32. Maven

The next timeI wake up, I"m surrounded by three gorgeous, naked legacies, all fast asleep around me with their delicious muscles on display.

I"m turned at an angle on the massive bed. Everett is on one side of me, looking utterly angelic as my head rests on his subtly rising and falling chest. His heartbeat is a steady thrum under my ear, and the steadiness of it makes me sigh softly.

Despite what I told Silas, I miss having a heartbeat.

Silas"s face is nuzzled against my neck on my other side, one arm thrown over me, and Baelfire has my naked legs flung over his, snoring softly near the foot of the massive bed.

Even in their sleep, they can"t seem to let go of me.

Woe is me.

Grinning, I carefully leave the bed without waking any of them. As soon as I"m standing, I notice how sore I am between the legs. My body isn"t used to oodles of sex, so going a few rounds with four ravenous legacies in the wee hours wasn"t my best idea ever.

Or was it? No regrets here.

Crypt slips out of Limbo to hug me from behind, kissing the back of my neck. "Morning, love," he rasps. "No wake-up exercises today?"

"First Placement will be enough of an exercise."

Plus, oddly enough, I didn't wake up feeling like a wired bomb. I feel almost relaxed.

Glancing at a clock on the wall, I realize it"s only an hour and a half away before the assembly that marks the beginning of First Placement. These guys are all still sleeping off our intense sex romp, so I should really get them up and going.

But first, I pause to gauge my body"s reactions once again. I wouldn't put it past my stupid fucking body to have an extremely delayed response to all the touching from last night. Yet I still don"t feel nauseous or like my nerves have been dipped in acid. Beyond feeling sexually sated and sore, I feel…mostly normal.

Crypt seems to sense my shock and hums against my neck. "You"re getting used to our touch."

Not breaking out into a cold sweat at the slightest touch will be really fucking nice. I turn my head to kiss my Nightmare Prince, but when he immediately reaches down to slip his fingers through my bare pussy, I jolt and shake my head.

"That needs a break."

Crypt frowns, and to my mortification, he crouches directly in front of me. I jolt again when he reaches up to spread me open, scowling softly at how reddened I am down there. The rest of me is covered in Baelfire"s love bites, tiny puncture marks from a handful of places Silas fed, and dried cum.

"We were all too fucking rough," he mutters. "Are you sore, darling?"

I ignore the question and bat his hands away, my face a thousand degrees from his thorough examination when I must look like such a fucking mess.

"I"m going to get ready. Could you wake them up for me?"

He smirks and slips into Limbo. Half a second later, all three legacies on the bed wake in a blind panic. Everett shouts as spikes of ice bloom around him, Baelfire falls off the bed, and Silas"s red magic flares through the room, crashing into one of the walls and knocking off the clock.

When Crypt reappears with a wicked smile, I give him a sardonic look. "I meant nicely."

"That was me being nice."

"Fuck you," Baelfire groans, throwing a pillow toward the Nightmare Prince.

Twenty minutes later, I"m dressed and sitting at the kitchen table while Everett and Silas take showers. Crypt sits across from me with wet hair and not one stitch of clothing on as he twirls Pierce around on the table where I set it earlier. The markings on his arms, sculpted chest, and neck are mesmerizing, and I find myself staring again at his nipple piercing.

That had been very useful in working him up into a frenzy last night.

Baelfire, who showered with me and failed epically at keeping his hands to himself—not that I minded getting the life fingered out of me while he begged me to come for him—sets a bowl of mushy something in front of me with an unhappy sigh.

"It"s just oatmeal. Basically adult baby food. You"re going to fucking hate this shit, but we"ve run out of all other food here. The university stores are closed, and we don"t have time to go to the dining hall. But I swear that as soon as the Immortal Quintet lifts the wards, I'm going to Halfton and buying you a shit ton of different ice cream flavors. Any flavor you want, Hellion—especially anything you'll want to lick off my body," he winks.

I tip my head. "Hellion? What happened to Raincloud?"

"You"re a hellion in the sheets, so it"s what I"m calling you now," he winks, sitting beside me.

Silas sits at the head of the table, and Everett joins us. We"re all an odd mix of extremely satisfied from our early morning shenanigans and nervous about what today holds.

I notice that Everett"s subtle, compulsive habit of fixing his clothing is far worse than usual this morning. He"s not looking at me again. Last night, he was incredibly sweet, but he never fucked me. He seemed to enjoy watching and kissing, aside from when I demanded to suck his cock.

Was he so hesitant to join because he"s still wary of his curse, or was it something else?

Silas is stirring his food around with a heavy frown. He"s seemed quieter today, and when I see the flash of guilty misery cross his face, I know he"s still beating himself up over his curse getting the better of him yesterday. I"ll have to reassure him later, yet again, that I"m perfectly fine.

Everett glances at the front door with a huff. "Faculty members are supposed to drop off the standard combat uniforms for each quintet to war into the test today. They"re running late."

They seem to be getting more and more on edge, so I decide to change the subject and glance at Crypt. "I know you eat dreams, but I"ve seen other incubi eat normal food."

"They do, but I"ve got more monster in me than most."

"So you don"t eat, or you can"t eat?"

"I can and I have eaten your pretty cunt," he smirks. Then he surprises me by reaching out to dip his finger in Everett"s oatmeal, licking the food from his finger. "Mortal food is tasteless and offers no nutrition, but I can eat it if the fancy strikes me."

Everett looks revolted as he pushes his bowl away. "I fucking hate you."

"Yet you didn"t hate watching me spread Maven"s legs for Baelfire to take last night."

Heat suffuses my neck and cheeks.

Baelfire grins. "Nope, Snowflake liked that. We all did. Especially our little Hellion. She just loves canoodling with all of us."

Oh, my fucking gods. "New rule. No sex talk for the rest of today. We can"t afford to be distracted."

"She"s right," Silas sighs, rubbing his temples. He looks much better after the last couple of nights of sleep, but I"ve seen how severe his curse is getting now, and I know he"s just trying not to show how much the voices in his head are bothering him. "We need to have a strategy."

"How can we strategize when we have no idea what First Placement will be like under the rule of those immortal motherfuckers?" Bael asks, making a face at his own oatmeal.

I"m not sure why he hates it so much. It"s basically what I ate my entire life until the last couple of months.

I turn to Everett and Crypt. "What was First Placement like when you were here before?"

"Hellish," Everett grumbles. "Unmatched legacies fought to the death. But the quintets had a different test, so I have no idea what it"ll be like today. Even the faculty hasn"t been let in on the Immortal Quintet"s plans for today, only their hirelings."

"I skipped mine," Crypt shrugged. "Seemed boring."

Silas squints. "Now that you mention it...did you ever officially graduate Everbound?"

"I attended very few classes and spent my time tormenting instructors," the Nightmare Prince grins. "They gave me official legacy documentation anyway because the Legacy Council didn"t want their bounty hunters chasing someone they knew would be a perpetual drain on their resources."

Why am I not surprised?

The more I learn about Crypt"s past, the clearer it becomes that he"s never given a fuck about anything. Since he"s already sharing, I decide to ask something I"ve wondered about ever since hearing all the rumors about him.

"All right. I"m finally going to ask," I say, setting down my spoon. "Why the fuck is your name Crypt?"

"Don"t!" Baelfire"s exclamation startles me, and he shakes his head in warning, his golden eyes comedically wide. "Do yourself a favor and don"t fucking ask that, Boo."

I can scowl at him over that nickname, but Crypt tips his head. "If you don"t like it, I"ll change it, darling. We wouldn"t want you cringing every time you cry my name in pleasure, now would we?"

Silas snorts, and Everett rolls his eyes so hard I"m sure it hurts.

I take another bite of oatmeal. "It was a simple question."

"I was named after where I was conceived."

Oh. Shit.

"Not this again," Baelfire grimaces. He turns to me. "I asked him this question when I was five. Five. And five-year-olds don"t need to fucking hear this kind of story, but he didn"t leave out any details."

"It"s not my fault they were explicit when they told me about it. I merely passed it on the way I heard it," the Nightmare Prince shrugs nonchalantly. "Anyway, Somnus?—"

Baelfire holds up a hand. "Shut up before I puke. Here"s the highly edited short version, Hellion. Crypt"s jackass father has a thing for not-very-alive people, okay? He thought this one succubus chick was dead in a crypt when, really, she was just super passed out from crying over her newly deceased husband. She woke up later, and bam, preggers—and nine months later, Somnus got in hot water when a really fucked up stork dropped Crypt into the Immortal Quintet"s lap and everyone found out he was running around doing…that. Big scandal. Extremely gross and not at all PG-rated. Got it?"

The story isn"t funny, but the way Baelfire looks at me like he"s silently begging me not to ask any follow-up questions makes me laugh. Crypt grins at my amusement and winks at me.

A moment later, faculty members knock on our door and drop off the official combat uniforms Everett mentioned. They look similar to soldier"s uniforms, only since we"re in a quintet, they"re color coded. Everett"s uniform is light gray, Baelfire"s is a burnt orange, Silas"s is a forest green, and Crypt"s is maroon. Each uniform has its House emblem embroidered on one shoulder, underneath a number I"m sure will appear under the Legacy Council"s records reflecting our names.

My uniform is green, too. Keepers aren"t specially marked in combat to avoid drawing attention to them. But when I walk out in my uniform and combat boots, all four of my matches stare at me.

"Don"t take this the wrong way, but it"s honestly kind of…weird to see you in a color," Everett ventures.

I couldn"t agree more.

"But you"re hot as fuck in that," Baelfire adds with a smile. "You look ready to kick ass."

Probably because I am. I made the bronzeblend potion one day ago using the rest of my magic reserves. It"s now tucked securely into one of my pockets in case I get a chance to get Somnus DeLune alone today. Pierce is concealed in one of my boots, so I"m prepared even if they don"t allow us other weapons today.

During First Placement, I"ll certainly have to kill to defend my quintet. Which means I"ll have plenty of fuel to slowly pick off the rest of the Immortal Quintet.

"Kenzie was right," I muse, studying the four of them. "Men are sexy in uniforms."

Silas"s scarlet gaze grows sinful, and he steps up to kiss my temple, whispering, "Don"t tempt me right now, sangfluir. I know Baelfire got to play with you in the shower, and I"m trying to behave so you"ll let me have my turn next."

Crypt uses Limbo to appear suddenly at my back, hands on my hips as he tuts softly. "Weren"t you paying attention to her dream last night, Crane? She doesn"t want turns. She wants to take all of us at once."

Gods. I almost forgot about that dream. Baelfire underneath me, Silas behind me, Everett down my throat while I stroked Crypt"s cock and toyed with his piercings until he came all over me…

My thighs clench. Damn it. Who cares about being sore when they"re all so fucking attractive?

Baelfire growls. "I smell that, Mayflower. And I"m not about to let you go into combat smelling like that pretty pussy of yours needs another good, long fucking."

Everett surprises me by striding over and scooping me up, talking over his shoulder to the others as he marches toward my room. "The lizard"s right, for once. Our keeper needs us. Come on."

Yes, please.

Now that my body is starting to accept that their touch is safe, how the hell am I supposed to pry myself off of them all the time? Even though I should point out the time and how we need to get going, I"m wet as Everett"s cool lips dance along my jaw as he carries me toward my room.

But we"re all stopped cold in our tracks when someone bangs loudly on our front door. Baelfire growls and storms toward it, his inner dragon"s moodiness on full display.

"Whoever this is, I"m going to fucking kill them for interrupting."

It"s Mr. Gibbons, who is oblivious to the glares he"s getting from the rest of my quintet as he explains that he wanted to make sure his favorite quintet got to the assembly on time since it"s starting very soon. It"s a very effective mood killer.

Everett sets me down, grumbling unhappily about it as we follow the mage through the halls of Everbound. Surprisingly, he leads us outside to the training fields where I see that a makeshift stage has been set up in the snow-dusted grass near the dark, misty forest. Lined up in clean rows in front of the stage are formations of quintets, all dressed in their new combat attire. Some are shivering since the uniforms didn"t come with jackets and winter is finally starting to deepen.

Onstage, Iker Del Mar and Natalya Genovese stand observing the final legacies trickle onto the field. I can feel their immortal gazes burning into us—into me—as we line up behind another relatively highly-ranked quintet. Crypt and Everett flank my sides, with Baelfire standing in front and Silas behind me. It"s standard for quintets to stand at attention like this, with their keepers central to the group.

I can feel how tense every legacy here is. It"s not just the matched legacies emphasizing in combat who are lined up, so I can"t help searching for Kenzie"s quintet in the crowd. I finally spot her standing near the front, fidgeting nervously while Dirk comforts a terrified-looking Vivienne. Luka glares at everyone nearby as if he expects foul play during the assembly.

One of the hired legacy minions joins Iker and Natalya onstage, his hand glowing with a simple megaphonic charm. When Natalya speaks, her bell-like voice carries easily over us legacies standing on the snowy field.

"Welcome to First Placement. Many of you will die today."

If she wasn"t one of my targets and a selfish monster, I would like her more for leading with that. As it is, her words clearly strike fear into the hearts of the legacies standing around me. Some start crying quietly, while others crack their knuckles or move closer to their keepers. It"s obvious which legacies have been practicing combat and which picked other emphases.

As if she can sense that I have no heart for her to strike fear into, Natalya"s blue gaze flicks to me. Her eyes begin to glow. Instinctively, I empty my head of anything she could possibly find incriminating or suspicious. Amadeus knew each of the Immortal Quintet"s abilities and trained me extensively against psychic probing.

Silas slips something warm into my pocket, and I glance up at him.

"Keeps her out," he mutters quietly.

If any one of us needs help controlling their thoughts, it"s not me. I take the talisman and slip it into Baelfire"s pocket. He just shakes his head and winks at me.

"Don"t worry, baby. I"ve been thinking about last night on repeat so if that bitch tries to look into my head, all she"s getting from me is an endless loop of you coming."

Well. That"s infinitely horrifying.

"Just keep it," I mumble, shivering from the cold, which only seems to be getting worse. My dragon shifter automatically steps closer to share his excessive warmth while Everett moves away from me with a grimace.

"Sorry, Oakley. I'm shit at controlling it when I'm nervous."

I frown. How can he struggle with his element so badly after so much training? Didn't he say he even had private combat tutors?

Whatever Natalya was looking for, she obviously didn"t get because she pouts and turns to whisper something to Del Mar. While they"re conversing, I look for Somnus or Engela near the stage, but they"re nowhere to be found.

Finally, Del Mar takes over, his voice booming over the gathered legacies while his forked tongue flicks out occasionally. "We decided to keep First Placement exceedingly simple this year. It is a test of survival. If you escape the maze alive within one hour, you pass. If you fall prey to one of the many shadow fiends on the prowl inside, you die a failure, as weak legacies ought to. Foul play is expected and encouraged. Weapons are welcome, and many may be found as prizes inside the maze. May the gods favor you, or may you die as fate always intended."

Touching.

With that, the faculty members gathered on one side of the stage begin ushering students toward the edge of Everbound Forest. Transportation spells are set up to take us into First Placement. I wince when Kenzie and her quintet step through the tree line and vanish.

Please make it out of there.

If we"re not too busy fending for our own lives, perhaps I"ll try to track them down. I"m not much for allies, and I wouldn"t care if Luka gets staked, but I don"t want to lose Kenzie.

"This is going to be brutal," Everett sighs.

Silas nods as we follow the crowd of uniforms, sticking close together. "Everyone guard Maven."

"No shit," Baelfire huffs. "I just want this fucking collar off. Whatever shit is in there, I could take it down if I could fucking shift."

"Wait until I make a few kills," I murmur. "Then I can get your collar off."

They all glance at me like they want more explanation, but I"m not about to expound on that when other legacies might overhear. Besides, they should have been paying attention to Professor Crowley"s lecture on revenants and the kind of magic I can use. It"s nothing but destructive, which means I can shatter powerful spells easily as long as I have enough fuel.

And I"m confident I"m about to get a lot of fuel in there.

The thought makes me smile, which makes Everett sigh.

"Please don"t tell me you"re actually looking forward to this, Oakley."

"Very much." Legacies vanish in droves ahead of us, off into whatever fun awaits. But as we get nearer to the forest"s edge, a new concern blooms in my head, and I frown. "If I lose control in there and begin berserking, you four need to abandon me and run."

Crypt snorts. "Good one, love."

"I"m serious. In that state, I have no idea if I"ll be a danger to you?—"

"There will be plenty of targets in there," Silas says quietly, his crimson eyes darting all over the place as if the voices in his head are working him up even more. "So if that happens, we"ll stay out of the way and watch you gleefully slaughter our opponents once again. But we"re not leaving you, sangfluir. I"m insulted you would even suggest it."

I scowl. "Fine. But if I kill any of you, I"m going to…"

Huh. What"s a good threat for after death?

I don"t get to think of one because it"s finally our time to step into Everbound Forest, and the transportation magic sweeps us into First Placement.