by Cate Corvin
His fingers brushed against my panties.
A breeze ruffled our hair. I blinked, and a red line had scored Warden Vega’s cheek. Blood welled in minuscule droplets, gleaming on his cheekbone like rubies.
“Next blade goes in your dick, Lyle.” Daphne’s red hair shimmered over her shoulders in the breeze, her eyes glacially cold as she strode towards us. “Get out.”
He held my gaze for a moment longer, his smirk still firmly in place, and shoved me into the wall before he released me.
Warden Vega loomed over Daphne for several seconds, whispered something in her ear that made her pale, and strode out. The front doors slammed shut behind him of their own accord.
I blinked. Surely Gilt hadn’t been the one to command them to do that?
Daphne took a deep, shuddering breath and pushed her hair behind her. “Corrupt fucking bastards, every one of them.”
She smoothed her clothes and squared her shoulders, and within seconds she looked like herself again, haughty and untouchable.
“If you tell anyone about this, I will make it my personal mission in life to absolutely wreck you.” Daphne glared down her nose at me and stalked away.
I wasn’t sure how long I remained against the wall, waiting for my knees to stop trembling, but it was long enough for Dominic to walk into the foyer and stop dead when he saw me.
His hands were on me before I could even formulate words, cupping my face, pushing back errant strands of hair. “What happened, Miss Darke?” He found my wrist, where purple bruises were beginning to form in the shape of Warden Vega’s handprint.
“Who did this?”
A chill ran down my spine. I’d always thought Dominic sounded cold when he was in professor mode. This was… flat, hard, the voice of a man who would kill someone without even blinking.
I looked at the bracelet of bruised violet. Even if I told him, what could he do? The Wardens were practically untouchable on their own territory, and Gilt didn’t give a damn about any of us.
“No one,” I said, my voice coming out raspy. I pulled my hand away and knelt to pick up my scattered books. “It was an accident.”
I didn’t know why, but I didn’t want Dominic to see me upset over someone like Warden Vega. I hated that he’d rattled me as much as he had.
It was awful to have so much power, but still feel powerless.
Dominic knelt with me, taking the books from my hands and putting them aside in a pile. “Lucrezia.” He didn’t pay any attention to where we were, in plain sight where anyone could walk through, as he laced his fingers through mine. “Please.”
I wasn’t afraid of Daphne’s threat. If dealing with people like Warden Vega was what life was like in Starlake, then I was glad I wasn’t part of a Great Coven.
I’d just been a thing to him. Something to laugh at, and later something to drag to a closet. He hit Daphne so casually, like it was something he’d done before many times.
“Goddamn Wardens,” I said, tears spilling over. “They shouldn’t even be called wardens, they don’t care about anyone but themselves. Every fucking one of them. You know how many I’ve come across, and I haven’t met a single genuinely good person out of any of them?”
His mouth was set in a hard line, hazel eyes glowering.
“They’re sick. Who walks a person to their sentencing and laughs at them? Who does-” I held my hand out, the tendons standing out under my bruised skin- “Who does this, and thinks they’re entitled to it? That’s all they’re good for- abusing their power over the rest of us.”
I grabbed my books and satchel, steadfastly avoiding Dominic’s eyes. The part of me that was good at compartmentalizing was on the fritz, and I didn’t want to think about any of the bad things when I looked at him now.
He didn’t care. Dominic reached out for me, wiping away the tears, kissing my forehead, my nose, my cheeks as my breath stuttered. I swallowed back a sob, while the tidal wave of fury and helplessness and hatred tried to take over.
“That’s not what Wardens are meant to do,” he said, his lips brushing my hair. “Their name, Lucrezia. Let me take care of it.”
His voice was still dangerously taut. I laid my head on his chest, letting myself relax bit by bit, until the rest of the world outside seemed to vanish, and it was only us.
“What are you going to do if I tell you?” The spicy scent of his cologne filled my nose, and against my better judgment I inhaled, looping my fingers through the gaps between his shirt buttons. His skin was satiny, comforting. “What could you possibly do?”
“I’ll ensure they’re stripped of their rank.” His deep voice was a pleasant rumble under my cheek. “They’ll never work as a Warden again.”
I heard the lie in the flatness of his tone. Dominic was a man who believed in doing things right the first time. An eye for an eye was a little more his style.
“Steelblood has that sort of pull?”
I’d be perfectly happy to see Warden Vega stripped of his power, not just for me, but because those tense five minutes with him had given me an entirely new insight into Daphne’s bitchiness.
Dominic ran his hand over the crown of my head and down my back. “Enough for that, yes. Let me help you.”
He found my hand and pulled it up, examining the bruises coldly.
If I let him take the situation into his own hands, not even Gilt would be able to protect him. Nobody fucked with a Warden and won in the end. The Tribunal was simply too powerful.
“No. I don’t you to go up against that.”
His frustration was palpable, brows clenched and nostrils flared. “Lucrezia-”
“Nothing happened.” I pressed my hand to his chest. “Just drop it. I already know what’ll happen if I tell you, and I want you here with me, not rotting in Obsidian.”
“You will tell me one day.” His tone brooked no argument. “I will find out and I’ll take care of it.”
“Why are you so concerned?” A spark of anger flared to life. He’d pushed me out unceremoniously when Bloom arrived, and now he wanted to be the white knight? “You couldn’t be bothered to listen to my problems earlier.”
“Mirrorwalking isn’t a quick fix,” Dominic said through gritted teeth. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”
At least he was distracted from his single-minded bent of vengeance against a Warden. That was all I could ask for, despite my irritation with him and his deflection.
“Tonight,” I said, resting my chin on his chest. “You’re not weaseling away from this anymore, Dominic. She’s been trying to reach me for a reason, and we’re going to find out what it is.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Lucrezia…”
“Dominic.”
We stared at each other, and I broke first. I touched his face, my pulse speeding up just from grazing the edge of his full lower lip and stubbled jaw.
“I can’t do this without you. Don’t you feel it? We’re all here for a purpose, Dominic. It wasn’t an accident that you left your coven to work here, or that my covenmistress decided to disown me.” His eyes flickered, and a feeling of disquiet stole over me. “It wasn’t an accident that Shane and Roman spent three years waiting right over the head of the last remaining Locke. And it’s not an accident that Josephine’s trying to communicate with us now.”
“The deadside isn’t fun and games. It’s a dangerous place.” His fingers tightened on my waist. “This is assuming you can cross a mirror, and that you don’t lose your memories in the first five minutes.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. If I can’t walk the deadside, then you need to go in my stead, and talk to her without exorcising her. She’s part of this too- I can feel it.” I gazed up at him, hoping he’d soften enough to agree. “She’s probably going to be frightened enough of you as it is.”
“Spirits don’t feel fear, Lucrezia. What you see on the liveside might be much different than her form in Death.”
Maybe so, but that wasn’t her fault. And if she was Locke’s dea
d wife or lover, I wanted to be able to tell him if he ever remembered her. It would be the only way he would ever get closure on his past life.
“I’m willing to accept the risk. Please help me do this, Dominic.”
I rose up on my tiptoes and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth before I slid from his grasp. Anyone could’ve seen, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.
We were so close to real answers I could almost taste them.
“Tonight,” he acquiesced. Distrust glinted in his eyes. He might not make it easy, but all I needed was for him to agree.
I smoothed my uniform and picked up my books. “What did Professor Bloom want?”
Dominic leaned on the wall, his shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows, looking exactly like the kind of professor I wanted detention from. For a moment I regretted the jealousy-tinged question, but he had to understand we weren’t on a level playing field.
And I was constantly in a state of recalibrating my mental lie-o-meter when it came to Dominic and his secrets. Each time he evaded a question, my ability to figure him out became a little better.
It was exhausting. I wished I could just trust him implicitly, the way I did Shane or Locke.
“She wanted to borrow divination textbooks.” I swallowed back my disappointment. There was no way that’s all she was there for. Another lie, given away by the crook of his eyebrow. “Which was a pretense for inviting me to Springbloom and asking after my matriarch.”
A sigh of relief almost slipped out of me. Honesty, for once. “Why would she ask after your matriarch?”
Finally, a tiny smile touched the corner of Dom’s mouth, but it was tinged with bitterness. “It’s a common courtesy among the Great Covens. Most handfastings are arranged via the covenmaster or mistress.”
The relief vanished almost as soon as it appeared, leaving me feeling like I was swimming way out of my depth. I didn’t even know the simplest customs of the Great Covens, but for Dominic they were as natural as breathing.
Once again, the divide between us seemed so apparent, it was amazing I hadn’t noticed it from the start.
“Your emotions are written on your face again,” he said quietly, leaning in close. His smile hadn’t faded. “Don’t fear, Lucrezia. Your lack of pomp and circumstance is so much easier to be around than navigating the snake pit of coven politics. You couldn’t pay me to visit Springbloom or give a damn about their patriarch.”
He looked like he was going to kiss me, but footsteps rang through the foyer and he drew back. I looked up at the second-story balcony to see Lissa Clay and Clarimond Jewel heading towards the cafeteria, whispering to each other and giggling.
When I turned around, Dominic’s eyes were fixed on my bruised wrist again, his lips set, but he forced a more neutral expression on his face. “Go eat and get ready for tonight. I’ll see you in a few hours, Miss Darke.”
“Bye, Professor,” I whispered, and dashed off to the cafeteria.
Chapter 14
Lu
Holly was already waiting for me, her face still drawn, but she, like everyone else in the cafeteria, was watching the new students.
Two young men with mischievous, cat-like faces sat on the tables side by side. They were clearly brothers, with the same dark skin, sparkling brown eyes, and close-cropped curls. A guy who was around Shane and Roman’s age sprawled next to them, looking like he’d just stepped off the pages of a magazine with his blond hair, square jaw, and carved features.
What everyone was really watching was the fourth new student smirking at Daphne. My nemesis looked as cool as ever, her hand resting on her cocked hip, but her eyes were tired.
The new girl was my age, with waist-length black hair, kohl-rimmed eyes, and she’d somehow managed to make Daphne’s over-the-top sexy schoolgirl aesthetic look Puritan next to her.
It was the same thing Daphne had done to me. Go for the throat, take them out early. Establish the new pecking order.
“You expect me to believe a Vega is the highest order of witch in this school?” the new girl sneered. “Please. It’s a cesspool of inbreeding.”
Daphne’s lips curled in her signature cruel smile. “You think? Lower covens clamor to join us. If I remember right, only three years ago your brother Diego married in. Bitter you couldn’t make it too, bitch?”
“Floraluna doesn’t need your status!” The new girl straightened up, throwing her shoulders back. A strange sound, like a hissed whisper, was just audible under her strident voice. “Diego was no loss.”
“Drop it, Carmen,” the blond guy called to her. Holly’s eyes flicked to him. “Just sit down and chill.”
I realized what was making the hissing sound and shivered. The creeping vines that grew over the windows were moving, fresh new leaves unfurling as the vines grew and snaked towards the floor.
Carmen from Floraluna was a greenwitch.
Daphne eyed the vines, but her languid stance didn’t change. “Wow. That’s so incredibly unintimidating.”
Carmen laughed. The vines shot forward, roots overspilling their containers and moving like twisted green snakes through the room.
Several of Daphne’s minions shrieked and moved away from their leader, leaving her to fend off Carmen alone.
Daphne flicked her hand, looking almost bored, and sent several witchblades of air zipping towards Carmen’s face. The new girl blocked them with a one of her winding snakes of greenery, but the scent of torn leaves filled the air.
The boys sitting on the table perked up, and one winked at Holly before raising a hand. All five fingertips ignited with small, dancing flames. Witchfire- the proper, controllable kind, not the raging inferno I was stuck with.
The blond guy seemed annoyed that his friend had pulled a smile from Holly before he did. “Theo. We’re not playing with witchfire indoors. She made it pretty clear.”
She could only be Headmistress Gilt.
“You’re going to let Carmen steamroll someone else?” Theo watched Carmen weave her monstrosity of vines into a vaguely humanoid creature.
Daphne was clearly nervous now. She sent her witchblades flying through it as students threw themselves out of the way, forming hordes at either end of the cafeteria, but new vines roped through the holes and more leaves burst into bloom.
“So nice to see a Vega taken down for a change,” Carmen said, smirking. Tendrils grew from the green-golem and slithered towards Daphne, taking hold of her ankles.
Daphne’s eyes met mine over the new girl’s shoulder. Her lips were set, eyes shadowed, and I knew she wasn’t asking for help. Daphne was too proud for that.
But she had saved me less than an hour ago, and from one of her own kin.
I sighed, reaching for a tiny ember of wildfire, no more than the barest spark.
Carmen squawked when I shoved her aside and plunged my hand into the green-golem, punching a hole through the vines to the heart of the writhing, twisting creature. I released the spark and ripped my hand back out as it went up in flames, charring black and crumbling to ashes where it stood.
The tendrils went limp and released Daphne’s legs, so much dead plant matter once more.
Carmen’s lips pulled back over her teeth. “What the fuck was that?” She rounded on Theo and his brother, who were staring at us. The flames still flickered on Theo’s fingertips.
“Well, Carmen, that was ‘I have no fucking idea’,” Theo said. He shook his hand, extinguishing the flames and leaving his fingertips smoking, and gave me what he probably thought was a come-hither wink.
“Who do you think you are?” Carmen demanded, rounding on me. “You’re going to side with a Vega?”
I never thought the day would come that Daphne and I would be standing side by side, toe to toe with a common enemy. “I’m a Darke. And you’re not going to walk in here and start shit. We’ve had enough of that.”
I felt a presence at my other shoulder and looked up at Roman’s gorgeous yet scowling profile. Daphne shifted uncomfortably next
to me.
“Same goes for you three.” I pointed at the three guys, still lounging on their chosen table. “If you’re going to fight, take it outside. But you will leave each other the fuck alone while you’re in here, got it?”
My heart hammered in my chest, fast and light as a hummingbird. Who knew how much damage they could’ve caused? Hell, even my wildfire could’ve lit the place up.
The more I reached for the cornerstone, the more possessive I felt over the mansion. This must be exactly what Gilt felt like all the time, surrounded by students who could explode in the blink of an eye.
Carmen looked Roman up and down with a smirk, but he could be terrifying when he wasn’t trying to be nice. His face seemed slightly off, somehow, like his bones were stretching, the wolfskin trying to break free and take over.
I touched his arm, trying to ignore the fluttering pulse of my heart that had nothing to do with adrenaline. “Not here, Roman.”
Our newest threat realized that Roman was more than just a beefcake, and that the tension humming off his body was more dangerous than sexy. She backed up a few steps, her eyes flicking back to me and Daphne.
“Darke. I’ll remember that.” She turned on her heel, gesturing to the guys she’d arrived with. “Let’s go.”
Theo shook his head lazily, making eyes at a blushing Holly, and the blond competing for her attention wasn’t going anywhere. Only Theo’s brother slid off the table and followed Carmen.
When they left, the tension snapped and left a fraught silence in its wake. Daphne kicked a limp vine off her foot, looking between myself and Roman.
“Doesn’t make us friends, Darke,” she said, but for once there was no rancor in her gaze, only resignation. “Don’t go to B Wing. That’s where they’re housing Carmen Flora and the others.”
She tossed back her hair with a flip of her hand, sat at her usual table, and the Vega Crony Crew immediately surrounded her like fawning handmaidens.
I wondered if they’d be sitting around Carmen Flora if Daphne had lost the fight.
Roman let out a shuddering breath and his features returned to their normal, handsome, and entirely human cast. “How’s Demonseed?”
