17. Maven

I wakeand stare at the ceiling for several dazed minutes. Gods, it is remarkably difficult to shake off deep, quality sleep. Who knew?

The totem under my pillow worked. I can"t remember ever going a night without nightmares, and it"s bizarre to wake up without my pulse pounding and terror-induced sweat drying on my forehead. Finally, I yawn and rub my face, rolling over.

A gentle knock sounds on the door of the big bedroom that is now officially mine. "Mayflower? I made breakfast if you want some, but we should go soon."

Right. Classes.

The Immortal Quintet is breathing down all students" necks to ensure there"s no playing hooky so they can keep a close eye on us. The universe was merciful last night, so we weren"t discovered sneaking back after curfew by the Immortal Quintet or their lackeys, but I know that missing class would result in some kind of severe punishment.

But this bed is so damn soft, it might just be worth it.

Have beds always been like this? I have only ever slept out of necessity before, but now I want to pull the covers over my head and return to that sweet, relaxing nothingness.

Then again…today is the day to see if I can break out of the wards and rescue Kenzie. Stasis spells are finicky, and I can"t be sure if the changeling"s spell will last past its death. And after I get Kenzie back, I need to prepare to take out another member of the Immortal Quintet.

Because if I take too long, Amadeus will begin threatening Lillian again.

With a sigh, I pull myself out of heaven and open the door to peer up at Baelfire.

His face breaks into a blinding smile at my sleep-rumpled appearance. "Awe. Good morning, Sleepyhead. You"re so fucking cute."

I open my mouth to inform him that I am many things—a liar, a monster, a stone-cold killer, a convict of the Nether, possibly a sociopath—but I am definitely not cute. Except I forget to say any of that because my eyes drop to his gloriously naked upper half.

The gods might as well have chiseled him from gold.

Is it weird that I want to lick his abs? I"m entirely out of my depth.

Kenzie has way more experience with sexual attraction. She would know if that"s an unusual urge. I"ll ask her about it once I get her back.

Baelfire"s smile grows wicked. "You don"t have to limit yourself to just looking, baby. You wanna expose yourself to more touching, and my body is all yours."

Mine.

Gods, I want that.

Part of me wants to plaster myself against this unfairly sexy dragon shifter and ignore what will follow.

But it"s hard to forget that I spilled my guts to him and Silas yesterday. They know more about my past than anyone else in the mortal world, and it feels fucking strange. What"s even stranger is that they have yet to kick me out of their quintet or report me to the Immortal Quintet.

Maybe...

Maybe they"re serious about wanting me despite everything.

But even though that thought makes my chest feel incredibly warm, it would be too selfish of me to keep them. This has to be temporary because they want to break their curses. Hell, I want to break their curses.

But that can"t happen if I don"t have a heart.

"Nope. Stop it. I can tell you"re about to try pushing me away again," Baelfire growls, leaning down to catch my eye. "How can I prove that I"m not fucking going anywhere, Maven?"

I look at him. Really look at him, without any of my walls up.

"You shouldn"t want me, knowing everything you know. And I assure you, you don"t know everything. If my little sob story yesterday made you feel bad for me, don"t. I"m not the soft-hearted girl I once was. They took my heart, but I chose to become the monster I am now. I"m an extremely all-or-nothing person, and that isn"t going to change. You"ve been warned."

Baelfire examines me for a long moment. "Okay."

"Okay?" I repeat with a frown, feeling like that warranted more of a reply.

He places the softest, warmest kiss on the top of my head. "Yeah. Okay. I"ve been warned."

I tense when one of his big hands cradles my jaw, tilting my face up toward him. His voice lowers, and his golden eyes burn me.

"Here"s my own warning, Maven. You"re my keeper. My mate. You could tell me to swallow a fucking grenade, and I"d do it. But the one thing you will never tell me again is that I shouldn"t want you. You don"t get a say over that. You"re all I want, and that"s not changing, so learn to fucking deal with it."

He lets go and steps away, but the tingling heat of his touch lingering on my skin makes me swallow hard.

"Now, you should really eat something before class because my dragon will lose his shit if I hear your stomach growling. He"s constantly bitching about me not taking good enough care of you. Come on."

Breakfast is a quick affair—sliced tangy fruit inside another new food substance that Silas explains is yogurt. They both watch as I try it, clearly hoping I"ll enjoy it.

I quite literally don"t have the heart to tell them that most food I"ve eaten since coming into the mortal realm has been worlds better than anything I was fed in the Nether. Of course, I like it because it"s not the cold porridge with a side of pickled greens I ate most of the time growing up. They served meat sometimes, too, but after a certain sickening incident, I decided to never eat meat again.

"Well?" Baelfire asks, raising his brows.

"It"s good."

When I hear Silas groan, I realize his attention is pinned on my tongue as I begin licking the spoon clean. He rubs his face, muttering something about another cold shower as he heads down the hall.

Baelfire winks at me and leans forward to lick the rest of the yogurt from my spoon. "Gotta remember you"re surrounded by horny legacies, Mayflower. That poor fucker"s already going insane enough without you trying to seduce us."

"Licking a spoon isn"t seductive."

Or is it? I"ll have to ask Kenzie that, too.

"Tell that to my boner," Bael laughs before offering me his orange juice.

Thirty minutes later, I"m strolling down the hall with them flanking my sides when Everett rounds a corner ahead of us, pausing at the sight of us. His glacial blue eyes zip to me before he quickly looks away with a scowl, straightening his blazer.

"I take it you three ate at the apartment instead of the dining hall. Would"ve been nice to know. I was just about to start looking for your bodies. There"s been a few in Everbound"s halls this morning."

"Did you hear that, Si? Snowflake was worried about us," Bael croons.

Everett rolls his eyes. "Die all you want, but don"t be late to class."

"How professorial of you," Silas snorts as we descend a long flight of stairs. "Speaking of which, why did you return to Everbound as a teacher? Everyone knows you loathed your time here as a student. And you"re hardly an academic."

Everett flips him off, clearly having no intention of answering. I"m only half-listening to their conversation as I watch for other legacies in the hallways we traverse. But as we pass an unfamiliar passageway, I sense that the air is thick with fresh death. Backing up and pausing, I tip my head at the sight before me.

Several mutilated corpses are lined up in a row. As I watch, a door opens, and a faculty member drags another lifeless legacy out to line him up. This corpse has pointed ears. They all do, I realize.

I don"t realize my matches have joined me until Silas swears creatively and mutters, "Of course, they"re going for the fae first. They love that we can"t lie. Those scútráchae."

The faculty member glances up, and her brow furrows. "Please hurry along. You can"t be here."

"What the fuck is going on?" Baelfire demands.

She grimaces. "Things have…escalated. The Immortal Quintet has commenced interrogations among students. These legacies all said things which were found to be, uh…treasonous, so they were executed."

I glance at a nearby corpse which looks like it's been drained of blood. By treasonous, she probably means too honest.

"Executions may only take place with the full vote of the Legacy Council," Everett says coldly.

The faculty member wrings her hands. "Y—yes, Mr. Frost, but…as I said, the situation has escalated. I highly suggest getting out of here before you catch the attention of?—"

"Who do we have here?"

We all turn to face the voice, and I find myself looking up at Somnus DeLune. His black eyes settle on me, and his perpetual sneer deepens into disgust. I keep my poker face perfectly intact.

Silas"s hand settles gently on my waist, eager to get me out of here. "We were just on our way to class."

Somnus ignores him. "If it isn"t his pathetic little slip of a keeper. You"re somehow even less impressive up close. But then, that whoreson deserves to be stuck with something so worthless."

"Are you the whore you"re referring to? Crypt is your son, after all."

Silas tenses, Baelfire casts me a don"t-piss-off-this-guy look, and Everett continues to frostily regard the incubus.

Somnus sneers, showing off his curved fangs. "It was nothing but a few bland pumps in a sub-par cunt, and yet for the rest of time, I"ll be plagued by having that unmanageable abomination, that mistake, referred to as my son. He"s nothing but a punishment sent by the gods themselves."

An influx of emotion swirls in my gut, so sharp and sudden that it takes effort not to sneer back at him. I"m not used to this emotion, but I think I"m…offended. Deeply offended that he would talk about Crypt like this.

Does he verbally abuse his son to his face, too? Has it always been like this for Crypt?

It"s decided. I can"t wait to kill this one. He"s next.

"I would offer you my condolences at having him as a match, but it would be a waste of my breath since a filthy human-born like you can"t possibly survive much longer." He passes by us. "Get to class before I decide to kill all four of you."

The door shuts behind him, the faculty member scampers away, and at the gentle urging of Baelfire, I finally unclench my jaw and follow them down the hall.

"Should I be concerned that Crypt has been gone this long?"

Baelfire snorts. "Wherever his keeper-abandoning ass is, I"m sure he"s fine."

"He"s like a cockroach," Silas agrees, making a sound of distaste. "My parents consistently tried and failed to hunt him down after he killed their keeper and my uncle. The human government hired bounty hunters to go after him two years ago after he slaughtered an entire courtroom of humans, and he was never caught or punished for it. Wherever he"s run off to, he"ll be back. Unfortunately," he adds spitefully.

I knew about the courtroom thing, but hearing that Crypt killed Silas"s family members makes their apparent hatred toward one another much more transparent.

In Fiend Studies, Professor Crowley discusses the Undead, discussing their aversion to sunlight and fire, inability to speak, shocking speed, craving for flesh, etcetera. It"s all shit that I learned firsthand by the time I was seven years old, so I spend most of class plotting how to get Kenzie back.

Class ends, lunch passes as uncomfortably as the day before—except this time, I refuse to touch any mystery foods—and finally, it"s once again time for combat training. All four of us trickle out into the training fields along with dozens of other legacies.

The air is thick with tension. A fair few legacies died during combat training yesterday, so everyone is more on edge than ever.

"Super cheery out here," Baelfire says sarcastically.

"It"s only going to get worse." Silas shoots me a look. "There will be no repeats of what happened yesterday, ima sangfluir. Stay close to us."

I make a noncommittal sound before scanning the jumbled crowd for signs of the real Monica. I need to find out what happened to her. I"m also planning on tracking down Harlow to learn how the hell she was connected to that changeling. Her emphasis isn"t combat, so I"ll have to find her outside classes.

"The coach is late," Everett notes unhappily.

"Maybe they"re still trying to thaw his frozen ass after your stunt yesterday," Bael shrugs.

Everett froze Coach Gallagher? I want to ask why, but then I spot a legacy storming towards us and square my shoulders.

It"s the blond caster asshole who licked me yesterday. I"d hoped he had been picked off by some other legacy during training, but apparently, he"s alive and hasn"t figured out that I"m going to kill him if he gets anywhere near me.

"Oakley! What the fuck was that yesterday? You"re not an asscaster at all, are you?" he demands. "You almost snapped my neck, and I saw Jace"s body. What the fuck did you do to him? What kind of magic was that?"

Nearby legacies are turning their attention to this new scene. Silas steps in front of me, Baelfire moves to my left side, and weirdly, Everett also moves to guard behind me without touching me.

Silas"s voice is deadly. "Walk away, Chase."

The caster, whose name must be Chase, scoffs. "You didn"t see it, Crane. There"s something fucking weird about your keeper. Sierra said she was a germophobic, quiet little asscaster, and at first, she was totally helpless under that paralysis spell but then out of fucking nowhere, she just?—"

"Paralysis spell?" Baelfire repeats, his tone simmering. "Maven, what is he talking about? Did this asshole put a finger on you?"

Chase leers. "I put my whole tongue on her, you huge fucking moron. That"s why I"m saying it makes no sense. If she was so completely powerless, then how did she just?—"

"You licked my mate?" Baelfire roars.

And I mean, he literally roars it. His voice is no longer human-sounding.

I sense an alarming explosion of heat from my left just before Everett tackles me from behind, rolling us both away just as Baelfire loses control and shifts.

Legacies scream and scatter as blue fire erupts around the Decimus—but everything becomes muffled as a thick shield of ice forms out of nowhere, arching over Everett and me to protect us from the nearby flames.

The fact that Everett"s ice can hold up to dragon fire is impressive. I blink up in surprise, finding that I"m lying on the cold ground as he covers me protectively with his body.

Everett"s soft, cool mint scent envelops me in this enclosed space. He keeps his head turned to one side, jaw ticking as if he"s still determined not to look at me—but I can feel his heart crashing inside his chest pressed against mine.

Without thinking, I squirm against him because this moment of proximity has thrown me for a major loop. When I do, the ice elemental groans brokenly.

Oh, shit.

That is a very hard erection pressing into me.

But the moment ends when the ice around us finally starts to melt. Everett swears under his breath, and a second later, the ice is entirely gone. He rolls to his feet and reaches down to pull me up, but now that I have a clear view of what"s going on, I stay on my ass and stare.

Baelfire"s dragon arcs through the air overhead, a glittering, golden masterpiece whose sprawling wings pummel the air, blasting everyone below. The beast lets loose a skull-rattling roar. Where Bael lost control, the field is scorched and smoking. All nearby tufts of snow are melted.

Silas is off to one side of it, and when his scarlet gaze collides with mine, he looks relieved. But my stomach lurches when I realize he didn"t get out of Baelfire"s way fast enough. His clothing is singed, and one of his arms and shoulders is charred and smoldering.

Damn it.I hate seeing him hurt.

Other legacies race back toward the safety of Everbound Castle. But in one graceful loop, the dragon flips around, opens its mouth, and spews molten royal blue fire, leaving a wall of blinding flames that cut off anyone trying to escape.

Then the dragon swoops down, wraps one massive clawed hand around Chase, and launches into the sky, climbing higher and higher. Finally, in a surprisingly smooth movement, the dragon flings the screaming legacy into the air, cranes its long neck, and roasts Chase with a column of brilliant sapphire flames.

And then the dragon looks down, directly at me.

Everett swears as the massive beast tucks its wings and dives, catching the flaming corpse in its mouth. It looks like it"s about to crash into the ground, but at the last moment, those majestic wings fan out so that a tremendous gust of wind blows the hair back from my face.

The ground shakes as Dragon Baelfire lands. I watch its long tail snake back and forth on the charred ground restlessly as it stalks toward me. Even in this form, Baelfire is incredibly muscular. As it stalks closer, I can"t help admiring the wickedly sharp horns that curl around the top of his draconic head like a deadly crown.

Gods. What a beautiful beast.

Everett is putting himself between me and Dragon Baelfire—but I abruptly realize that if Baelfire hates the professor, there"s a good chance his dragon is about to kill him without blinking.

I jump to my feet and move to stand in front of Everett.

"Oakley," he hisses, grabbing my hand to try pulling me back.

But when he touches me, the dragon lets loose another roar unlike any other creature I"ve ever heard. This close, the deafening volume makes my ears ring. When I hear Everett swear violently behind me, I glance over my shoulder and find that he"s clutching one of his ears, which is bleeding.

Silently, I wave at Everett to step back. He glowers at me for a long second before moving back so minutely it would be comedic in any other situation. But that seems enough to appease Baelfire"s dragon because it lowers its large head, opens its mouth, and drops the still-smoldering corpse on the ground before me.

Like a...burnt offering.

Awe.

I peer up at the beautiful creature. "Thanks."

It huffs before nuzzling its snout against my stomach. The dragon is a little overly warm to the touch, but in pure fascination, I run a hand over the smooth, glistening golden scales along its cheek. When I do, the beast makes a sound deep in the back of its throat. At first, I think it"s a growl, but as I listen more, I realize it"s…purring.

All other legacies watching this scene look terrified. Silas is trying to subtly edge closer to me without pissing off the dragon. I can practically feel how tense Everett is behind me.

But I"m smiling.

"So you"re the Grade A alphahole he warned me about?" I laugh quietly so only he can hear. "He obviously just doesn"t know how to handle you. But I bet you"ll be a very good boy for me. Won"t you?"

The dragon nuzzles me more aggressively, the purr in his throat growing louder. The play of light on his golden scales is captivating, his sheer size staggering. But when Everett gets antsy and steps closer again, the beast"s eyes flash open, its pupil narrowing into a slit as it bares its teeth and hisses.

"Fucking oversized lizard," the elemental mutters. "Back away slowly, Oakley. It might be acting like a puppy right now, but everyone read about it in the news five years ago when Baelfire lost control. His dragon slaughtered twenty-four legacies assigned to fight at the Divide under his mother"s command."

"Those legacies were plotting a coup to kill his mother. Brigid Decimus had enough evidence to prove that to the Legacy Council in court," Silas intercedes.

Everett shoots him a fierce glare. "Whose side are you on here? My point is that she shouldn"t be petting the damn thing. It"s deranged."

The dragon puffs a breath of warm air at me playfully, tipping its head as if insisting on my petting the other half of its face. I"ve never had a pet, but I officially wouldn"t mind a dragon.

"Magnificent and deranged. Just my type," I grin.

But then I frown, remembering what Baelfire said about his dragon trying to replace him. I"ve seen Baelfire shift before, and he remained in control. Right now, he"s very clearly not. This is just his inner animal, and I wonder if Baelfire can even hear me right now.

"Hey," I say, getting the dragon"s attention again. I rub my other hand against its snout. Nothing about this touch bothers me—perhaps because of the pleasantly warm scales and the obsessive golden eyes watching my every move as if I"m the highest form of treasure. "Are you going to give me back Baelfire?"

Its head tips as it continues watching me. Its tail curls, slipping between Everett and me to drag me a little closer. In the distance, I hear shouting and know more people are headed toward us.

But I don"t look away from this exquisite creature.

"Let him go," I insist firmly.

This time, it does growl. Scarlet magic flares in Silas"s hands as he prepares for a worst-case scenario, but I just lift my chin, staring it down.

The voices are getting closer, and when Everett looks over and swears something about the Immortal Quintet, I know we"re about to have company of the monster variety.

I arch a brow, deciding to use words that Baelfire"s dragon will probably understand better. "My mate. Give him back. Now."

The dragon"s wings flex, and somehow, it looks incredibly pleased with the endearment. A moment later, the massive beast shrinks and morphs, muscles condensing and bones rearranging until suddenly, Baelfire slumps against me with a violent shudder.

Oh, fuck. He"s heavy.

I suppose it only makes sense with all that muscle.

Silas shoves the shifter off of me with his good arm. Baelfire is disoriented—and very, very naked—as he straightens to get his bearings. His golden skin is beaded with sweat. When his attention finally lands on me, his eyes flare wide in panic.

"Fuck. Fuck. Did I hurt you, baby?" His frantic voice is like gravel.

"Not me." I look pointedly at Silas"s seared arm. It looks painful, so I"m not surprised when he pulls out his crystal and pricks his hand to begin a healing spell on himself. "You put on quite the show."

Baelfire"s expression turns mournful as he looks down at the big lump of charcoal that used to be Chase. He glances behind us at all the legacies standing a far distance off, glaring. Water elementals are working together to put out the fires, casters are trying to heal their burnt friends or matches, and sure enough, Iker Del Mar and a few of his older legacy hirelings are crossing the field toward us.

I admit, the hydra shifter has a decent long-distance glare.

"Shit," Baelfire mumbles.

He turns back to me, not at all focused on the fact that he"s completely nude. I wish I could say the same for myself. It"s taking significant effort not to glance down at his cock.

Baelfire grimaces. "Guess you"ve seen my dark side now. Sorry."

He"s apologizing? Clearly, I"m doing a great job of hiding my newfound love for dragons…and naked dragon shifters.

Focus on his face. No looking down.

I allow my smile to come back. "Don"t be. I thoroughly enjoyed it."

His face lights up. "I love your smile. I"d kill to see it more."

"You just did," I point out.

Bael ducks his head, rubbing his face. "Yeah…not proud of that. But at least that took the edge off my curse. I can finally think straight for the first time in days. Thank the fucking gods."

"Must be nice," Silas drawls bitterly, twisting his arm to heal his bicep.

"Decimus," Iker Del Mar booms as he stops a few yards away. His pale yellow eyes are trained hard and fast on my match, and his forked tongue flicks out repeatedly like an angry twitch. "You will come with me."

The image of all those dead fae in the hallway comes back to me, and I step forward without thinking, ignoring Everett"s hissed protest.

"We still have combat training. You made it clear we"re not to skip classes."

He doesn"t bother sparing me a glance. "Your match will be back in time for training."

All the combat-emphasis legacies who previously ran from Baelfire"s outburst are warily trickling back into the field, their curious eyes darting between our quintet and the immortal shifter. Brooks and his matches are nearby, and he sneers at me, drawing a line across his neck.

Seriously. When will people come up with a more original threat?

"Well?" Del Mar demands impatiently, baring his sharp teeth at Bael.

Baelfire glances at me one more time with lingering worry but follows the hydra and his legacy escorts off the scorched field.