11. Crypt

The soundof her skull cracking on the stone is immensely satisfying.

Maven and I appear to be the only ones of that opinion. From Limbo, where I float high above the other legacies, I glance over and catch the tiny smirk on her face that she quickly hides as she gets to her feet, brushes herself off, and ignores Crane and Decimus fussing over her.

Everyone else is either still in shock or shouting. The quintet who just lost their idiotic match has gone pale and sickly at the sight of the blood quickly pooling around her broken head.

"DeLune," the professor says sternly, his brow furrowed as he scans the air as if I"m also about to drop myself from this height.

When Maven sits, with Crane and Decimus sitting between her and Frost, I drift over and take the aisle seat beside her. I"d like to stay unseen longer to continue terrorizing the legacies who are scanning the room in acute panic, but severe pain wracks my bones, and I quickly slip out of Limbo while hiding my grimace. The effects of moving back and forth between planes too often feel far worse in Limbo, and I"m out of reveriumto take the familiar edge off. So, I suppose I"ll be attending this class in the mortal realm.

Gently, I brush some of Maven"s hair away so I can examine where she hit her head, feeling a wave of satisfaction when she doesn"t push my hand away. She doesn"t acknowledge me, either, as if choosing to pretend nothing happened as she watches the flummoxed professor below.

My keeper isn"t bleeding, but I"d still like to resurrect that bitch and kill her again for good measure.

"DeLune," the caster says again at the front of the room.

I look at him. "Problem, Professor?"

"Killing is prohibited while classes are in session."

"Oh, dear me, whatever have I done?" I drawl.

He"s exasperated. Of course, he is. After all, he may be able to punish these legacies, save perhaps Frost, but there is no controlling me. All manner of harsh forms of punishment were attempted when I was younger, but I made sure everyone knew that nothing and no one could discipline me. Whenever they applied pressure, I merely stopped caring or got even.

"Perhaps I should have your keeper clean up your mess alone as punishment," he suggests, raising a brow.

Although the threat doesn"t seem to bother Maven, Decimus growls, and the sharp chill that fills the air tells me Frost is equally annoyed, even if he"s feigning disinterest.

"She hurt our keeper before you explained the classroom rules," Silas points out. "He just responded to the threat. I highly suggest dropping this matter and moving on, Crowley."

Good gods. Now Crane is defending my actions?

This newfound camaraderie is too strange. I much prefer getting his eye to twitch and watching him descend further into madness.

Oh well.

I blow Crane a kiss to try to get a rise out of him, but he ignores me as the professor rubs his face, appearing eager for this class to be over.

"Fine. Just get the body out, someone."

The dead girl"s quintet quickly gets to it, their faces ashen—except one of them, who glares viciously in our direction. They carry the body out, and I take the time to survey the rest of the room. I spot a few quintets side-eying me, but they look away if I look at them directly.

"There will be no more violence, maiming, killing, or, gods forbid, cell phones in this classroom," the professor snaps. "I don"t care that communications are under a magic chokehold, just keep those damn contraptions out of my sight."

"Amen," Maven mutters under her breath, making me laugh quietly.

Crane and Decimus also look amused, and I note that even though he acts bored, Frost"s gaze keeps flicking to our keeper as if her presence draws him as intensely as it calls to me.

Poor, pitiful tosser.

Still, if he ever hurts Maven again, unintentionally or not, I"ll tear him to shreds.

The professor moves on quickly, announcing that for the first two weeks, he will cover all the monsters and creatures we will be fighting at the Divide if we survive until graduation. Typically, I would tune it out and observe Maven to my black heart"s content.

But now, I share a small glance with Crane and Decimus as the professor starts his lecture on Nether creatures. Anything about the Nether is worth learning about twice over because now we know that Maven, against all odds, came from that cesspit.

"Now," the professor begins, looking over the class. "Let"s see how many types of shadow fiends you can list off the tops of your heads."

Immediately, students offer their input. Wraiths, ghouls, the Undead, banshees, phantoms. A tall shifter sitting two rows in front of us raises his hand.

"There are still demons in the Nether, right? Do they get into the Divide?"

The professor nods. "Quite frequently, unfortunately. Many of them find ways to slip into the mortal realm and blend in amongst humans. Not many other full-blooded monsters or shadow fiends can do that—save changelings, perhaps."

Maven huffs so slightly that it"s almost unnoticeable.

Another student raises their hand. "One of my moms died in the Divide, and they told me it was because of a shade. What the fuck is a shade, anyway?"

The professor scratches his bald head, his gaze moving to me briefly. "Ah, yes, well…those are fairly rare, as are wisps. They"re quite dangerous, but they aren"t actually classified as shadow fiends because they are native to Limbo, where they are typically guarded."

"Guarded by who?" the same legacy asks.

When the professor"s gaze slips to me again, I promise him a slow, brutal death with my eyes if he draws any attention to me. The unique nature of my curse isn"t widely known, but he is clearly too in the know for my liking.

He clears his throat and transitions easily, giving a non-answer before moving on, but I notice Maven studying me. She"s sharp, my dark little darling, so I"m not surprised she picked up on that nonverbal exchange.

"How"s your head, love?" I ask quietly, only for her ears.

"Better than hers ended up."

I smile, and my heart stops when she grins back, pure mischief and morbid humor sparkling in her eyes. It"s fast, and she quickly composes herself before tuning back into the professor"s lecture. But I keep staring at her because gods above, every tiny piece of herself that she drip feeds me only fuels the obsession.

I need more—all of her, every haunting puzzle piece, and I must find a way to make her need me just as badly. So badly that she"ll let me into her head and her bed every night.

I pause. There"s a thought. Maven was clearly frustrated with her body"s reactions to physical touch, but phobias are in the psyche. Which, for me, is somewhat malleable. Maybe I could offer her some reprieve from whatever makes her fear skin contact.

Subconscious therapy, if you will.

The idea consumes me until class ends. As students begin rising from their seats, I decide I"ll pull Maven aside to discuss this with her. I also must let her know that her friend"s candy-floss-colored aura was nowhere to be found within Everbound when I searched last night.

She"ll be disappointed, but I can offer her comfort however she likes. I"ve never attempted to comfort someone before outside of weaving pleasant dreams, but I imagine either an orgasm or a random act of violence will cheer her up.

Both things I am more than happy to provide.

But before I can lead her to a private alcove somewhere, a profound silence sweeps across the classroom as Engela Zuma steps through the door, her gaze locking on mine at once. Of all the members of the Immortal Quintet, she"s the one I"ve interacted with the least throughout my life. She motions for me to follow her.

"Uh oh. Someone"s in trouble with Daddy," Decimus mutters. "This can"t be good."

I reach around Maven to flick the shifter"s eyeball hard enough that he yelps before I descend the stairs to see what Engela wants. It"s satisfying how the other legacies part for me, eager to get out of my way.When I reach Engela, she motions for me to follow her down the hall.

I suppose this means I"m about to have another not-so-pleasant chat with her, just as I did during the Matched Ball. She"s the one who had held me up after finding me smoking in one of the school"s hidden alcoves. She"d turned much of my body to stone so she could interrogate me about the peculiarly topsy-turvy state of Melvolin"s office when they"d arrived. She hadn"t mentioned his death but said it looked like my handiwork in there. I"d lied easily, insisting I knew nothing about it but sincerely hoped Melvolin was pissed about the mess, whoever caused it.

As we pass through the halls, I sense slight tremors in Limbo and know it"s because of all the wisps.

Most people don"t understand much about the nature of the little balls of light. They"re ghosts of dreams, echoes of a dead person"s subconscious that linger in Limbo long after the spirits they were once attached to have passed into the Beyond. Wisps are also carrion eaters, which is rather convenient whenever I have a body to dispose of without a trace.

But in large groups, they pose a significant threat to the mortal realm.

All day and all night, I"ve observed more and more wisps pop into existence inside the walls of Everbound. With the no-killing ban lifted, legacies have been whittling down weak competition, and the wisps that remain can"t leave the castle thanks to the powerful wards the Immortal Quintet placed even in Limbo.

It"s only a matter of time before the amount of wisps starts causing trouble for everyone here.

Engela is as taciturn as usual as she takes me to the headmaster"s office, and when the doors close behind us, allof them are here. Including Somnus, who lounges on Melvolin"s sofa while Natalya taps her fingernails against the desk. Iker broods in the corner, his forked tongue flicking in and out as if he"s agitated.

Engela locks the door behind us, and it promptly turns into an indestructible stone under her touch.

"Ah, so this is one of those meetings," I muse. "Lucky me."

At least Melvolin is no longer around to paralyze me with his magic. I detest each monster in this room, but aside from Somnus, Melvolin had been by far the worst.

As always, when we cross paths, Natalya wrinkles her nose as if she has never seen anything so offensive in her nearly thousand years of existence.

"Let"s make this short, mongrel. Duty calls, so you will leave Everbound long enough to clean up the mess."

By mess, she must mean a Limbo-caused massacre that paints them in a bad light. Otherwise, they wouldn"t bother calling me here and demanding that I leave my keeper.

But leaving Maven"s side is out of the question, so I fix the vampyr with a cold smile. "Have your neutered servant take care of it."

Somnus"s lip curls in contempt at my description of him. It"s always a joy getting under his skin. "Don"t speak to her like that, whoreson."

I roll my eyes. "Don"t pretend to give a chimera"s scaly ass for her. I know the truth."

The truth is, Somnus loathes Natalya. Perhaps she cared for him at one point, but after learning of his long history of unfaithfulness and my existence, she threw a tantrum and permanently maimed his wings before she killed my mother.

All my life, I"ve witnessed them make each other miserable.It would be poetically sweet, except it"s mostly obnoxious.

Somnus"s nostrils flare. "Watch your tongue?—"

"Or else what? You"ll kill me?"

Thanks to my curse, he won"t, and he knows it. My smile widens as his face darkens in anger. But Natalya"s voice is cold as she stands, her gaze penetrating.

"Or else I"ll kill your keeper."

My smile fades.

Never before has there been a weakness they could take advantage of. They could twist my arm and break my bones as many times as they liked, but for all the threats and curses, their attempts to command me were as effective as trying to bottle starlight.

But Maven…

I can"t let them anywhere near her, or they may figure out she"s from the Nether. Thank gods that Natalya"s eyes haven"t glowed since I stepped through that door. I can"t have her picking the truth about my keeper straight from my head.

Pushing all thoughts of Maven aside just to be safe, I tuck my hand into my jacket pocket and fiddle with my lighter, wishing I had reverium on hand to take away the aching throb of my joints.

They"re choosing to play hardball, so I make a final attempt—because being parted from my obsession, even to tend to the necessities of my curse, would be torturous. It"s already aggravating to be away from her for the length of this meeting.

"You don"t want me anywhere outside these walls," I warn. "After all, I doubt the Legacy Council sanctioned any of the changes you"ve made at Everbound, let alone the lockdown. They"re already growing wary of your tyrannical ways. I know you love your political games, but what do you suppose they would do if I spilled on your little tantrum?"

My guess that the Legacy Council has no idea they"re here proves to be correct when they all growl and snarl at me. Well, all but Engela, who remains silent as a rock behind me.

Iker blurs to my side faster than I"m prepared for, slamming me against the stone wall hard enough that I taste blood. As a pure monster shifter, he"s far faster than most.

Natalya prowls around Melvolin"s desk like a lioness closing in for the kill. "You dare threaten me, mongrel? When I could snap your weak little keeper"s neck with barely a flick of my wrist?"

I grit my teeth as Iker shoves me against the wall again, his forked tongue flicking up to wet one of his pale yellow eyes. When I slip into Limbo to get away, Somnus is already waiting there and drags me back into the mortal realm, baring his fangs in pure hatred.

I"m strong, but I"m not a pure monster. They are and always have been frustratingly stronger than I am, especially when they"re working together like this.

"Give us permission to kill his little bitch. It would teach this wretch a lesson for once," the monster who fathered me hisses.

I go still at that. Natalya"s lips curl up triumphantly as she slinks to a stop just in front of me, enjoying the sight of me pinned by her quintet members.

"Not yet. Just look how pliant he is with her at our disposal! Now then, Nightmare Prince. If you do as I say, keep your mouth shut, clean up the mess, and return promptly so we can keep watch on you, I give you my word that you won"t return to find your keeper"s head moldering on a spike for all to see. Are we agreed?"

That visual makes my mood quickly veer towards murder, and Limbo starts to seep into this room as it reacts. Natalya just scoffs at the sight of our hair and clothes starting to waft as gravity loosens its hold.

"Agreed," I smile thinly back, even though I"ve fantasized about killing her more times than I can count.

Unfortunately, killing any member of the Immortal Quintet is outside of my wheelhouse. Now and then, highly trained, hired assassins even stronger than myself have tried and failed spectacularly at dethroning the monsters who reign over the Four Houses.

Which makes it even more impressive if Maven did, in fact, kill Melvolin. I"d like to kiss her for ridding the world of him. And if she didn"t kill him, I"d still like to kiss her.

Natalya tuts and pouts at Iker, her favorite. "I don"t believe him."

"Prevent him from speaking, just in case," Iker suggests without missing a beat. "Call it a punishment for daring to threaten you, my sweet Natalya."

I roll my eyes so hard it hurts my brain. The words sweet and Natalya should never be uttered in the same room. To say she"s a bloodsucking, mind-leeching hyena with the emotional intelligence of a screaming, tantrum-throwing toddler would be more accurate but still an understatement.

Her face lights up as she giggles and practically prances back to Melvolin"s desk. I grind my teeth and resist fighting. The more I fight, the more they"ll continue to threaten Maven.

Resigning myself to the fact that I"ll have to be parted from her out of necessity, at least for a couple of days until I can get back, I quickly form another plan. One that will hopefully give my beautiful keeper a semblance of peace at night until I can tend to her nightmares myself. All it will take is nimble fingers and a moment of Somnus being distracted.

That moment comes quickly enough when a very gleeful Natalya returns with a wickedly sharp knife and a vial of brightly glowing liquid. My muscles tense as I recognize it. Liquid bronze. A potion Melvolin perfected long ago and thoroughly enjoyed using on me.

Just as fae are weak to iron, vampires fall to oak, and all types of shifters can"t heal from silver, bronze is every siphon"s weakness. Our accelerated healing is put in a chokehold when bronze is involved.

This is about to hurt like fucking hell.

Though I tell myself to hold still to get this over with quicker, I can"t help instinctively struggling as Engela helps Natalya pry open my mouth to cut out my tongue—and Syntyche"s scythe, it"s painful. Iker and Somnus are still pinning me tightly to the stone wall. Just before Natalya pours Melvolin"s potion into my mouth, I swipe what I need from Somnus"s front suit pocket without his noticing and tuck it up the left sleeve of my leather jacket.

Pickpocketing has always come easy to me.

But then the fucking agonizing liquid gushes into my mouth and down my throat, halting the way my body is trying to mend my tongue, and I momentarily black out from the pain. When I come to, I"m slumped on the floor, coughing up blood. I immediately sense the lack of tongue in my mouth and grimace.

It stings like hell. It also stings that all remaining members of the Immortal Quintet are standing above me, leering, watching me struggle to get to my feet. Natalya giggles and tosses my tongue over her shoulder. Somnus looks like this is the best day he"s had in a long while. I flip him the bird for good measure as I finally stand.

Thanks to the liquid bronze, my tongue is going to regenerate painfully slowly—something siphons can do with missing bones, skin, muscles, and ligaments. I suspect it will take a full two days to recover enough to speak, which is precisely why Natalya did this. She knows I won"t waste time outside of Everbound reporting them to the Legacy Council once I heal, not when I need to return to Maven to make sure she"s safe.

Speaking of which…

I glare at Natalya, willing her to read my mind for once.

Her eyes glow blue just as I push the thought at her. Let me leave a note.

Asking this immortal bitch for any favors sits like acid in my stomach, especially when she giggles and reaches up to pat my head condescendingly.

"A note? How utterly soft you"ve gone over such a weakling!"

I certainly wouldn"t describe myself as soft when I"m thinking of Maven. My stunning keeper makes me hard all the damn time without even being the wiser.

Hearing my thoughts, Natalya wrinkles her face. "I saw her at the ball, and I"d hardly describe that as stunning. But then, there"s no accounting for taste. Except in this case, I suppose it makes sense—she did look rather corpse-like. Like father, like son."

It takes a miraculous level of self-control to keep my thoughts in check. But when miniature fissures in Limbo appear in the room, and everything begins to float, I know I"m dangerously close to letting my fury get the best of me.

Comparing me to Somnus has always been Natalya"s favorite button to push. It"s the one thing that sickens me more than anything.

But I would do anything for my dark little darling, so I ask Natalya again, this time politely.

After Natalya"s eyes stop glowing, they "grant me the privilege" of letting me use Melvolin"s stationery to leave a letter that Engela surprisingly offers to deliver. I write quickly and discreetly slip Somnus"s stolen item into the envelope before sealing it. I then write three more letters addressed to the other members of my quintet.

Because if I"m going to be forced to leave Maven for any amount of time, those clueless wankstains are going to need a reminder of what I"ll do to them if they let our girl come to harm.