Saving Year Three: A Reverse Harem Bully Romance (Grim Reaper Academy Book 3)

by Cara Wylde

  “I bet Patty saved something good for me.”

  That cheered him up. “To the kitchen!”

  CHAPTER TWO

  I saw GC and Pazuzu the next morning, at breakfast. Sure, my father could prohibit me from seeing them on vacation, but there was no way he could control what happened in class and in the dining hall. The VDC students always had classes together now, and at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we all sat at the same long, wooden table. The VDC table.

  I walked into the dining hall and stopped dead in my tracks. Corri almost fell off my shoulder. If I’d been in a better mood, I’d have made a joke about how she needed a safety belt, but I hadn’t stopped abruptly because I was in a good mood. Crassus halted two feet behind me. I must have taken him by surprise, too.

  “What the fuck?!”

  The four long tables were gone. The MDC, RDC, NDC, and VDC students who’d arrived before me were all scattered around the room, each at their own tiny plastic tables. Square and big enough for one tray of food, each table had one plastic chair. The distance between the new tables was considerable. This way, it was nearly impossible for the students to talk to each other while they ate. They could, but they’d have to shout, and that, as I was soon going to learn, would cost them about 50 worth points. The professors ate at their usual table, up on the dais, and Valentine Morningstar occupied the Headmaster’s tall, fancy chair. What a delight!

  “It seems they have redecorated,” Corri said.

  “They? Who’s they? My father has redecorated,” I spat between gritted teeth. I shot him an angry glance, but he just raised his glass of orange juice and smiled at me. It wasn’t enough that he had me followed around twenty-four seven, now he was doing everything in his power to have me completely isolated. Or to have us all completely isolated.

  I grabbed a tray and went to get some food from the open buffet. I wasn’t hungry anymore, but I knew I needed to eat if I wanted to stay strong and healthy. The Violent Death Cabal had PE later, and if I knew my father at all, then I knew to prepare myself for a serious workout. He’d probably changed every professor’s class curriculum by now, including Mrs. Charon’s. Plate filled with pancakes and bacon, I looked around the hall. GC and Pazuzu were each at his own table, facing each other. They didn’t talk, and they didn’t have to. Since I’d started dating them both, they’d developed a strong bond, and they could now communicate via glances, grins, and subtle gestures. There was one table relatively close to theirs that was empty, and I instantly guessed the other VDC guys had saved it for me. Back straight and chin up, I headed over there and claimed it.

  Pazuzu’s intense green eyes fixed me with a gaze that went right to my core. A mix of lust and impatience that made my heart ache… GC waved at me, and I dared to wave back. His eyes were blue one second, and light green the next. His blond curls caught the shy sun rays filtering through the windows and turned them into red gold that framed his handsome face perfectly. I bit the inside of my lip. Oh, how badly I wanted them! My appetite was gone. No, it was transformed. I didn’t crave pancakes anymore. I craved them. GC’s big cock teasing my entrance as I teased Pazuzu with my lips and tongue. I closed my eyes, unsure whether I wanted to deepen the fantasy or chase it away.

  “Are you feeling okay, Mistress?” Corri flew around the table for a minute, then settled next to my plate. She eyed it suspiciously, as if she wanted to make sure the food hadn’t gone bad. But I hadn’t taken a single bite yet, she must have noticed as much. “You look like you’re running a fever.” Right. I was flustered.

  “I’m fine, don’t worry about me.” I pushed the plate closer to her. “Have a pancake. I loaded too many.” But my fingers didn’t release the edges of the plate. I wanted to let go and relax in my chair, but I couldn’t. The more I looked at my gorgeous boyfriends, the more anger seeped into my veins, turning my blood into pure fire. Who was Valentine Morningstar to order me around? To prohibit me from dating who I wanted? He called himself my father, and for the sake of appearances, that was what I called him too, but he wasn’t my father. He’d never been there for me. He had no right…

  I squeezed my fingers around the edge of the plate. In one swift motion, I pushed myself to my feet, grabbed my chair with the other hand, and swung it around, smacking it down right across from where GC was sitting. He jumped in his seat, startled. He looked at me in shock, then stole a glance at the professors’ table. For a moment there, I thought he was going to run away. But he didn’t.

  “Hey there, goddess. Whacha’ up to?”

  “I’m sitting with you.” I motioned at Pazuzu to join us, and after a moment’s hesitation, he did. I could feel Crassus tensing up behind me. Normally, he would have reacted in some way, but my father was there, after all. He didn’t need to react. If Valentine didn’t do anything, then I could sit and eat with my guys. For a minute or two, he didn’t. I shoved two strips of bacon in my mouth and smiled up at them. “Tell me how much you missed me.”

  Pazuzu reached under the table and squeezed my thigh possessively. I melted under his touch. Oh, I wanted more. So much more.

  “You know I missed you more than anything,” he said in a low, sexy voice. I bit down hard on my lower lip. All I wanted to do was to run my fingers through his raven black hair. It reached his shoulders now, and it seemed he wasn’t interested in getting a haircut.

  “I missed you more,” GC said in a whisper.

  I grinned at them. “I got more tattoos. Can’t wait to show them to you.”

  They didn’t have the reaction I expected. Instead of shooting me a string of naughty innuendos, they fell silent. I was getting ready to ask them what was up when I heard shuffling behind me. It wasn’t Crassus, because his black and green uniform didn’t shuffle. I looked up, my heart beating wildly in my chest. Not because I was afraid of Morningstar, but because I was going to confront him, and when it came to confrontation, years of abuse had trained my body to believe that any kind of argument was a good reason to trigger my fight-or-flight response. I squeezed my hands into fists and held my ground, willing my heartbeat to slow down and my bladder to behave.

  “Mila, you arrived so late last night,” Morningstar started in a sweet, calculated tone. “Did you have time to review the new Academy rules?”

  “I’m afraid not. I didn’t have time to visit any of the chapels.” I could only guess these new rules he was talking about were displayed in the Holy Chapel and the Unholy Chapel, probably next to the worth scoreboards.

  He cocked an eyebrow. “Why would you visit the chapels? What’s gotten into you? Religion?” It was such a stupid joke that he didn’t even laugh at it. “They’re right outside. For convenience, I had them displayed at the entrance of each classroom, each professor’s office, at the entrance of the library, and the dining hall. I also had the scoreboards from the chapels taken down, by the way. Now you can all see your worth scores on the boards I had installed right next to the Academy rules.” He smiled in satisfaction. “You’re welcome. You have everything you need in one place, all over the place. Wherever you look, there they are: rules, worth points. Such a relief to always know where you stand, am I right?”

  I blinked. Okay… Well, this couldn’t be that bad. I, for one, had always hated that I had to go all the way to one of the chapels to check my worth score. It had been Headmaster Colin’s way to make the students visit God or Satan once in a while. Unlike Morningstar, he did believe religion had a role to play in our lives. I’d gotten close to Francis that way, but now, thinking back to what I’d discovered about him and the god he worshipped, maybe it would’ve been better if Francis and I had never become friends.

  Speaking of Francis… I looked around and spotted him a few tables away. He was looking at me intently. There was a hint of sadness in his mossy green eyes that I couldn’t explain.

  “And where you stand now, daughter,” Valentine snapped his fingers before my eyes to regain my attention, “Is 50 points less than where you
stood a minute ago.”

  “What?!” I jumped to my feet, the plastic chair rattling as I pushed it away. “You can’t do that!”

  “Yes, I can. Read the rules, Mila. They apply to you, too.”

  “Listen to me,” I hissed in his face. Or tried to. He was so tall that I had to lift myself on my toes to make an impression. “You can’t tell me who I can and can’t date. GC, Pazuzu, and I are a thing. Deal with it.”

  He smirked. “But you are mistaken, Mila. This isn’t personal. I realize that you’re not going to stop seeing them just because I don’t agree to your union, or whatever this is. As much as it pains me to know that my wishes mean nothing to my own daughter, I have made my peace with it.”

  “Then why are you taking my points?”

  “Read the rules, Mila.” He motioned toward our table. “Students are not allowed to gather in groups. Three is a group.”

  I swallowed hard. No, this couldn’t be. Ridiculous! Students weren’t allowed to gather in groups?! What sort of fascist regime was this?

  “No,” I said.

  “Sorry?”

  “No, I’m not leaving this table. I don’t care about your stupid rules. From now on, I will sit with my boyfriends whenever I please. Because you said you’ve made your peace with it.”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose, as if he was dealing with a stubborn creature and losing his patience.

  “If you insist on dating these losers, then at least have the decency to go out with one at a time. A group is a group, and the three of you are forming one right now.” He turned to Paz. “50 points from you, Mr. Eremus.” He pointed at GC. “And 50 points from you, too. Rules are rules.”

  “What the…” I could barely contain myself. Corri flew up on my shoulder and put her tiny hand behind my ear. I gulped and tried to calm down. My breathing was erratic, and I felt like I was getting lightheaded. “Fine.” I grabbed my food, slammed it back on my table, but didn’t sit down. I marched out of the dining hall and looked for the scoreboard and Valentine’s stupid rules.

  There they were. On the wall next to the dining hall door. Everyone’s worth points had been reset to the 100 default at the beginning of the year, but Paz, GC, and I were 50 points down now.

  “Shit.”

  “You father is not joking around.” Corri had flown off my shoulder and was now flapping her wings like mad, making that buzzing noise I hated so much. She was keeping herself in the air, parallel to the set of rules printed and posted next to the scoreboard.

  “Let me see.” I pushed her to the side, and she protested with a tiny screech.

  Grim Reaper Academy

  Rules to Abide By

  1. Curfew is from 8 PM to 7 AM. 20 worth points will be taken from all students caught outside of their rooms during this time.

  2. All parties and celebrations are forbidden.

  3. Students will not gather in groups of three or more. 50 worth points will be taken from all students forming a group.

  4. Students are not allowed to visit other students’ dorm-rooms. 50 worth points will be taken from both the host and the guests.

  5. Students must ask for a permission slip from the Headmaster to visit Salem.

  6. Proper dress and decorum will be maintained at all times.

  7. Any complaints about Grim Reaper Academy and the staff will be made directly to the Headmaster.

  I covered my mouth with both hands. This was bad. There was a curfew now?! The Academy had never had a curfew before. If we wanted to study, we could study in the library all night. No parties and celebrations? Did that mean no Mabon, no Halloween, and no Christmas? What the hell? Why? What had Christmas ever done to Valentine Morningstar?!

  “Don’t gather in groups, don’t go to each other’s rooms,” I whispered. “What are we allowed to do, then?”

  “Study. You’re allowed to study.”

  Valentine had followed me from the dining hall. Of course, he wanted to see my reaction to his stupid ideas.

  “Proper dress and decorum will be maintained at all times,” I read out loud. “So, uniforms day and night. No exceptions. But why?”

  “Have you seen Miss Darkmoor’s choice of clothes when she’s not in uniform? Unacceptable.”

  Sure, Pandora loved her super short skirts. But she was a demoness, for fuck’s sake! And Kitty was a succubus. Of course they were going to dress sexy! It was in their nature.

  “I can’t believe you did this. It’s too much.” I crossed my arms over my chest. His exaggerated rules would make it impossible for me to have any kind of normal contact with my guys. No groups, no spending time in each other’s rooms… What was this? Catholic school? “This is Grim Reaper Academy, father. There are demons, and vampires, and angels, and incubi… and they’re all used to their freedoms. Freedom of speech, freedom of being themselves, freedom of fucking whoever they want. You can’t just waltz in here and do whatever the fuck you please.”

  “Yes, I can.” He straightened his back, his expression turning dark and sour. “Also, language, daughter. Language.”

  “What? Are you going to make a rule about that, too?”

  “Keep this up, and I just might.” He scowled at me, and I scowled at him. Fortunately, he gave up first this time, turned on his heels, and went back inside.

  I sighed deeply and went over the seven rules one more time. Not because I was trying to etch them into my brain, but because I was hoping the words would magically change before my eyes and become something else. Something more palatable. Magic didn’t work that way, though.

  “What are you going to do now, Mistress?”

  Crassus was standing behind me, as usual. I shot him an annoyed glance and tried to remind myself he was just doing his job.

  “Adapt, I guess? Anyway, how is he going to enforce all this bullshit? He doesn’t have eyes everywhere, and the other professors are not on his side.”

  Was that a smile on my Unseelie bodyguard’s face? I stared at him like I was suddenly realizing I must be losing my sight and needed glasses.

  “Is he smiling?” I asked Corri. “Are you smiling, mister?” Not that he was going to answer me.

  “I am.”

  He did! He answered me! I blinked, more confused than ever.

  “And why are you smiling, pray tell?”

  He turned on his heels and walked away. I felt like I was supposed to follow him. He was leading me toward my first class, anyway, so that suited me just fine. But when we reached the corridor where most of the classes were held, I almost tripped over my own feet. Unseelie guardians. At every classroom door. Tall, well-built, dark-haired, ever-so-silent, ever-so-sober fay guardians.

  “Hell no!”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Once the class started, the Unseelie soldier appointed entered the classroom with the professor and stayed guard until it ended. Up in the four towers, there were always two or three guards patrolling the dorm corridors. Crassus was in charge of my floor, of course, since my room was the only one there. Now that he’d actually said two words to me (exactly two, no more and no less), I started to think of him as a living, breathing person. I tried to initiate a conversation a few times after that, but he’d fallen back into his stubborn silence. No matter. The ice had been broken. With a smile and two words. There was no going back, only forward. I was going to crack Crassus the Unseelie no matter how hard a nut he was. It went on my list of goals, right under “retire stupid Morningstar” and “find ways to fuck my boyfriends”. The list was growing every day. With so little freedom, what else was I supposed to do?

  The classes hadn’t changed much from last year. We still had Geography with Mrs. Maat, Rhetoric with Mr. Curio, Anthropology with Mrs. Po, and Psychology with Mason Colin. Honestly, I was surprised my father hadn’t kicked Colin out. The Supernatural Council wouldn’t have protested, I was sure. He’d scared the shit out of them last spring, turning all skeleton-like and all. It was the only clas
s I was looking forward to. But it was on Friday, right before Literature, the last class on our weekly schedule, and until then, I had to suffer through two PE classes – plus one extra, four Geography classes – we were studying pocket universes this year, – and Morningstar’s brand new class – History of the Human Inquisition. My brain did a double take, which didn’t help much, and it never quite recovered from the initial shock. We didn’t even have a textbook. That was how much of a ridiculous Morningstar-invention the subject was.

  “Like, we’re going to learn about the Spanish Inquisition, or something?” I mumbled under my breath as I walked toward class. “How they burned witches at the stake?” I was talking to both Corri and Crassus, my only companions. I saw GC and Paz in class every day but couldn’t interact with them. Our relationship had moved online. We texted our secret group when no one was around. The Headmaster hadn’t confiscated our phones yet, but I wouldn’t have put it past him. Also, I was glad he was so out of touch with the world that he didn’t realize students didn’t need to gather in groups when they could group text. I also had a group with Klaus, Patty, and Klaus’s boyfriend, Joel the merman. Just for shits and giggles. We didn’t usually discuss important matters.

  What bugged me the most was that Francis and I weren’t texting. I would have loved to see how he was doing. Even knowing that he regularly fed young women to his abomination of a god, I still kind of liked him. And Sariel… Oh my God, Sariel! I saw him at breakfast on the first day of school, then at lunch and dinner, and every day after that, too. But I never saw him in class. He wasn’t VDC anymore. He’d been transferred to the Merciful Death Cabal, and he kept to himself. It was a relief, really. Things like these made me even more confused about Valentine Morningstar and his agenda. I would’ve thought he’d expel Sariel. He didn’t. Instead, he’d moved him to the cabal he actually belonged to. Was it possible that my father wasn’t entirely evil? Was it possible that he had a heart and was even willing to show it sometimes? So many questions, but this particular set could wait. All that mattered was that Sariel Gracewing was okay, that he was back at the Academy, and that he still had a chance to become a Grim Reaper.