InkBorn (InkHaven Academy Book 2)

by Kenna Bardot

  “Might have actually been beginner’s luck,” I muttered as I rubbed my sore ass and stood.

  “Or perhaps, did you actually need two dicks to properly function this morning?” he poked at me, quite rightly, and the images of me going to his rooms last night and attempting to drunkenly seduce him flashed in my head and had me flushing.

  “Oh Gods, don’t remind me.” Did I really think I was going to enjoy being punished? I’d forgotten that Gale had a playful side, a naughty one.

  He smirked. “I’ll never forget it, Thief. Now, stop fooling around and come at me.”

  I shuddered out a deep breath, exhaling the Air collected in my lungs the way Gale taught me. Even in just the physicality of combat, breath control was everything for an Air Mage. Another breath in, and I bolted forward, running at Gale where he was poised to strike me down. I barrelled through the Air he shot me and with the Air at my back, I sped across the distance – going at him headfirst. He raised his hands to catch me, and I let him. My legs swung out to the side, circling around his back as I twisted my body in his arms to put my legs above my head. One thigh wrapped around the front of his neck, the other clutching the back, and I rolled forward. He flipped head first, only having the time to curl his neck to absorb the blow with his shoulders when he crashed to the mat with a loud thud. He laid in his place, dazed for a moment, and I took the opportunity to straddle his chest and look down at him with a smirk.

  He broke out in laughter, kissing one of my hands as he did so. “Well done. Ronan would be proud.”

  “A girl needs to be able to fight too or so he says.” I shrugged. “He taught me over the summer.”

  “Well, that shows me. Any other tricks up your sleeve?” Gale’s hands went to my hips, resting there and his fingertips digging in more than my gentle instructor would usually give. Arousal glistened in his dark eyes as he stared up at me, and not for the first time I wondered what it would be like to do the dominating for once.

  “This could have been us last night.” I rolled my hips, tormenting him.

  “I would have thought you’d have fallen asleep the moment your head hit the bed.”

  I had, and it annoyed me he guessed that, so I avoided the subject. “Do you want to keep sparring?”

  “Sure,” Gale laughed. The bastard knew he was right so I had to punish him. “Show me what else Ronan had taught you over the summer.”

  “I taught her a great many things.” My head snapped up at the sound of Ronan’s voice to see him leaning against the doorjamb with his arms crossed over his chest and an amused twinkle in his eye. “You should probably be on edge around the little spider monkey.”

  I jumped up from Gale, racing to Ronan and launching myself into his arms. He caught me as I knew he would, gathering me to him tightly with one hand at my ass and the other around my upper back.

  “I missed you,” I murmured, and pressed my lips to his for what I’d intended to be a brief kiss. He deepened it, as Ronan often did, determined to fuse us together in his desperation to possess me.

  “What are you doing here?” I questioned when he let me pull back, moving into the room fully so he could close the door behind us.

  “Just drone work. The new seventeen-year-olds are on tour today so I’m escorting the group. Thought I’d escape and stop by to see my girl. And everyone else.” He grinned at Gale. Gale smiled back, and I knew the unvoiced desire to see him too was thoroughly understood. “Where’s Emers?”

  “Studying with a couple of his friends, but I am due to go join him after my workout and training,” I explained. My eyes glanced to the closed door, wondering if we could lock it without raising suspicion.

  “Uh-uh, woman. I have to go back, so I don’t have time.” Ronan read my mind, and I gave him an exaggerated pout. He kissed the pout off my lips, licking at the swollen flesh with his wicked tongue. Gale stepped into our space, taking the risk to kiss Ronan himself the moment he pulled away from my mouth. With their faces so close to mine, I had a perfect view of the action, and just how much they enjoyed one another. Gale moaned around Ronan’s tongue, sucking it into his mouth and mimicking what he could do when he was on his knees.

  Ronan growled as he pulled back, and I resisted the urge to lower myself to rub against him like a cat in heat.

  Barely.

  “Why don’t you tell him the good news before he has to leave, Thief?” Gale said pointedly, and I chuckled.

  “It’s good news to you; I don’t know why it would matter to anyone else.” Ronan’s grip on my ass loosened, and I slid down his body until I landed on my feet.

  “What news is this?” he grunted, looking at me expectantly.

  “Well, we had the Choosing Ceremony yesterday.” I beamed at him and threw a dirty look at Gale when he muttered, “among other things.”

  “And?” He smiled, and I rolled my eyes in response.

  I took my sword and held out the hilt to show him.

  “Security,” he murmured as he showed the handle of his heavy axe to show the symbol just like mine. His smile deepened until those dimples peeked out at me, and I turned unamused eyes to Gale.

  “I told you he’d be happy even though I still maintain you’d have made a great Assassin.”

  “I did it because of Ho, Ronan. She showed me that while the perception is that big, hulking, strong guys did security duty, women like us can flourish and rock in it too. Let’s be clear. This is not an excuse for you to interfere in my duty, caveman,” I ordered, poking a finger into his chest.

  “Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said innocently. I knew it was bullshit, but there was nothing to be done for it in that moment. “But I do get to be closer to you, protect you, make sure no one bothers you.”

  “Which isn’t what your duty entails,” I reminded him. I sighed, because fighting Ronan’s protectiveness and jealousy was like coming up against the inevitable rising of the sun when you didn’t want to wake up in the morning. You could dwell, or you could enjoy those last few precious moments of darkness.

  “How have things been with Vali? Have you seen each other?” I asked, and he gave me that arrogant smirk that was entirely Alec Gaius rubbing off on him.

  “He’s practically living with us, which is probably a good thing at this point because it’s better there.” It had to be because they were all together because that room was depressing as hell.

  “Of course, he hasn’t officially moved in yet, but he can’t come to InkHaven without reason anymore than we can even though he is training to become a Shadow for Discs, but without access to any of you…” he trailed off, and I pulled my face into a grimace, though I giggled regardless.

  “How’s Alec Gaius coping with that?”

  He barked out a rough laugh, and shook his head. “You mean being the only one who’ll suck dick and take it in the ass out of the three of us?”

  I snorted. “Yes, with that.”

  “He’s desperate to visit the three of you. If he had come today, he’d have been late. So it’s probably good he has no business whatsoever in InkHaven. Why the fuck do visitations only happen in the spring time? Our hands only do so much to please him. In his words, he needs to fuck something, preferably an ass.”

  “That sounds like Alec Gaius.” I nodded my head with a smile. “Although it’s pretty hard to get some action here too.” I shot Gale an innocent smile that had him snorting.

  Ronan threw us both a confused look before shaking his head. “You should probably be prepared for some rough loving when we all see each other again,” he whispered, voice dropping an octave to coat my skin in goosebumps. “You all should, but all three of us haven’t had pussy in so long, you’ll probably be the focus.”

  I shrugged at that but let the frisson of excitement run down my back. I wrapped my arms around him and nuzzled the side of his neck.

  “I have to go to the courtyard,” he said mournfully, pulling back, and I nodded my head. He gave Gale a brief kiss goodbye.

  “
Bye, Ronan,” I said on a breathy exhale. He stopped and turned to me, kissing me. “I’ll see you soon.”

  “Okay, Caveman,” I agreed. I turned to Gale and we shared a mournful look as soon as the door closed behind a speeding Ronan.

  “Zeevar, I miss him already,” I admitted to Gale. “I miss all of them.”

  “So do I, Thief. So do I. Do you want to keep training?”

  “Maybe,” I hesitated. “I forgot to tell him to tell AleC Gaius and Vali I missed them.”

  “Just go,” Gale urged me on. “Your head won’t be in it, in any case.”

  I ran up to him and gave him a smacking kiss on the lips before rushing out of the door.

  I practically ran to the courtyard, but as soon as I stepped out into it, I forgot all about Ronan and froze, my eyes on the group of young adults being led around the perimeter of InkHaven on tour. Caught on a thick head of strawberry-blond waves, tears flooded my eyes.

  Ronan was there too, gaze cutting to mine before landing on the same strawberry blond head I was staring at. His mouth moved, and he strode to me on those long legs, eating up ground in quick steps.

  He wrapped his arms around me, effectively blocking out my view. “Woman, Kaia, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. I should have told you, but I didn’t think you’d come out so I put it off. It’s my fault. Fuck, I can’t believe I didn’t warn you.”

  I pushed away from his hold, and he let me. “Ronan, I’m not mad at you. Is it her? Is it?” My voice was frantic I knew, desperate for the truth to be what I needed it to be.

  “It is. Darling, I’m sorry. You should just go back in. This’ll hurt you.”

  I shook my head as I cupped his face but moved away so he wasn’t blocking my view. Everyone in the tour was staring at him. “You should go back, Ronan,” I told him and gave him a soft push away as I resumed staring at Lottie’s sister.

  She turned my way, bright blue eyes shining as she turned a familiar beaming smile to one of the boys standing next to her. The sob caught in my throat and my cheeks dampened.

  “Daniels!” I heard the Mage leading the tour shout. “Get your ass back here.”

  “I love you, Ronan,” I murmured and gave his arm a squeeze, wiping my eyes as I did so. He hesitated a moment but walked away. I knew he kept looking back to stare at me, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from Lottie’s sister.

  Her very much alive baby sister. I squeezed my eyes shut to escape the memories assaulting me at the sight of Lottie’s smile on her little sister’s face. When my eyes opened, I found that heart shaped face tilted in thought and coming my way.

  “You okay?” she asked, voice full of attitude as I would expect from a seventeen-year-old version of Lottie. The boy who’d stood next to her glowered at me from over her shoulder, protective of his friend. I couldn’t really blame him - Lottie had inspired the same amount of loyalty.

  I nodded and gave her a smile that was filled with all the bittersweet joy I felt in that moment. “I knew Lottie. You look just like her,” I admitted, reaching out and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

  “You said knew. She was here, a part of the Order?” she asked, wringing her hands and staring at me. She was already a bit taller than me.

  “Yes, she was an Air student like me. She was,” my voice broke, and I cleared my throat before continuing, “my roommate, my best friend. Unfortunately, she’s gone,” I said carefully, and the smile she gave me was sad, but there was no freshness to the grief there. It was to be understood, after all, she’d grown up knowing her sister as dead for years. I wanted to hug her to me, to hold her close but knew it would likely only annoy her.

  “But she would have given anything to see you here now. Absolutely anything. She’d be so proud of you.”

  “I’m hoping she would be. I missed her. All my life, I missed her. I’m going to this school too, you know? I’m going to be an Ink student.” That beaming smile turned my way again, striking me with the force of it.

  “Miss Montgomery,” the tour guide called her name, and she gave me one last lingering look as she turned and went back to her group. My hand covered my mouth, throat tightening, and I let my head hang forward.

  “She’s beautiful, Lottie,” I whispered, even knowing there was no one to hear me.

  I stared at her until she was out of sight, finally taking comfort in the fact that Lottie died the way she wanted to live.

  She might have never gotten to be a Protector in life, but she died to be one in the end.

  I listened to the tour walking off, but let my eyes drop to the ground in front of me. A pressure at my right shoulder made my eyes open, turning to find intelligent white eyes staring at me. Black feathers and a long beak adorned the bird perched on my shoulder.

  A raven.

  The image of Lottie’s fan fluttered through my head. I reached up to stroke the feathers, noting how beautiful he was. Beautiful like Lottie had been, how her sister was. More tears fell from my eyes steadily, and the bird shifted closer and rubbed the feathers at the top of its head against my cheek soothingly. My hand went to my shoulder, letting it step onto my finger to perch. I brought it to the front of my face, examining it curiously and smoothing down the wet, ruffled feathers at the top of its head.

  “You’re an odd sort of bird, aren’t you?” I asked it, watching as it shifted to fluff up its wings. He never moved or protested, just kept himself perched on my finger. I held out my arm, and he walked up it, his feet lightly touching the whip that was wrapped around my wrist but where it would normally protest at being touched, it was like a warmth seeping through me. I took it as a sign.

  “Should I call you Charlotte?” I asked on a sardonic laugh when the bird refused to abandon its perch. He shifted on my hand, giving a disgruntled flap of his wings.

  “Charlie then?” He croaked, a long low caw-like sound and settled in proudly, seeming happy with the new name. “I can’t believe I’m talking to a fucking bird,” I laughed. He gave me one last nuzzle with his head before flying away with a sound I could only call happy.

  I walked off, happy and also lost, desperate not to let my tears fall. I stopped when I heard the sound of two loud voices obviously in the middle of a fight.

  “Well, yes, yes, of course I regret it.”

  I turned the corner and watched Mar glare daggers at Otto, who was running his hands through his hair.

  “It was her, Mar. Lottie’s sister. Fuck me, I still miss Lottie.”

  She must have spotted me, because Mar stopped and turned away from Otto to face me. “Did you see her, Kaia? Lottie’s sister?”

  I gave them both a solemn nod before reaching up to wrap an arm around their necks. “She was beautiful, wasn’t she?”

  Otto wrapped an arm around me and brought me in close. “She was. Zeevar, I wish Lottie were here but it makes sense her sister would be here.”

  “What?” I asked, confused.

  Mar spoke up, all sad eyes, “Balance, Kaia Wren. Just miss her so bad.”

  “Ok. I feel the same.” I sighed before stepping back. “She should get Lottie’s things. I need to fix and pack them for her.”

  “I can help,” Mar offered, and I gave her a grateful smile.

  “Thanks Mar.”

  We both turned to look at Otto who backed away. “Not me. I can’t bear to see or touch anything that Lottie owned. In fact I have to go.”

  “Okay,” I spoke in low tones, understanding, as I watched him lope away.

  “Shall we?” Mar asked, and I nodded. We walked in silence into the building, taking slow steps towards the room I used to share with Lottie.

  I broke the silence, “So what were you and Otto arguing about?”

  She shrugged. “Just stupid stuff. I drank a lot last night, not sure if you remember. Don’t mind it.”

  I gave her a steady look but respected her decision to not talk about it. I threw the door to my room open and we looked at Lottie’s side of the room.

  “Kaia, how much
shit did Lottie collect?”

  “A lot.”

  “Guess this is how we’re spending our weekend then.”

  Numb, I nodded.

  Nineteen

  Kaia

  Time passed.

  Time without access to three of my men, and even without speaking to them I knew they were suffering for the absence as much as Emerson, Gale, and I were. Seeing Lottie’s younger sister still preyed on my mind, still strained at my heart in ways I could not remove. Some nights, I would wake up after dreaming of the Oxygen Trial and Lottie - a twisted and dark dream that haunted me. So, I just threw myself into the academy and my school work to forget - however momentarily.

  I trained. I focused. I spent time with Emerson and Gale, Mar and occasionally Otto. I spent time sitting in the gardens with Charlie hovering and watching me like the creep he was turning out to be. If I opened the window to my room, he would suddenly be there and fly in, to enjoying laying on Lottie’s abandoned Conduit where it sat untouched on her vanity. After all, everything else that Lottie owned I’d packed into her bags and into boxes. The knock on my door caught me off guard, as I hadn’t been expecting Emerson or Gale for a while yet. I set my book aside, walking to the door hesitantly. As soon as it opened I was up and gathered in Vali’s arms with his lips against mine. I smiled into his mouth with a squeal.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked when he broke away and sat on my bed with me in his lap.

  His fingers tucked hair out of my face, and he looked up at me in adoration. “Visitation so far away. Needed to see you,” he admitted. “Feel you. Talk to you. We left things so abruptly last time, I didn’t get a chance to get a feel for how you were coping with everything.”

  I sighed, shrugging noncommittally. “With you being part of us now? I’m thrilled with that.”

  “It doesn’t bother you to know I’m fucking Alec Gaius every night?” he asked with an eyebrow raised.

  I chuckled at him. “Safe to say it doesn’t. Does it bother you to know I’m with Emerson most nights? Sometimes Gale and Emerson when we can swing it?”