by Kenna Bardot
"What happened exactly?" She set the book on the floor before us, turning to examine the wound at my cheek in thought.
"I was sitting on a branch, and I lost my balance. Fell face first, but somehow I got my arms around the branch, I just used my face to stabilize my grip. Got a souvenir out of it."
She huffed a laugh quietly, ignoring the glare I turned her way. "My father saw me dangling and ran out and helped me down.” I held out a hand. "Wait. Are you saying the Assassin they sent for me didn't just fail in his job, but that I survived it?"
"Everyone gets a young Rebirth date the moment they are born from one of the Ink Balancers. On your young Rebirth date, one of three things can happen - you are Reborn, plain and simple, you can survive and get an adult Rebirth date, or you are taken and become one of the Order. You're marked for the Order in this book, Kaia. You should never have been given another date. You should have come to the Order when you were a girl not as an adult, but someone made a mistake." She stood, walking over the where Charlie perched on the closed windowsill. He snapped his beak at her as she approached, and flew from his spot to land on my outstretched hand.
"You have a familiar," mulling over it, a sudden smile taking over her pointed face. "So everything makes so much sense now!"
I stood, closing the book and dropping it into her pack on the floor. "Okay, so Charlie is my familiar. But what does that have to do with the age I was when I came to the Order? I'm here now, so what does it matter?"
"You survived twice." Her eyes wide and fascinated as she stared back at me. "I don't know of anyone else through our histories that has survived twice, but a familiar is a trait of one of the Magi. And not Air, Kai." At my confused look, she continued on without even giving me a chance to ask. "You know this. You’ve seen them if you’ve gone to the Shopping Center or really anywhere else outside in Order premises. One of my boyfriends is an Earth Mage. He has this dog that follows him everywhere he goes. They're inseparable. Does that sound familiar?"
I shook my head, "I've used Air now. A year ago I would absolutely have believed I was an Earth Mage, but now I know I have Air. It's just blocked somehow."
"By Earth! Think, have you ever shown any inclination toward any Earth magic?"
I stared at her, dumbfounded and almost hated to admit the reality. "I worked in a plant nursery before I came to the Academy. I just have a green thumb, it's pretty much always been that way.”
"This is a good thing, Kai. We know what's blocking your Air still. You have fourteen years of Earth Magic built up inside of you, and the Air Magic can't get out because it's being suffocated under it. That and also because your Air is relatively new still. There's a reason you're so connected to that whip when it isn't your Air Conduit. It's your Earth Conduit!"
"Mar." I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I don't know what to do with this. So say I am an Earth Mage, I'm still an Air Mage too. Where do I go from here?"
"You start by finding a way to let all that Earth Magic loose so you can have uninterrupted access to your Air. I'll keep looking into it, maybe there was someone else if I go far enough back. Now that I know what to look for, we can figure it out. Docent Tomos Woods has a really good book in the library about Air connection and just general magical connections so I can look at that. I can even pester him about it."
Charlie nuzzled at my face, and I let out a deep breath of tension. "Okay. Okay, keep looking into it. I'll see if Gale has any ideas. But I want this to stay between us for now. I'm enough of a freak show as it is, I don't need to add any more fodder to that mentality."
Mar chuckled, stepping into my space and giving me the unusual hug.
"You have no idea how relieved I am. I knew there was something wrong when I wrote that scroll with your name on it. Something just felt off, knowing I haven't been crazy all this time is such a relief!"
I laughed, not bothering to tell her she really was crazy as she knelt down to collect her pack. She bulleted out the door on her long legs.
"So happy I could help," I muttered and went into the hallway to find Emerson waiting for me. My protective men and their determination that I was in danger meant I was back to no alone time.
I didn't care much, considering I had Gale and Emerson to look at as eye candy. Cel tended to tag along with Emerson often, but there'd been no word about his conversation with Vali. Judging by the look of anxiety on his face, I knew it would happen soon.
✽✽✽
Gale eyed Charlie curiously before turning his attention back to me. "So you're actually an Earth Mage?"
"Or an Air Mage?" Emerson finished the question, and I had to stifle the laugh. Since our secret had gotten out, Gale had all but moved into my room with us, which meant the two men had realistically spent far too much time together. They were starting to complete each other's sentences, and I was only grateful I'd somehow avoided the cliche of that.
"Both."
"Is that even possible?" Emerson whispered as he leaned against Gale’s desk.
"It would appear."
"So you're good with plants. It isn't unheard of for a human to have a natural ability where something is concerned. I don't think that's evidence enough to-"
I cut him off with a pointed side eye to Charlie perched on my shoulder. "Earths have familiars."
He snapped his mouth shut and glared at the little bird who returned his attitude without remorse. Gale and Charlie didn't dislike each other, though he'd never been open and warm to him either. Still, he wasn't as bad as Ronan in Charlie's eyes. Since being separated from me for my bathroom interlude with Ronan, I suspected Charlie to be even more intolerant of my caveman.
“Touche," he admitted with a shrug.
"That's it? She has a winged stalker and that's enough to convince you?" Emerson chuckled beside me, glaring at all the extra reading I’d taken from the library like it might bite him.
"Do you have any other explanation as to why a raven might suddenly decide to follow a woman around, snuggle her when she gets anxious, or understand her when she tells the damn bird to go fetch her boyfriend when she’s in mortal danger?"
Emers gave him a thoughtful look, pursing his pretty lips before turning to me. "So what are we looking for, dirt girl?" he asked, a playful, though stupid, pun on Alec Gaius and Ronan's nickname for me during sex.
Gale snorted from my other side, tugging one of the books in front of him and opening it. "Mar asked us to look in the Air Records for any evidence of another person who is a Mage twice over. She's checking the Ink side, but we're both a little worried there might be something we're missing."
Emerson groaned. "Maybe something along the lines of why you keep getting into accidents and nearly dying? Like, what, a wardrobe falling on you?" I felt rather than saw Gale go solid beside me, and turned to find his jaw hard as he scanned the first page of the book in front of him to hunt through the Table of Contents for anything relevant.
"I'm sure that's a coincidence," I whispered, reaching out a hand to touch Gale's.
Those dark eyes stared back at me momentarily before he turned back to his book. "There are no coincidences, Thief. Someone messed up massively in mismarking you. What do you think someone would do to protect that secret?"
I felt myself go white, a possibility I hadn't considered. "You think someone else already knows?"
"I think that the odds are against you. The Headmaster would have pulled up your records when you came to the Order. If what you said Mar found is true, then he'd have to be an idiot not to realize that there's something wrong there. He's always been adamant that you couldn't be an Air Mage; I just never considered that it was because after all this time he knew you were something else."
"Gale," I whispered, and his hand moved to slide out from under mine. It rested atop mine and I turned my hand around to hold his. "I don't think it was his mistake, but he might have alerted someone else who did make the mistake if he started asking the right questions."
"What do I do?"
"You let us keep you safe. We keep proceeding like we don't know which way the threat is coming from until we know otherwise."
I nodded, hating that every bit of information I got that should have felt like a relief seemed like it only led back into more danger, more threats, more complications.
“Also, and you’re going to hate this, but Charlie needs to stay out of sight inside school premises.”
“Damn it.”
“Just try and avoid it please.”
I nodded but all I really wanted was simple.
A simple life in a beautiful Temple where I went home to six men at night and let them love me in a way I never thought I'd have or deserve.
My own little slice of Zeevarna.
Twenty-Five
Cel
I caught Vali walking through the Courtyard, no doubt on his way to sneak a few moments with Kaia before he had to get back to his trainees. Even though I knew I wouldn't find another chance to catch him alone in the near future, I couldn't help knowing that interrupting his time with Kaia wouldn't be a good start to the conversation.
Still, I trudged on, putting myself directly in his path. He smiled, though that familiar brotherly smile faltered when he caught the anguish on my face. "Gods," he whispered. "Kaia?"
Yes, a great start to the conversation, Marcellus, take him to blind panic. I shook my head and held up my hand to squeeze his shoulder before letting it go after one moment. "No! No, she's fine. I just... wanted to talk to you about something."
Vali eyed me curiously. While everyone else at InkHaven thought of me as the quiet and mysterious one, Vali knew the real me. He knew that when I had something to say I didn't hesitate.
It was just that most people didn't make me want to talk to them. I never could suffer fools or the petty bullshit that people seemed to allow to consume their lives.
Vali had never been included in that group of individuals I couldn’t stand. Barring the lack of taste displayed by dipping into the pussy of the toxic Pia Ramos, he was the minority. Then there’d been Emerson and not long after, Kaia who had come into my life.
But he was the one who’d been there from the start. My only family.
And by the end of our conversation, he would hate me.
"What's up?" He crossed those bulky arms over his chest and glared up - but barely as there was only a slight difference in our heights - to study my face.
I shifted uncomfortably, rubbing a hand at the back of my neck. "You know Emerson and I had a thing."
"Of course," he agreed. "Neither of you wanted to commit to one another despite your, may I say very obvious, feelings. You couldn't agree on a girl that you should hitch your wagon to. Can't blame you there because InkHaven is slim pickings." Some of the humor came back to his face, but when I didn't return it his smile fell, and he closed his eyes. "No. Do not go there."
"Madden." I winced when his cautious glare turned to steel.
"She's mine. She has always been mine. I trusted you to keep an eye on her, to keep my girl safe for me when I couldn't. How could you even think I'd be okay with this?" His fists bunched, and I braced. If he punched me, I would take it, because I deserved it. I did hurt him, betray him. But, for once, I was listening to a part of my heart I thought didn’t exist.
I glanced around, registering the curious eyes on our fight as the tone in Vali's voice dropped to glacial. "Does Emers know you're trying to get in on this?"
I clenched my jaw, more determined than ever to hold my ground. "Emerson is aware of how I feel and Gale has also been informed. They've decided to support me in having this conversation with you." His fists remained clenched, and I knew without a doubt that I would be taking one to the face once the conversation was over. Or even before it was.
"And Kaia?" he whispered, and I knew he felt like she'd been keeping a secret. But the truth was she hadn't seen him to tell him about it since we'd had our discussion. The split in the group made open communication impossible.
"She knows how I feel about her."
"Gods, you told my girl you have feelings for her?!" That fist flew, catching my nose and spraying a gush of blood down and over my face. "What did she say?"
"I think you should talk to her about her feelings, Madden," I grunted, speaking through the nasally sound to my voice and the pain there.
"See how she likes you when you aren't so fucking pretty. Fuck! I can't believe I trusted you with her. Brothers my ass, Cel. My fucking ass." He stormed off, and I stood there for a few long moments, wondering if I should go after him. Even with how he'd treated me, I wondered if he might say something to Kaia he would regret. As much as I wanted to be with her and Emerson, I didn't want to do so at the cost of Vali's place in her life.
Because I knew having that place meant the world to him, and while he didn’t particularly believe it in that moment, he was my brother.
I didn't have to contemplate for long, because Kaia came charging through the courtyard only a few minutes later. Vali was close at her heels with a murderous expression on his face, and Gale seemed to be trying to keep himself between the two of them. Or so that was what I assumed he was doing, waving his hands about.
Kaia reached me first, reaching out fingers to touch my cheek gently, her expression soft.
"Do not fucking touch him, Little Bird," Vali roared. Gale turned to him and whispered a harsh warning, pointing his finger knife between Vali’s eyes. The harsh coldness didn't seem to jive with what I knew about him from Emerson. Vali quieted after Kaia gave him her best I will kill you dead, bitch look.
"Let’s get you to the Infirmary," she murmured, and she led me back through the courtyard. As we passed Vali, she paused to whisper to him. "We’d been through this before. You do not own me, and if you breathe a word of this to Ronan and Alec Gaius before I see them in two days, so help me Gods you will never ever touch me again."
"Kaia." He flinched back like she'd struck him physically.
She held out a finger. "I love you. I love Ronan. I love Emerson. I love Gale, and I love Alec Gaius. I think I've proven time and time again that there is nothing I wouldn't do for the men I love. Emerson loves Cel. The same way Gale loves Ronan, and the same way you, when you pull your head out of your ass, will admit you love Alec Gaius. Emerson deserves to have that, and so does Cel. I am not going to stand by and let you and your stupid, selfish bullshit get in the way of that. Any friend -no, family- of Cel's wouldn't try to keep him from being loved the way that we've all been so blessed to find so early." She paused, taking my hand. The thumb she rubbed over my knuckles gave me more comfort than a regular hug would have. "I would never involve myself in a physical relationship without talking to all my guys first. You can believe that, but you should know that I don't know if I've ever been more disappointed in you than I am today. And that’s considering all the shit you put me through last year."
With her blade sunk deep, she continued on her way, hand still in mine. I went with her, knowing she was my best chance at finding a home and a real family for myself. It did not keep me from looking back at Vali though. And he looked exactly as I felt - like he’d gone through a battle and lost.
✽✽✽
"Ronan's going to kill me," Gale sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "They all might to some extent, but he’ll get to me first. I don't know what I was thinking by letting you get that."
I smirked at him, my rebellion showing in full force before glancing down at the wing that spanned across my collar bone and the edges of the raven tail where it glided down my shoulder in artful strokes that devolved into wisps of smoke against my skin. I'd chosen jeans and a strapless tank with a sweater that I’d forgone the moment when we entered the housing building. It left the full effect of the ink unhindered for Alec Gaius, Ronan, and Vali's first impression. Charlie gave a call on my opposite shoulder, telling Gale exactly what he thought of any protest against my ink. The bird was a fan of having his likeness marked on me permanently, like the bond he had
with my soul wasn't enough for the greedy bastard.
"Oh, Gale, he won’t kill you. You give the best head. Now, maim? Maim might be an option so long as you can still open that pretty mouth of yours. But, really, I'd have gotten it without you," I admitted, letting my fingers hover above my new ink, still in awe of having something so permanent on my flesh.
"I just wanted to have you with me. Not just because I love this bastard," I pointed at Charlie, “but because it’s a tribute to Lottie. It would have tormented me until I did it.”
I trailed my fingers over the edges of his own new ink, a shadowed rose on his forearm. “By the way, been meaning to ask you. Why a wild rose? And the kind people don’t think is a rose at that? Besides it being one of my favorite flowers.” He stopped and met my eyes in the hall as he cupped my cheek tenderly.
“I picked a rose, though I didn’t know it was a rose when I did, just like this from the garden one night, thinking about you before I ever thought you’d be mine. It reminds me of you and not least because it’s your favorite.” I felt myself swoon a bit as I leaned into him and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I love you.”
“And I you, Thief.” I'd never really thought tattoos were attractive or unattractive, but on Gale they were sexy as could be. And knowing he had one dedicated to me? I was toast.
"And because of that, I won't let Ronan take it out on you,” I joked to lighten the mood.
Emerson laughed, throwing his head back as we made our way into the Air Lift. "He likes it when Ronan takes his anger out on him."
Gale flushed, a rare occurrence, and I didn't bother to stifle my return laugh. My stomach rolled with the sensation of the ground lifting under my feet.
When the Air Lift stopped I walked out and stopped. It was a different floor from when we lived there that summer. I turned to look at my two men and while Emerson looked as confused as I felt, Gale just gave me a cryptic smile before bringing my hands to his lips and kissing it. He also grabbed Emerson’s hand and led us forward.