The Mage’s War (Crescent Moon Academy Book 1)

by CY Jones

  I can tell you horror stories of all the beatings she gave me when I didn’t do something right or how I first learned of the oil I use was when Quinn bought it to heal me after she whipped me close to death for not finishing my dinner when Dad was away on a business trip, and I couldn’t get out of bed for three days. Oh and the burns. She has a little control over fire and she loves to use me as a guinea pig to practice on. Ever smelled the smell of burning flesh? It’s extra awful when it’s your own skin. Harley is no better. I rather not think of the horrible things she used to do to me before I learned to defend myself. Her games are more psychological.

  Look at me, going down Nightmare Lane. Today is supposed to be a good day. If Quinn were here, he’d hit me for being a party pooper. I gather my throw and roll it like a burrito before tucking it under my arm. When I leave my room, I can feel eyes on me, but I ignore them. Being stared at is something I have learned to become accustomed to here. As long as they aren’t flinging spells at me, I couldn’t care less if they look at me.

  Outside, I find the perfect field to lay on. I actually stumbled upon it on accident while riding around on one of the dune buggies. It’s not a huge space, but it’s private and away from the academy and it’s prying eyes. Like me, mages can use their familiars to spy on you and familiars come in different species and all shapes and sizes. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone in this place had a cockroach for a familiar. Can you imagine all the secrets they’d learn? And those bastards are hard to kill. Not even the bubonic plague could take them out. Smash one and flush it down the toilet, and they’d just resurrect themselves and crawl out of your drain.

  I can smell the grass as well as the sweet aroma from the bunches of flowers littering the small field. Finding a flat spot, I put my throw down and then lay on top of it on my back and stare up. The sky is clear of clouds tonight and it’s littered with stars. Holding my hands up in the air, I count them then draw imaginary lines and make my own constellations. It’s a fun game and I wish Quinn or my father was here to play it with me.

  “I thought I was the only one who knew about this spot,” a smooth voice says behind me, and I shoot up in an abrupt movement. On silent feet, Kirito walks over and I watch him carefully, braced for a fight. The top ten changes all the time with the founding families and the last time I checked, he was ranked third. I’m no way near ready to challenge him, but I will, to stay alive.

  “Don’t look like that, kitten. I’m not here to hurt you,” he chuckles darkly. His words may say one thing, but his tone implores me to read between the lines.

  “Then why are you here?” I question. I’m curious, my heart is pounding a million beats a second, but I doubt it’s all from fear. Bathed in the moonlight, Kirito looks even hotter than that morning I encountered him in the kitchen.

  “I came here to relax. It was a surprise to stumble upon you. A happy surprise. Do you mind if I join you?” he asks, waving his hand at my throw. Call me crazy, but I scoot over, giving him room to lay beside me.

  He’s quiet. When he sits beside me, I don’t even hear him move until the heat of his body warms my side. I would love to be able to move like him. He has a very assassin like quality to him. Shamefully, I stare at his pretty face, tilted to the sky and taking in the abundance of stars overhead. Those chocolate eyes of his seem to glow in the darkness, his features so much more appetizing up close. I remember the last time I was this close to his body, I nearly kissed him. I wanted to. Still do, but he is a stranger and my competition. I do not know his motives behind seeking me out. I do not know him. Is he content with his ranking? Will he try to stop me if I go after a better one? I’ve seen him with the other heirs and I wonder if they are friends? It would be astonishing if they were. All those egos working together as one.

  “What are you thinking about? I can feel your mind buzzing like little busy bees,” he asks, turning toward me.

  “I’m just curious,” I reply.

  “You know what they say about curiosity and, if I’m not mistaken, you do own a cat.”

  I don’t let him deter me. He’s very good at changing the topic with humor and his wits. “Are you and the mages from the other founding families friends?’’

  “And what would make you think a silly thing like that, kitten?” he whispers and my body shudders at the feel of his warm breath against the sensitive shell of my ear. I’m so aroused right now. My nipples could cut glass, goosebumps dot my skin that have nothing to do with the evening’s cool air blanketing us. No, they are here in response to him and the indescribable pull of insanity I have towards him. An attraction that only the Goddess can explain.

  “I’ve seen you around each other… watching me, watching you. You didn’t look like you hated each other to me.”

  “Does it always have to be a fight with you? Can’t things just be?”

  “Riddles... really?” I squawk, raising a brow. “When did you learn to speak harlequin?” I’m teasing, but judging by the dark spark in his eyes and the way he moves his body even closer, he’s not playing right now. No, he’s being very fucking serious and I should watch out, but my heart turned traitor the moment we met in the kitchen.

  “Ever since I met one, one morning and have not been able to get her out of my head.”

  “Pretty words from a pretty boy.” My voice is husky. My skin hot with need. I want him so badly, my head pounds right along with my betraying heart. The blind leading the blind right off a fucking cliff, hoping to land on his dick.

  “Just pretty? Maybe I should try harder.” That’s the only warning I have before he closes the distance and his lips are on mine in a sweet, yet teasing kiss. When he pulls back, my pupils are blown. I’ve taken a hit of a drug that’s sure to ruin me. Leave me addicted and craving until I’m doing stupid things and betraying all I know just to have another hit.

  “Sin from my lips? O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again.” Reciting Shakespeare before he kisses me again, this time more urgently, and just like the first, I fall into his lips, committing them to memory.

  His palm, flesh on the back of my neck, pushes me closer and I moan into his mouth when he coaxes mine open. This is not a siege or some kind of attack. Like an assassin, he waits patiently for me to open the gate and invite him in, and as soon as I do, he runs straight for its target. When he pulls back again, I’m completely dazed, but to prove I still have some sense about me, I quote, “You kiss by the book.”

  “Ah, sweet kitten, look what you've done to me,” he murmurs against my lips before moving my hand on his crotch. He’s hard and I squeeze the bulge, forcing a loud groan from his sinful lips. “Do that again and I won’t be able to contain myself,” he warns.

  Call me stupid, but I’m already too far into this game without learning which door is the exit, so I squeeze again. He groans in my shoulder before pushing me down on the blanket. He’s quick, moving his hands like an expert all over my body and has me undressed before I can unbutton his shirt and push it past his sculpted shoulders. I run my hands all over his muscled chest. Like my brother, he’s tapered with a swimmer’s build, but his muscles understated when clothed are a work of art exposed. Coiled around, almost completely covering him is a giant dark green and yellow anaconda so life-like, it appears as if it could jump right off his skin and strike at me at any second. Curious, I run my finger lightly across the life-like scales and marvel as they slither and move under the pad of my finger. Its tongue leaves its mouth in a hiss and I’m shocked that I can hear it. Kirito’s eyes change to slits like a reptile and he leans in, giving me a biting kiss.

  “Don’t be afraid; it’s just my familiar.”

  There’s no need for an explanation. I know if he wanted to hurt me, his familiar could have attacked me earlier while my guard was down. I’m not afraid and I tell him so.

  “Kirito, I’m not afraid of you or anything that’s a part of you,” I say referring to his familiar. “It’s insane since I know literally nothing about you, but I
don’t think I can ever be afraid of you.” His eyes widen in awe or maybe it’s shock over my confession. Hell, I’m shocked too by my brutal honesty. This is not what you tell a boy you’re alone with for the first time while making out in a field. It’s too heavy. Too personal.

  His body converges on me, covering my nakedness, and I press into his warmth. One handed, he undoes his jeans while his lips kiss me senseless. Our tongues battle it out against one another while his familiar slithers around his skin, the sensation of its scales sending shivers down my spine. It’s when its thick head leaves his chest and slithers up the valley between my breasts that Kirito slams into my body after mumbling a hasty spell of protection. I cry out, both from him entering me without warning and the foreign sensation of his snake slithering against my skin. He stills, realizing what he did and I kiss him to reassure him I’m fine.

  Lifting my body, I encourage him to move and he complies in a slow sensual rhythm. It’s like his dick was made for me, long enough to hit just the right spots and big enough to leave me a moaning mess. I’m not that experienced, but he is and his strokes leave me digging my nails into the blanket under us, threatening to rip it to shreds. His familiar hisses, and that forked tongue of his caresses my chin as Kirito nibbles on my neck.

  “You’re so fucking tight, a wet dream I want over and over again. Fuck, I love the way my dick feels sliding in and out of you.” Dirty talk is the shit, and with his naughty words, I grow even slicker around him.

  Bracing himself, he grabs my hips and starts to really pound into me. My tits bounce, his snake with them on my skin. My climax builds and I tilt my head, arching my back and scream as the orgasm of my life sneaks up on me, taking me by surprise with its intensity. Holy moly, I have never cum like that before. I’m greedy and want more. I want this to never end and for us to stay just like this forever in sexual bliss.

  Reminding me he’s sharing this experience with us, Kirito’s snake leaves his body and completely coils itself around the both of us, pressing us even closer together as Kirito thrusts into me. Sweat drips down his body, soaking into my skin. It’s just another part of him my body absorbs and steals as its own. My hands play with my pierced nipples and he nudges one out the way so he can suck on them too. With his warm mouth on my boob, I’m completely incoherent. My breasts have always been extra sensitive, especially now when his rough tongue plays with the barbell going through my nipple, causing the bells on the ends to rattle.

  I cum again, even harder than the first time. The orgasm sending a spasm of tingles down my spine. When his grip tightens on my hip, he angles himself so that he can push himself deeper inside me until I can’t tell where he starts or I end. I’m a panting, moaning mess, completely and utterly ruined. Kirio has me fully under his sex spell. I want to be his disciple, fall to my knees and worship him so I can feel his cock inside me for all time. I’m now one of those silly girls who got dicked down so good, that they have become hooked. Addicted. I’m addicted to Kirito’s dick. Fuck rehab, I’d rather die with him inside me. With a roar, he cums, muffling the sound against my breast as he shoots a part of himself deep inside me.

  Rolling off me, we’re both panting, breathing hard from our excursion. My chest rises and falls rapidly and his familiar moves to lay its head on my breast, resting it there like I’m its own personal pillow. I turn to look at it, marveling at his size. Now, since he’s not hidden on Kirito’s skin, the sucker is huge. Like one of those you’d see in pictures after having eaten a fully grown adult. I should be afraid, but like I told Kirito earlier, I’m not.

  “Razz likes you,” Kirito comments.

  “How can you tell?” I ask, running a finger up and down the snake’s big head.

  “He’s never came off my skin durning sex like that before, and if he didn’t care for you, I’m sure he would have bitten you or ate you by now.”

  “Humm,” I hum. “Good thing he likes me then. I rather not be a giant lump in his body for however long it takes him to digest me,” I muse.

  “No, that’s not a fitting death for you at all,” he smiles, playing along. When he sits up, Razz’s eyes open and he slithers back to his chest and the tattoo reappears, this time the head of the snake is looking directly at me with glowing red eyes.

  “Does the tattoo print on your body wherever he lays?” I ask, curious.

  “Yeah, why?”

  “So if he were to lie on your dick, would you have a tattoo there too?” I blush when I say this, but not him. Instead, his eyes fill with heat.

  “Yess,” he hisses with slit eyes and a forked tongue just like his snake. Reaching over, he pulls me on top of him. This time, I ride him under the blanket of stars with his hands groping my tits, giving his familiar quite the show. I’m definitely addicted, but I’m okay with that.

  I don’t know what time it is when I finally make it back to my room. Kirito must have fucked me a dozen times out in that field. My thighs hurt and I’m sore in a good way. Completely satisfied that the long drought I was in is finally over. Maybe Kirito and I can make this a lengthy affair. At least until we get tired of one another. Make love not war.

  When I’m in the shower, I can’t help replaying in my mind each time he fucked me as the warm spray of the water hits my sensitive skin. Too tired to fully dress in sleep attire, I throw on an old oversize t-shirt that I think belongs to Quinn judging its size and nothing else, then I practically collapse into my bed. I’m out like a light before I can even count to one.

  Chapter 12

  Quinn

  “Is this the best you got?” I roar as my opponent falls dead to my feet. I kick him, pissed he didn’t put up more of a challenge. This whole plan to ambush me was his idea after all. He could at least have made it worth my while. I made sure to save him for last as I cut through his lackeys under the impression I was going to get the fight of my life. In fact, now that it’s all over, I’m more than pissed the fuck off over the disappointment. I’m fucking livid.

  “I-could-have-spent-quality-time-with-my-sister.” Each word is spaced out in time with my boot as I go to town stomping on his prone body. He’s not getting back up, but I wish he would, just so I can kill him again.

  Turning, I catch Marcel pulling a mage in two with his bare hands like he’s made of paper. He’s a beast. His strength magic is unlike anything I have ever seen before. There are bodies littered everywhere. A lot of mages lost their lives tonight because of Torvon’s high ambitions and his ridiculously executed plan. I knew he was coming after me. It’s no secret he hasn’t been content with his current ranking of number two. He’s been going after Cayden for ages, pissed at me for being able to do what he could not. His plan had its merits, it was just poorly executed. He did not take in account all of the variables.

  For the exception of Marcel, he was able to convince and gather together the other eight top ranking mages and their lackeys. After dropping off the gift to my sister’s dorm, they ambushed me on the way back and with their combined magic, were able to cut me off from my own crew. Until my people could break through their magical barrier, I was on my own and maybe if I didn’t have so much to fight for, to live for, they would have succeeded, but that’s the thing about having someone. To have the will to live for someone other than yourself. The strength you get is absolute. It gives you the power to do the impossible. For her, my angel pie, I annihilated those stupid enough to oppose me. When the barrier around the field finally came down, I had already killed all the ranking mages and two of their minions. It didn’t take my people long to finish off the rest as they were nothing but lackeys.

  “Are you hurt?” Marcel asks. He’s still breathing hard, just coming down from the killing haze. If he’s asking about my well-being, I must look a sight. Blood runs down the side of my face and my knuckles are bruised and bloody. My clothes are ripped and I’m covered in more blood than I would normally be after a fight. Joker is inside my chest, still simmering and practically foaming at the mouth for more viol
ence and destruction. Kudos for him. I don’t even know how I’m still standing, having depleted myself well past my reserves. I need to rest and replenish my mana before I topple over and pass out and have the decision taken from me.

  “I’ll be fine. Nothing a little rest won’t heal. I’m going to my sister’s dorm to keep an eye out on her. After their failed little coup, who knows what they’ll do next.” I walk away, waving off any objections. It might be dumb to walk over to the dark mages territory in this state, but I can’t leave her alone tonight. Not after this.

  It’s a miracle I make it to the showers. I stay under the spray long enough to rinse the blood off my body. If I go to her room bloodied, she’ll have a conniption fit. The bruises can’t be helped, but at least I no longer look like the prom scene in Carrie. Grabbing onto the dregs of my magic, I make it safely to her room. Her wards wash over me, but they let me in like they did earlier, this time with less of a headache. I have to commend her warding. I don’t think even the headmaster can break into here. She’s sound asleep, flailed over her bed in nothing but one of my shirts. It’s thin and I can clearly see the outline of her dark nipples. A rush of heat washes over me like her wards and I close my eyes, gathering control of myself, pushing Joker back. He’s a possessive bastard and thinks of angel pie as his. Ever since we learned the truth about her, our feelings changed past a brother-sister affection. At least it did for me, she’s still clueless. Left in the dark without a flashlight.

  With my body under control, I strip down to my boxers and pull her toward me as I climb into the bed. Her bottom is bare and her skin is warm as she settles into me. Even deep in sleep she’ll always seek me out. Our connection is indescribable... indestructible. Nothing can break us. I inhale her scent, my lips brushing over the sensitive skin where her neck and shoulder meet. Mine, Joker hisses in my head and he bites down gently on her soft skin. In her sleep, she moans and reaches out for a strand of my hair, coiling it around her finger. It’s because of her why I never cut it, even though it can be bothersome at times. She loves my hair and I love making her happy. The engagement bell I left her catches my eye and I growl, happy she’s wearing it. With care, it’s braided into her hair, tinkling to my tune. My heart is content, and for now, we are safe. Killing all those people made it so. “I love you, angel pie,” I whisper before sleep takes me prisoner.