As Wicked As They Come

by Emma Dean

  “Now what?” Corbin stood and studied the space between the trees like he felt the same thing she had earlier – some awareness that was difficult to pinpoint.

  “We go to bed. Tomorrow we search for the underwater castle. Then…classes. I will tell the flock what I am after Samhain. After Homecoming week is done, I’ll tell the Council.”

  “Why tell them at all?” Ethan asked, letting go of her so he could pull her back toward her House.

  “Eleanor’s spell is fading per Lucifer. Soon they will remember blood witches exist if Claire hasn’t told Cassandra already. I want to tell them before they come hunting me down.”

  “You’re Matriarch now,” Corbin stated. “They’ll think you’ll try to claim your title of queen.”

  “I’m not going to.” Mika let her hand slip out of Ethan’s and studied the darkness between the trees again. Something was out here with them. “But if what Morgana said is true, releasing the Morrigan will make blood witches stronger. They won’t be able to take me, and Kenzie won’t follow any orders to steal my power.”

  She had no idea what she could possibly need more power for, but Mika wasn’t releasing the Morrigan for that reason. No, she wanted the goddess free of her prison so she could help her find who was really behind the slaughter of their kind and bring them to their knees.

  It wouldn’t make what happened to Claire better, but Mika refused to let the past repeat itself. She refused to let any children she may have end up hunted down like monsters and killed like animals.

  And once the Morrigan was released, they could start searching for other blood witches. Mika couldn’t be the last one. She refused to believe that.

  “Corbin, could you search the eyrie and the fox library for any mention of Aine and where she might be?”

  The raven’s glowing red eyes shifted from the darkness to her. “The goddess’s daughter?”

  “Yes. I need her blood for the spell.”

  “Anything for you.” Corbin kissed her cheek, barely brushing against her skin. “But I’ll go after we search for the castle tomorrow. When classes start.”

  Mika nodded, stopping at the tree line.

  Autumn leaves would fall soon, blanketing the ground in gold, orange, and yellow, contrasting with the evergreen. The winds would pick up and it would start to rain more often before it grew cold enough to snow.

  The university building was a monster of stone and gorgeous architecture, but not all of it had the same resonance that the temple or Lucien’s House did – only the oldest sections with the missing stained glass.

  Mika wondered what that meant.

  “We’ll go down to the sea tomorrow bright and early,” she agreed.

  The numbness encasing her was less. It didn’t feel as awful as it did before. The anger and rage underneath simmered, waiting for the moment she was ready to release. But Mika didn’t want to come to terms with her fury just yet.

  She had a feeling she was going to need it.

  7

  It was dawn and the sun was barely peeking over the horizon. Audrey and Mika stood at the edge of the cliff, each with a steaming cup of coffee. Even her sweater couldn’t cut the cold wind that whipped around them off the Atlantic Ocean.

  “Ideally anything important has a preservation spell on it,” Audrey said. She sipped her coffee and eyed Mika.

  “Hopefully,” Mika agreed. “How are things with you and Natalie?”

  “Oh, we broke up.” Audrey waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t worry, it had nothing to do with you. Between the Morgana Marauders training camp and the summer apart we just…couldn’t manage it anymore.”

  Mika still felt guilty. “She could have visited over the summer.”

  “That wouldn’t have changed the sheer number of hours I’ve been training where I couldn’t text or call. Then I’d fall asleep the second I got back to the dorm room and wouldn’t be able to video chat with her. Before I knew it, three weeks had gone by and she was over it.”

  Audrey shivered as a particularly vicious gust of wind shoved them back from the edge of the cliff.

  Staring down at the ocean, watching as the waves slammed into the side of the cliff, Mika wished she could do something to help Audrey. “I’m sorry you guys broke up. I liked her.”

  “I did too, but the relationship always felt a bit off. I never felt like I could be one hundred percent myself with her.” Audrey downed the rest of her coffee and then muttered a quick spell. The cup turned into nothing more than ash that drifted away on the winds.

  Mika sipped and relished the taste of the caramel coffee. “Because of me?”

  Audrey shrugged and gave Mika a half-smile. “Partially, but you always said we could bring her in. I just never felt comfortable with that. All of this? It’s weird shit, and I didn’t think she could cope the same way Ethan and Lucien have. Even Malachi is coming around.”

  Malachi was not the same person as he was last year. That was for sure.

  “Do you need a hug?” Mika asked. “Maybe some ice cream while we watch sappy romance movies?”

  Audrey wrapped an arm around Mika’s shoulders and gave her a quick hug before letting her go. “I’m really okay. I was expecting it but thank you. Though I don’t think I’ll ever turn down ice cream.”

  “Then I’ll get ice cream.”

  “And you?” Audrey asked, glancing at her again like she was afraid she might set Mika off again. “Is there something I can do that will help you?”

  Mika was tempted to say Audrey was already helping her by using the one day she had off from training to go deep underwater with a half-assed plan not to drown. But she knew that’s not what the other witch meant, and she didn’t feel like avoiding the question anymore.

  “Some days are easier than others,” Mika admitted. “Doing something helps. As for what I need? I need answers and we’re going to get them.”

  Once she knew exactly what had happened and why, Mika could start making a plan for the future. She knew the Council wasn’t simply going to accept her, or anything she told them without proof—without the spell fading or breaking.

  But she didn’t want them to just accept sanguimancy. She wanted them to accept necromancy as well, to admit that ‘dark’ magic and beings weren’t necessarily evil. A banshee could foretell and see death, but that didn’t mean they caused it.

  Secretly, Mika wanted to enjoy the next four years of school. She wanted to try out for the battle magic dodgeball team again and maybe make the Marauders this time. She wanted to study herbology with Ethan, and train as a hunter with Lucien. Mika wished with all her heart she could take classes in blood magic with other students – that it wouldn’t be shadowed in shame and disapproval and fear.

  Not only that, she wanted to see other paranormals come to the university – to learn what they were and use their powers to their full ability. Mika wanted so much from this world and yet…

  Mika was under no illusion that she would be able to do all of that, if any of it.

  She didn’t even think she’d make it through her second year before she would have to drop out. Until things changed the Council wouldn’t allow her on campus, potentially polluting the minds of the other students with her dark ways.

  As if witches were ever truly neutral.

  “Hey,” Lucien greeted them as he came out of the forest. The way he looked at Mika…it made her breath catch. “I didn’t get invited to the midnight rendezvous last night.”

  One at a time was all she could manage until their emotions settled. Mika took a deep breath and glanced at Audrey, unsure what to say.

  “I didn’t get invited either, but you don’t see me bitching about it,” Audrey told the fox, eyebrows high as she appraised him. “Don’t mind me, I’m just going to go explore this temple I’ve never had the chance to see, unlike someone I know.”

  Lucien huffed a laugh as Audrey kissed Mika’s cheek before she strolled off toward the Morrigan’s temple.

  “I’m sorry,
” Lucien muttered, coming to stand as close to Mika as he could without touching her. “I was just peeved because I wanted to see a witch ghost.”

  Mika laced her fingers through Lucien’s carefully, testing how it felt before sighing in relief. Her body was getting used to it again, and despite the fox being chaos in a physical form, Lucien was always clear-headed.

  “I’m sure you’ll get to see her,” Mika assured him. “I needed Ethan to potentially break open a tree, otherwise I probably would have gone alone.”

  Other than the fact she knew they’d needed to talk.

  Mika was glad they were falling back together easier than she’d anticipated.

  “It’s going to take time,” she warned Lucien. “I’m trying to keep a leash on my magic and my anger and…all this normalcy is hard.”

  Lucien squeezed her hand. “I’m not going to pretend to understand what you’re going through, but I’m here for whatever you need.”

  “I’ll need a sparring partner later,” Mika admitted. “I’m sure the assassin is dying to get back into training.”

  “Jokes on you,” Lucien teased. “He’s been training us every night since the challenge.”

  “You and Ethan?” Mika asked, blinking in surprise.

  “And Malachi.” Lucien tucked her into his side and kissed the top of her head. “But the former captain is more capable than even Corbin anticipated. He can hold his own.”

  Mika breathed Lucien in and tried to imagine the four of them training together under a night sky and just…couldn’t picture it. The idea made her feel a flash of warmth though and Mika felt some of that numbness fade again.

  It exposed her raw emotions, but with Lucien grounding her and the plan to see the Morrigan’s castle finally about to come to fruition, she was coping and that was saying something.

  “Look who decided to join us,” Ethan declared as he came out of the forest.

  Mika turned to see Malachi with Ethan and Corbin. She couldn’t manage to hide the surprise on her face.

  “I’ve never been to an underwater castle before,” Malachi said with a shrug, as if that should explain everything. There was a spark in his eye when he looked at her though.

  Malachi gave her a nod and Mika felt a little better. He would help keep an eye on her, make sure she didn’t explode.

  “How exactly are we going to do this?” Ethan asked, peering down from the cliff’s edge. “There’s no beach on this side of the island.”

  Mika gave them a wicked smile and slipped out of Lucien’s embrace. She walked toward the temple where Audrey waved at them. “There’s no path down from here.”

  “Mika, I just want to remind you I can’t fly, and I’ve never created an air pocket before,” Ethan warned, jogging to catch up with her. “You can’t surprise me with this one – I need to make sure we all don’t die.”

  “I’ll help where I can,” Malachi stated. “There are a few spells that can be used for this kind of thing. A storm witch isn’t exactly a requirement, just enough people to hold the spell for such a long period of time.”

  “An air bubble, or moving the ocean itself,” Ethan admitted. “Together we should be able to hold it around everyone.”

  Mika took the steps to the top of the temple two at a time until she reached Audrey waiting on the highest level.

  “This is the Morrigan?” Audrey asked, staring at the goddess’ statue and shivering slightly. “She’s intense, and a little bit scary.”

  “Very.” Mika walked past the fountain and went straight for the bridge that ended over the ocean itself, jutting out like a gnarled finger pointing toward a secret destination.

  The wind seemed angrier here and everything about where she stood felt wild and chaotic – unable to be contained. It felt like pure power, like the pure essence of what the universe was made up of.

  “The castle shouldn’t be far from this location,” Mika said, peering over the edge.

  Lucien had liked to stand here with his sword when he’d been guarding her every midnight. He’d go through his moves, each one getting faster and faster until—he just stopped and stared up at the stars. The fox was a work of art.

  “You better not be planning what I think you are.”

  When she glanced back, Ethan was still standing in the temple. “I don’t think this thing will even hold all of us.”

  “We’re going to jump,” Mika told him. “The four of you can hold the air bubble around all of us while I push it down to the sea floor. Once we’re there I can push us toward the castle itself. And inside I’ll be the weapon. We can’t shield the entire bubble, or we won’t be able to walk through. It will only make things more difficult. So, we need offense.”

  Malachi smiled at her, a flash of pride in his eyes. “You did listen to me during dodgeball practice.”

  Nodding, she stood at the front of where the circle would be. Mika would be able to see whatever was coming for them. “Corbin, Lucien, you guard our backs. If there’s anything you don’t think you can handle let me know. These three are going to need all the power they have.”

  “No problem.” Lucien and Corbin went around Ethan to stand a few feet behind her.

  Malachi stood on her right, just behind her, and Audrey went to her left.

  “Mika, I may be a tiny bit afraid of jumping into an ocean from this high,” Ethan confessed. “It’s not necessarily the height, but I hate the feeling of falling. Not to mention I’m not a fan of deep-sea creatures.”

  “We’re too close to land,” Mika assured him. “There won’t be any deep-sea creatures.” She held out her hand for him, waiting. “We’ll be fine.”

  “The air bubble will cushion the fall,” Malachi told Ethan. “It’ll be like landing on a marshmallow.”

  “Yeah, with all of us flailing into each other,” Ethan muttered, but he stepped forward and took Mika’s hand.

  “I can keep us suspended,” Mika told him. “We won’t crash into each other.”

  His stormy grey eyes were dark, and he held her gaze for a moment. “Fine, but if we drown, I get to tell Lucifer it’s your fault.”

  “Agreed.”

  Ethan let go of her hand with a deep breath. Then he took Audrey’s and Malachi’s.

  “Repeat after me,” Malachi instructed. Then he spoke the incantation slow, enunciating each word so it was nearly a chant.

  On the next run through Audrey and Ethan joined in. Corbin and Lucien pressed into her back.

  “On the count of three we all step off.” Mika held up her hands, concentrating on the air within the bubble that was now thick and sturdy. “One, two…three.”

  As one, they stepped off the broken bridge to a long-forgotten location, plummeting to the ocean far below.

  8

  They were wrapped up in soft air as they fell, gently hitting the surface of the ocean. It wasn’t nearly as jarring as Mika had thought it would be.

  Concentrating on the air, she pushed down now, focusing on getting them below.

  “How long do we have before the oxygen runs out?” Corbin asked, looking up as the ocean swallowed them whole.

  Mika had to concentrate to fight against the current until she could get past the waves. Once they were far enough out, she pushed down and down, summoning a few witchlights so they could see as the sun grew farther and farther away.

  “Give me a second,” Audrey murmured. She muttered a few words, fingers gracefully moving through sigils. “There. Now we can pull from the oxygen already in the ocean. We have as long as we want down here.”

  Corbin glared at everything, generally looking uncomfortable.

  “Scared?” Audrey teased him, making sure to keep a tight grip on Malachi and Ethan.

  “I can swim,” Corbin said defensively. “All ravens are forced to learn. I’ve even been scuba diving. But I will never choose to be underwater when I should be in the sky.”

  Mika glanced back at the raven who, for the first time since she met him, looked unsure of himself
as fish swam around them.

  The ocean was deep and dark, but Mika focused on the witchlights and sent them ahead to scout the area, to light up as much of the sea as they could. She didn’t want to be surprised by something like a whale or a shark.

  “How are you doing Lucien?” she asked, watching as a school of fish scurried away from her witchlight.

  “Look,” Audrey murmured, eyes wide in wonder. “Manatees.”

  “Foxes don’t really like getting wet, so if we can avoid that at all possible, that would be preferable,” Lucien gritted out, pressing into her side as if she could somehow protect him from all the water.

  Mika couldn’t help but laugh. “And yet you all insisted on coming with me.”

  “Look, I’m not going to let some shark eat you,” Corbin snapped. “So, here I am.”

  “I wouldn’t have let a shark eat her,” Malachi stated, giving Corbin a look. “I’m sure we could get you and the fox safely to the surface.”

  “There’s no way I’m missing out on hidden, underwater treasure,” Lucien gritted out. “But maybe pick up the pace.”

  A sea turtle lazily swam by, as did a few rays. But mostly there was fish and various kinds of kelp. Mika kept an eye out anyway. Normal animals weren’t the only creatures to exist back when the Morrigan reigned.

  “Look!” Audrey exclaimed. “Do any of you see that?”

  Mika narrowed her eyes and tried to see what Audrey was pointing at, but it all looked dark and murky with shadows that could be anything.

  Then finally something rose up from the sea floor, still mainly intact.

  A castle to rival every single one she’d seen in Europe. The spires and towers and domes jutted upward, statues the size of the entire castle still mostly together with only a few bits and pieces missing or crumbling.

  Two stone warriors guarding the entrance to the castle with the rest of the broken bridge between them.