able to make it my tired state. That fight had drained all my energy.

  I blamed my fatigue on the rather embarrassing dismount, stumbling onto the grass and falling straight on my ass—and losing a feather for the curse, too.

  Elijah threw his head back in laughter, and I was beyond glad nobody could see or hear him.

  “That was embarrassing,” the griffin said, moving up to stand beside me, stretching his legs out in front of him with a yawn, claws spreading wide and digging into the soft grass. The sunrise was peeking over the horizon, yellow and gold fingers of light taking over the darkness of the sky. “Do you need a hand up?”

  He shifted as he stood there, stretching into a tall, tall … flubbing tall man with big muscles in his arms and a chest that loomed more imposing that the city wall. Also, there were other parts of him that were big that were not muscles. Namely, something between his legs …

  Before I could even think to answer him, he extended one of his massive hands and let a wide grin spread across his tanned face. Hopefully he hadn't noticed me staring at his dick.

  “Oh, someone has a crush,” Elijah whispered from my right.

  Lifting a hand up, I let the griffin wrap his long fingers around my wrist and haul me to my feet. Completely off-balance as usual, I stumbled into him and hit the brick wall of muscles before he steadied me … with two hands on my hips.

  And oh, his fingers burned like brands, stealing my breath away and making me unbelievably aware of how close that giant penis of his really was.

  “Ahem,” I said, pushing his hands off as he chuckled, shaking out brown and white wings. They were a different shape than my own, curved and sleek and predatory instead of … clunky and out of place. “Getting a little handsy there, huh?”

  “My apologies, Miss Haversey,” the griffin said as he used my necklace to identify my trade, stepping back and taking a pair of breeches from the leather bag he'd worn on our flight over. I tried to ignore his nakedness—and his erectness—but it was a little hard to look anywhere but at his crotch. He yanked on the pants, crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. “Forty gems for the ride,” he said, giving my silver Haversey star another glance. Or maybe he was checking out my chest?

  I hoped not.

  Flubbing perv, I thought as I dug out two purple amethysts—worth twenty gems each—and passed them over, depositing them into his big warm palm. If the smoothness of my fingertips sliding across the roughness of his skin made me shiver, I pretended not to notice.

  “And that includes your friend, too,” he added, surprising me as he nodded his head in the direction of my handler. I watched as Jas untied her pack from her own mount and then moved over to join us.

  “Thanks for a smooth trip … and a fair price,” I said as I moved around him and grabbed Jas' hand. I didn't worry about Elijah. This far away from the Grandberg Manor, there was no doubt in my mind: Elijah was no longer bound to the grounds. The fact that he was here with me meant … maybe I had somehow re-bound him? This was something I was going to change. There was no way I was living the rest of my life with a smirking spirit following my every move.

  “Hey
,” the grumbling voice behind me called out, making me pause as I looked over my shoulder and found the griffin watching me with sharp gray eyes, the color of the icebergs in the Nördlich Seas. “Do you want to grab a pint or something?” His mouth curves up at one corner. “You can bring your friend, too.”

  “Yeah, no,” I said, trying not to think about how handsome this guy actually was, yet another example of a person whose wings were an extension of themselves instead of tacked on weights sent by the gods to make me stumble. “We're needed at the castle.”

  The griffin moved over to us, putting one hand on the stone wall near my head and smiling at me in a way that made my heart skip around inside my chest.

  “Are you going to be in town a while? I could take you out dancing.”

  The griffin stretched his wings behind him, blotting out the early morning sun and shading my face so he could properly stare at me with his beautiful eyes. They were as light as mine were dark. He clearly wasn't from around here—most griffins that lived or worked in New Akyumen came from the neighboring country of Scythia—but he was obviously familiar with the area, even if I'd never seen him before. And I used griffins a lot. How the flub had I missed this guy? He was huge and … quite handsome, really. If I ever saw him again, I'd remember for sure.

  Regardless, dancing was the main draw of Amerin's capital city. There were more places to dance here than anywhere else in the country. More teachers, more dance schools, more performances, and more casual late-night places. Of course, thinking about all of that brought sharp memories to mind of me and the prince and … Nope. I shut that down quick.

  “Thanks, but no thanks,” I said and the griffin raised one dark brow in response, drawing away from me and holding up two, big beautiful hands. They were inked with merchant's marks, permanent symbols that advertised his level of trustworthiness and dedication to his position in the Travelers' Guild. It took a Hell of a lot of work for someone to earn those. And to be fair, his rates were some of the most reasonable I'd ever come across.

  I could go out with him.

  But I wasn't going to.

  I was still holding out for a prince I could never have. Even though most women in Amerin had multiple husbands, it was hard for me to think about number two when I was so desperately in want of number one.

  “Alright well, enjoy your stay then,” the griffin said, but the way he flicked his gray eyes over my body … I got the feeling this wasn't over yet. He smiled mysteriously at me before moving away from us and heading over to a crowded campfire to sit next to a slender woman with brown and white wings. Oddly enough, I felt a tiny twinge in my stomach that I ignored, something that tasted like jealousy.

  You're being ridiculous, Brynn, I told myself as I turned and grabbed Jas' hand again.

  “You told that guy no?” she asked, looking at me like I was insane, her sapphire eyes widening as she stared at me like I was the craziest person in the whole of Amerin. “He's exactly your type.”

  “Maybe he's more your type?” I quipped as Elijah folded his hands behind his head and followed us in a lazy, rolling gait. No wonder he got himself killed. He was cocky as Hell.

  “You're deflecting,” Jas told me in that no-nonsense voice of hers. She was a typical handler—as arrogant as Elijah but without the cockiness. “You were into that guy. I saw your,” she paused and lifted her hands up to gesture at her chest, “you know.”

  I gasped and clamped my hands over my boobs, squeezing them for reassurance through my tunic.

  “They did not,” I whispered, even though I knew Elijah could still hear us. He was a ghost. Ghosts had excellent flubbing hearing. “And if my you know were hard,” I said, pointing at my nipples. “Then it was because of the weather. I'm half-Nomaid, remember? My people like the heat.”

  “The heat of big beautiful griffin men,” Jasinda said, flashing me a mischievous smile.

  “You're going to tease me until I admit he was hot, aren't you?” I asked with a groan, shoving the heavy thickness of my braid over one shoulder and glancing in Elijah's direction. He was watching me through half-lidded eyes, a cool presence on my left side. He was much less substantial now than he'd been earlier.

  Serves him right, I thought as we stared at each other, using all his energy to make his hands warm and his breath stir my hair. Jerk.

  A feather plucked itself from my skin and I yelped as Elijah caught it in his fist—something I was surprised he was able to do. Sure, I was a spirit whisperer so he was much more likely to be able to touch me than anything else, but still, I was impressed.

  Well, impressed with him and annoyed with Haversey for not letting me even think the word jerk.

  See? Any word with an extremely negative connotation—whoever used jerk in a positive light?—counted against my feathers. It didn't have to be a 'curse word' per se. The Goddess wasn't totally against expletives; I could get away with damn sometimes since you know, a dam was a useful device to hold back water. So the word itself wasn't totally negative.

  “Stop talking to that ghost and just say it so I can stop grinning privately to myself over here,” Jasinda said, drawing my attention away from Elijah in his spiffy little Royal College uniform. Gods, he was a beautiful man.

  “Fine, the griffin was one of the sexiest men I've ever seen in my life. Is that what you wanted to hear?” I asked, raising a white brow and shrieking when a man's big, warm hand landed on my shoulder. Considering I spent a lot of time around spirits whose main joy in life was to sneak up, tease, and scare people, you'd think I'd be used to it.

  Instead, I whirled to face the man, tripped on a completely intact cobblestone and spun, managing to avoid landing on my ass by doing a somersault. It was extra impressive, too, considering the wings and all. I had to spread them wide to even manage it, but there weren't a lot of angels in Amerin who could tumble like I could.

  True, I'd learned out of necessity, but … when I came up on my feet and stood straight, folding my black wings in close and glaring at the gorgeous griffin man, I found him holding my satchel.

  “You left this behind,” he said, in a deep, rumbling voice tinged with humor.

  I coughed to clear my throat and held my hand out, like I'd intended to do that somersault all along. Being overbalanced and clumsy wasn't something I could help—but utilizing that clumsiness, owning it and making it work for me was something I could take control of.

  “Thank you, sir,” I said, gas lamps flickering on either side of the street. They'd stay lit until the sun was fully risen in the sky. The people of Amerin were well acquainted with the monsters that walk in shadows, and they knew better than to ever let the streets get completely dark.

  Things had gotten even worse after the northern kingdom of Vaenn went dark. The monarchy disappeared, messages stopped being received or sent. Messengers stopped coming back or showing up.

  Something wasn't right, but nobody knew why. The only thing we did know for sure was that our streets were less safe.

  Slicking fingers through my long bangs, I held out my hand to take the satchel.

  “And this sexy man's name is Vexer,” he said with a wink. “But you can call me Vex. I'll be flying in and out of New Akyumen for a while. Come find me if you ever want to take me up on my offer.” He dropped the bag onto my outstretched hand and winked with a lid lined with thick, curved lashes.

  “Thank you, Vex,” I said as I hooked the bag over my shoulder and turned away, my eyes lingering a little longer than they should before I flicked them around and kept walking.

  “You do like him, don't you?” Elijah asked as I scoffed.

  “I just met him,” I said, and Jasinda grinned, thinking I was talking to her.

  “So? Instant attraction is the best kind. Let him take you to one of the nice inns, the ones they only let Travelers' Guild members stay in, and have a little vacation on your back—”

  “Jas!“ I said with a laugh and she smiled brighter.

  “Or on your knees. Or st
raddling his? Hell, put him between your thighs and have a real treat.”

  “You're a pervert,” I told her as we continued through the uncrowded streets toward the castle. The well-maintained road sloped upward, made entirely of smooth gray river rocks, the buildings getting more detailed but not bigger. Every single lot in the city was the same size, planned out decades in advance of the actual building by a very talented team of architects and building managers. Of course, their feeble attempt at egalitarianism fell short. Just because all the houses were the same size didn't mean they were of the same … quality.

  That, and it didn't stop the richest of the rich from buying entire blocks out, connecting the beautiful little dwellings with bridges and ladders, walkways lined with flowers and carefully planted trees to add privacy.

  I didn't pay much attention to any of it. I was born in the castle, grew up in the castle … aaaand I still lived in the castle. But only because my mother was the captain of the guard and also, probably because she was sharing the queen's bed on a regular basis.

  As soon as I turned twenty-one though, I'd have to get a real position at the castle if I wanted to stay—something other than freelance spirit headhunter. My mother would make sure I got something … but it probably wouldn't be something good. Or anything to do with spirits either. The queen already had a trusted team of whisperers—including a spirit whisperer who was far more powerful than I was—and there weren't really many other positions available for someone of my skillset.

  Either I'd have to find somewhere else to live … or I'd have to get into the Royal College.

  We passed by the city side gate on our way to the castle, the metal gates locked up and shut tight this early in the morning.