22. Maven

Fresh-fallensnow crunches under my boots as I walk into Halfton at two in the morning. It took more of my magic reserve than anticipated to break out of Everbound"s wards. But so far, none of the Immortal Quintet or their henchmen have jumped from the shadows and attempted to kill me.

Which is disappointing.

But at least it means I can get Kenzie back quickly.

A thick, ominous chill hangs in the wintry night air as I stroll down the middle of Main Street toward the inn at the very end of the small town. The street lights are dim. The only humans who might be awake in Halfton would be on the other side of town, but otherwise, all humans are resting in their beds in this sleepy little town.

Occasional flurries of snow fall while the breeze rustles dead tree branches. Sinister-sounding wind chimes hanging outside dark storefronts toll softly. The ambiance is so eerie it makes me smile.

And then I sigh, wishing my quintet was here with me. Gods, I"m such an idiot for them.

But it"s safer for them that I"m alone tonight to get Kenzie.

I pass by a cemetery before finally reaching the Black Wing Inn. The massive brick building was probably built a hundred years ago, and the owners haven"t renovated since then. A broken porch swing hangs crookedly beside the front door, creaking loudly whenever the cold wind blows. None of the lights are on in the three-story building. A feral calico cat hisses when it sees me and hides in the nearest bushes.

Charming.

Quick and silent as a shadow, I pick the lock of the inn"s front door and slip inside, ascending the stairs until I finally stop at Room 17. Holding my breath, I use a simple common magic unlocking spell, step inside, and turn on the light to find that?—

Thank the fucking universe.

Kenzie lays on the bed in suspended animation, paused in time, staring sightlessly at the ceiling while pale green light shimmers around her from the stasis spell.

Holding my hands over her, I draw from what little remains of my magic, whispering various incantations until, finally, one of them clicks.

The changeling"s lingering spell shatters. Kenzie gasps and scrambles back on the bed, her blue eyes wild and disoriented as she grabs the nearest pillow and holds it like a weapon.

"Unless you plan on asphyxiating me with that, it"s useless."

Kenzie blinks, focusing on me. For a moment, my throat tightens painfully as I wait to see whether she"ll remember me or not. She might be looking at a total stranger. The changeling was feeding on her memories, so there"s a good chance that she has no idea who I?—

"Maven!"

I"m yanked onto the bed, and Kenzie sobs into my shoulder as she hugs me tight, her body shaking. I shut my eyes, relieved that she didn"t forget me.

It"s still fucking uncomfortable to be around someone who"s crying. Still, I ignore the apprehension dancing along my spine and the cold sweat that starts to prickle my skin to hug her back.

"O—oh, s—sorry," she hiccups, pulling back and mopping at her face. "I know you don"t like touching. I didn"t mean to grab you like that. I was just so relieved to see you and—and, oh my gods, there was a ch—changeling who looked just like Harlow, and it was inside my fucking head and…I"m sorry, I know you can"t stand crying, but I just?—"

Determined to comfort her even if it feels entirely unnatural to me, I re-wrap her in an awkward hug and clench my jaw against the way my nerves tighten in horror at all this extended contact.

"Cry if it helps. I don"t mind."

Kenzie takes me up on the offer and cries for another couple of minutes, mourning her lost memories. She finally pulls away and swipes at her eyes again. Her face is splotchy, but she straightens and blows her wild, pale curls out of her face like she"s determined to move on.

"So, um…how long have I been here?"

"A few days. In stasis."

Her lower lip trembles. "And my quintet? Are they?—"

"They"re safe," I assure her.

I"ve kept my eye out for them at the dining hall and around the castle, and they haven"t been hurt or picked off. It helps that their emphasis isn"t combat, and they"re not a highly ranked quintet, so they don"t make for a large target compared to many others.

"I remember them, but…I can"t remember much else. I can"t remember my childhood at all." Kenzie"s eyes water again, and she swallows hard. "It"s like I know what"s happened over the last year or so, but anything before that…"

I keep my voice gentle. "Changelings feed on memories."

"But can"t I get them back?"

I shake my head, wishing I could offer more comfort.

"That stupid fucking bitch," she huffs, wiping away more tears. "If I could shift, I"d rip its stupid fake face off."

"If it"s any consolation, I already killed it. After some mild torture."

Too mild, in my opinion.

Kenzie pauses. "Huh. Actually…that kind of does make me feel better. Is that bad of me?"

"In my book, not even remotely." Then I pause. "We need to get back to the university immediately. But first, you should know things changed while you were under."

Kenzie listens with wide eyes as I quickly explain the precarious situation at Everbound, including the hired legacies keeping an eye on the grad students and the Immortal Quintet"s presence. I don"t explain why they"re there, but I add that they"ve been killing off students.

When I"m done, she takes a moment to absorb all of it. Then she frowns. "Okay, but did anything else happen while I was a stupid snack for that changeling bitch?"

Anything else? "Is the Immortal Quintet hijacking Everbound not enough for you?"

"I mean, that sucks, but did anything happen with your guys?"

"That is such a Kenzie question," I inform her.

"And that is such a Maven non-answer," she shoots back. "Hello? I just went through something really fucking traumatic. The least you could do for me is offer some steamy, nitty gritty relationship details to take my mind off things and make me feel better!"

I snort and stand from the bed, looking around the room for anything else the changeling might"ve left behind, but it"s empty. "I promise we"ll talk more, but later. We need to get back through Everbound"s wards well before dawn."

Kenzie tries to stand but slumps back with a pained grimace. "Ugh, I feel like shit. Hang on, do I look like shit? Oh, gods, I don"t want to see my quintet if I look gross. I mean, I desperately want to see them...but I want to be my typical, unbelievably sexy self when I do so they won"t be too concerned about me. I mean, I"m supposed to be their brave leader, and we"re all still in that honeymoon phase, so I don"t want to ruin it all by looking like one of the Undead when I return?—"

"Kenzie."

"Right, sorry. Okay, I hereby put my vanity on hold for at least an hour. Here I go."

I try to ignore the way my anxiety spikes as I let her lean on me while we quietly leave the inn and make our way down the street. But soon, I have to step away while she braces herself on a tree so I can swallow down the rising bile and get a grip.

Stupid fucking body. It didn"t seem this bad when I was with Baelfire earlier, so why now?

I"m considering using a forbidden transportation spell to get Kenzie just outside of Everbound"s wards when, abruptly, all of my senses fly into high alert. After years of honing my instincts in the Nether, my senses developed a hair-trigger response to shadow fiends. I can sense whenever they"re nearby…

Like I do right now.

I turn in a circle, searching for any sign of the impending threat.

"May?" Kenzie whispers. What"s going on? What are you?—"

"Shh."

For another moment, we stand in silence…until I catch the slightest movement in my periphery, near the cemetery I passed earlier. Under the faint light of the waning moon, I can just make out a hulking humanoid figure hunched over what I can only assume is one of the fresher graves.

A ghoul.

That particular kind of shadow fiend is common in the Nether. They feed on newly deceased, unanimated corpses. While they"re fast and dangerous when angry, they rarely make it past the legacies guarding the Divide due to their unintelligent nature.

At first, I think it"s odd to see one here in Halfton so far from the Divide. But then I remember kneeling on the stone floor, playing the part of the obedient, subservient weapon as Amadeus sat on his macabre throne, explaining his plan.

With each member of the Four Houses you dispose of, our foothold in the mortal realm will grow. For it is their life force holding us back, nothing more. I will track your progress according to how weak their precious Divide becomes. End them. That is your purpose, my daughter. And when you have ended each of those fools…

I shake my head to bring me back to here and now. Of course. Since Hearst"s death, there must have been far more surges and far more escaped shadow fiends than ever. The Legacy Council and all other legacies must have their hands full with that—but obviously, this ghoul slipped away unharmed to feed on dead humans.

Kenzie sees where I"m looking and inhales sharply. "Oh, my gods. Is that what I think it is?"

"Yes. But don"t worry. It will ignore the living."

The ghoul straightens to its full ten-foot height and starts sniffing the air, which makes Kenzie make a strangled sound.

"You sure about that? Because it seems like it"s scenting us!" she hisses, backing away.

Not us. Just me. Since, strictly speaking, I"m not entirely part of the living anymore.

Glancing over my shoulder at her, I offer a tiny smile. "I"m going to lure it away from town so it doesn"t linger in Halfton and hurt humans. Stay here."

Kenzie scowls. "Um, May, please don"t take this the wrong way, but…you"re an asscaster. My absolute favorite asscaster of all time, but still, that is a fucking ghoul, and there is no way I"m about to let you deal with that thing by yourself. I"m helping."

"You"re weak right now," I point out quietly.

She puts her hands on her hips. "Excuse me, did I stutter? Just tell me how to help, my overzealous little monk savior."

My lips twitch. I"ve missed her. And even though I work best alone, it can"t hurt to have her help ever so slightly.

"Fine. But follow my instructions exactly."

"Roger that."

Five minutes later, I approach the cemetery where the ghoul has returned to digging up a grave. Luck is on my side tonight, and the wind is blowing in the perfect direction, so when I"m standing at the fringes of the forest outside of Halfton"s cemetery, the ghoul is downwind from me. I reach into a concealed pocket where my favorite adamantine dagger awaits me. Baelfire gave it back to me before I left the castle, but not before pleading with me to not use it in front of anyone who could trace it back to where I come from.

As soon as the wind blows and it catches my scent, the shadow fiend straightens, dropping whatever it had in its mouth. It turns to look directly at me, its tusks protruding from its hideous mouth. It takes one step in my direction, then another.

Then it bolts toward me.

Game on.

Turning, I take off into the forest as adrenaline pumps through me. Darting around trees and jumping over a small creek, I head toward Everbound. I"ll have to kill this thing before I get anywhere near the school, or it might be sensed by the magic wards.

I"m fast over short distances, even faster than shifters on a good day. That was something Amadeus"s chief necromancer, Dagon, had insisted on perfecting when they were altering the fabric of my being. I"m patterned after a monster that existed long ago—only it was slower and less efficient.

I"m the experimental new and improved version.

Just as we planned, I climb swiftly into a tree just as Kenzie darts out from another place in the woods, distracting the ghoul. Though ghouls don"t usually pose a danger to the living because they don"t see them as food, they get distracted easily.

As soon as the shadow fiend is turning toward her, I drop from the tree branches, straddling its shoulders just as I drive my adamantine dagger through its skull—twice, then three times. It roars and flings me off, and I slam into a tree with a grunt. That"ll leave a bruise.

Kenzie dodges when the fiend launches toward her. Then the creature crumbles to the ground, twitching a few times while the power of the adamantine works its way through the creature"s system. It finally goes slack, its veins bulging through purplish skin.

I feel the exhilarating rush of power cloud my veins as I brush myself off and walk over to yank my dagger out of its skull.

Good old Pierce.

Kenzie watches me with wide eyes as I wipe my blade clean on the mane-like tuft of fur around the dead ghoul"s neck. "So, um…you said you were raised by humans."

"Actually, I didn"t. You assumed it."

"Huh. I guess that"s true." She makes a face at the dead shadow fiend beside us. "And you never ever corrected me, but now I get the feeling that"s not right. I mean, you were fast, fast. And this ugly thing didn"t scare you at all."

"They look far worse than they are." I turn to go. "Come on."

"Hey, May?"

The vulnerability in her voice makes me pause.

"You can trust me, you know. With whatever. Like, I"m not going to go blabbing to anyone about anything you tell me about your past. Not even my quintet. You"re like a sister to me."

I tuck my dagger away again and turn to face her.

"I know."

And I do know. Kenzie is like Lillian, and Lillian would die for me if I let her. Which is really damn annoying, considering how I revive in the blink of an eye. But then, I understand since I would do the same even if I couldn"t revive.

"Thank you for the dress, by the way."

Kenzie"s face lights up. "You actually wore it? Yay! Oh my gods, I can"t wait to see the pictures!"

Oops. "Right. Pictures..."

She gasps in theatrical outrage. "You seriously didn"t take any pictures for me? Maven Whatever-Your-Middle-Name-Is Oakley, you"re in so much fucking trouble. Once we survive all the weird stuff happening at Everbound, I demand you get dressed up in that again so I can take pictures retroactively and pretend I was there the first time, okay?"

I grimace. "We"ll have to get another dress. My guys ripped that one."

One second passes. Then two. Then she lets out a shrill, giddy shriek so ear-splitting that I flinch, glancing around for any other threats she may have just alerted to our position.

"Yes! I fucking knew it! They"re your guys, and you totally drove them wild with how gorgeous you looked in that dress until they couldn"t take it anymore! Did they rip it off you and ravish you right in the middle of the dance floor? Have you been having wild group sex out the wazoo ever since? Tell me everything. Everything."

I fight a smile and roll my eyes as we continue through the forest. "Tomorrow. Tonight, you need to rest and comfort your quintet because they think you"ve been dead for days."

That sobers her up immediately. "They have? Oh, gods. I can"t wait to see them."

"Good. Then you won"t mind if I use some magic to transport us there?"

Kenzie blinks at me in surprise, smoothing her pale curls away from her face. "You can do that? I thought…I mean, you were supposed to be an atypical caster before, but now I"m starting to doubt everything I know about you, May. Everything except the fact that you"re my bestie," she corrects with a wink. "Sure. Transport me away, mysterious little no-longer-a-virgin."

I smirk. "Be warned. Transportation magic is a bitch."

"Nah, I"m sure I"ll be totally fine."

Kenzie is not totally fine.

The moment we appeared outside of Everbound"s wards, she keeled over and vomited, apologizing in between gagging and groaning. I felt bad enough for her that I awkwardly patted her shoulder while explaining that her system is probably particularly sensitive after coming out of a stasis spell.

I used up almost the rest of my magic reserve slipping back through the wards, and Kenzie was too queasy and dizzy to even ask how I managed it. Now, I"m supporting one side of her as we hide in one of Everbound Castle"s many alcoves, waiting for one of the Immortal Quintet"s hired legacies to walk past on their nightly patrol.

As soon as their footsteps fade, I peek around the corner to double-check before we move down the hall, turn a corner, and stop in front of her quintet apartment. I don"t want to knock because that will alert any nearby lackeys about us being here, so I mouth a quick goodnight to Kenzie before she slips through the door.

I turn and move on through the halls, quiet as a shadow once again. It"s beyond relieving that she"s alive and safe with her quintet.

Not that Everbound is the safest place for legacies in general right now, but still. If the Nether has grown stronger after Hearst"s death, I"m sure things have grown worse for legacies outside the wards.

Exhaustion weighs heavily on my eyelids as I pause at the end of one particularly dark hallway to listen for anyone on patrol. Depleting my magic like that and the late hour means I"ll probably be tired tomorrow, too. But a small smile curls my lips as I remember that at least I won"t be waking up in a cold sweat due to nightmares.

I wonder where Crypt got that totem, anyway.

As if my thoughts summoned him, my pulse triples when that alluringly dark presence tickles at the edge of my awareness. I halt and turn around, expecting him to step out of Limbo any moment.

He doesn"t, which makes me frown.Is he not in this hallway after all? Did I imagine it?

"Crypt?" I whisper.

A hand goes around my throat, and I"m slammed against the stone wall, the air knocking from my lungs. A vampire hireling hisses down at me, barely visible in this unlit hall.

"What"s this? A student breaking curfew?" she asks, baring her fangs threateningly. "I"ll be taking you straight to?—"

Before she can finish speaking, something blurs into existence beside us. There"s a flash of silver, and the vampire vanishes before she can even cry out. I blink rapidly as I realize that the flash of silver was a blade of some kind because the vampire"s hands didn"t vanish. They fall away from my neck, flopping onto the marble floor.

My lips curl up.

That was the work of my Nightmare Prince. I still sense him nearby, so I just wait.

Finally, he emerges in front of me in the darkness, kicking the hands aside before reaching out to twist his fingers through the ends of my ponytail. I can"t see him well because of how dark it is, but I"m beaming now.

"You"re back."

"You"re smiling," he rasps. "You"ve no idea how much I"ve missed your face, darling."

"Just my face?"

Crypt moves closer, and I feel his warm breath against my lips, but he"s careful not to touch me. "All of you. Every beautifully broken piece that completes whatever is left of my soul. Tell me, were you harmed at all during my absence?"

I squint, trying to make out his face better. Is that…

"Do you have a black eye?"

He ignores my question and gently brushes aside some of my hair to check my neck, where the vampire"s harsh grip probably left a mark. Of course, the darkness isn"t impeding this incubus"s vision like it is mine.

But who the fuck cares if my neck is bruised because now I"m positive that he"s missing an ear.

Gritting my teeth, I risk the odds of another hireling finding us and raise my hand to call up a common magic light spell. As soon as I do, I swear viciously.

Crypt is missing an ear. He does have a black eye. In fact, he looks like he just went through hell. His clothes, including his leather jacket, are ripped and burnt, and bruises darken one side of his jaw and cheekbone. He"s also hiding one hand behind his back, which means he"s trying to hide another injury from me.

He"s a siphon, and they have accelerated healing and regenerative abilities. That means if he looks like this now, he must have looked far worse earlier.

When I give him a silently furious look, he sighs and looks away.

"I was going to stay in Limbo and see you safely back to the apartment without you seeing me like this, but that vampire chose death by touching you."

Scowling, I reach behind him and pull his hand forward. His hand is extremely burnt, to the point that I can count bones. If he were human, it would probably need amputation—and it"s healing far too slowly.

Why do my matches keep getting hurt?

I fucking hate it.

I"m so mad I can"t even form words as I put out the light spell and grab Crypt"s unburned hand, marching toward the quintet apartment. He wisely says nothing, but I know we"re both checking corners for any signs of more legacies patrolling for students.

As soon as we step through the front door, Baelfire leaps up from the couch, relief shining on his handsome face.

"Thank the fucking gods you"re—oh, yikes. Crypt looks like shit."

"I noticed," I snap, the raw fury breaking my voice. Then I pause when I see Silas asleep on the couch in the nearby TV room. A blanket is haphazardly tossed over him. "Why is he sleeping here? I thought his paranoia prevented that."

Baelfire looks at me, then Silas, then back at me like he"s trying to decide whether to tell me the truth. "It"s nothing. He"s fine."

"Why wouldn"t he be?" I ask more menacingly than I intended. Because if another one of them is hurt, I"m going to snap.

Bael glances behind me at Crypt, and I look back just in time to see Crypt shaking his head. He quickly gives me an innocent smile as if he wasn"t just telling the dragon shifter to shut up.

Obviously, they don"t want me getting any more pissed off than I already am.

Smart legacies.

But I still want the truth. When I turn back to Baelfire, he gives me a soft smile.

"Don"t worry about Si. It was fucking nasty to touch his mouth, but I force-fed him a shot of wyvern blood because he told me to, and he"s fit as a fiddle again. Just sleeping. So you can go take care of your psychotic incubus. Even if he doesn"t deserve it because he abandoned you like an absolute fucking jackass," he adds, shooting Crypt a savage glare.

"Don"t ever accuse me of leaving her willingly," Crypt warns darkly.

Baelfire huffs, but I ignore both of them as I gather a wide range of ingredients from Silas"s stash in the kitchen. As I walk past Crypt toward the hall, I speak in a voice that leaves no room for argument.

"Come with me."