13. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve:

~Valerie Contempt~

~ Valerie~

The cave was warm. Sweet mead, and buttery meat with herby cheese and crusty bread left my belly full. I sat against him, listening to the rain fall. It was late, and yet, I didn't want to return to the campus. The last thing I wanted was to peel myself away from Lochlainn. Not as I curled up against his side, head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"Lochlainn, tell me something no one knows about you?" I nuzzled my cheek against his chest, loving the subtle smell of smoke, pepper, freshly cut wood, and rainfall. I threw an arm around his barrel of a chest.

"Hmm, well…" he let out a small chuckle which told me he was about to say some nonsense. "I bet it won't surprise you I enjoy animals and nature."

I snorted, "I said something no one knows about you."

"I'm an open book, little witch, there's very little you don't know about me already." His large hand stroked my back affectionately. A dreamy sigh fell off my lips.

"Did you always want to be a professor?"

"Yes, I guess that makes me rather boring," he chortled, my face bouncing on his belly as he laughed. I couldn't wipe the grin off my face even if I wanted to, not as I heard his belly gurgle happily from being well fed.

"I don't think so. I've always wanted to open an apothecary. Some of us know what we want the moment we learn what it's called. You enjoy teaching; I enjoy making things that help people."

"Hmm, and somehow, you feel you're the villain, don't you?" he teased.

"Hey!" I huffed, shifting to put my chin against his chest. I stared at him, pleased with himself, "We're not here to talk about me."

"Little witch?" He quirked a brow, that large hand brushing up my back till it had ahold of my hair. Lochlainn tugged it once, then gently pulled me up his chest. Our lips met slowly. I melted against him, my fingers curling around his chestnut tendrils. He broke the kiss as I slid under the blanket covering us. I straddled his stomach, hands playing with his hair. Those honey orbs of his studied my face. "I am so betwixt by you, I don't know what of me would even interest you."

"Everything, honestly. What is it that you like to do? Other than chase me and terrorize your TA."

His boisterous laugh filled the cave as he held me to his belly. "Now, there's little else that I love more than giving Kahrina grief and terrorizing you in the woods…well…I do love cooking."

"I could tell," I teased.

"Hmm…" He stared up into the ceiling of the cave. "To be quite honest, I haven't had a lot of down time to enjoy things."

"Well, what's your favorite animal…other than bear!" I jabbed a finger at him.

Lochlainn shook his head, but then kissed the tip of my finger and brought my hands back where they were- in his hair. I relaxed against him, breathing when he breathed. He licked his lips softly, "Ducks, probably."

"Ducks?" I parroted with a slap of disbelief. Then, after a moment, I erupted with giggles, "Of course it's ducks."

"What's wrong with ducks?" He scoffed with faux offense.

"Nothing at all! They're tiny, feathery little creatures that are cute, and…you know, I appreciate that ducks is your answer." I trembled with the bubbling giggles that wouldn't stop.

"And what does my little witch deem appropriate? Hmm? Newt?" He retorted.

"Newts are adorable… slimy little things, but adorable!" I pushed up from his chest to where I was sitting on him. "I wasn't mocking you."

"Neither am I, but now I'm curious what animal is your favorite…other than bears." It was his turn to wiggle his eyebrows at me. I almost fell back down against him as I snickered.

"Mmm, Bears are a more recent favorite, and not to be typical of witches but… cats."

"They are fine, fearsome, furry little fellows. Timeless companions." He ran his palms up my thighs. I caught his eyes drifting down until he was shamelessly roaming all of me. Lochlainn squeezed the meat of my thighs before he cleared his throat. "Your frenzy is returning, little witch."

It wasn't quite a frenzy, but the clench of my insides mixed with the flutter in my belly was plenty. I didn't need to call his bluff. I shifted backward, finding his cock already pressed hard against my backside. A wicked grin crawled on my face as I rocked my hips back, ensuring his cock stroked against my ass.

"I fear my legs are no good for running right now," I purred. Raking my fingers up his chest then right back down, I soaked up every tremble of his body. I pushed up on my knees, grabbing beneath me, I led him to my curls. Teasing him with my wet slit, watching his face for every twitch and helpless melt as he rocked toward me. I gave in as a dreamy sigh escaped his lips. Sinking onto him was the best thing in the world. Slow and steady, I drove onto him till there was no where left to go. A heavy puff of air left my mouth as I did my best with my weak legs. In my defense, he chased me through the woods. But my desire to fuck Lochlainn till there were no more muscles on my bones won over my desire to rest my tired body.

He let me bounce on him for a while. His hands helped where they could, but after a while, we both knew it wasn't enough. He rolled us sharply and sank back into me. I gasped, grabbing onto his arms for support. My druid thrust into me with abandon. With the crackling of the fire, the sound of our passionate kiss, and the rain, I didn't hear the pitter patter of paws. Nor did I hear the whine until the rock rolled open.

I gasped, sinking down into the furs and throwing my hands over my mouth. Lochlainn glanced over his shoulder and froze.

The wolf at the front of the cave, a burnt amber and black fur colored beast, transformed in the dimming campfire light. Randolph popped up, already tying a large cotton wrap around his waist. "Professor, I'm so glad I found you."

"Randolph!" Lochlainn blurted out. He pulled from me, putting himself between me and his RA. Oh no, ooooohhhh no. My body was on fire as I squirmed down under the blankets.

"Professor, there's been an attack."

"What?" Lochlainn scrambled, taking something with him but it wasn't the blanket covering me. "Where?"

"The Grove. Someone's tried to set it ablaze. We need you. Kahrina and I doused the fire before it could go very far…but we did a head count, we can't find Valerie, and it was her room that was set on fire!"

Fuck meeeee. I flinched down under the blankets. Welp.

"Oh," I could hear the regret in Lochlainn's voice.

"Not to worry, Professor, some freshmen said they saw her walking out into the woods and no one remembers her coming back. She's likely out here. We should go find her, though. She's probably in danger!"

I took a second to consider my options. Randolph, for all he knew, caught his professor fucking someone in the woods. I could pretend I wasn't there, wait for Lochlainn to say something…or…fuck it?

Fuck it.

I pulled the blanket down to my collarbone and smiled sheepishly at the baffled RA in front of me. "I don't think we need to worry about me, really. Though, that's unfortunate cause I did really like my room."

"Uh, Professor?" Randolph blinked at me rapidly.

"Randolph, we-we-we can discuss this at The Grove, but we need to investigate how this happened." Lochlainn, one hand to his forehead, the other out like a waving white flag, sighed.

"Well, I mean…uh, Kahrina has a theory?" Randolph's gaze continued to dart between me and the professor. I sat up, wrapping the blanket fully around me. I glanced at Lochlainn, somehow he'd pulled on pants. When our gazes met, he offered the basket to me. I dug in to find one of my sundresses in it. Did this man raid my drawers? Oh, my poor drawers…fuck. If I needed to replace my clothing, textbooks, or more, I'd have to ask my mom for help.

If she found out I needed money, she'd ask why. And there was no point in lying to my mom. Fuck. I pulled the fabric out of the picnic basket. Lochlainn put a hand to Randolph's arm and led him from the cave while I got dressed. The campfire dimmed faster as it was just me and my thoughts in the cave. I tugged the soft cotton over my head. Shadows danced around me and a sweet mint filled the air. I swayed on my weak legs, hands fumbling forward till I touched the cool cavern wall. The campfire died with a hiss as I somehow threaded my arms through the straps of the dress. I blinked rapidly. The smokey haze left me disoriented. Turning slowly, I scanned the thick gray and black, unable to make out more than a few inches in front of my face.

Rain fell harder in fat drops over the top of the stone, lightning cracked out through the entryway and nearly burned through my eyeballs. However, as it flashed the whole cave, I locked eyes with a figure on the other side. They stood straight up and down, long a human pulled like laffy taffy. Too much arm and leg, their torso painfully taunt. Their head was crooked at 90 degrees against the top of the cave. I stared at the spot even as the light left and I was returned to an endless darkness.

"Whoever you are," I whispered, my fingers spreading along the stone behind me for support. "You're picking the wrong fight."

" You keep saying that, but I think you're all bark… and no bite ." Something slammed into the center of my chest. I didn't even have the lungs to scream. It was too fast. Too hard. Too large, it smashed into the center of my chest and knocked all the air out of my chest. My hands flung out to grab it, but all I had was smoke.

I couldn't be sassy and retort, I couldn't back talk, all the spitfire in my body was gone. I gulped down air but my lungs only rattled in response. They were still firmly against my chest, but I couldn't get my flailing arms around them. Tears welled in my eyes.

" You should have let me burn you at the stake. You would have saved yourself so much pain and suffering. And now, a lot more people are going to die, just because you wanted to get in between me and my project. "

I stiffened, swallowing the lump in my throat. It came out as a growl, "Project?"

" You aren't the only one with dreams to supersede their family. "

I took one more rattled breath in, the panic subsiding. Cold, blistering rage bit into my veins as I found my center again. Plants, earth, flowers and roots, the life that connected them all. Their properties and possibilities, what a single drop of their essence could change. Magic slithered down my bones, solidifying my resolve. The hazy black turned to a black cherry as the wraith pinning me to the wall was lit up in my magic. They were unable to suck more air from my lungs, their gaping maw hung ajar. Ruby colored thorns over obsidian branches like that of a haunted thicket. The tips of which dropped into the razor teeth rimmed maw of the wraith and tugged backward. It lashed out but was restrained. Vines and thorns stabbed into its smoke, poisoning it, and turning it physical.

"A necromancer trying to prove themselves to the world," I steadied my breathing, a cruel smirk crawling up on my lips. "How original. You were the person trapping Lochlainn, the one who wanted to gut him in the woods? And then along comes the hag to ruin all your plans."

The wraith hissed at me, lightning cracking through the cave again. I focused behind them on the incorporeal visage of their summoner. They were no longer a horrifying, slender being, but someone around my height. Engulfed in shadow, but they were humanoid in build. I suffered the burning of my retinas to make my petty point. Just as my magic locked on their location, I sent it, my little viper of a hex into the smoke and shadows. After the lightning cleared, there was nothing but inky black for a split second. And in that split second, I started my revenge. "I'm going to find out who you are, and you'll have wished it was Lochlainn who found you first."

" You're all talk. " Their words were warbled, struggling to keep the connection.

"I used to be, but you ruined that when you shattered my image. Now I'm just a bloodthirsty hag… why fight it? Why not just prove." I clenched my fist, the thicket spiraling down their Wraith till it was a prey in a twisted spiderweb. "Them." I slammed my fist out to the right, the thicket turning into a deadly saw blade. The Wraith didn't have time to scream as it was rendered to pieces. "Right."

Light returned to the cave as the stone was shoved open. Lochlainn held a torch aloft, searching for me. "Valerie, are you alright?"

"Just wobbly, all things considered," I chuckled, winking at him.

I couldn't tell my sweet, protective bear about the necromancer. If I did, he'd want to keep me close, watch over me…and if I was about to do what needed to be done, then he couldn't be a part of it. If I wanted to keep Lochlainn, he couldn't know. Let him keep the image of me in his mind…the only person who needed to know what kind of cruel beast I truly was, was the necromancer… but they couldn't hide much longer.

Because they'd given me a clue. A necromancer who needed to prove themselves to their family? They were definitely in their graduating year, someone in power, and from an important lineage.

I hated to admit it, but I was about to commit more than one questionable crime. I needed to get back to my cauldron and do what I do best—make a potion.