Chapter 10

10

MICAJAH

Deva’s expressionwas one that I wanted to capture permanently. The way her mercury-colored gaze was filled with surprise and her cheeks flushed pink made me want to run my fingers over them. To feel the blood rushing right under her silvery skin. She looked shocked, and the affection there was something I wanted to tattoo across my skin so that I could feel the consistent hum of her love at all times.

My little siren was the love of my life.

I didn’t even need to question that, but she seemed surprised by my statement—or maybe it was more the setting of my statement. If there was anyone I wanted to set a clear and straight line for, though, it was my brothers. They were good guys, all nine of them—or at least as ‘good’ as my family could be—but they rarely took anything I did seriously because I was the youngest. I wanted to make it extremely fucking clear how serious I was about Deva.

From their baffled expressions, I think they understood. I knew my parents were well aware. I mean, my father had no room to talk, there was a reason that the two of them had so many kids—they were all over one another. Don’t get me wrong, I knew they loved us, but the two of them had never ‘fallen out of love’ to any extent. Even now they were cozied up, my mom watching Deva and me with warmth.

A few of my oldest brothers were married and had kids of their own, but the rest were more focused on the Society. I knew that my mom wanted all of us to end up happy like they were, and until meeting Deva I hadn’t even entertained that possibility.

“Cage…” Deva saying my name made me feel a thrill of excitement that I didn’t bother tampering down, instead wrapping my hand around the back of her neck and kissing her in a demanding way that had a surprised moan leaving her lips. Lazaro shot me a look, the possessive bastard not liking anyone else to hear her like that, as I pulled back and looked down at my flushed siren.

“Later,” I promised her, seeing clear as day that there was something she wanted to say. I hoped like hell that she wanted to tell me that she felt the same way, but I also understood that Deva was working on a bit of a different timeline than myself. After everything she had been through, I could hardly blame her. I could blame Astaroth, though…

That asshole was the cause of so many problems.

My brothers and parents were a fairly integral part of the Society, but it still made me uneasy that they were here, especially because they only joined once I had. I’d assumed they were out of the country, but it seemed this was enough to bring them back, and I wouldn’t lie and say it didn’t make me uncomfortable. I had no doubt they were powerful enough to deal with the threats we would face, but my attention was purely on keeping Deva safe, and I couldn’t afford to be pulled away from that.

Ozul had nearly taken her today. I wouldn’t have let him leave that graveyard alive, but the concept that he even had his hands on her…

My lips pressed gently to Deva’s pulse as she leaned into me, and I allowed the steady thumping of her heartbeat to settle my fury. It also allowed me to look around for a moment and notice just how tense everyone seemed to be under their guise of friendly politeness. I think all of us could sense that now was different than before—that now was the time for action.

I recognized many of the faces here, including some faculty members, but even I had to admit that I was surprised by the numbers. Something I knew was overwhelming my little siren. I had to fight the urge to pull her into a darkened corner of the room and make her come on my mouth and fingers before drinking down her blood and desire, calming both of us.

Later.I could do that later. Especially because she’d given me permission to do that—something I don’t think she realized she’d done that first time in the bedroom. I fully planned on tasting her in every way whenever the hell I wanted.

Dinner was placed down in front of us as Grim’s parents stood in the center of the room, talking quietly. I met the gaze of the other four men down the table from me, and all seemed relatively distracted overall. The thing I was worried about the most was Deva’s part in all of this and what Circe thought she would gain from having her go up there.

“I want to thank everyone for joining us today,” Phelan announced, the room darkening on the edges with shadow magic as Circe stood nearby. “It isn’t an easy day, not only because of the increase in death, but because of the decision we must come to.”

“We’ve known this day was coming,” Circe added, “but considering the deaths that have occurred paired with the disturbances at the academy⁠—”

“The academy?” An older gentleman spoke up, looking concerned. “How the hell is anything happening at the academy? The headmistress⁠—”

“It’s not only our sector.” Grim stood, causing Deva to tense, probably wondering what he was going to say. “Since the start of the year—only a week ago—there have been another two attacks, an account of exerting control over consciousness, and apparently two deaths.”

Deva was perfectly still as I tried to soothe her, running a hand over the back of her neck in a calming motion. I was good at a lot of shit, but comfort wasn’t usually my go-to. With Deva, though, it came far more naturally than I would have assumed.

“Which is why we left,” Grim continued. “They were trying to blame us. Our thought is that it was Astaroth’s people, since they were waiting for us at Garnet Hall to attack.”

It didn’t escape my notice that he left out that very specific fact that Deva was the one being targeted for blame and that they were after her. I hoped that his parents were on board with that concept, because not everyone in this room needed to know Deva’s past, even the shortened version.

“This, paired with the double-digit deaths within days, leads us to believe that he is planning something, an escalation of his pursuit to take over Carmina. Something we won’t allow,” Phelan finished.

“Why now though?” another woman asked. It was a valid question, and not one that any of us had a full answer for, unfortunately. I had a feeling it had to do with Deva to an extent, but I also firmly believed that everyone was trying to take her away from us—so I had to recognize the possibility that I was biased.

Or I fucking wasn’t and that was exactly what this was about. The increase of his attacks directly correlating with the timing of Deva no longer being in hiding couldn’t be ignored.

“Deva,” Circe said. My siren’s cheeks pale just slightly, her frame tensing in a way that I absolutely hated. “If you’re comfortable with it⁠—”

Deva stood immediately and looked around, resignation on her face. “Of course. I told you I would help if I could.”

“Deva is a student at the academy,” Circe explained to the room. “She’s been in hiding from Astaroth ever since she escaped his imprisonment. We believe this may play into him trying to grow his army, because the attackers at the Hall had a vested interest in getting her back.”

“What would one prisoner mean to someone like him, though?” Natrix asked, annoying me that he was talking about her as just some type of prisoner. But I had a feeling it was on purpose, my brother’s gaze carefully avoiding mine.

Deva explained, “I was taken from an orphanage when I was very young and raised in captivity. I was too small to realize that the way I lived wasn’t normal. He had a running rotation of trainees that he would bring in to increase his numbers as they grew older and became part of his army. I was one of these individuals, so anyone who has escaped him has insight on that…as well as details on how he tries to change the magic of those under him.”

“Change?” someone asked distantly.

“Yes.” Alek stood, joining the conversation. “Many of you may recognize me—the man who raised me is one of Astaroth’s higher ups, and Deva and I have both undergone this transformative process, granting us multiple types of magic instead of one.” Murmurs began to fill the room, and I couldn’t help but feel on edge. I intertwined our fingers as I brushed my lips over the pulse on her wrist, hating that she was looking around nervously.

“It’s true,” Deva agreed. “Many didn’t survive the process⁠—”

I knew how fucking rare it was, but I understood why she didn’t want to emphasize that because it would probably clue them into who exactly Deva was to Astaroth.

“—and he would replace those who didn’t,” she continued.

“What exactly is the process? Obviously we’ve heard of the effects,” my mom asked, and I had a feeling the question came from a place of concern for Deva—which even I had to admit was sort of amusing—not because she was actually interested in the details of the process. My mom didn’t get caught up on details very often.

“To explain bluntly,” Alek answered indifferently, saving Deva from having to explain, “they peel back the skin and put different runes underneath, embedding non-natural magic under the skin. The body either rejects it or accepts it. Either way, it’s not reversible. I assume it was similar for Deva.”

Deva nodded. “It was very common that if someone did survive, the process wouldn’t be a one-time thing. In fact, it usually wasn’t. I don’t have a lot of other information outside of that for the ritual; I blocked a lot of it out, to be honest. But the headquarters and other elements, I have some info on that. It was my home…or where I lived for years.”

“How can we trust either of you?” a man asked. “Aleksander, your father is an active member, and Deva, you lived there for years. What changed?”

I tried to not let a defensive rumble break from my throat because I understood the nature of the question, even though I fucking hated anyone questioning Deva’s intentions.

“I hate my father. I plan on slaughtering him the moment I can,” Alek said immediately, causing surprise to echo through the room. Despite his controlled expression I could hear the emotion in his voice, and the critical gazes on him turned a bit more understanding.

Deva let out a small sigh. “When I was sixteen, I left Astaroth. I’d known for some time that his unjustified killing of the unblessed witch population was wrong, but I didn’t have the strength to leave until then. I was in hiding until I entered the academy for safety. For a chance to start over.”

Somehow Deva managed to tell the truth while excluding that she was his ‘Dead Doll,’ and I was so fucking impressed at that ability—especially because I didn’t think these people deserved to know anything about my girl, let alone that.

“Thank you, both of you,” Circe offered. “And Deva, when we get into the logistics of planning, I would love to get insight from you on the headquarters.”

My little siren nodded before sitting down and immediately melting against me, my hand running back up the back of her neck again. Sharing her past so publicly, even a limited version, had taken a lot out of her, and the way her gaze turned suddenly glassy had me wanting to get the fuck out of here.

“In terms of who he’s been targeting outside of the academy, it’s unsurprising to note they are unblessed—but what is surprising is that they are from the city. Which means his people have come down from up north and are making moves within Carmina,” Circe explained.

“The population here is way more dense,” Deva murmured, and I nodded in agreement. The change in location did say a lot, and I could feel the metaphorical wind shifting.

“Do we know if it’s him executing the murders, or his people?” someone asked.

“The way they are killed and marked leads us to believe it’s not him personally. He has a very specific way of marking,” Phelan said before his gaze darkened. “Only one other person would mark like that, and while it’s possible, I don’t think he has a new assassin. The death toll would skyrocket if that were the case.”

My gaze slowly moved down to Deva, who was frozen still. I could practically see her shutting down, and I realized I needed to get her out of here, even if just for a moment. Luckily, the conversation seemed to be turning towards the details of his most recent killings, as people slowly began to eat. I waited only a moment or two before turning towards Deva, dipping my lips to her ear and speaking quietly.

“Want to get some fresh air? I know that was a lot.”

Her gaze was pained as it moved to mine, and I knew it was the assassin comment that had really bothered her. But for anyone watching or listening, her talking about her time living under Astaroth would be more than enough of an excuse to take a time out.

“Yes.”

That was all I needed, easily leading her towards a pair of dark doors at the back of the room. I slipped through the exit, gently pressing my hand to her back, and she let out a shuddered breath the moment we were alone. I didn’t hesitate to back her up against the wall, capturing her there as her shadows seeped out and ran over my skin in greeting. Her head hung as she let out a pained noise from her throat.

“I did…I did so much damage. Caused so much pain,” she whispered, her voice seeped in agony.

“You didn’t have a choice—it was you or them, little siren.”

“I should have chosen them.”

My jaw tightened. She truly meant that. She would have preferred to give her own life instead of having taken anyone else’s.

“Absolutely not,” I said, my voice edged in what amounted to panic. I rarely felt that, except at the idea of losing her. “Don’t ever fucking say that, Deva.”

“It’s true.” Her eyes filled with tears.

“No. I won’t fucking accept that,” I growled softly, brushing my lips against hers. “I love you, Deva, and a world without you isn’t one I would entertain, ever. I don’t care what has happened, but the idea of not having you in my life is not fucking possible.”

Deva let out a shuddering breath. “I love you. I know that now. I love you, Cage. Even if I don’t agree with the choices I’ve made, I can’t imagine a life without you either.”

I could have fucking savored those words forever. I could have also argued until I was blue in the face about the choices she made and how they hadn’t been true choices—rather they were forced survival techniques.

Instead, I followed my instincts and kissed her hard, melding our lips together. My grip on the back of her neck tightened, and her fingers dug into my chest as she let out a small shiver, moaning my name against my lips.

Slipping my hand into my pocket, I easily withdrew a knife and brought the blade up, her breath catching as I pulled back. Holding her gaze, I ran the blade’s edge over the side of her throat, barely nicking the skin. She flushed, her eyes darkening with heat. Leaning forward, I sucked hard on her neck as she whimpered, and when I came back, I kissed her hard again, the blood between us only fueling the obsession I had with this woman.

I desperately wanted to make her come, but I knew we didn’t have time for that, nor did I want the approaching set of footsteps to hear her⁠—

“Crap.” She pulled back, breathless, as the door opened, causing me to narrow my eyes at the intruder.

“People are asking where you two are,” Alonso said easily, his gaze unsurprised even as he took the cut in on her neck and the blood on my lips. “Plus, everyone with blood magic can smell what you’re doing in here.”

“Fates.” Deva blew out a breath, rambling a little to herself. “I’m not great at these first impressions. Just had to talk about my past in front of all my boyfriends’ freakin’ parents, and now this.”

Chuckling, I kissed her forehead before pulling back completely, my brother offering me a curious look. “We’re coming, don’t worry.” Although I would have preferred for her to come on me…but I understood it wasn’t the time. Mostly.

“Everyone knows that Cage is fucking crazy. Don’t worry about it,” Alonso offered to Deva.

Her eyes lit up defensively. “That’s not a bad thing.”

My brother seemed amused, and I smirked proudly. I was different from my family in both my magic and personality, but my little siren saw it as a good thing, and that was all I fucking needed. Leading Deva towards the door, my brother finally answered.

“I didn’t say it was, not really.”

Deva nodded, her expression softening as I offered him a curious look, not understanding the sudden guilt in his gaze. I had never taken offense to his comments, but maybe he didn’t realize until now how they could come across. Squeezing Deva’s hand, I kissed it gently and we made our way back towards the meeting.

“Hey, thank you,” she whispered to me. “I needed a moment.”

“Never need to thank me, little siren. I love how you taste.”

Her face turned bright pink, and I couldn’t help but hope that later I got even more of a taste of her.