26. Maven

I openmy eyes in the morning and stare at an angel.

It"s tragically unfair how beautiful Everett Frost is. His flawlessly chiseled face is relaxed in peaceful sleep, one arm crooked behind his head while the other rests on his chest. He"s in silk pajamas because, of course, the wealthy elemental professor prefers silk. I study how strikingly light his hair is, though his brows and eyelashes are much darker.

I sigh, relishing the soft scent of mint clinging all around.

I don"t regret pushing his boundaries and subsequently kissing him yesterday. For one thing, that kiss was incredible, and it was unexpectedly flattering that he lost control so quickly just because he was so aroused by me.

But for another, now I know what his curse is and how little I need to worry about it compared to their other curses.

It"s not like I can"t die permanently. It"s just highly improbable.

Knowing all of my matches" curses means I now know which are the biggest threats. I dislike all of their curses, but Silas"s is particularly concerning.

There has to be some way I can ease it.

But before I can explore ideas for helping him, I need to move on to the next target: Somnus DeLune.

I"ve killed incubi before, in the Nether. There are still old-world monsters there, after all. They"re just not immortal like the Immortal Quintet. After Amadeus took my heart and declared me his telum, my training sometimes consisted of being chased through the deformed woods surrounding Amadeus"s kingdom while two or three monsters competed to see who could kill me first.

So, I know how to take down a strong incubus. I just have to get the right weapons and lure him away from the others where no one will see or suspect it was my doing.

And I also have an unexpected advantage over him. Something I hadn't even considered. Sitting up, I remove the totem Crypt left last night from under the pillow. I examine it, ignoring the strong smell of the calea ternifolia.

This is an old totem. Very old. It's no coincidence that Crypt's immortal father has been carrying it around. After all, what use does a nightmare-stopping totem have for an incubus who doesn't even sleep?

I have a theory, but I want to be close enough to kill Somnus before I give it a try.

I get ready for the day and slip into Everett"s office. But before I can touch the door, ice completely encapsulates the handle. I glance over my shoulder and smirk.

"Not an early riser?"

He rubs his face sleepily, leaning against the doorway into his apartment. "Normally, it"s no problem, but it"s kind of impossible to sleep with a boner from hell."

I blink. He never came close to touching me after that kiss last night, so I had no idea he was still turned on. My neck feels warm, and Everett must realize he blurted that out loud because his cheeks flame red. He clears his throat.

"Can you wait a second? I"ll be right out. I just don"t like the idea of you wandering the halls. There are too many psychopaths wandering Everbound right now."

Why do they keep saying shit like this? They saw me fight. By now, they should know I"m the biggest danger in this castle.

"I"ll be fine on my own. Plus, I"m sure Crypt is already waiting outside. Maybe Silas and Baelfire, too."

"Exactly. Psychopaths," he huffs, walking into his room. "Hang on."

A few minutes later, we leave to find that all three of my other matches were waiting like I suspected. My stomach sinks when I see that Baelfire"s neck is covered in fresh scratches, Silas has deep dark circles under his crimson eyes, and Crypt…well, he"s fine, but I"m pretty sure that"s fresh blood on his jeans. He"s also wearing a new leather jacket he probably stole from someone else.

Baelfire surrounds me immediately in a big, warm hug, but when he picks me up, I let out an embarrassing squeak of surprise. He buries his face in my neck and inhales.

"There"s my little Raincloud," he says roughly. His gravelly voice rumbling against my ear sends prickles of awareness down my spine.

Then he yelps, and I drop back to my feet. Silas just stabbed Baelfire in the shoulder with his bleeding crystal, and the blood fae"s expression is vicious.

"She didn"t want to be picked up, you ass. We"re helping her with light exposure therapy, not manhandling her. What the hell were you thinking?"

"It"s fine," I insist when I see Baelfire"s eyes shift momentarily.

Tendons bulge in his neck, and he growls, scratching at his neck around the collar again. I quickly grab his hands, forcing him to stop and look at me.

"It"s your curse," I surmise quietly.

My poor, sunshiney shifter looks miserable, his shoulders slumping. "My dragon is fucking awful right now. I don"t even know what thoughts are mine and which are his. I just…"

His nostrils flare, his gaze darting down the hall. We all follow where he"s looking and see a random group of legacies chatting and heading our way. One of them, a shifter, glances over and waves at Baelfire, obviously another friend.

He turns back to me, shrugging off his brown jacket. "Wear this. I need my scent on you. Now."

Did he just growl at me? I fold my arms. "Let"s try that again."

He steps closer until his singed cedar scent envelops me. I"m an average size, but I feel dainty next to his brawny mass. He lowers his voice so only I can hear him.

"After we fucked, I thought my dragon would start to calm down. But it"s so much worse. It"s like now that I know exactly how perfect my mate is, I can"t think about anything except someone trying to take you away from me. I swear on all six gods, Maven, I will lose my fucking shit and kill the first person who so much as breathes in your direction if you"re not wearing my scent today."

His voice is strained and dangerous. This new display of angry possessiveness does something to me on a primal level that"s difficult to ignore. I swallow and slip on the jacket before looking up at him.

"There. Better?"

Relief mixed with satisfaction sweeps over Baelfire"s features as he takes in the sight of me in his jacket. It puts him at ease enough that he cracks a smile. "Damn, that could be a dress on you. You"re so little."

"I"m normal. You"re huge," I correct.

"All over, baby, and you loved it."

Well. He"s not wrong.

But I"m not about to draw attention to comments like that when they"re all present. I"ve learned that their hive mind gets activated really damn fast, so if one of us, including myself, brings up anything sexual, there"s no way I"ll be able to focus all day.

Now that Baelfire is no longer on edge, I glance at Silas. "You look awful. Did you even sleep?"

"No."

"Join the club," Everett grumbles as we start down the hall.

Crypt smirks. "I never sleep, so this club must be named after me."

"You don"t need sleep, you monster sperm," Silas snaps.

They continue to trade barbs as we head to class. Baelfire is annoyed at Everett for not waking me up sooner so I could eat something for breakfast, Crypt lights another of his strange cigarettes and blows smoke at any other legacies who pass us too closely in the halls, and Silas keeps glancing between Everett and I as if he"s piecing together what may have happened last night based on how we interact.

And being with all of them like this…

How did I ever think they were only interested in the bet? If anything, they"re all getting more obsessive and over the top with every dark secret I reveal. And it"s extremely possible that I"m getting obsessed with them, too.

Huh. Maybe the gods picked out people who complement my broken, twisted soul after all.

In Fiend Studies, which has dwindled a bit in size thanks to how brutal the legacies with an emphasis on combat have been, Mr. Crowley announces that we"ll study in the eastern library today. Our assignment is to find a book about creatures of the Nether to study in our quintets and present it in a few days.

As we walk to the library, Crypt leans over and whispers, "Does studying you count for filling this assignment? Because I"m becoming rather an expert on all things Maven Oakley."

I smirk. It"s cute that he thinks that when they don"t even know my last name isn"t actually Oakley.

Not that it matters, because I also don"t know what my real last name once was. I'll probably never know, since my family is long dead. Amadeus told me they were brutally killed off, just like the families of every other child taken into the Nether.

We finally reach the library and I"m surprised and a little on edge to see that we"re not the only class here. Plenty of other legacies, both matched and unmatched, are mulling about in their quintets or allies, eying others warily as they go through the motions of studying. Several of the Immortal Quintet"s hired hands scan the room from various perches, looking for trouble.

And Engela Zuma sits at one table, reading silently while also keeping watch.

"Babysitters. Big surprise," Bael huffs, tugging at his collar again.

I hold his hand as an excuse to stop him while everyone else in our Fiend Studies class scatters, moving to various library aisles for research. I notice someone waving frantically at me from across the room and light up when I see Kenzie"s halo of hair. She"s sitting with her quintet at one of the massive, old mahogany study tables beside a long row of tall, arched windows.

We join them. As soon as I sit down across from Kenzie, Luka, who"s sitting beside her, clears his throat.

"Hey, I owe you an apology, Min—Maven," he corrects, glancing at Kenzie to make sure that was right.

She covers her mouth to stop from laughing and nods. Luka looks back at me, and the earnest gratitude in his eyes is honestly a bit much.

"I didn"t think you"d actually help us, but…thanks. You have no fucking idea how much I owe you for getting her back. I—" He clears his throat and looks back at Kenzie. His features soften like he"s looking at the most precious thing in the world. "How can I thank you for saving the best thing that"s ever happened to me?"

Vivienne nods in agreement, sniffling. Dirk is equally emotional and getting teary-eyed despite scratching at his elbow.

Oh, gods. I had no idea I was walking into this again.

I realize I must look mildly horrified because Crypt starts shaking with silent laughter on the bench beside me, looking away to hide his amusement.

Asshole. He must know public displays of emotion freak me out.

"It was nothing," I grumble, opening a random book to avoid their earnest stares.

Kenzie snickers, too. "Awe! Are you getting embarrassed? Who knew you were so bashful, May?"

I kick her under the table, only I miss and kick Dirk instead. He jerks, looking at Crypt suspiciously. My unhinged Nightmare Prince takes full credit, grinning nice and creepily slow so that everyone across the table immediately busies themselves with studying.

Baelfire sits on my other side while Everett and Silas leave to look for more books. As we sit in the quiet library, I once again study the countless bookshelves and the hallways leading into the restricted areas and wonder…is there anything archived away about what I am?

When I arrived at Everbound, I spent exorbitant amounts of time in its two libraries. I"ve read through their collections about the five planes of existence, human and legacy history, the Great Wars, the six gods, theories about what afterlives await in the Beyond, and all their records about the shadow fiends and monsters that legacies fight at the Divide.

But there are gaps in their knowledge about what else lurks in the Nether. Which is disappointing since I"d hoped to find something about my condition. I"d even hoped there might be an antiquated, long-forgotten method of how to reverse what they turned me into.

Alas, hope is a cold-hearted bitch. There"s no fixing what they made me.

I"m pulled out of my thoughts when Luka clears his throat and glances over my quintet. "So, are our quintets like…allied together? None of us are going to harm each other, right?" He glances at Crypt warily.

"We don't need allies," Silas drawls at the same time Baelfire says, "Sure, why not?"

Kenzie grins. "Pretty sure that's left up to the keepers, guys. And since Maven and I are the keepers, we officially say we're allied as fuck. Right, May?"

I nod.

"Very convincing," Luka mumbles.

Dirk gently swats at his shoulder. "Stop being a brat. They're our friends, so of course, none of us are going to cause problems for each other."

I notice when Baelfire tenses beside me. He"s glaring daggers across the library…at Harlow Carter, who"s watching me.

Finally.

She"s been like a splinter in my brain ever since the changeling mentioned her last name. I didn"t have time to track her down, so it"s awfully nice of her to show up on a silver platter like this for me.

"I don"t like Carter staring at you, Raincloud," Baelfire growls.

I guess Raincloud is the new Mayflower. Maybe nicknames are my curse.

Kenzie looks up with a grin. "If someone"s staring at Maven, it"s probably because she"s so pretty."

Luka makes a face. "I can"t tell if you"re kidding. No offense, it"s just she"s kind of bland and?—"

"Close your mouth. If you ever open it around me again, you"ll learn what your innards taste like," Crypt drawls.

Vivienne hiccups in fear. I bury my face in the book to hide my wicked amusement. I don"t care much what anyone outside my quintet thinks I look like since, apparently, my appearance is so divisive. But it"s fun to see how easily my match frightens people.

"She"s still staring at you," Baelfire grits. "If she knows what I think she knows…"

"I"ll talk to her," I decide.

Crypt vanishes immediately, so I know he"ll be listening in on my conversation. Baelfire looks at me pleadingly. "I might end up losing my shit and killing someone if you look even slightly upset while talking to her. I"m that far on edge. Fair warning."

Kenzie looks at me wide-eyed. "Oh, my gods. And I thought your matches were insane before my little hiatus. This is so cute!"

I admit, their violent tendencies are pretty cute.

I leave the table, ignoring the legacies who watch me from all over the library, including Engela Zuma, who glances up as I pass by. There"s something unsettling about her that I can"t put my finger on, but I ignore it as I reach the corner table where Harlow sits alone.

Her hair is still spiked, but it"s hot pink now instead of purple, and she pops gum as she pulls out a seat for me. "Been looking for you, Oakley."

"Not hard enough. I would have preferred to kill you sooner."

She smirks, her voice dropping until it"s practically inaudible in the hushed murmurs that make up the atmosphere of this library. "Should I be shaking in my boots, telum?"

Well, then. The changeling obviously got too chatty with her.

I sit and fix her with my Nether-perfected thousand-yard stare. "You have two minutes to plead for your life. Call me that out loud again, and you"ll be down to one."

Crypt"s unseen presence moves closer to me, but I ignore it.

Harlow"s brows bounce up. "Shit, they were right. You can be scary when you"re not pretending to be a little bitch. Smart move, by the way, blending in with the asscasters here. Wolf in sheep"s clothing and all that."

"Don"t pretend to care about your little support group. Your changeling put Monica in danger."

Harlow"s face darkens, and she leans forward. "I didn"t hire that fucking changeling. My parents did and told it to take my appearance while I was away for a day. And it only picked Monica because she approached it thinking it was me. She was an easy target—but in case you were wondering, I was the one who found her naked in a courtyard and got her to safety. So don"t accuse me of not fucking caring because I?—"

"Spare me the altruistic posturing. Why did it take Kenzie?"

"My dad probably did that out of spite," she grumbles, folding her arms as she leans back again. She drops her voice down to barely a whisper again. "My parents have beef with Kenzie"s parents, the Bairds. See, my parents and hers are both involved in this anti-legacy movement. Only, mine think legacies need to go back to you-know-where."

I arch a brow. "Your family are Remitters? That makes them idiots."

"You"re telling me," she grumbles before scratching at her nose piercing. "Look. I know you probably want to kill me?—"

"Correction. You have thirty-nine seconds before I slit your throat without anyone noticing and leave you to rot." I slip a small knife from my sleeve and spin it on the table like I"m bored.

Harlow looks uncertain, for once, and then sighs. "The changeling told me what you are, and it"s not hard to guess why you"re here. But ask yourself, why haven"t I told anyone else?"

"Blackmail, obviously."

"No. I want to see them—" She nods vaguely toward Engela Zuma, still keeping her voice barely audible. "Dead. Gone. And I doubt there"s anyone who can do that except you. So, if you want a reason to keep me alive, how about using me as an ally?"

I twirl the knife around my fingers as I examine her, considering that. She was obviously involved in the anti-legacy fearmongering before the Immortal Quintet got here. She comes from a twisted family background where they are woefully mistaken in thinking the Nether is the best place for legacies.

All of that is shit I don"t want involved with.

But maybe I"ll keep her alive for just a bit longer. If it was really her parents who hired the changeling and not her, then I guess I"ll just have to kill them later to avenge Kenzie"s memory loss.

"Bring me liquid bronze before midnight, and I"ll consider you an ally."

She huffs, resting a hand on the table. "Liquid bronze? That shit"s hard to find or make. Doesn"t your blood fae prodigy boyfriend have some?"

I stab the knife into the table right between her index and middle finger, nicking the interdigital webbing on purpose. It makes her hiss in pain.

"So what if he does? That"s not what I asked."

He doesn"t. I know because I already asked him about it, but that"s not the point here.

"Gods! Fine. I"ll find some, you hard-ass," Harlow mutters, standing from the table and tucking her bleeding hand into one pocket. Then she smirks bitterly. "By the way, my family"s been whispering about you showing up in the mortal world for as long as I can remember. I just hope you don"t disappoint."

I smile sweetly. "I just hope you don"t find any liquid bronze because I"ve missed playing with my adamantine dagger."

Harlow"s eyes widen slightly, and she hurries out of the library. Crypt materializes beside me a moment later, one elbow resting on the table while he gazes at me dreamily.

"Have I mentioned I adore you? I could watch you bare your claws all day."

I tuck away the little knife and sigh. "I"m worried I"ve gone soft. I should probably just kill Harlow before she snitches. Was it a mistake to let her go?"

"She could"ve snitched up until now and didn"t," the Nightmare Prince points out, shrugging one shoulder. "But if she does, we can torture her together."

He looks so excited at the prospect that I grin back at him.

Once again…maybe the gods didn"t do too bad of a job with this whole perfect-soul-mates thing.