21. Cage

21

CAGE

“I can’t believe we’re back here.” Deva said, looking around the sector. Her gaze was filled with a lightness and curiosity that I hadn’t experienced before from her—I hadn’t even realized the heavy weight on her shoulders. I hadn’t fully understood the effect Astaroth had had on Deva in her day-to-day life, but without him around, it was exceedingly obvious.

For almost a week we had been holed up in the Nyx estate, putting into motion some long-term changes that were necessary for the onward success of Carmina. It had been extremely serious, meeting after meeting, and I had about beat my head onto the table in front of me several times. But with the dismissal of the Society of Shadows members as well as representatives of other communities within Carmina, our time there had finally concluded.

And now we were back on DIA’s campus.

I wasn’t exactly surprised that we were back here, but my little siren had truly thought we wouldn’t be allowed back—especially after what Astaroth had revealed about her to all of Carmina. But the public’s reaction had restored my faith in witchkind, the witches of Carmina showing that they had a sharp sense of justice by understanding the horrifying situation Deva had been placed in as a child.

It no doubt helped that Grim’s father and my own had informed Headmistress Estrid of Astaroth’s part in all the violence that had occurred at the academy. How he had used students as tools in his endeavors. How he had purposefully manipulated Deva into feeling the need to leave—to run. Estrid had been extremely understanding and didn’t hesitate to welcome us back to the academy. Her reaction, in fact, hinted that she’d known the truth from the start.

Although, I would almost argue she was too understanding.

Kazimir, the lucky bastard, had gotten off with a one-year suspension, which meant that come next year he would be starting at DIA once more. Something that would concern me if he hadn’t decided to align himself with the Society, staying at the Nyx estate for the foreseeable future alongside his mother and sister. None of them had pledged allegiance to Astaroth, and with his father having been killed in the war, there was nothing holding them back.

“We have our entire lives to handle the shit outside of these walls,” I told Deva, intertwining our fingers as we walked down the path leading to the main building. “If you want to be at the academy, then that is exactly where we’ll be.”

At least until we graduated—which I suspected she would do alongside us, rather than being here an extra two years. A crack of thunder from above had students running between buildings, covering their heads as a light drizzle began to fall on the campus. Deva tilted her head up and smiled, letting it wash over her. My gaze ran over the elegant line of her throat as I considered pulling her somewhere just to get another taste of her.

“I know you’re right.” Deva looked up at me. “Just feels like we’re getting off easy since we’re going somewhere we enjoy.”

“I don’t enjoy it,” Lazaro grumbled. Luckily, Deva didn’t hear it, distracted by what Grimshaw was saying to her. I did understand Lazaro’s point, though. It had nothing to do with the school and everything to do with the students.

All of them noticed us, namely Deva, and were whispering and staring openly despite the rain. I was really hoping our girl didn’t notice because I didn’t want anything distracting my little siren from this happy moment.

It did make me uncomfortable that I wasn’t aware of how the students of DIA perceived Deva. Before we left, people had started to view her as dangerous, and even though she was considered a hero outside of these walls, I wasn’t sure the feeling was the same here. I predicted we were going to face more problems on campus than we had in Carmina. After all, quite a few of the students would be getting a call to inform them that their parents had been killed in battle.

It didn’t create the most welcoming of atmospheres.

Deva released my hand to go stand between Grimshaw and Oz as I walked next to Alek and Lazaro, both of them shooting dark looks at anyone who stared too long.

“I don’t like this,” Alek said in a quiet voice.

Lazaro sighed. “It doesn’t necessarily mean they’re angry.”

“I could give a shit about that,” Alek said dismissively. “Deva shouldn’t concern herself with their opinion. My issue is that they’re staring at her.”

I chuckled because I didn’t disagree in the fucking least. When we reached the stairs and entrance of the main hall, I saw Deva tense up, her excitement faltering as she cued into the attention she was drawing. Stepping up to her, I wrapped an arm around her waist, not wanting her to think about it for too long.

“Come on, little siren. We need to eat something, and you promised your friends that you’d meet them.” Friends that I’d come to respect, alongside their partners, not only because of the part they played in battle but the loyalty they’d shown Deva. My little siren hadn’t had a lot of that in her life.

“You’re right.” She nodded, keeping her chin up. Deva was so damn strong that it humbled me. I may have had a fuck ton of magic, but Deva had this strength to her that I had never experienced or seen before. One forged by circumstance, by suffering.

Deva was so damn special. Something I knew that my own family recognized, specifically my parents. The two of them had bonded with her more strongly than I thought possible. My thoughts turned to a memory from this past week.

“Where did Mom and Deva go?” I asked Natrix. The fucker was sitting in front of a fireplace in one of the many lounges at the estate, a massive pile of books in front of him. I could feel that Deva’s magic had gone this way, but I’d lost track of it unfortunately. Which wouldn’t work for me because I was feeling particularly fucking needy when it came to Deva today. I wanted her in my arms for hours, just so I could look at her.

Natrix looked up, examining my expression with curiosity before closing the book he was reading. Most of my other brothers had returned to their families or were back at their assigned posts to aid in the transfer and adjustment of power going on, but Natrix had stayed.

“You love her.”

I rolled my eyes at his astute observation. “Of course I fucking love her.” What wasn’t there to love about Deva? She was perfect.

“I didn’t expect that,” he admitted. “I thought you were fucking with us at first. I thought Mom and Dad were messing with us when they told us about her.” My family were a bunch of fucking gossips. There had been a span of how many hours between Deva meeting my parents and then my brothers? Of course my parents had contacted them to talk about Deva.

“Is it that hard to believe I could love someone?” I asked, incredulous. I may have been psychotic, but I loved my family. I cared for the men I considered brothers. I was obsessed and in love with Deva. The only difference with my version of love was that I would kill for it—for them. I didn’t feel bad about that.

I would argue that it just further proved my affection.

Natrix’s expression shifted, his brow dipping. “No, of course not. I didn’t mean it like that. I just…there is a massive gap in our age, and I have issues seeing you as anything but the kid who followed us around all day long. So seeing you like this is crazy.”

Oh.

I shrugged. “We’ve all gotta grow up sometime.”

I didn’t stick around to talk more than that, slipping through the door to the side that I assumed my Mom and Deva had gone through. Walking through a hallway, I came to a stop when I heard their voices in one of the reading rooms off the corridor.

“I am so glad Micajah found you,” my mom said. My brows arched, and I leaned against the stone wall outside of the room to keep listening. “I was worried that he wouldn’t find what his father and I have, but now I know he has.”

“I can’t imagine my life without Cage.” Deva’s tone was soft, bringing a smile to my face, before she continued, sounding confused. “But I feel like his brothers have said something similar. Why would you think that? He’s one of the most loving people I know.”

My mom spoke softly, clearly hearing the defensiveness in my little siren’s voice. “I have a feeling that didn’t come off as I intended it.”

I heard the sound of leather shifting as they both sat down. “From the moment that Cage was born, I knew he was special. Every single one of my sons has been a blessing from fate, but—and he doesn’t even know this—Cage’s birth brought a new meaning to that.

“I nearly lost him the day he was born.” My mom’s voice was barely audible, emotion heavy in her voice. “I went into preterm labor at only twenty-eight weeks, and they couldn’t slow it down…so Cage came into this world incredibly early.”

I could feel Deva’s shock through our bond. “Twenty-eight weeks? Isn’t it normally nearly forty?”

“Yes.” My mom sniffed, causing my chest to ache a bit. “By all accounts, it could have been a horrible and scary situation, but something or someone intervened because from the moment he was born, the magic of this territory took over. For thirteen weeks, a golden light surrounded him, keeping him warm and healthy until he was ready for the outside world. There were no birth complications, and while I couldn’t hold him because of the magic, I stared at him for hours each day, feeling so incredibly thankful that something had intervened.

“When the light finally disappeared, his father and I both realized that the magic had an effect—it had given him more power than any of us have, including his older brothers. I knew it would impact his life, but until he started growing up I didn’t realize to what extent.

“Cage has always been more connected to his magic and therefore worked with blood in a way that even his brothers couldn’t understand,” she continued. “It made him seem more violent than he actually is.”

I could have laughed at that, but I understood her point.

“Not that he isn’t,” she amended, a statement that made Deva laugh. “But because of the age gap between him and his brothers along with the difference in his magic, he struggled to form close friendships and connections. He grew guarded and preferred to be alone. Until he went to DIA. That was when he met the others, and I realized that maybe, just maybe, he would be able to let people in. It was why I was so surprised when he told us about you. I had never expected him to let another person in, especially to that extent.”

“I didn’t realize all of that; I just thought he was really powerful,” Deva said.

“He is, but it’s more than that.” My mom sighed. “I’m just so happy that he found you, that he’s able to have a true partner by his side…”

It was a conversation I hadn’t expected to overhear, but it answered a few questions I had about my own magic. It also helped me understand the dynamic with my brothers and why there was such a large gap in how we functioned as people. They just didn’t understand me—and I didn’t mean that half as angsty as it probably came off.

My mom hadn’t been the only one Deva bonded with, though. She had spent most afternoons between meetings eating lunch with our parents or talking to the representatives of Carmina. Our girl may have been raised an assassin, but I swear she had a bit of a politician in her, the easy way she talked to people and asked the right questions making them feel heard. It was fascinating to watch.

“There they are!” Lavinia shouted from across the dining hall. Heads snapped toward us. I sighed at all the male attention on us but knew I couldn’t kill everyone. We were supposed to be calming down from the slaughter and bloodshed.

I just hoped my brain got on board because the last thing I wanted to do was stress out my little siren.

As we made our way to the group of Deva’s friends and their respective partners, Lazaro spoke quietly. “We need to keep her occupied for at least an hour or two. They’re still working on the dorm expansion. I just got the notice.”

Yes —the expansion.

Unfortunately, Estrid and other staff members didn’t love the idea of us having our own house— despite saving all of Carmina . So instead we had placed a request to have our dorm expanded into the one next to it, to double it in size. The one next to us had been empty because we had been so horrible to live next to, so it had all worked out fantastically.

The only problem was that the finishing touches were still being put on it, and we wanted to surprise Deva with it today. Even our familiars had already been dropped off in a room specifically made for them, and while each of us would have our own ‘room’ for our belongings, we had arranged for two of the bedrooms to be combined into one with a double king size bed. Deva had loved that we’d been able to fall asleep together in her shadowscape, and we wanted to make that possible every day of the week.

“Her friends should keep her occupied for a good amount of time,” I said easily, suddenly distracted as my gaze caught on to where Dylan was sitting, glaring at our girl from across the room. Yeah, absolutely fucking not.

Turning to walk toward him, I noticed that no one else was sitting by him. The other students were clearly trying to distance themselves. Smart of them.

“Dylan, Dylan, Dylan.” I sat down, slamming my hand on the table as his gaze widened on me. “You’re already in hot water, and here we are—back on campus—and you’re glaring at my woman.”

“I don’t know what she did, but I’ve been all fucked up since that night,” he snarled. “It’s her fucking fault.”

My hand shot out to grab his throat, squeezing hard enough to collapse his esophagus. “Careful,” I warned, noticing a slight blue tint to his face. “Be very careful. Yesterday I promised my little siren that I wasn’t going to kill anyone this week, especially after everyone I slaughtered in Carmina…”

His eyes widened accordingly. “Did you hear about that? About how Deva killed Astaroth?”

“Yes,” he hissed as I released his throat.

“Good,” I said, smiling happily at the idea of him being scared. “Because Deva is not someone to be messed with, ever. So keep your eyes fucking averted and your bullshit opinions quiet. Or else I’m going to be the least scary thing you have to deal with.”

Standing up, I made sure to take the silver dining knife that sat next to his plate with me. Humming to myself, I heard him growl, “Why did you take my fucking?—”

The knife went soaring and stuck on the table right between his fingers, causing him to let out a little bitch scream. I chuckled. I think I’d sufficiently answered his question. That was why, Dylan—because I knew you would scream like an idiot .

I sat down next to Deva, stealing Grim’s spot since he’d gone down the table to say something to Noah. I didn’t feel bad in the least.

“Hey, you. What were you saying to Dylan?”

“Just chatting, threatening.” I shrugged. “One and the same, little siren. I didn’t like how he was looking at you. It felt rude.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You can’t threaten someone for how they look at me.”

I barked out a laugh. “Oh, Deva, I have threatened people for far, far less than that when it comes to you.”

“Why do I find that romantic?” She sighed as I captured her jaw and kissed her.

“Because you love me.” I nipped her lip.

“I do,” she agreed before pulling away and looking around. “People are really staring at us…do you think they still think you’re going to kill me?”

Her words brought a big smile to my lips, thinking about when I’d first said that. Kissing her again, I chuckled. “No doubt the opposite, little siren.”