Corviticus University: Family Ties

by J. E. Cluney

  Skip choked on his bacon at this, hitting his chest as Ollie snorted his hot milo through his nose, which made Lucas start laughing as Marcus just smiled and shook his head.

  “What the hell is going on in your heads?” Trish demanded as she laughed.

  Poor Ollie had stood up, milo dripping from his nose, which was a little too warm to be coming out.

  Lucas handed him some napkins, which earned him a dirty look as he chuckled. He waved a glowing hand, and Ollie stopped struggling to breathe and thanked him.

  “Why do I feel like I’m missing out on some big joke?” Dixon pouted and looked to Natalie for help.

  “Trust me, you don’t want to know,” Natalie patted his arm like he was an innocent child.

  “Allison just got a wonderful present last night, didn’t she?” Trish barked with laughter, and Hayley began snorting as she tried to stifle them.

  “Really, what was it?” Dixon said seriously, and I knew the look on my face only added to Trish’s howling laughter as Hayley broke and joined in.

  Marcus was snickering with Lucas, while Skip had finally stopped choking and was scowling at Lucas for not helping him. Ollie was tidying up his milo mess while trying to hide his grin, and Natalie was just giving Dixon a dumbfounded look while trying not to laugh.

  He just frowned at me, until it dawned on him and his face reddened.

  “Oh,” he said softly before averting his eyes.

  Jesus. Fucking. Christ.

  “Don’t worry, Hayley copped an eyeful this morning,” Trish added, which had Dixon rounding on Natalie in shock before glancing past her at her daughter.

  “Lucas asked me to wake Allison up! I didn’t know they were in bed,” Hayley threw up her hands innocently.

  Dixon’s stunned expression moved to Lucas, who just shrugged.

  “I thought they’d be up by now, guess not.”

  “You guys have a telepathic link!” Dixon pointed an accusing fork at him. “Scar my daughter like that.”

  “Wouldn’t say scar,” Trish said behind a fake cough, which earned her a dark look from Dixon as Natalie stifled soft chuckles.

  “They weren’t doing anything, dad. Just sleeping,” Hayley informed him as I just looked around at everyone in dismay.

  “Naked,” Trish chortled.

  Dixon just rolled his eyes and hung his head, covering his face with one hand in defeat as snickers and chuckles surrounded him.

  “There there, they’re all adults, these things happen,” Natalie assured him as she patted his shoulder and winked at me.

  At least it hadn’t been him who’d walked in.

  The Easter egg hunt after breakfast begun immediately once Lucas cleared the table, and Trish informed us that the winner with the most eggs would win two medium Lindt bunnies.

  I knew I shouldn’t be greedy, I had barely made a dint in the giant one Ollie had gotten me, but you could never have too much chocolate.

  So it was game on.

  Natalie handed us a bunch of ‘baskets’, which were mostly Tupperware containers. A quick twinkle of magic from Lucas though, and they turned into wicker baskets. They’d turn back to their respective forms after the hunt.

  We took off, Dixon included, laughing as we searched the house first.

  Trish agreed to Lucas magicking all the eggs, and since he’d already magicked them all earlier so they wouldn’t melt, he could simply flick his hand and add to that magic.

  So when I found an egg perched behind the PlayStation and went to grab it, it bounced into the air in an attempt to run.

  I cried out as I flailed in my effort to capture it, and Lucas was laughing as he watched on, not partaking in the hunt as he thought he had an unfair advantage with magic.

  Marcus was holding back from flitting, and he paused to watch me scramble to catch the egg as it ran along the floor.

  I managed to catch it, and as soon as my hands closed around it, its legs disappeared.

  I added it to my basket, spying one sitting on the curtain pole, swinging its little legs, carefree.

  He was going to be a hard one.

  I clambered onto the lounge, listening to the laughs from the kitchen as Hayley struggled with her own egg, and Ollie was dashing around in the hall after a few small ones.

  I snatched at the egg, and it shuffled along the pole to no avail as I nabbed it with my second attempt.

  From this position though, I could see a glint of colored foil. I peered down at the cluster of small eggs huddling near the back corner of the lounge.

  I leaped down just as Skip caught one he’d been struggling with in the doorway.

  His eyes met mine as he saw where I was headed, and I squealed as I shot towards the other lounge as he scrambled after me.

  I used both hands to snatch at the eggs, and they scattered in all directions.

  I swept up four of the seven, tossing them into my basket as their legs faded away, and Skip fell to his knees beside me, grabbing at the floor for the others.

  I managed to catch another, leaving two for him, which were proving difficult as they ran around him like mad.

  I bailed, knowing I’d be better off finding others, and I headed for the library.

  I ran into the library, drawing short and grinning as I came upon my uncle on the floor, stretching under the piano as he grunted while a lone egg danced just out of reach.

  “Come here you little fucker,” he growled.

  I snorted at this, and Dixon rolled his head to look at me, a brief wave of panic washing over him as he tried to scramble forward.

  Did he really think I’d steal that one egg from him?

  I just laughed as I headed around the room, checking for eggs.

  Dixon battled with his lone egg as I managed to sweep three small ones up from a bookcase, then heard a faint movement by my guitar, which Skip had bought a stand for and stuck in the corner.

  I headed over, peering around, before I thought better and looked inside my guitar.

  Sure enough, two bigger eggs were huddled inside, with nowhere to run as I reached in carefully behind the strings and caught them.

  “Yes, got ya, ya little bastard,” Dixon whooped as he dragged himself out from under the piano.

  I snorted with laughter as I spied another egg hurtling across the top of the piano, its little legs working overtime before it shot off the piano and ping-ponged off my uncle’s head as he went to stand.

  He growled as he pursued it, chasing it right out of the library, nearly barreling through Marcus, who quickly sidestepped as he smirked with amusement.

  Marcus flitted over to me, winking at me as he inspected my basket.

  “Nice haul so far,” he commented.

  “Same to you.” I nodded at his basket of eggs.

  “Pretty sure there’s more to find in here, friendly challenge? I win, I get a kiss, you win, I give you an egg?” Marcus suggested as he danced his fingers up my arm seductively, making me nearly drop my basket.

  “Deal,” I breathed as I leaned closer. Hell, if I won, I’d be claiming a kiss anyway.

  He snickered at this, but stepped away as he eyed the room.

  A naughty thought swept over me, and I closed my eyes, focusing on my mischief magic and letting it flood out of me.

  A tiny catcall from the bookcase met me, and we both turned just in time to see an egg slide off the top of a book and strut along the edge of the bookcase, swaying itself as if it was a stripper.

  Marcus’ eyes just widened, along with his stupid smile, and I laughed as I shot over.

  “No flitting!” I shouted over my shoulder as I saw his thought before he did it.

  I reached for the egg, but it sprouted two arms and launched off the bookshelf with gleeful sounds.

  It hit the floor, and rolled before standing just as Marcus got close.

  Dammit. He was going to get it.

  The egg turned on him just as he knelt down, and I watched in laughable horror as the egg reached forward and
tore open its foil protection, as if it was flashing Marcus.

  Marcus just blinked before looking up at me in shock.

  “Your magic gave it titties.”

  I burst into snorts of laughter as I fell to my knees and snatched it up, turning it in my hand.

  Sure enough, two chocolate boobs greeted me as it squirmed in my hand.

  I could hear the other three guys roaring with laughter in my head, and I just wiped a stupefied hand down my face before drawing my magic back from it.

  Thankfully, the titties faded too.

  “Well, guess you win,” Marcus said with an adorable half-smile, his eyes still twinkling with hilarity.

  He offered me a red foiled egg from his basket, which I accepted as I stood on my toes to kiss him sweetly.

  He deepened it, pressing my body against his.

  “You guys will lose at this rate,” Ollie snickered from the doorway.

  I pulled back, grinning as Ollie wiggled his basket.

  Damn, he’d found quite a few already.

  “Guess this will have to wait, this is a serious competition after all,” I sighed before giving Marcus a wicked smile.

  He just rolled his eyes but smiled and gave me a brief kiss before pulling away.

  “Could still beat you yet,” he winked.

  I laughed as I took off, dashing after Ollie. Lucas had informed us that all the eggs in the house had been found, so now we were headed outside.

  It took us nearly an hour to find all the eggs outside, and by the time Lucas informed us he could no longer feel the magic on the eggs, meaning they were all gone, we were panting and slowly making our way back to the table on the verandah.

  We counted up our stashes, finding Ollie had the most, meaning he won the two bunnies as well.

  I wiped the sweat from my brow as I laughed at the whole fun affair. We’d really had to work for this chocolate.

  “Best Easter ever,” Hayley laughed as Dixon lounged back in his chair, his chest heaving.

  He’d chased one particularly rambunctious egg around the yard and tripped over, squishing the poor thing and grazing his knees. Trish said the flat egg still counted.

  Natalie came outside with two jugs of chocolate milk she’d made up with a syrup she’d brought, and we all accepted the poured glasses to cool off.

  Natalie chatted with us about their plans for the next few days before heading back to work. They were mostly just relaxing and doing beach stuff and shopping while Trish and Hayley were visiting.

  They’d be heading off soon, and we’d get ourselves sorted for our camping trip too, which I was starting to get quite excited for.

  As I sat slurping my chocolate milk while nibbling on an egg, I couldn’t believe how my life had turned out.

  From being a ridiculous pixie/wolf supe with no control over her magic and no family, to now a banshee with an amazing family and equally amazing mates.

  My eyes wandered over all the happy faces around me, my heart swelling with love and delight.

  I really had struck gold.

  Chapter 19

  I jerked forward as Skip’s beast of a vehicle jostled along the dirt track, and I threw my hands out, finding myself holding onto both Marcus’ and Ollie’s thighs as they clung to the grip handles above the windows.

  We’d driven for a few hours, and I’d even drifted off at one point, leaning on Marcus’ shoulder, tired out from the night before and the egg hunt.

  But man, it had been a wonderful night of bliss and sheer connection the night before. Our bond had gone into overdrive, and my body was a little sore today, from both last night and this morning’s workout, but my soul was content.

  “So where are we going?” I asked again as we lurched over a crest on the dirt track. It was slowly morphing to sand, and the trees were thinning out and that beach grass I recognized was starting to appear.

  “It’s a camping spot we used to go to when we were kids. Lucas’ grandfather used to bring us out here,” Skip explained as we jolted over some rough parts of the road where parts of the track had washed away and left huge ruts.

  Skip carefully traversed the track with his trusty beast, and I found myself enjoying the ride, even if I was squished into the middle seat. At least the air-con was working and keeping us cool.

  “It’s literally right on the edge of the beach, and it’s a warded area too, so magic is allowed. We’ll camp here for tonight, have a relaxing day tomorrow and do some fishing since it’s a great spot to fish,” Lucas said as he grinned back at me. “My grandfather used to bring me here all the time.”

  He showed me a few memories quickly through our bond, and I softened at seeing the trips through his child eyes. His grandfather looked like a kind, sweet man as he showed Lucas how to fish and built sandcastles with him on the beach.

  He had many fond memories with him, but he only showed me a few glimpses before a subtle wave of grief washed through us both and he closed himself off a little.

  His smile softened as he looked at me, his forest green eyes swirling with a little sadness but also gratitude for having those moments.

  I leaned forward, resting a hand on his arm that was sprawled along the back of the front seat, wanting him to know I was here for him.

  ‘I know, Cupcake,’ he murmured.

  We rumbled into the clearing, and Lucas leaned forward as Skip sighed.

  “Looks like its untouched,” Skip said ecstatically as he pulled the cruiser up.

  “I haven’t seen this place for so long,” Marcus murmured as he stared out the window.

  I squeezed his thigh, and he turned to me, a smile playing at his lips as he kissed my cheek.

  I wouldn’t miss the gloomy vampire I’d first met, this new side of him, all cheerful and happy, it was who he really was, all sweet and caring and joyful.

  He rolled his eyes as he listened in, and gave me a peck on the lips before opening his door and climbing out.

  Ollie scrambled out as well, excited to finally be here.

  As I climbed down with Marcus’ help, I could hear the waves crashing just past the tree line.

  “It’s literally right there,” Skip said excitedly as he dashed over.

  We all followed after him, stepping out from our cover of trees to find we were standing at the top of a dune, staring out at the sparkling blue sea.

  Not a single person was in sight as I scanned the length of the beach, which was quite a feat for Easter time.

  They really had stumbled upon a jewel of a spot.

  “We’ll get the tent set up then we can go check out the beach,” Lucas stated.

  “Technically you could just set it up,” Skip smirked.

  “I could, but where’s the true camping spirit in that?” Lucas retorted as he wandered back to the cruiser.

  Skip had informed me while driving that Lucas had magicked his car so that the salty air wouldn’t cause it any issues. Apparently rust could happen or something.

  We headed back, and we got to work setting up the tent. We weren’t going to do the whole ‘Harry Potter’ magical tents this time, so we were setting up a large family tent that they had, and we had our sleeping bags and camping stretchers.

  We all worked together to get the tent up, while Skip worked on putting the poles in it.

  “Jesus, fuck me dead!” Skip cursed as the bendy pole he was trying to slide through some material framing snapped back and just missed his head.

  “Don’t think Jesus will be doing that,” Lucas snickered as he just watched Skip struggle for a bit.

  He finally caved and assisted with a bit of magic to get the pole into place.

  Once we had the tent up, everything else was a breeze. We set the beds up inside, put up the little awning and fold-out table, set up the camping chairs around the little fire pit we’d dug into a patch of sand, and Marcus flitted around happily as he gathered up sticks and such for our fire. We’d even stopped and brought a few bags of wood on the way, which he grabbed out
of the back of the cruiser.

  I settled down into a camp chair as Skip started up the gas stove and set a kettle on it to make some hot drinks now that the afternoon was cooling down. The sea breeze was sweeping over the top of the dune and making my skin prickle as I sunk deeper into my chair.

  Marcus and Ollie headed over the dune to go check out the beach, and I could tell Marcus was racing down to the water to hurl himself in.

  He’d only visited the beach twice since becoming his new state of vampire, but he could never fully enjoy it because there were always people around.

  Now he wasn’t holding back as I peered into his mind, watching as he flitted into the water and splashed around as Ollie stripped down and dived in. He shifted to a dolphin, and I couldn’t help myself as I got up and carried my camp chair to the top of the dune to watch.

  Lucas joined me with his chair, sighing as he plopped down into it, and we both watched as Ollie dove and frolicked with Marcus in the water.

  Marcus was quite visible, being stark white and just in board shorts, his shirt discarded near me on the sand dune.

  The wind whistled through the trees around us, and I brushed the stray strands of hair away from my face as they whipped into my eyes.

  Skip joined us, and I took the moment to quickly redo my ponytail and tighten it so that hair wasn’t flicking into my eyes and bothering me.

  “Here, hot milo,” Skip murmured as he handed me the metal mug.

  “Thanks,” I smiled at him as I took it, appreciating the warmth as the prickles on my skin only increased.

  Skip handed Lucas a hot milo too before turning back.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll get it,” Lucas said as he snapped his fingers.

  A camping chair shot over, landing on the other side of me, and Skip thanked him before collapsing into it and stretching his legs out.

  His own hot drink glided up, and I jumped slightly as something settled on my shoulders, but I relaxed when I realized it was a thin hoodie I’d packed.

  “Thanks,” I murmured as I blew on my hot milo to cool it.

  I grinned as Marcus reached out to catch Ollie’s fin, and Ollie swam around with him, letting him hang on.