43

HAWK

“THROW another charm. Now.”

Ivy glared up at me through her lashes, but she clenched her jaw, biting her tongue. I couldn’t bring myself to ask her how she was after what’d happened earlier. But fuck, seeing it with my own eyes...

Any other day, I wouldn’t have blinked at how gruesome it was. I’d spent time at the academy. I knew what these students were capable of. And I wasn’t fucking naive. They’d do anything to show just how powerful they are, and they didn’t care to what extent. Even if it meant killing their peers.

But I also knew Ivy wasn’t like that. And she...

I couldn’t explain the weight that’d crushed my chest when I’d rounded the corner with Archer and saw her there, the panic overwhelming her, while students were ushered away. That initial fear that maybe something had happened to her.

And then the realisation she was okay.

Ivy grunted as she produced another charm, this one a combustible. It wasn’t nearly as strong as the others she’d made before. My hands curled into fists as I tried to come up with a plausible reason as to why it might not be powerful.

It must be the deaths . That must have affected her more than I realised. But why the fuck was I so worried?

She handed it to me, and as I inspected it, I checked the time. “It took you too long.”

“Sorry,” she muttered, without the fire she usually gave me. “My magic is all over the place.”

“Because of what happened?” I asked carefully, offering her the charmed stone. Our hands brushed, and for a moment, I wished I could take it. To feel the warmth of her skin against mine.

That fucking night in the shower hit me, imagining her dripping with my cum. I snatched my hand back, trying to wipe away the memory before it became obvious.

Ivy sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Strands fell from the knot she’d put it in, and they framed her pink face. Even if she hadn’t told me about her magic, stress lined her face. “Yes and no.” She cocked her head, and the collar of her shirt slipped to show Beckham’s mating mark. At the sight, my stomach twisted, and I had to glance away.

“We’re done for today,” I said, tensing as she exhaled in relief. “Your charms are getting better, but you’re not in control enough to start testing anything else.”

“Leave it to you to make a comment.” Ivy rolled her eyes and grabbed a water bottle.

Way to be an ass, I thought, gritting my teeth.

I stiffened, crossing my arms as she took a sip. “You need to get faster at building charms. The quicker you are, the better. Don’t give the enemy a chance to put a charm on you.”

Lowering the bottle, she shook her head. “I’ll work on it with Adrian during our one-on-one sessions, Hawk. Thanks.”

The mention of her other mate made my jaw clench, but I couldn’t bring myself to understand why I felt so conflicted about it—about her . Fuck, I hated that Seer for dragging me here. Making a deal with her had been like selling my soul to Hades himself.

“We’ll work on your physical reactions next. Nothing dramatic.” Nothing that would make her hate me more than she already did. “See if we can get your magic to react in sync with the rest of you.”

To that, she nodded, though she made no comment. Instead, she packed away the few things she’d brought out for the lesson.

“Do you think I’ll make it with charms for the placement exams?” she asked, crossing her arms. The ridiculous gym shirt she was forced to wear tightened around her breasts. It took all my power not to stare at them. To not let her know the control she had over me.

Clearing my throat, I grabbed my own belongings. “You’ll do fine,” I replied. “You are the most powerful being in this entire academy. You’re the future Queen. You have the skill. It’s just about honing it now.”

Her dark eyes narrowed and searched mine, as if trying to discern if I meant what I said. Those pink, plump lips pursed while she assessed me. The burn of her stare made my blood hum in my ears. Made me more aware.

“What?” I growled, shoving my crap into a bag.

After a long moment, Ivy shook her head. “Nothing. I’ll see you later, Hawk.”

The princess turned on her heel, giving me the perfect view of her round ass and stalked away. Like a dog on a leash, I wanted to follow. I wanted whatever measly scraps she’d give me.

I was turning into one of Grey’s agents—whipped for the future Queen, ready to lay down my life for her.

I had to convince myself it was just lust. That if I had the chance, I could just fuck it out of my system. Prove to myself that she was no more alluring than a succubus. All I needed was a good distraction, but those were becoming harder to find when none lived up to Ivy.

Guilt still ate away at me for letting the red-head sit on my lap for too long. If it weren’t for the fact that a bond had never presented itself, I might have thought myself one of her mates .

With the way everything was turning out, I wanted nothing to do with that. No mate bonds. No joining these mate circles. If it weren’t for the fact that the Seer requested I be here, I would have put in for a different assignment. Something that put me far enough away from Ivy Wilson that she could no longer consume my every waking thought.

I ran a hand over my face as I moved to one of the change rooms. If it weren’t for the timeline, I’d relieve myself of the pressure in my cock, but I had more work to do.

I changed from my training uniform to gear. Outside of being her mentor, I was a guard, just like Grey and Archer. And that gave me full access to the entire academy and its campus.

Intuitively, I knew where she was. Foundations of the Council was on the other side of the academy. Far from where I needed to be. I thanked the Goddess for that luck. The last thing I needed was to be distracted by Ivy.

Because that’s all she is , I reminded myself. Nearly thirty years, I’ve been working on this. I couldn’t let her get in the way of that.

No matter how guilty I felt about it.

Fuck. I chewed the inside of my cheek as I came to a stop at an intersection between the walkways bridging the different parts of the academy. In one direction, I would find her. Sitting with her pink-haired friend, a light at the end of a dark tunnel. There was promise there. A future I never would have thought I could have.

But in the other, I would continue the mission that had been given to me. The one Seer Sable had tasked me with all those years ago.

I pulled myself away from the hall and started towards the murky, darkened forest. At the end of the walkway, the bridge ended and led straight into a marsh. Two guards stood sentry at the stairs, though neither moved as I passed. Each step towards the mission felt like a lifetime away from her.

Was I making a mistake? I shook my head. There was no other option than the one I knew. Ivy was an unknown.

A distraction . I repeated that to myself as I entered the forest. Tall trees closed around me, their dark limbs reaching for me. Moss grew up the bases, claiming the bark. Mud squelched beneath my boots as I stalked through the marsh. The setting sun wasn’t enough to guide me to my destination.

Once I was far enough away from the buildings, I released my wings. The still, damp air rolled over the feathers, and I grimaced as I stretched them. It was maybe the only perk of being here at the academy, rather than in the human world. I had to hide my wings there. But here, they were part of the uniform.

Stretched, I took flight. Keeping to the treetops, I flew amongst the branches, just low enough not to be seen by anyone in the towers of the academy. The trees protected me enough to fly unseen, and the additional runes tattooed to my arms, once activated, did the rest.

As soon as the old, decaying temple appeared between the trees, I ducked, cutting through branches and landing amongst an outcropping of rocks that might have once been a statue. But since it had fallen, moss and decayed leaves buried it.

Ivy would think this place was interesting .

The thought appeared so quickly in my mind that I had to shove it aside just as fast. I shook my head to rid thoughts of her, but she remained an ever-present entity in the back of my mind. The little that I knew of her should have made it impossible. And yet deep in my bones, I knew it to be true.

It didn’t interest me much, these crumbling, old temples the Seer sent me to. They were always overcome with decay; being reclaimed by the earth, forgotten by the rest of the creatures under Nyx’s rule. They were fucking depressing most of the time. A remnant of an old civilisation that thrived on its worship to the Goddess.

It wasn’t like we didn’t have temples anymore, either. There were still plenty scattered throughout all the realms, from Hell to Faerie to Avalon. But they were grander structures now. Frivolous. I’d never been much into worship before, but my mother had once vied for a place amongst the priestesses. She’d taken me to temples not unlike the one I stared at now.

The darkness only made it more dangerous. I wasn’t aware of the last time anyone had dared venture out this far. The temple sat with its entrance leading into caves of the mountain, whose shadow darkened the landscape around me. My fingers flexed as I walked around the fallen statue towards the opening to the temple. The doorway had long since disappeared, and now, stone pillars formed a cross, as if to warn any who dared to attempt to enter. Like death was waiting beyond.

I paused by at the entrance and turned towards the forest, eyes narrowed as I searched the shadows of the trees for anything out of place. It wouldn’t be a stretch to have an academy mentor out this far, but it would raise eyebrows. And this certainly couldn’t go back to Grey or her team. I’d worked too hard to have them ruin everything.

My entire body tensed as I slipped between the fallen pillars and stepped into the temple. I pulled an old rune stone out of my belt and activated it; the light from the stone penetrated the inky shadows just enough to reveal the destroyed interior. Statues of Nyx lay broken around the room, each one cut off by the head. The pillars here were in place, somehow still standing, but each one had cracks running through them. Not even the forest dared cross the threshold to reclaim what once belonged to it. The ground, cracked marble, lay dusty, undisturbed from years of abandonment.

The temple had a back room, somewhere. Despite the urgency radiating through me, I hesitated. Like the Goddess herself was watching me. I knew how old the temple was, simply from the fact there was no giant motif of Nyx lining any of the walls. These stone walls were bare, save for old runes. Runes I didn’t recognise.

My chest tightened, but I forced myself to push on. The shadows seemed to only thicken as I moved through the room. There were old stone chests, their lids open, with nothing but bundles of old fabric within. I shuddered. I wondered what the hell had happened here. Temples didn’t just become obsolete.

There was a small hallway hidden behind decaying curtains, and I followed it, finding nothing of interest within. There was only a doorway, leading into what I assumed was the backroom the Seer had warned me about.

The archway was filled with the same runes. I might not have been as adept in them as Archer, but I knew most of the basics. And these...there was something off about them. They didn’t feel...right.

What the fuck had Sable sent me into? I wouldn ’t run away; it wasn’t in my nature. But backup would have helped.

My team could have helped.

My gut twisted at the thought of them. It might not have been the first time we’d been split on missions, but this felt like something else. Like there was more than just a mission between us.

It was a hard pill to swallow, especially after everything we’d been through.

And yet I rolled my shoulders back, spared one last glance at the runes lining the doorway, and entered.