Blooming Black: Rosewood Academy of Witches and Mages (Darkly Sweet Book 4)

by Juliann Whicker

  She looked up at me, eyes soft, lips parted. “And Sunday tea parties.”

  I kissed her again. Would things be all right without me for a few days? They had to be. She’d been very clear about her house not being somewhere I could step throughside any time I got bored. I had to stay there until Revere released me. I should probably be more nervous than I was. I was nervous enough about being with Penny.

  The limo ride was spent with her in my arms, in the back of a limo. I drowned in her for two hours until she pulled away and blinked at me.

  “I need a lollipop.” She went through lollipops like a frantic if adorable gopher. She sat on the far side of the limo with me on the other, apparently finished kissing me for the time being. She wouldn’t hold still.

  “Is something wrong, my darling fiancé?”

  “Death, destruction and misery, home, by any other name.”

  I laughed and barely kept from reaching over and dragging her against me. “Should I pull out my fire sword?”

  “Hm? Oh, no, that won’t help.” She unrolled the window and leaned out into the icy cold breeze that brought goose bumps out on her bare shoulders. She stuck her head all the way out and stared ahead while I watched her shiver. Finally, she pulled her head in and rolled up the window.

  I reached over, putting my hands over hers. “You’re freezing. Would you like to wear my jacket?” It was my mage coat, the one she’d made me, but I’d spelled it a nice black.

  She shook her head. “I have a pink faux fur shrug on the floor if I were cold, or if I didn’t want to feel cold. I mean it helps to feel something, distracts from those things in my head. Thoughts. Do you ever feel like everything is going to come crashing down around you?” She took a shuddering breath.

  “Actually I feel the opposite. Is that strange? I have this lovely false confidence. I’ll share it with you if you’d like. Picture a piece of cake. It’s pink and a baby polar bear is eating it.”

  She cocked her head and stared at me. “Okay. Also, a leprechaun.”

  I grinned as I raised my hand to tenderly brush her cheek, smoothing back a strand of luminous red-gold hair. “This is hard for you, but it’s something that would be better done now rather than later, isn’t it?”

  She took a deep breath and nodded. “Right. Better to get married quickly.”

  I bent and kissed her shoulder. “Much better. Are you getting the jitters? They’re perfectly normal. I have a lot of ideas how to help you overcome them. I could tie you up.” I gave her a flirty wink.

  “My bed at home is made out of monkey skulls.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “I’m taking you to meet my mother. She’s kind of crazy. She might seduce you. Or kill you.”

  I pulled her onto my lap, wrapped my arms around her and buried my face in her hair. A monkey skull bed. Was there anything more delightful? My heart pounded while I kept her like that, just holding onto her for a long time.

  After awhile, I moved back so I could look into her eyes. I was lost in her soft gaze for a moment before I spoke low.

  “Thank you.”

  She wrinkled her nose and pressed her face back against my neck. “You can thank me later, after we’ve survived.”

  I laughed and slid my hands up her back, to her neck beneath her clouds of hair. “Death by mother-in-law, it has a ring to it.”

  She smiled before she stiffened up and began counting. She slid off me and reached up to undo the sunroof. She stuck her head out and held on while the limo took a curve and headed towards a bridge.

  “I’m baaaaad, I’m baaaad, you know it, chooknow! And the whole world wants to tell you again something something and houses, I’m bad!”

  I stared at her legs while she sang at the top of her lungs the worst rendition I’d ever heard. The limo bumped over an old bridge filled with iced over potholes. When we were on the other side of the bridge, she ducked down into the limo and smiled brightly.

  “Yeah, this is going to get much weirder.”

  I shrugged casually. “Not that weird. I’m sorry I didn’t get to join in. Next time you’ll have to warn me.”

  She rolled her eyes and muttered something about the inevitability of life. She sat on the edge of the seat, peering out the window. She unrolled the driver’s window and leaned over to stare at the man’s balding spot.

  “Hey, would you stop up here on the side of the road for one minute and twenty five seconds, please?”

  He gave me a nervous look and nodded at her with a polite smile. He’d clearly dealt with this sort of madness before. Still made him a teeny bit uncomfortable. I gave him a reassuring nod. He’d be tipped very well.

  “Great!”

  The driver pulled over and Penny got out. She leaned back in, almost bashing my face with hers as I moved to follow her. “I’ll be right back. Don’t get out, okay? Don’t move.”

  I stared at her. There was something in her eyes that communicated more than her bright smile. “Sure. No grabbing, no moving.”

  She turned and ran around the car five times before she ducked back inside, cold and panting. She slammed the door behind her and then after a little while the limo pulled out again.

  “You do like fives.”

  She nodded and held her breath for the rest of the trip up to the house. I didn’t dare touch her. She clearly needed space to keep from exploding. This was an interesting side of her. The limo pulled up in the desolate circle in front of the rickety porch beneath a gothic Victorian monstrosity that had seen better days.

  She took my hand. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

  I nodded soberly and squeezed her hand. This was the time for sincerity, not play. “Very. Do we begin juggling now or do we wait until dinner?”

  She tilted her head sideways. “I would tell you not to be ridiculous, but you may as well. It won’t make this whole thing any worse.”

  We got out and climbed the creaky stairs to the porch. Penny shifted from foot to foot.

  “If I ring the doorbell and wait for Revere to come then I won’t have to try to not be killed by all the stuff in the foyer, but it would put us on the defensive, waiting for him to look us up and down before deciding whether or not we were worthy to enter.”

  I reached over and pushed on the doorbell while I smiled at her. “I’m Drake Huntman. I am always worthy whether I am or not. Are you more nervous about seeing your mother or marrying me?”

  She hesitated. “It’s more the statue in the hall. I hate it.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “I see. I don’t see.” I shrugged. “You haven’t thrown up yet, so you’re doing very well.”

  She smiled slightly, but kept pulling on a strand of her hair. “It’s not that kind of fear. Never mind. It’s not worth mentioning. It’s just that it killed someone and I had to clean up the blood.”

  “The statue killed someone. So you’re actually logically afraid of the statue because it comes alive and kills people in a very brutal way. Interesting.”

  “It’s not like that.”

  “No, because that would make sense. It’s something else, something like…” I shook my head. “I have no idea.”

  The door creaked open and Revere stood there holding a candelabra. “Welcome to the home of Serene Night.”

  Chapter 24

  Mage

  I stared at the tall man who looked as hollowed and sharp as the last time I’d seen him. “Thank you. Will you get the bags, or should I?”

  He glanced at the limo and sighed. “I’ll take care of it. I’ll put your things in the garret. Your mother is waiting in the velvet parlor, Penny. She’s eager to meet your gentleman.”

  Penny winced and started muttering sweets under her breath before she darted through the doorway, keeping close to the wall as though a volley of arrows were about to fly. I followed, being as furtive as she was, on guard for the deadly statue. She pulled up suddenly and I almost ran into her. She stared at an enormous statue of a knight on a horse, his spear pointed up, waiting, ready.


  “The waiting soldier,” she whispered, gripping my hand so tight I couldn’t feel my fingers. I squeezed back.

  “Do you want me to distract him while you make a run for it? I could throw my shoes at him to draw him off.”

  She wrinkled her nose and shook her head at me. “Maybe later. By the way, my mother is a little bit like a drug.”

  “What kind of drug?”

  She shook her head and led me into a relatively small room with a cheery fire in the hearth, golden bricks surrounding it while green swags covered the windows. Bookshelves and paintings covered most other surfaces. There was an obvious blank spot above the fireplace where a portrait used to hang.

  Penny took my hand for a moment, squeezing it before she sank into a green velvet wingback beside the fire. She pulled up her knees and wrapped her arms around them while she stared at the flickering flames.

  “Would you care for a drink, Huntsman?”

  The voice was low but soft, a sound that caught the attention and reeled it in. I turned towards the woman who stood near the teacart opposite the fireplace.

  I gave the woman my most appropriate smile and bowed. “I would be delighted, madame.”

  She smiled at me and for a moment the world glowed as though angels were singing, that smile a doorway into a world of insanity like I’d never seen. I glanced at Penny. She wasn’t looking at me, instead staring into the fireplace like it was fascinating.

  “Penny, would you like a drink? Your mother is doing the honors.”

  She looked up at me with her enormous eyes before she shot a cautious glance in the woman’s direction. “I guess so. Hogsnass, mother?”

  Serene Night nodded serenely and poured two glasses of Hogsnass for us. She walked across the room towards me, her eyes questioning as I gave her a slight smile and took the drinks, carrying Penny’s to her. I knelt before my magnificent witch and offered her the glass of green elixir that bubbled wonderfully. I approved of the green. Penny took it carefully, glancing from me to her mother and back again.

  “Thank you,” she whispered. The gold in her eyes grew brighter as she gazed at me, her curls sweeping to the ground around her like a cascade of autumn leaves. She should wear green more often. Pink was lovely, but her native color was green. Like me. I could burn off her clothing and dress her in green sparks. Or me.

  Serene Night cleared her throat both delicate as well as commanding. All the same, it took effort to pull my eyes from Penny’s face.

  “Your contract is most generous, Huntsman. There is one detail not mentioned. How long is the term of the marriage?”

  I smiled at her. “Contracts aren’t worth nearly as much if they expire. If Penny wishes to end our marriage, she’ll have to draw up a new contract.”

  “Would you resist such a contract?”

  I frowned at her. It wasn’t romantic to talk about divorce right before a wedding. “There are laws that govern divorce. I intend to follow all laws. If Penny or I wish to part, I hope it’s amicable, particularly if there are children involved. Most witches and mages choose to live estranged rather than divorce. That’s another possible option. She could also kill me.” I gave her a hard smile. “I’m sure there are other options I haven’t considered. I’m usually very thorough, but to be honest, I have no intention of giving Penny any reason to leave me.”

  Serene cocked her head, clouds of downy pale hair floating around her like a cloud. She looked like a fairy of some kind. The kind that would curse you, put you to sleep for a hundred years, and stake your heart to a rock. “You love her?”

  “I like her. Quite a lot.”

  “Quite a lot? You are the picture of a mage in love. You hardly glance at me, yearning to gaze eternally at my daughter instead.” She shrugged and threw a fireball at me.

  Well, that was one way to change the subject. I wrapped it in water and held it in front of me, the fire dancing inside the water very pretty. “I’m sorry, I’m not sure what the rules are for parlor sparring.”

  Penny sighed and stood, grabbing the ball of water in her hands and spinning with it until she flung it into the fireplace where it exploded with a very nice splash.

  She sat back down in the wingback while I followed, sitting on the floor at her feet. I put my elbow on her knee like that’s where I belonged. Penny’s hand eventually found my head. She stroked as though I were one of her pets. Good.

  I glanced up at Serene and felt the glimmering beginnings of anger. She’d thrown a fireball. If I hadn’t caught it, it would have caught Penny. No doubt the witch was testing me, but I was notorious enough already.

  “Are we having fun yet?” Revere asked, coming in with a tray of crackers and mini sausages. He took them to his wife first. His eyes when they met hers gleamed like eyes do when they’re looking at their obsession. Her eyes were more nuanced. Her dark eyes softened almost imperceptibly. He was her mage, her pet, her love, but she’d learned to keep her feelings very close. Penny had not.

  “You missed the first fireball,” Penny informed him.

  He sighed and took the tray over to us. “Would you like a chair, Huntsman? We may not be the most hospitable family, but we don’t usually require that guests sit on the floor.”

  “Let him sit at her feet. It’s poetic. He’s trying to demonstrate his pretended docility. We should allow him that. What will you drink, love?”

  Hearing her say love, like it was ordinary for a witch to speak affectionately to a mage seriously disturbed me, but Penny’s face didn’t change. So, I could call her love and she wouldn’t bite my face? Even if it was only a matter of speech? I could. And she could call me something too.

  “The wedding will take place at dawn,” Revere said after he had his drink and took his place on the other side of the fireplace, Serene standing beside him, them looking like a black and white photo, him clothed in black, her in white.

  “Beneath the morning star,” Serene said melodiously. What was her singing voice like? She was clearly mesmerizing, the granddaughter of the most notorious witch in Darkside history, who had ensnared the world with her enchanting beauty. I liked Penny so much better. It was a relief that I was immune to those kinds of things as well as deception mages. It wouldn’t do for me to display interest in her mother before we were married. Or afterwards. Or ever.

  “I knew your aunt,” Serene said to me before she glanced at Revere. “Revere, she loved you very well.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Did she? What an uncomfortable topic.”

  “Not at all,” I objected. “This is exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to hear about, family gossip and all that. What happened? How could you resist a Huntsman heiress? What humiliating things did she do in pursuit of you? Did she ever conceal herself in a closet so she could watch you change during a tourney?”

  Penny yanked on my hair. I kept my face expressionless. “Drake,” she hissed.

  Serene turned to Revere. “She was such a silly girl. Revere and I were only allies. Revere never intended to marry. He only changed his mind much later. Do you remember the time she broke into Blackheart and hung a flag on the pole with your names embroidered on it? She spelled it so no one could take it down for weeks.”

  I stared at her. “I had no idea my aunt did embroidery. So, how do you go from a Chemiss mage to a spellmaster? I’m finding the transition most difficult.”

  Revere turned to study me. “I spent years studying in Darkside.”

  “And you never planned to marry?”

  He glanced at Serene. “I couldn’t win anyone worth having as a common Dayside mage.”

  She took his hand and brought it to her heart. “I would have stayed with you whether you were the finest spellmaster or a simple mercenary. You should not have let your pride interfere with your feelings.”

  He drew his brows together and leaned close to her until their foreheads gently bumped.

  I straightened up and glanced at Penny, shocked by their wanton behavior. She wasn’t paying
any attention. Did she truly think that was ordinary behavior for witches and mages? Apparently. If Serene was as innocently affectionate with Revere at school as she was now, there would be no doubt in anyone else’s minds that she was intimately involved with Revere. Shockingly so. Revere looked over at me and the look in his eyes was a warning. I wasn’t to say anything about the oddity of Serene’s affection.

  I cleared my throat. “But it all turned out in the end.”

  Serene frowned at me. “The two of you should go to bed. It’s going to be morning soon.”

  I inhaled sharply while Penny got up like she’d been waiting to be dismissed.

  “Yes, mother. You’ve done very well. Rest and be strong. Revere.”

  She headed out of the room leaving me sitting on the floor staring after her. When I looked at Serene and Revere I was struck at the oddity of this situation. Serene hadn’t acted like a loony witch. The two of them acted like the most normal married couple I’d ever seen, barring my aunt who had married a human. Was Ramona trying to achieve this relationship? There was nothing ordinary about it. Could I possibly keep up this level of affection with Penny over a long period of time? I could if she was an aberration, a witch with mage energy.

  I stood up and brushed off my pants. “It seems I must go. Enjoy your evening.” I bowed and followed Penny out. She was already half way up the first staircase that circled the hall, the waiting soldier standing at the foot of the staircase, guarding it.

  I gave it a wide berth then took the steps two and three at a time until I caught up to Penny. I took her hand and squeezed it. She turned and threw her arms around me. I patted her back.

  “She doesn’t usually come upstairs, so we should be safe. Tomorrow morning will be horrible.”

  “Do you mind if I ask for details? I can handle fireballs and anything else she might throw at me.”

  She pulled away to stare at me. “She’ll start talking. Also, she’ll want to play with me. You know what that’s like? I suppose you can heal me. It’ll be fine. Don’t turn your back on her, okay? She’s very, very good at killing people.”